Strains

Chapter 2

Whatever Matthew had been able to deduce in our five-minute interaction was, apparently, enough to gain admittance at Legacy Academy. At least that's what this manila folder is supposed to say. We're walking there now. I think. As if the back alley "Doctor's" office in the woods wasn't bad enough, the trees are getting thicker and it's getting wildly steep. Even the birds have stopped chirping. There isn't a single sound to fill the void. And we just keep heading down, down, and down. How many circles of hell were there supposed to be again?

"Nine."

So, I guess he's an expert. He pauses and looks back at me.

"What?" I ask. He raises an inquisitive eyebrow, almost sternly. If he means to intimidate me, he'll have to try harder, and fix his hair. There's a twig weaved into his dark waves, defying gravity in a way I didn't think was possible.

"Nothing," he says. He turns around, rustles his hair, and begins walking again. The twig tumbles from its perch and falls to the ground. I pick it up because, other than descend into hell, I don't have anything better to do. I toss the stick into the air. When I reach out to catch it, it vanishes. I didn't throw it that high. What the hell is up with the gravity at this place?

"This isn't the time for games," Matthew says. What is he talking about? I have all the time in the world. An entire afterlife's worth, so what could be worth hurrying for? Now I just have to find another stick. Matthew stomps back to me and takes my hand.

"It's almost dinnertime. I thought you'd want to shower before?" he says exasperated. At the mention of dinner, my stomach growls.

Wow, I didn't know it still did that.

The tree line finally breaks and stretched across the horizon is Legacy Academy. I assume anyway. It looks like all the cover pages of admission books I received when applying to universities. Historical and functional like all of the old campuses of the east coast. The sun was setting across from us, barely visible behind what looked like a cathedral. Its shadow encapsulated the vibrant green quad outstretched below us. Other smaller collections of buildings spun around the quad like it were the center of a web. Gorgeous in every sense of the word.

"We still have to go to the administrative building." He points to the cathedral. "Then the dorms, and dinner will be over there in the dining hall," he says as he triangulates our path in the air. My legs already hurt from our hike, and the walk to the admissions building is Fitbit daily goal level long. If every day is going to be this intensive, I might actually lose some weight.

"Your physical appearance isn't going to change. You're dead, remember?" Matthew says. Well, that's just great. Why couldn't I have died a few months ago before I went on that post-summer pasta binge? My stomach growls again. I look to Matthew who is looking at me a little too closely for my liking.

"Something wrong?"

He turns away and keeps walking. "It's nothing," he says.

***

More paperwork, not torturing me this time, but another girl behind a completely obscured circular desk. Even after I hear her stand, I can only see the top of a kinky-haired bun.

"Good afternoon, April," Matthew says above the piles of paper. April moves one of the three-foot stacks of documents and grins.

"Alright let me have it," she says. Her gaze shifts from Matthew to me. She looks me up and down then covers her mouth.

"Sorry, it isn't a joke this time," Matthew says. "This is Elizabeth." He looks over at me.

"Oh, hi there," I say, slipping over the words.

"Be polite," Matthew whispers. Wasn't I already? Not enough I guess. He's practically glaring at me.

"Good afternoon, Miss April."

He didn't seem this uptight earlier.

"Do you think we'll be able to get her settled in by dinner time?"

That makes sense, he's hangry.

April shakes her head, causing her dangly gold earrings to ring.

"I don't know Matthew. I really thought you and Doc had been joking," she says solemnly. I jump as the sound of a door closing echoes off the walls. A short heavy-set man bounds down the staircase behind April's desk, his thinning hair whipping upward with every step. He's surprisingly quick, given his size. It only takes him a minute to join the three of us.

"Oh! Dean Hadden, I've-" April stutters. The dean passes by the desk and approaches Matthew. He gives him a double-handed handshake.

"Is this our new student?" he doesn't even look at me while he asks.

"Yes, sir. Doc and I collaborated on her assessment, here it is." The dean takes the envelope and begins to open it.

"And Doc found that necessary?" the dean asks. Matthew nods.

"His recommendation is on top."

The dean sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. He motions for Matthew to follow him into an isolated corner. I'm stuck with April and she has already hidden herself behind her stacks. Just me and the floorboards then. They're pretty, shiny long dark panels that gleam as if they had just been waxed. It's like looking into glass. Even the light coming off the ornate chandelier above is reflected on the floor.

Everything here looks as if it has just come out of a box. What a strange place. I look over to the dean and Matthew speaking. This is more of a hassle than I thought possible. I thought the afterlife, if I had been spared some kind of eternal torture, would be easy, thoughtless happiness. I never thought I'd be hungry again, or feel lost and alone again. What am I thinking? I was never alone in life. I had my nerdy roommates and my overbearing parents. My parents.

I run up to the desk April is at.

"April, or miss April, your royal highness, or whatever-has anyone else new been here today? Anyone else who just died?"

She shoves a stack of papers aside and stares at me blankly.

"My parents they-they were in the car with me. My mom has red hair that's overdue for another box of dye and she's a lot taller than me, she might have been wearing a white blouse and a..."

"No, that's impossible. I'm sorry," she says shaking her head.

Tears prickle the corners of my eyes.

"How could you know that for sure? What if no one has found them yet? Do you have like a database or..."

"Elizabeth." I turn around. It's the dean. He and Matthew are back from their conversation.

"Your parents aren't here and there's no way to know their fate," the dean says.

"But how could you..."

"This afterlife is only meant for the young. Everyone who comes here arrives as a teenager or young adult. Your presence is an irregularity in itself. The likelihood that you're related or have known anyone here is nearly zero," Matthew says, cutting straight to the point and straight through my heart.

The dean speaks next. "The council will make a determination on which house you'll be assigned to tomorrow. In the meantime, Matthew will assist you." he looks to April. "See if you can wrestle up some supplies."

April nods and disappears behind her stacks. The dean reaches into his pocket and hands Matthew a key ring.

"That room will have to suffice for now. See you both at dinner."

I give a half-hearted wave. Guess that's it then. I'm officially a student at Legacy Academy.