The In-Between of Love and Death.
Disclaimer: I own nothing (for now). Loosely based off of the movie 'Wristcutters'.
Chapter 1: Welcome to nowhere.
'So this is what the in-between feels like.'
A woman with short blonde hair takes a deep drag of her cigarette and blows out a cloud of smoke.
'Who would of thought that the life after death was shittier than the world before. Whoever thought that death was a better way out was incredibly wrong. Everything here is the same, just worse. Same old shitty jobs, bad bars, horrible towns and people with far more depressing stories.'
The blonde turned around and faced a bartender whose face was disfigured with a small circular scar to the middle of his forehead.
"Vodka, straight up." The bartender nodded as he poured the blonde a shot and slid it towards her.
The blonde quickly placed down her cigarette and knocked back the drink, feeling the familiar burn go down her throat. "At least the alcohol is the same," the blonde muttered to herself as she examined the empty shot glass.
"Did you just arrive?" the bartender questioned as he placed another shot in front of the blonde and poured another for himself. The blonde nodded as she raised the glass to the bartender who mirrored her image and knocked back the shot.
"Yeah, got here last week."
The bartender nodded as he poured another round for them.
"How did you off yourself?" He questioned as he knocked back his shot and stared at the blonde. The blonde stared at the glass, observing the liquid swish within the glass. She quickly knocked back the shot and stared at the bartender as she raised her right wrist, which displayed a deep X-marked scar. The bartender nodded as he pointed to his forehead. "Mine is pretty obvious."
The blonde remained silent as she stared down at her wrists that lay on the bar counter. Two identical X-marked scars on both her wrists stared back at her.
"It's not that bad once you get used to it," the bartender stated, snapping the blonde out of her trance. "It's pretty much the same life as it was before, just worse. Some punishment huh?"
The blonde remained silent once more and gave him a nod as she grabbed her cigarette. "Thanks for the drinks."
"Not a problem," the bartender stated as he gathered the glasses and watched the blonde exit the sad little bar.
Once outside the blonde, zipped up her leather jacket feeling the cold wind blow against her. She took a deep drag and stared around the deserted parking lot.
So this was it huh? Who would of thought that Quinn Fabray would end up here. The bartender was right. This was the worst punishment. It was the same fucked up world just worse and with no purpose for living-if that's what they called it here. At least when she was living, she could smile. But then again why would she smile here? She was stuck in the in-between with no way out. Yeah, she could off herself again, but who knows where she could end up after? Probably an even shittier place than this.
The blonde sighed as she dropped her cigarette to the ground and stomped out the small budding light. The blonde closed her eyes, feeling the wind flow around her but quickly snapped open her eyes upon hearing light footsteps approaching her. The blonde looked up and saw a small figure walking towards her; she squinted, as she could not make out the figure in the dark.
"Excuse me," a light hesitant voice stated as the figure approached closer and closer. Quinn stayed in place as she stared out at the figure remaining silent.
Stepping into the light a short, beautiful brunette with stunning brown eyes revealed herself to the blonde. "Excuse me, " the brunette repeated as she stared at Quinn, fear written all over her face. "Do you know where I am?"
Quinn examined the brunette as she looked her up and down. 'She's a newbie. She has no idea where she is.'
"You're dead, kiddo," Quinn stated as she pulled out a box of cigarettes and pounding the box onto her hand.
"Excuse me?" the brunette gasped as she stepped closer to the blonde who lit another cigarette. "There has to be a mistake, I cannot be dead."
Quinn took a drag as she raised her eyebrow at the shorter girl. "There's no mistake kid. You off-ed yourself, and now, you're here."
"I what myself?" the brunette questioned, her eyes wide as saucers.
"You off-ed yourself," Quinn stated calmly as she took another drag and stared at the brunette who looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"No, no. There has to a mistake," the brunette stated as she shook her head in disbelief. "I'm Rachel Berry, I would never do such a thing to myself!"
"Tough luck kid, you wouldn't be here if you hadn't," Quinn stated as the brunette shook with fear and her breathing becoming more shallow and rapid.
"I-I can't be dead, I-I was on top of the world. I had finally achieved my dream of reaching Broadway," the brunette rambled as began to pace in front of the blonde who continued to smoke her cigarette. "I mean sure, it was stressful and caused me to lack sleep, but I would never go to such extreme measures. God, I even took sleeping pills just so I could stay functional and-"
The brunette stopped in her place and gasped placing her hands over mouth in shock. "Oh my God, the pills! I-I couldn't have. I just-I just took two extra pills so I could sleep better," the brunette stated in a panic at her realization. "No, no, no. This is all wrong, it's a mistake!"
The blonde stared at the shorter girl as she rambled to herself. "Sorry, kiddo. What's done is done."
Rachel turned and quickly rushed to Quinn grabbing the front of the blonde's jacket in a panic. "Please, tell me there's someone I can talk to, to reverse this." Rachel stated as stared up at the blonde who gave a small chuckle.
"Sorry, but there's nothing that can be done."
"I refuse to believe that. This is just a bad dream," Rachel stated as she let go of the blonde and hugged herself. "It's okay, Rachel, you'll wake up soon. All of this is just in your imagination."
Quinn sighed as dropped her finished cigarette and gave the brunette a sympathetic look. 'Poor kid. She's in denial,' Quinn thought as she stared at the brunette who now sat on the curb, silent tears falling down her cheeks.
Quinn sighed once more, feeling more sympathetic for the brunette as she approached the shorter girl and towered over her.
"Listen kid, I hate to be the barer of bad news, but you're dead," Quinn said softly as the tears streamed faster down the brunette's face. "But,"
"But?" Rachel questioned as she perked up and stared up at the blonde, silent tears still flowing but a much slower pace.
"But, I heard rumors that if you travel north, there is a group of people in charge of this place," Quinn stated as the brunette jumped up and wiped the tears from her face.
"Perfect! I can go there and tell them this was all mistake, and they can reverse this!" the brunette stated with determination as Quinn remained nonchalant, showing no emotion on her face.
"That is if you can find them," Quinn stated as Rachel faced her.
"What do you mean?" Rachel questioned worry evident on her face as she bit her lip.
"Meaning that no one knows who they are, what they look like or where they are located exactly."
"Then how do you know they exist?" Rachel questioned as Quinn gave a small shrug.
"Rumor has it, that there was once a man who was placed here by accident and went looking for the group in charge of this place."
"And?"
"And, nothing. He never came back," Quinn stated as she gripped her jacket closer to her as another violent wind stoked the air.
"So, how do people know he got out of here?" Rachel questioned as she shivered.
"Because, people always come back," Quinn stated simply as she also started to shiver and began to rub her hand up and down her arms.
"Listen kid, I really am sorry for what happened to you. But that's what happens in life. Death comes to everyone, some sooner than others. Others on accident, others on purpose. But it happens to all of us. We all got here because we off-ed ourselves in different ways but we still ended up in the same place at the end."
"But I didn't off myself," Rachel objected as she hugged herself.
"I understand that, but you're still here," Quinn stated as the brunette remained silent for the first time since the blonde had encountered her. "Listen, it's getting cold out here. You should find somewhere warm to stay for the night. If you go down the road there's a small motel that you can stay at until you're given a permanent place to live," Quinn stated as she began to blow into her hands.
"No," Rachel stated, as she stayed rooted to her spot.
"Listen kid, I-" Quinn began but was quickly cut off as the brunette stepped in front of the blonde.
"Stop calling me, kid. You barely look older than I am," Rachel huffed as Quinn raised an eyebrow at the shorter girl.
"That maybe true, but when you're here, you feel like you've lived for an eternity," Quinn stated as she returned the brunette's gaze. "You can ask anyone here, they've lived in the life before and now that they're here and there's nothing else they can do. It's like waiting for another life to end but it never will."
Rachel stared at the blonde and abruptly turned around walking back into the dark. "Thanks for all the help," Rachel stated as she quickly walked away.
"Hey!" Quinn stated as she jogged after the brunette grabbing her arm and facing her towards her. "Where are you going? The motel is that way."
"I'm not going there, I'm going to find the people in charge of this place and get my life back," Rachel stated as Quinn loosened her grip on the brunette. " I appreciate all your help, and you answered all my questions, so thank you. But I can't stay here. I need to go back. I have barely begun to live, so I can't be here. I just can't."
Quinn stared at the brunette studying her. She quickly dropped her hand from shorter girl's arm as she placed that same hand on her neck and rubbed it in frustration. "Ugh," Quinn huffed as she stared at the brunette. "Fine, I'll help you."
"You'll help me?" Rachel questioned as she was taken aback.
"Yeah," Quinn stated as the brunette stared at her in confusion. "It's not like I have anything else better to do, and assuming that you're new, you won't know where anything is. I'm still new too, but I generally know where things are."
Rachel quickly hugged the blonde who stiffened at the contact as she tried to smile but failed.
"You can't smile here," Quinn stated as the brunette released her grip on her, seeing the brunette's confusion. "It's some sick joke they have here. No one can smile here, but then again there's not really a reason as to why we should."
"You can't smile here?" the brunette questioned as she started to play with her mouth as she tried to lift it with her hands but it quickly drooped down as soon as she released her grip.
Quinn shook her head no as she began to walk away from the brunette. "Follow me."
"Wait, where are we going," the brunette stated as she jogged after the taller girl.
"We're going back to my place, we can head out in the morning when there's light out," Quinn stated as she continued to stalk forward and the brunette nodded.
"Wait," the brunette stated as she walked in front of the blonde stopping her in her tracks.
"What?" Quinn stated as she stared the brunette.
"Rachel Berry, pleasure to meet you," Rachel stated as she stuck her hand out to the blonde who studied her hand before raising an eyebrow but eventually gripping the brunette's hand in return.
"Fabray. Quinn Fabray," Quinn stated as she stared at the brunette whose eyes sparkled and seemed to smile at her.
"Let's go?" Quinn questioned as the brunette nodded and followed the blonde.
'Maybe I'll find a purpose in this world after all,' Quinn thought to herself as she watched the brunette skip along side her. 'If I couldn't save my life, at least I can try and save hers. '
TBC.
A/N: So, were you glad you clicked on this? I hope it was worth it. So, I know I have two other stories I should be updating but this story has been on my mind for a while and between the scripts and other fics I've been writing this is a nice break. And for those of you wanting to watch the movie this is loosly based off of, it's called 'Wristcutters' and I believe it should be on Netflix streaming, unless they took it down, but it's definitely one of favorite indies as is worth watching. So, what do you all think? Shall I continue? Please be a responsible reader and review. Reviews motivate me more than anything else, so please don't be shy and write one;)
A/N 2: oh on another note I wanted to share my good news! I was selected to be one of 15 filmmakers chosen to write, shoot and edit a short film for the OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project from LifeWorks and Outfest! My short film will be shown at the Fusion film festival and OutFest film festival in LA! I'm so excited! But I wanted to share my joy with all of you, especially to those readers that have stuck with me through thick and thin!
Till next time. –Ayaka620