The Afterlife- Hope

Chapter 2

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Kayden instructs Luce and Eddy to bring Hailey to the medical bay urgently. “After all these years, you really haven’t changed one bit. Constantly using our situation to justify your actions.” The voice taunted.

“Quit acting as if you’ve known me for ages. The only reason we’re having this conversation is for work related purposes. If not for that, you are the last person I would want to mingle with.” Kayden retorted back.

“Then quit acting like a saint. Just because you save a few of our kind every now and then doesn’t make you our messiah.” The voice shot back sharply.

“Well if it wasn’t for your kind, we wouldn’t be where we are today.” Kayden hissed.

“Oh I’m sorry, but unlike some people, ‘my kind’ didn’t choose to massacre countless of our people.” Vai’ar said sarcastically. 

“For the love of metas, Vai’ar would you quit bickering with Kayden like younglings everytime we meet? We've more important things to discuss.” A woman dressed in a full white outfit with a grey torina long cardigan on the outside said.

Whilst Kayden were having their discussion, Luce told Eddy to prepare a room while he brought her to the medical bay. Even though the Journey to the medical bay was only a couple of minutes away, the silence and awkwardness made it feel as though it was miles away.

“Here we are.” Luce said as the door in front of them opened and inside the room was filled with numerous cupboards filled with multi-coloured liquids and numerous high tech medical equipment. “ Just lie down over here and I’ll start the machine.” Luce said reaching for one of the coats that had his name on it.

 "So... you're Hailey right?" She nodded. Waiting for a response, Luce stared at her for a couple of minutes before looking away awkwardly. Luce started up the enormous white machine that Hailey was resting on. As the machine scanned her for any injuries, Luce asked her bunch of questions in an attempt to talk to her. However, there was no reply or sound from her, apart from the occasional sniffing. Not wanting to pry any further, Luce

walked up to a desk a few steps away from the machine and started filling up some documents. A while later the machine in which hailey was started beeping, signalling that the scan has been completed. 

“Alright according to the scan, it seems that you’ve sustained a bruised shoulder and a tiny hairline fracture on your arm. I’ll just assign you a couple of medicines and you should be good to go.” Luce said as he opened the drawer next to him. “I’ll just need you to come back for a quick check-up to check on your arm next week.”

“This your full time job? Aren’t you still in High School?” Hailey asked.

“Well, not full time. I help out whenever I can after school hours or when I’m free.” Luce said, still a little surprised that he got a reply from her so quickly. Typically newcomers spend a week or two cutting themselves off from people as a form of coping mechanism before they are able to join back society.

“Well that’s not something you see everyday. Medicine is not typically an interest which a highschooler has at that age. I’m sure your parents must be proud” Hailey said, trying to hide her grief.

“Yea, they would be proud.” Luce sighed. “If only they were still around.” Luce said, opening the pendant around his neck. Inside it, there was a hologram image of him and his sister and their parents taken a couple of months before the second hunt started. Seeing Luce’s reaction, Hailey apologised. Luce shook the pendant dismissively as it has been a while since their deaths. “Hey, no matter how hard life gets, just remember this : If you never fall, you’ll never learn to pick yourself back up.” Hailey said, trying to lighten up the mood. After that Hailey and Luce spent the next hour reminiscing about their childhood and discovered that they had lived somewhat identical lives, from the ideals that their parents told them to their annoying siblings. 

“You know, you remind me a lot of my childhood friend. Whenever a kid in the neighbourhood had problems, they would go to him to talk about it.” Hailey commented. “He even had a mini area next to the garden which he called “Jor’s office” She chuckled. 

She took a deep breath then stared blankly at Luce. 

“He sounds like a great guy, what’s his name? Maybe I can search up his name on the sanctuary’s database. He might be here or in one of the colonies.” Luce said.

“It’s fine. You’re not going to find anything. Me and my...my sister were the only ones left after the Acre city fire anyway. I’ve been searching for him or any of our friends for years and still... nothing.” Hailey said her voice trailed off and her eyes darted away from Luce as she tried to avoid tearing up

After the words left, the silence that Luce dreaded engulfed the room once more. In the two years Luce had spent helping out at the medical bay, he had seen his fair share of grief stricken patients and he always managed to comfort them in some way. This time, however, things were different. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to think of a solution or how to comfort her. Luce sighed exasperatedly and thought about what he should say next.

“Sorry to interrupt, but Hailey are you familiar with someone named Joren? Supposedly died in the Acre city fire?” Kayden said breaking the awkward silence. Upon hearing the name, the flame of hope in her reignited again.