The Afterlife Series Box Set

  As the man kept hitting him, the boy exhaled and his spirit emerged from him. Like in the other picture, two spirits arrived through the wall and took the boy’s spirit with them and left the body behind.

  I caught my breath and took a few steps backward. I realized I was shaking all over. Then I turned the pages back to look at the picture of the old lady. It had started all over again. She was lying in her bed and exhaling. It was like that with all the pictures. They kept repeating the same sequence over and over again.

  I stormed out of the room and ran down the hallway. I turned into another wide corridor that led me to a ladder. I hurried down the rungs, thinking it looked like somewhere I had been before. This led to a narrow passage, then a wonky ladder that ended at a wall. I ran back and found a hall with armor I was sure I had seen before. As I passed, the armor followed me before it took a turn and went down another hallway.

  I looked for a bell to ring but couldn’t find any. Eventually I sat down in a chair and sighed. After a few seconds I was sure I felt the legs of the chair moving. It began to walk sideways like a crab. Before I could get off, it quickly dashed down the hall. I screamed for it to stop, but as it ran I realized it was taking me in the right direction. Suddenly I saw people in the hallway, floating while they were talking, with books under their arms. They suddenly emerged from the walls, but everybody went in the same direction as me and my chair. The chair seemed to be slowing down now and I began to feel more comfortable.

  “Oh, I see you have made a new friend,” I heard a voice from behind me. A stream of peace and love rushed through me and I knew it was Rahmiel.

  “The thinking chair is a very good friend to have,” she said as she caught up with me.

  “Is that what it’s called?” I asked.

  “Yes, the thinking chair can read your mind and will help you in any way if you are good to it. But it will not help you if you are not nice and if your thoughts and motives are not right.”

  “Ah, that is how it knew where I wanted to go.”

  The chair stopped in front of a closed door.

  “It must have liked you right away. Normally it takes more than one try and a lot of persuasion to get it to help you. This is your classroom,” Rahmiel said. “You’d better hurry; I think they have already started.” She leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Don’t forget to thank the chair and tickle it under the seat. It really likes that,” she said before she left.

  So I took a moment and found the spot. One chair leg started moving and I could tell that it liked it.

  “There now. I have to go to class,” I said while petting it on the seat. “I hope the teacher will not be too mad at me.”

  I felt as though the chair smiled at me, but I wasn’t sure. Then I turned and opened the door to the classroom.

  “Well, look who has decided to finally join us.”

  It was Mrs. Higgins, the lady from the boat. I felt so embarrassed. Giggles came from where Portia sat with girl I remembered from dinner the night before.

  “Don’t just stand there. Go and sit down,” Mrs. Higgins said.

  I faked a smile and found a seat.

  “As I was just telling the class, I am going to teach you the History of the Afterlife. I will not only fill you in on the proud history of this Academy, but also on the history of the Spiritual Realm. As you know, you have entered the spirit world, the world of Ru’ach. This world is filled with possibilities, and you will be amazed at what you are capable of doing. This is your first full day in the Afterlife and there is a lot you don’t know. But don’t worry; by the time you graduate from this place, you will know all you need to know.”

  She looked at the class and then turned to the blackboard behind her. It wasn't like an old-fashioned chalkboard. It was very different as a matter of fact. It seemed to be made out of light. I noticed she didn't have a pen to write on it. She just touched the board of light and then pictures occurred. Soon images made from light were floating around in the class-room, accompanied by music and voices telling stories. I didn't have to concentrate at all. It was like it simply oozed inside of my brain, like the light penetrated my brain and I immediately knew everything and understood everything.

  “As you know by now, you have all lost your physical body but you still exist as a spirit,” Mrs. Higgins explained while the many images were planted in my brain. Images from the Academy over time.

  “Not many people on earth are aware that they have a spirit that will still exist even when their physical body dies. There are several academies like this in the Afterworld, about four hundred or so, that take care of the spirits and prepare them for the Afterlife. Just before a spirit is born into a body it is appointed to an academy and it follows you through your earthly life and helps you get to the right place once your earthly body is dead. Some have classes on the moon and as you will experience we have several classes taking place at the Northern star.”

  What Mrs. Higgins told me explained a lot, like what I saw in those pictures in the book earlier. They had captured these people’s deaths and just repeated it again and again. But I didn’t understand why. What purpose did those horrible pictures have?

  “Now there are many things you can chose to do in your eternal life, and I will get back to all that later. But I can tell you that whatever your life was like on earth, it will not be like that here in the Afterlife. You will never go hungry or be weary again. Diseases can’t reach you, neither can cold nor warmth. From now on you are to enjoy your lives to the full extent. However, I do hope you chose to spend your time in eternity doing something good and valuable.”

  A boy raised his hand.

  “Yes, Nigel?” Mrs. Higgins said.

  “Where did all the bad people go? Are they here too?”

  Mrs. Higgins sighed. “No, they are not here. They went somewhere else,” she said.

  “Where?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  Another boy raised his hand.

  “Yes, Alberto?”

  “I was sure I saw Michael Jackson in the hall; was that really him? Does that mean that he was in fact innocent?”

  Mrs. Higgins sighed again and sat down while floating in the air.

  “I don’t know any details about the spirits who come here, or about the lives they have lived on earth. It is all a little complicated, kids,” she said. “There is a place for evil spirits, where demons rule over them. In the dark world. We call the evil spirits Se’irims. But who goes where is not something we decide. That is done for us by God.”

  “So there are no evil Sri ... ms ... here?” Nigel asked.

  “Se’irims,” she corrected him. “And no. You will not find them here in our school … hopefully not.”

  Nigel wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Phew.”

  “I’ve heard that some spirits change during their stay here,” Portia said, her green eyes lighting up her pale face. “That some are drawn to both worlds and chose to serve the dark and more powerful spirits.”

  “They are certainly not more powerful. I don’t know who would have told you such nonsense,” Mrs. Higgins said while snorting.

  Portia stuck her small nose in the air. “That’s what I heard.”

  “Well, it is wrong. It is true that there are cases of what we call fallen Angels and fallen Ru’achs. They are the ones who choose to serve the darkness instead of the light. ” Mrs. Higgins paused. Then she opened an old book in front of her. Light streamed out of it and words seemed to be dancing in the air.

  “Now everybody turn to page 23 of your textbook.”

  History of the Living Dead turned out to be a rather boring class. It was kind of cool in the beginning though, when we got to hear about all the famous Angels. But then we had to learn all their names and scribble them down.

  “Angels stay very close to God most of the time, but we do see them among us, like Salathiel and Rahmiel,” Mrs. Higgins explained. “They are both Angels and very close to our Alm
ighty Father. Salathiel is one of the first Angels. He was the rescuing Angel of Adam and Eve.”

  Nigel raised his hand again.

  “I don’t seem to remember him from the Bible.”

  “No, there is a lot of our history that hasn’t been written down for humans. That is why you need this history lesson. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they went through a lot of trials and temptations. Satan told them that he was an Angel sent from God, and he lured them to a mountain and made them climb it while wanting to throw them down and kill them. The Angels Salathiel and Suriyel were sent by God to bring them down from the high mountain.”

  “Cool,” Nigel said without raising his hand. “So he is a real Angel?”

  “Indeed he is. And so is Rahmiel. She is the Angel of mercy and love.”

  That explained the feelings she gave us all in her presence—the feelings of peace and of being loved.

  The rest of the history class was quite boring, I thought. I kept thinking about that poor boy in the picture. Was it real what I had seen? Had it already happened? I kind of understood the whole spirit thing a little better, though. Apparently that was something we Ru’achs did. At least some did. When a person on earth died we would go and help their spirit cross over to the Afterlife. I liked that and I wondered if there had been anyone helping me when I had died. If so, then who had done it? And did those spirits put me on the boat?

  Later, during lunch break I sneaked into the kitchen and found Mick. He sat in the window smoking a cigarette.

  “Are you allowed to do that here?” I asked.

  Mick smiled. He threw the cigarette out the window. “What could happen? Are you afraid I would die?”

  That made me laugh. “I guess not.”

  I climbed on the kitchen table and looked out the giant window he was sitting in. The view of the ocean beneath the castle and the mighty cliffs made me dizzy.

  “What is it?” Mick asked.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I am afraid of heights,” I said.

  Now it was Mick’s turn to laugh out loud. I smiled too.

  “I know. Crazy isn’t it? I mean I can’t remember my parents or the people that I love, but I do remember that I’m afraid of heights.” I said.

  He looked at me intensely with his blue eyes. They became like small cracks when he smiled. Then he made a very elegant movement with his arm and spoke. “In the Afterlife there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. You have to let go of all your earthly fears.”

  He was right; I knew that. Our teachers had been saying the same thing over and over again all morning. This was a big part of why they needed this Academy, to get people to think like spirits and not like humans.

  “Is there really nothing to be afraid of here?”

  I saw the expression in Mick’s eyes change.

  “There is something, isn’t there?” I asked.

  Mick floated away from the window and into the kitchen, turning his back at me.

  “What is it?”

  He sighed and turned to look at me. “It is not my job to educate you; ask your teachers,” he said, for the first time being a little dismissive toward me.

  “Our teacher already told us there are demons and Se’irims. Can they harm us?”

  Mick remained quiet. I jumped down from the window and walked closer to him, trying to catch his blue eyes and look into them.

  “They can!” I yelled. “How?”

  He shook his head heavily.

  “You have to ask someone else about that,” Mick said without looking at me. “I am busy. It is lunchtime, as you know.”

  I looked at the kitchen table in front of him. It was empty. Not a vegetable or a piece of meat in sight. And lunch was about to begin in the hall. The lunch bell had already been ringing. Several hundred Ru’achs waited for food to arrive on their plates. And not just any food, the food they each individually wanted right now. All their favorite dishes. I looked forward to seeing how Mick did this.

  Then the oddest thing happened. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands together. I stared with big eyes as smoke seemed to emerge from his hands. I began to feel concerned that something was very wrong.

  Then I saw it. The smoke slowly floated through the air into Hornam Hall where I now heard cheering and laughter. I ran and peeked through the door. As the smoke filled the hall and touched the plates, food of all kinds emerged on each of them. Exotic Asian food for some, meat and potatoes for others, even burgers and fries for those who loved that.

  I went back to Mick in the kitchen. He was still concentrating.

  “So that is how you do it,” I said.

  “Mmm…” he answered.

  I must say I was impressed to put it mildly.

  “It’s all in our heads?”

  Mick stopped and looked at me. He seemed a little exhausted. “The food is there all right,” he said. “But it is not like the food on earth. The fact is that we don’t really need food as spirits, but we do enjoy eating. That is one thing we bring from earth, and since we are meant to be enjoying our lives here, food plays a big part of that.”

  “So you make some kind of illusion that we are having food?”

  He nodded again. “You can call it that, yes. Most of the students know it by now. They tell you in the second year.”

  “What about sleeping? I slept last night and had a strange dream. Do we really need sleep?”

  “No. We think we need our sleep, just like we think we need food and other earthly things we enjoy. We can live without it, but it was such a big part of when we were humans, so we still do it in the Afterlife. Some Ru’achs stop eventually, but some keep eating and sleeping. But most Ru’achs don’t dream.”

  “I did.”

  “That is strange. I haven’t had a dream since I got here. Maybe you are different. Like people, no two spirits are alike. We all have different skills and gifts.”

  “Like you—you make illusions. That is a cool gift.”

  Mick smiled. “I guess it is what you would call cool,” he said.

  “What about the pictures in that book?” I asked after a short silence.

  He looked at me. “What pictures?”

  “The pictures of people dying. I found them in a huge book in a room somewhere when I was lost earlier today.”

  “That is not something you are supposed to be looking at.”

  “Well I did. I was lost and the door wasn’t locked. If they didn’t want me to go in there the least they could do is to lock the door.”

  Mick looked at me and smiled. “You mean they should lock a door in a castle filled with spirits who walk through walls?” He burst into laughter.

  “Okay, I hadn’t thought of that. But anyway, I saw them and they scared me.”

  “Well if you really must know, those are the ‘meant-to-be’ pictures. They show the people who are supposed to go to this academy when they die. They show how they will die.”

  “How they will die? Are you kidding me? Does that mean I just saw how several people on earth are supposed to go?”

  The very thought made my stomach lurch. I thought the pictures were of people already dead. This was really horrible.

  “When will this happen?”

  “If you noticed, underneath each picture there was a date. It is so we know when it is time to go get them. The pictures prepare us for the situation, so the Ru’achs who are assigned to go to these people and accompany their spirits here know what they will meet there.”

  I had noticed a lot of numbers underneath the pictures but hadn’t thought much of it. Now I understood, but that also meant the boy would die by the hands of that horrible man. Knowing that made me shiver.

  Chapter 5

  Professor Grangé, my teacher in Metamorphosis, was really cool. He died during the French revolution and had his head chopped off in the guillotine. He told us all about how he used to be a French aristocrat, how he had eaten with the French King Louis the sixteenth, and how he
used to dance at the king’s many balls at the mighty castle of Versailles.

  The professor walked around with his head under his arm. When he was teaching, he put it on the table while he spoke. In the beginning we didn’t hear much of what he was saying; everybody just stared at the talking head on top of the desk. He was used to that reaction from newcomers, he said.

  “We call this class Metamorphosis, since that is exactly what you are going through now. On earth people talk about metamorphosis in the animal world. It is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation, such as when a butterfly comes out of its cocoon. That is what has happened to you now. You have been trapped in that horrible earthly body for years and now it is time to fly.”

  I got the chills. I had been waiting for this. But being afraid of heights I was also a little scared.

  “You already have the ability to fly, but you just haven’t developed it yet. You still think as humans and therefore you don’t believe that you can actually fly. Once I have taught you how to do it, you will never have to walk or run anymore.”

  “Cool,” said the chubby Frederic Cornwell with a smirk. Alexandra nodded and smiled as well. For once he and his sister found something they could agree about.

  After a short theory lesson, we went outside for our first practical flying lesson. The new students used the Academy’s football field to practice. We lined up, facing the headless Mr. Grangé.

  “Now who wants to be the first to try?” he said while walking back and forth in front of us with his head under his arm.

  No one said a word. I was not going to make a fool of myself in front of the whole class. I just knew I would fall flat on my face.

  “Really?” Mr. Grangé asked. ”Not a single volunteer?”

  The silence was unpleasant. I kept hoping someone would step forward. Anyone as long as it wasn’t me.

  Mr. Grangé’s arms lifted his head up in the air so he could look down at us. It was quite a sight.