Summary:

While she was surfing, Rowan went tumbling off her board and found herself in the depths of the ocean. The next thing she knew, she was in Everlost, in the hands of Mary Hightower. She feels alone in the large world of Everlost, but she soon realizes that she's not alone. No matter what, she's going to find that one thing that matters most. But how will she escape from Mary's grasp when there are guards stationed at every door? With the help of her new found allies that despise Mary as much as she does, this was made possible.
And as if her life in Everlost wasn't complicated enough, she finds out that she's not just a normal Afterlight. Great.
This story takes place during the second book, Everwild, by Neal Shusterman. For this story is in between the lines… of the 'In-between.'

Prologue:

The Beginning.

It was fall, and a cool autumn breeze grazed the side of my face as my surfboard cut through the waves with such ease that it felt like I was floating. Thunder clouds were rolling their way towards the shore, rumbling as they got closer, almost like a warning I never heard. I chose to stay in the water, though. I can't exactly tell you why, but surfing's my getaway, my safe haven from the world and what it is today. So much had been going on the past week: from my new move, to school that I have no idea what there talking about only because I was home schooled my whole life. My thoughts were weighing such a heavy weight on me that I got distracted, and that is one thing you don't want to happen when you're surfing. The next thing I know, I was tumbling off my board, and the water was enveloping me. It felt as if someone had lit a fire in my lungs, and they were now blazing in an inferno. The water was thrashing and pushing me against the rocks so much that I didn't have control over my body at all, even though I was a great swimmer. I can still see the blur of terrified faces that I spotted up on the shore before millions of bubbles blocked my vision. When I shut my eyes, visions of my life flashed before my eyes. My parents, my adoring little brother, my first bike ride. It's strange: the small memories you see on the verge of death. The images were speeding up, getting faster and faster, until I couldn't make out a single image, it was just a blur. From then on, I knew it was my time to go… my time to die… but I wasn't ready.

That was the last thing I remembered.

Chapter 1

"Her sleep was dreamless, as it would be for a long, long time."

9 months later

The Arrival.

When I awoke, I was pretty sure my death was all a dream. What brought on the dream, I didn't know. It had felt so real, but that kind of stuff doesn't happen to people like me. So it had to have been a dream, right? Well, more like a nightmare. My eyes were heavy with drowsiness, and I imagined myself lying in bed. The sun would pour through my window, and light up the whole room giving it a morning glow. The smell of Pancakes and Toast would drift up the stairs from the kitchen, and I would smile as it tickled my nose. But that wasn't it at all. As I instinctively reached out for my blanket, all I felt was a cold, hard surface. My eyes shot open and I discovered that I was definitely not in my bedroom. Or as Dorothy would say, 'Were not in Kansas anymore.'

The room I was in confused me. It was all a big dome. The crystals imbedded in the walls shimmered as the light hit it in every direction, and the reflection hit the opposite wall creating intricate shapes. The weird thing was that there were many children of all ages packed up into here. They were curled up into a fatal position, hundreds of them. They looked as if they were asleep.

When I looked down at myself, I gasped. I was in my wet suit and beads of water steadily dripped down my arms. I tried to wipe off the water, but more and more would come, like water was seeping through my clothes. I reached up, touching my hair. It was damp, like I had just blow-dried my hair, but not enough. What the… I caught a glimpse of my uncovered hand. It had a small, but noticeable glow to it.

I stood up examining the kid that lay next to me, prodding him with my foot. He had a glow too, but not as bright as mine was.

A soft, but powerful voice startled me, "I wouldn't do that if I were you," someone said. I spun around to find a girl with the beauty of a model staring at me. "It might disrupt their sleep."

I looked at the girl suspiciously. She had long, auburn, wavy hair that reached her waist and her crystal blue eyes seemed to pierce right through me. She looked about fifteen or sixteen. "W-who are you?" I stuttered.

"Welcome afterlight. My name is Miss Mary, and you are among friends," she said proudly, and then asked, "But the question is: who are you?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but I didn't know what to say. What was my name? I put my fingertips on my temples and closed my eyes, thinking hard. "Uh..." My head was pounding, and I was about to give up when suddenly a name showed behind my eyelids. "I-I'm Rowan." I said unable to remember my last name. I wanted to ask so many questions, I just didn't know where to start. I just started with a simple one: "Where am I?"

She smiled, "Why, you're in the Interlight incubator. But if you want me to be more specific…" she paused, and I nodded. "This is a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. You are in the 'in-between'. Like a limbo between life and death." When she said this, I had a flashback of what I first thought was a dream, but now I was sure it wasn't. I remembered it all: The rolling thunder clouds, my lungs bursting after I wiped out, the terrified faces on shore. I had died... Not all the way, but I still died.

Miss Mary continued, "Rowan, Welcome to Everlost."