The Challenge:
Charlie vs. The Afterlife
The Verdict:
Charlie awakens after what seems to be a horrible dream where he was killed by a high school teacher with a dick for a nose. He stood up and looked around at the unfamiliar place. He was in the middle of a circular room that opened into a dark cave; he could hear water running in the distance.
Surely it was just a dream. Wasn't it? I can't have died yet, he thought, there are more drowning lives that must be saved.
He stood to his feet and found that he was still a bit dizzy. He stumbled and fell onto the cold rock floor. His stomach was burning fiercly, he lifted his black Smashing Pumpkins shirt and found a red rash on his chest, just to the left and slightly below his sternum. This is...where I was stabbed, his trembling hand grazing lightly over the wound.
His head jerked up as he heard a loud cracking sound echo through the cave. He limped into the central room of the cave and found that there were 4 different passages that led out of the cave. One of these passages, he thought, is my way out of this nightmare.
He heard the cracking sound again, this time not as loud. It came from the first passage on his left. With his hand against the wet cave wall, he made his way through the winding passage.
Soon, he came to a room that housed a pool table in its center. On the far side of the table stood a tall slender man with short spiked blonde hair. In one hand he held a pool stick, in the other he held a half-smoked cigarette.
"What's wrong, man? Do you have an eye contact problem?" the man asked.
"I don't wear eye contacts," Charlie answered.
"Yeah, shut the fuck up, asshole," The man boosted himself up on the table and soared into the air. He pulled on the end of the pool stick and unsheathed a long slender blade.
Charlie bowed his head as he had no energy to dart the attack. He felt a breeze of wind rush up from behind him, he turned to see Max Funk, his lifelong companion, flying through the air. Max drove his foot into the attacker's ribs, knocking him back down onto the pool table. Max landed on the other side of the table and grabbed the cue ball and the 8 ball.
"Time to get Funky," Max exclaimed. He leapt at the man still laying on the table. He threw the cue ball at the man's face. The man swung the sword cutting the ball in two, as well as cutting off Max's hand. The man began to smile, but he failed to see the 8 ball following the cue ball. The 8 ball smashed into the man's face with such force that his head was driven into the slate table. The pool stick blade fell to the floor.
"Max, your hand," Charlie muttered.
Max looked down and saw that his arm was bleeding terribly where his hand had been. He fell to his knees.
"Charlie, listen to me. I...I don't have much time."
"Max, oh Max. What is it? What is this horrible place?" Charlie asked, trickles of tears appearing at the corners of his eyes.
"Chucky, this place is called Mystias. It's a place for the dead that died before their time. You died early, Chuck. Earlier than you were supposed to. You only have a short time before the door back to life closes forever. You must make it back, Chucky, you must..."
"Max, Max, which passage leads out of here?" Charlie asked, shaking Max's dying body. Max opened his mouth but all that came out was a gurgling noise.
Max's body fell. "So this is the afterlife?" Charlie thought out loud. "What happens to Max? What happens if you die when you're already dead? Is there a way to bring him back?"
Charlie stood over Max's body for a moment before making his way back to the central room of the cave. He knew there must be a way to save Max, but he didn't have time for that. He had himself to save.
Charlie looked at the at the 3 passages that he hadn't traveled. One of them was his way home. He noticed there was something scribbled into the wall of the first passage. He walked closer and read:
THIS IS NOT THE WAY. TURN BACK.
Below that were two letters that he didn't fully understand.
B.T.
Charlie walked to the next passage and saw the same thing.
THIS IS NOT THE WAY. TURN BACK.
B.T.
He went to the final passage and saw this was a bit different.
THIS IS THE WAY.
B.T.
Charlie cunningly thought that these scribblings could have been that of a traitor. Someone who clearly wanted him to take the wrong passage and miss his chance to regain his life. He went back to the first of the three passages and entered, not fully knowing where it might lead him.
To Be Continued...
