(Ken's POV)
I slowly and groggily opened my eyes.
I felt absolutely disoriented and I blinked my eyes several times to clear out the blurriness I was experiencing in my field of vision.
Light rays reflected through the glass of the windows and shone into my eyes causing me to squint my eyes and turn my head away and face the ceiling.
'White curtains with a white ceiling… Is this a hospital? Did I somehow survive?'
I struggled to get a grip on what was happening but that's easier said than done. I still felt very confused and disoriented as I struggled to move my arms and raise myself up.
After what seemed to be an hour, I finally propped myself up with my hands but the next sight made me rethink that I was at a hospital.
'My legs are intact!'
So this is the afterlife after all. Is this how dead people are welcomed to heaven?
I certainly was a fairly good guy in my life so I'd be shocked if I had woken up to raging flames as far as the eye could see. No one wants to go to hell I tell you. Not even the worst criminals or offenders.
As I struggled to get out of bed, I took a look around the room I was in and realized that the room I was in had these white curtains fluttering due to the light breeze, the fairly large bed I'm currently trying to get off of, matte white painted floorboards, a wooden dresser with gold engravings, a fairly large table with a chair next to it, a large standing mirror in the far corner, plain white walls and a sleek white ceiling with an eye catching design along with evenly spaced bulbs. All in all, the room had a fairly luxurious and modern feel to it.
'Guess they give you a bit of luxury in the afterlife too…'
I finally got off the bed after fussing for a while and placed my legs on the ground as I tried to stand up.
I faltered and fell back a few times on the bed because the sensation of suddenly being able to stand again felt foreign to me. After a few minutes of standing and falling, I was finally able to stand and move around properly on two legs. I even jumped a few times!
'This feels so surreal'.
After enjoying my new found freedom of being able to walk again, I walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room and stared at the strange individual looking back at me.
An indescribably handsome young teenager stared back at me. He was really striking to look at, with his silver hair which had a very light shade of green to it and his aquamarine green eyes which were reminiscent of fresh spring leaves. His features were chiseled and well-defined, with a strong jawline and high cheekbones. He however looked quite young, around 14 years of age.
'He feels otherworldly… I gotta ask though, who is this again? Do we get surgeries in the afterlife now? I want my old plain face back! This dude is so handsome it's annoying. Also, who's going to guide me to Liam. Do I have to search for him myself?'
As I glared at the weird human being who was staring back at me in the mirror, I heard footsteps near the door which was followed by two light taps on the door.
-Knock knock.
"Young master, are you awake?" An elderly man's voice could be heard from the other side of the door. I could hear the faint sound of worry in his voice as he asked for me again.
"Young master, if you're awake please respond".
'Should I respond? This all feels strange if I'm being honest'.
A dangerous but stupid idea was playing around in my head but I didn't want to acknowledge it. No, I wouldn't acknowledge it. However, if I wanted to know what the hell was going on at this point, I'd best respond to the man calling for me.
"Yes I am. Please come in".
The door opened as an elderly man who seemed to be in his early forties walked in with graceful and precise movements.
He was wearing a crisp black suit that fit him perfectly, a white shirt and a black bow tie. His brown hair was neatly combed and slicked back giving him a polished appearance. He had sharp facial features with along with a pair of light brown eyes which reflected warmth and kindness.
'A butler?'
Then he said after lightly bowing down once.
"The duke requests for your presence in his office".
'The Duke? What is this charade? Can someone please guide me to Liam for God's sake!'
"Okay. Take me to him" I said even though my thoughts were screaming about something else.
I figured that I'd better gain as much information as possible instead of trying to understand what was going on. Gotta say though, the afterlife really loves to play around huh.
I followed the butler as he led me towards the office. We passed through a long corridor with some paintings which I couldn't seem to recognize.
Well, I was no Leonardo da Vinci so there's no way I'd even remotely recognize anything. Except Mona Lisa. You'd probably need to be living under a rock to not know the Mona Lisa painting.
As we approached the door of the office, the butler halted in his steps for a second and said.
"This may be presumptuous of me young master but please, try to take better care of yourself. We were really worried that you wouldn't make it this time".
'This time? Also what did I even do?'
That dangerous and stupid thought began rearing its ugly head in my mind again but I smacked it down into the deepest parts of my mind.
"Yes. I will take better care of myself as you've told me" I replied while trying to play along with this game of theirs. The afterlife sure does love to play around, doesn't it?
The butler was a bit surprised at my response but immediately continued walking and approached the door.
"Sire, young master Flynn has arrived".
"Let him in" came a deep calm voice from the other side of the door.
"As you wish sire" the butler said as he opened the door and beckoned for me to get in.
As I walked through the door, I spotted a dark-haired teenager ahead of me facing forward so I couldn't get a good look at his face.
"Flynn. You're here" the Duke said as he stared at me for what seemed to be a good minute or so before he finally spoke again.
"I know you're deeply affected from what has happened but it's no reason to want to commit suicide over. You may be lacking in a lot of areas but as a member of this family, it is simply unacceptable that you would do that. Taking the easy way out is just not the way we do things".
"I apologize for all that I've done and I promise not to do so again" I said as soon as he completed his statement and gave a light bow to prove my sincerity.
At this point, even I was getting tired of this charade. I'm pretty sure I barely survived that accident and I'm just in a weird dream-like state or something. I'll wake up pretty soon anyway.
'But Liam's dead…'
My heart immediately sunk at the thought of that.
'Maybe it's all just a dream and even the deaths and accidents were just a very bad nightmare too. Any moment and I should wake up now… hopefully…'
I raised my head up to see the duke's surprised face as he stared at me with a strange light in his eyes. The black haired boy standing ahead of me also flinched a bit after I made my apology.
After a while, the duke spoke up again.
"That's good. Now hurry along and go apologize to your mother. She's been worried sick about you"
My eyes widened at the thought, as it took all of my willpower and restraint to not immediately bolt out the door, look for my mother and jump into her embrace.
"Okay, I will do as you say" I replied as I turned to take my leave.
"Then I will also take my leave" the black-haired boy ahead of me said but I didn't bother to look at his face as I had already placed my hand on the door knob and was ready to dash out to find my mother.
As I exited the door and walked swiftly, I could hear the footsteps of someone behind me but I didn't care.
"Flynn. Flynn. Flynn".
I heard him calling me but I didn't even care at this point anymore. I'm done with this pointless charade. I need to find Liam and my Mum. Hopefully my Dad too.
"This is insane but… I have to try" mumbled the guy behind me.
'What is he even saying at this point?' I thought to myself but his next words caused me to instantly freeze on the spot.
"Ken. Is that you Ken?"
I widened my eyes for the second time today, my thoughts racing as I finally began to accept that dangerous and stupid thought that had been playing around in my mind since I woke up. I slowly turned around to face the black haired boy behind me.
"Liam…" I said, my voice almost trailing off into a silent whisper as I did so.
I then watched as the ridiculously handsome black-haired teenager who had perfect waves that fell around his face and green eyes which seemed far darker than mine, almost like an emerald have the complex expression on his face transform from hope to utter joy as a massive infectious grin spread over his face as he replied.
"Yes Ken. It's me. It's Liam."