Chapter 2:
There it was again. The dark. The all consuming dark. It wouldn't be long now before the pain would kick in. But waiting for it, knowing it would come, that was almost worse. Almost…
Most people always told me that when you die you could feel a rush of pain, but it would just be one second and then it would go away. And then you would feel nothing anymore. Only peace. This was a nice story when you're a little boy and your mom dies. Then you think at least she wasn't in much pain. But let me tell you something. Just a piece of advice from someone who has actually died and came back to live. It is bull crap! It hurts a lot! And trust me, I felt everything. And considering that I died because of an explosion, it wasn't really nice. I could feel my body being burned. I could feel the explosion almost forcing my skin off of my face. Also not very nice. Then my body started to feel like it was burning from the inside. Now I wondered the same thing as you are probably thinking right now. If I am basically immune to fire, have the power to control fire and have never been able to burn myself, how on earth can I feel like I'm burning right now? Good question. At first I thought it was because my standerts wouldn't go this far. Which is true for a part. I'm still half mortal. So of course my body doesn't like to be in the middle of an explosion. The second thing I thought of was that I could of course also be in the Fields of Punishment. Going through all the pain again and again. Only to think I would eventually be awake and happy. Only to go right back to the pain and dispair. It would be an endless cycle. I hoped I was wrong about the second one. And three. Maybe it was a side effect from the cure. Not much was known about it, besides it legend. So it could be a possibility that you would get the cure, but for the price of reliving your death in your dreams. I could only hope that I was wrong about this one as well or that it would get less with the years. Overall it was crapy. All the sudden I felt extreme pain in my arms and legs. It came so sudden that I couldn't stop myself from letting out an agonising scream.
I had been so lost in my theories. Trying to make sense of everything that I had forgotten that the pain would be coming. And somehow because it was so sudden, it seemed almost like it hurt more than when I was focused on it. I tried to keep my body temperature under control. To keep my breathing steady and my mind focused. But it didn't seem to work. It never really did. But it was worth to keep trying. To tell myself that maybe this time it would be better than the last. That it would hurt less or it would be shorter. But it never really changed. The only thing I could do is go through it and hope that I would wake up soon. I thought about the Fields of Punishment theorie again. Somehow I couldn't get it out of my head. I mean, it wasn't like I was the nicest person. But I did think that that would be a bit much. I wasn't really a bad person. Sure, I pulled some pranks here and there. Would maybe set somethings on fire. But that wasn't really a reason to go there would it…? Nooo, it couldn't be. Then it would be loaded. But maybe for my mom…
I got shaken out of the dream. "Leo, it's okay. You're awake, you can stop crying now. You're awake." She kept saying that it wasn't real and that I was safe now. But I knew there would be a next time. And the torment would continue. But at least I was back with her now. I could face it again. Or at least I could try! I hugged her and laid back down with my arms still around her.
She eventually fell back asleep. Somehow time flew by, because before I knew it the alarm rang. "Morning." she said. "Good morning!" "How are you feeling?" She looked at me and I could see the worry in her eyes. I couldn't just tell her everything that went through my mind when I would have those nightmares. I always told her bits and pieces. "Feeling like my throat has been on fire." I smiled at her. She gave me a kiss on my cheek. "Why don't you go take a shower, then I'll make sure that breakfast is ready when you come down." And with that she leaped out of bed and went the kitchen. I fell back down on the pillows. Would it ever stop? I pushed the thought aside as soon as it came and went to take a shower.