The Afterlife

Chapter 03-The Days We Lived

[Acre City, August 10, 2110- Greenville residence]

“Ma, I’m going downstairs to play cyberball with Hailey and the others!” Joren yelled. “Alright but remember, no going out of the gates without adult supervision and no using your powers.” Joren’s mother replied as she clipped more clothes onto the rack. “Hey Hey Hey, how dare you start playing without me” Joren said cheekily as his friends were tossing a holographic ball around. “Where’s Hailey by the way?” Joren said, glancing around the field. “Hailey? Not sure, she probably overslept.Again.” One of the boys said. Not wanting to keep the other kids waiting, Joren suggested that they start playing first. As the boys played on, there was still no sight of Hailey. 

Meanwhile, as the boys were playing in the field, Hailey was busy feeding her younger sister and helping out with the laundry. Being occupied with the household chores had caused her to forget about her meeting with Joren and the others. It was only when her mum reminded her to be careful and to not leave the estate without her permission, that she remembered that she was supposed to meet with Joren and the others. In a state of panic, she accidentally knocked over a pile of clothes she had folded. Seeing the clothes scattered across the floor, she quickly bent over to pick them up. As their living room was small, when she bent down she hit the table behind her which caused the bowl of food on the table to spill. Sensing her distress, Hailey’s mother told her it was okay and that she would clean up later and told her to go down first.

After wearing her shoes as fast as she could, Hailey sprinted as fast as she could towards the stairs as she did not want to be any later than she already was. Hailey hated being late, to her being late felt like a display of disrespect as it showed the lack of effort to be punctual and yet ironically, here she was late. Again. As she made her way down the stairs, she kept lamenting to herself that she should have planned out her time properly.

“Hey guys! Sorry I’m la-”Hailey's line was perfectly cut as she lost her footing on her way down the stairs, scraping her knee. Seeing Hailey on the ground, Joren could not help but smirk and chuckle and called her ‘Klutz’. 

“I heard that!” Hailey remarked as she shot him an irritated glance. 

“Woah woah woah calm down medusa, I’m kidding” Joren defended. “You alright? That fall looked painful”

“I think I might have scraped my knee.” Replied Hailey

 “Scrape is a nice way to put it,” Joren said, placing the side of his fist against his

 mouth as he assessed the wound.

“Can you stand? Let’s get you patched up” Joren said extending out his hand towards her. She nodded and took his hand and they walked towards a small shed made out of scrap metal with a small sign that said ‘Density’s HQ’ not far from the open field. Joren placed her gently down on a chair and proceeded to grab a first aid kit.

“Wait. where are we? And who is Density?” Hailey asked curiously.

“ My mancave, I come here whenever I need some alone time. Density is my... um… codename” Joren replied.

“ Codename? Seriously?” Hailey chuckled.

“Yea codename. You know the kind metahumans used to get to protect their identities when on missions” Joren said as he treated Hailey’s wound.

“Come on Joren. That was from an era where metahumans were loved and respected, not feared and hated. Those glory days of freedom are over, regardless of whether you have a codename or not, they’re still going to kill you once they find out once you’re different from them. I highly doubt you’re going to be saving people in the open anytime soon.”

Hailey said. The atmosphere in the room quickly became tensed and the bright and cheerful aura surrounding Joren had vanished. 

“Come on let’s enjoy our last year of our childhood before we become teens” Hailey said trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

[Acre City, August 30th, 2113- Acre High School]

  

“Alright class don’t forget to study for your finals coming up soon” The teacher said as he packed up his desk. “Yo Hailey, how’s your finals prep coming along?” Joren asked cheerfully as he sat on the desk next to her.

“Urghh, I’ve barely even started on it and it’s already killing me. And don’t get me started on Math. Seriously, how on earth is finding y gonna help me in my future.” Haily complained as she slumped on the table.

“Still busy with the cafe?” Joren inquired.

Haily nodded, still slumping on the desk.

“Well if you are down, I can help you at the cafe then afterwards we can study together.” Joren offered.

“So… a date?” Hailey said.

“I-” Joren stammered as his face flushed red

“ Relax, I’m kidding. I’ll take up the offer though, I could really use an extra pair of hands. Ever since dad left for work, my mom has been so busy at the cafe that she hardly has time for herself anymore. '' Hailey said greatfully. Over the course of the next few weeks until their finals, Joren would go to Hailey’s cafe and help with cleaning the dishes, serving the food and wherever he could. Afterwards, Hailey and Joren would head to a quiet corner of the cafe and study together

[Acre City, October 12th, 2113- The night before finals]

 Hailey's Dad stood at the door carrying a gift wrapped box. He was finally home after being stationed overseas. He had bought a gift in hopes to surprise his kids. Heart pumping and hands sweating as he slowly put the key into the keyhole and twisted it , hoping that Hailey or her sister would not hear him. As soon as his face peered through the gap of the door, Hailey and her sister let out an excited shriek and immediately rushed to the door to hug their dad. “Aww, I missed you guys too” he said as he hugged them.

“Hey Hailey, how’s your finals preparation coming along?” He asked as he closed the door behind them

“It’s going great, Joren came over to help with the cafe and help me with my prep after my shift. He’s been a great help, I can almost feel the straight As.” Hailey replied while pouring a glass of water for her dad. 

“Sounds like my potential son in law.” Hailey’s Dad jokes.

“Dad! We’re just friends” Hailey said, shooting him an irritated glance. 

“That’s how it always starts,” her dad said, raising an eyebrow. “Anyway, don’t sleep too late. Your finals are first thing in the morning.” 

That night before Hailey went to sleep, she got a text from Joren wishing her all the best for finals the next day. She smiled to herself and went to sleep. Couple of hours passed into the night, Hailey was woken up by her mother who was extremely flustered. Still in a daze, she looked around the room trying to figure out what had happened. After spending some time trying to figure it out, she gave up and decided to ask her mother what was going on. Her mother however, stood there in silence and urged her once more to quickly pack her things before leaving the room. Hailey’s mother was typically calm and collected whenever facing issues and seeing her in such a state of panic scared Hailey. Whilst packing her stuff, Hailey overheard her father frantically talking to someone over the phone. Burning with curiosity, she placed her ears closer to the door to try figure out what her father was talking about. Despite not being able to hear everything, the words she could hear was enough to cause her to start panicking.

Seconds later, her parents rushed into the room carrying her sister and a bag of emergency supplies. Her parents, now shaking like leaves, quickly locked the door behind them and started placing heavy items behind it. Her parents then urged her and her sister to hide in the closet. Fully aware of what was happening, Hailey told them that she was not leaving them behind and they would escape together. Just as her parents were about to assure her, a loud thud was heard from their living room and footsteps followed behind them. Without delay, her parents shoved Hailey and her sister into the closet and shut the closet door. Hailey froze in fear as seconds later, a loud piercing sound echoed through the room and blood splattered across the closet door. At this point, she had turned pale white and she could feel her soul leaving her body and was unable to stop her sister from screaming in horror. Hearing the scream, the two figures turned their heads towards the closet and walked over towards them. Now scared out of their wits, the two of them could only sit there in fear as the figures drew closer and closer. 

"Kai, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...sorry for not being brave and strong enough.. but at least we'll get to meet mum and dad real soon." Hailey apologized to her sister as the footsteps grew louder and the figures became bigger. The figures now inches away from the door, grabbed open the closet door only to find it empty. Placing his hands on their mouths, Joren pulled them further into the hidden passageway which was placed behind their closet. The two figures spent the next few minutes walking around the room in search of the sound they heard. After not being able to find anything, the figures walked out of the room. Letting a breath of relief, the trio sat in the passageway in silence, recollecting what had happened.

“Anyone else made it out alive? Issac? Zac? Kim?” Hailey asked hopefully.

“Same as our parents” Joren replied softly. Silence filled the passageway as everyone looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say. All their lives, they have always had an adult in Greenville to look after them, even when doing mundane things such as walking to school or playing in the open field and as such they have never felt that they were in danger. However now that everyone was gone and there was no one to protect them, they felt like a snail without its shell. After a long silence, Joren suggested that they should start by getting out of the passageway as it was only a matter of time before they were discovered too. Shortly after, the trio found their way out of the passageway which led them to the open field they used to play when they were kids. As the coast seemed to be clar, they proceeded to make their way towards the gate. 

“And here I thought all the lives I’ve consumed was starting to drive me insane.” One of the figures from earlier said as he loomed over them. Seeing the corpse of her father over the figure’s shoulder, Hailey’s blood froze and she started trembling.

“Oh? Is this yours?” the figure said placing the corpse in front of her. “Oh don’t worry sweetheart, you and your friends will join him real soon” The figure continued as he picked Joren and Hailey up by the neck . Using whatever energy he could master, Joren clenched his fist and it started glowing and punched the figure in the stomach which sent the figure flying backwards and crashing into the garden.

“Hailey. Grab Kai and run now. There isn’t much time. I’ll stall for time while you make a run for it.” Joren said firmly.

“No I’m not losing you too. I’ve already lost enough loved ones today. I’m staying with you. We’ll get out of here together.” Hailey said.

“Hailey. Even if we somehow manage to defeat him, we won’t be able to defeat the rest of the attackers. Heck, we don’t even know how many of them there are. I’m not asking you Hailey, Leave with Kai while you still can. Don’t put our efforts in vain” Joren said, sounding more impatient as the figure stood up.

“I’ll be fine Hailey, after all I’m Density” Joren smiled reassuringly as he strapped his backpack onto Hailey and Kai, sending them off. As the backpack sent them flying out of Greenville, Hailey looked back to see Joren one last time as she did her best to hold back her tears.