k. here's chapter 2. Things should make a bit more sense now. Please review :)
Holding onto Forever 2
Chapter 2
Olivia thought back to the conversation she had with Matt not long after his arrival. She thought back to the tears that streamed down his face as he ranted about the boy who he had loved. She had seen it one thousand times over in her line of work, but for some reason she felt drawn to Matt. Perhaps it was his genuine, warm personality. Or maybe it was his intelligence. Whatever it was, it was enough for her to get him a place to live, a job, and comfort when he needed someone to talk to. She was his only friend here.
She thought back to that night when he bared his soul, describing Near to a tee, both physically and mentally. He needed to let it out, to tell someone about him, to fulfil the basic human need of spilling your guts out to whoever is willing to listen. That's why it set off alarms in her head when she saw the white haired boy laying there, someone with a physical appearance as unique as Near's. Against her better judgement she called for Matt, knowing full well it might disappoint him, get his hopes up for nothing. She had a hunch though and followed it. It seemed she might have been right.
"Matt, is it him?" She asked.
Matt nodded, not even sure what to say. He stumbled closer and knelt down to the ground, staring into Near's unconscious face. He stroked his cheek with the back of his fingers gently.
"Near..." He whispered.
"Wait a second. You know this kid?" One of the other men asked. Matt looked up at the man's face.
"Yeah," Matt paused for a moment, taking some time to comprehend what was happening at this point. "C'mon, lets get him to the infirmary."
Matt scooped Near's limp body into his arms, straining a bit as he lifted him up. It would've been far easier to have a few people carry him, but he wanted to carry Near by himself. Once inside the lift he looked down at Near's face. The sight of his soft, gentle features, something he never thought he'd ever see again, brought tears to Matt's eyes. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, regaining his composure.
Once inside the infirmary, the doctor checked Near's vital signs and declared him healthy, but unconscious.
"I'd like to keep him in my quarters. I think I should be the first thing he sees when he wakes up." Matt said.
"That should be fine. Just make sure you contact us the second anything changes." The doctor said.
Matt nodded. He arranged for a stretcher to carry him from the infirmary to his quarters, where he gently laid him down on his bed, dressed in a hospital gown of sorts. Matt paced the room for a bit before he laid down next to him, completely dumbfounded. He considered that he might be dreaming, although he was fairly sure at this point that wasn't the case. He looked at the time. 35:33. He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, so he just turned out the lights, placed his head on Near's shoulder and listened to his breathing, running every possibility through his head, as to how this happened.
Matt felt Near stir in the middle of the night. He listened closely for another sign. It happened again. Matt sat up in bed and quickly turned on the desk lamp on the nightstand. Near was tossing and turning slightly. Matt had seen this before, and knew Near was about to wake up.
"Near... It's ok now. I'm here for you."
Matt held Near's hands. Near's eyes fluttered a bit at first, before fully opening. He stared at Matt, his face was expressionless, blank.
Matt reached over to the intercom and slapped the top of it.
"Olivia! He's awake! Bring the medic!"
"Ok, got it! Be right there!" She replied.
Matt turned his attention back to Near. Near's mouth opened to speak, but no sound would come out. He tried again, his voice was choked, barely a squeak.
"mmm...Matt..."
"Yeah it's me. I'm right here, Near. I'm right here," Matt hugged him tightly, "God I love you so much."
Near responded by placing his hand on Matt's back weakly. Matt took a moment to confront the question that was rattling in his head all night. Exactly why Near was there, laying right in front of him? He pulled away, holding Near at arms length.
"Near. What happened? How did... how did you die?"
Near wrinkled his nose at Matt in confusion. He thought back, thought back to his last memory. The razor, the crimson water, the pain and the fear...his own cries echoed faintly through his head. Near's eyes slowly went wide, as he fearfully looked at his left arm, expecting to see it torn open and bleeding. Matt didn't need any further explanation.
"You killed yourself didn't you... You took your own life..." Matt stared up at the ceiling, as tears began to flood from his eyes down his cheeks. He pressed his fist against his lips as he tried to stifle a cry. The idea of Near hurting himself, especially in that manner was nearly too much for him to bear.
While Near maintained eye contact, his face was still blank.
Olivia and the doctor burst through the door.
"Matt please move aside for a moment. Let the doctor do his thing." She said, as the doctor sat down on the side of the bed.
"Olivia, get me the 436," The doctor said. Olivia fished a bottle out of the doctor's bag, and poured the clear liquid into a glass before handing it to him. "Here drink this. This should help you with that dry throat."
Near took the glass in his hand and quickly drank the whole thing, trying to stave off some of the dehydration he was feeling. The liquid was thick and pungent. He coughed, and thought he was going to gag for a second but held his breath as he swallowed the last drop carefully.
"Where am I?" Near asked, his voice still a bit dry and scratchy, mostly a whisper, but audible.
He looked up at Matt, who was standing above him.
"I don't exactly know how to say this too you, Near. It's complicated." Matt said.
"..."
"Near, this is the afterlife."
There was a long pause as Near digested what he was told. He was conflicted, not sure whether he should be surprised or not. This is what he wanted when he took that razor into his hand, yet it still seemed unbelievable. The memory of that event came back to him in a flood. He could almost still feel the pain and the fear gripping him. He knew there was no way he could have survived. The blood was pouring out of him from a 12 inch self-inflicted gash in his arm and there was nobody else around in that locked hotel room. It was in the middle of the night, and nobody would come looking for him. He was dead, and now he was here, in a strange place, looking up at Matt. Yes, he shouldn't have been surprised, but he was.
"Am I in heaven?" He asked, the words felt strange to him as it left his lips.
"Umm... No, not exactly..."
"Am I on Earth?"
"Umm...No." Matt replied nervously.
"Matt, let me help." Olivia said. She was used to explaining this to people. She knew exactly what to say, but before she could open her mouth, Near sat up.
"Not on Earth..." He whispered, staring blankly in front of him. His eyes fluttered a bit as he started to lose consciousness, falling back in the bed as he lost strength.
"Near!" Matt cried, grabbing Near by the shoulders.
"Leave him Matt! This is a bit too much for him to handle. Let him rest." The doctor said as he started checking Near's vital signs, writing in a clipboard after each process.
"Don't forget Matt. You were pretty freaked out yourself when you first came here." Olivia said.
Matt paced around the room.
"I know... I know. He killed himself Olivia. He killed himself because of me. I cant fucking believe this is happening."
"Just be glad he's here with you. Don't you understand the odds of that happening? How lucky you are?"
"I am! I just..." Matt trailed off. He didn't know what else to say.
"Matt. Go take a walk. Go get something to eat. I'll watch him." Olivia said.
"Are you sure? What if he wakes up again?"
"I can handle it Matt. Remember, this is what I do. Go and clear your head."
Matt sighed and after a short pause nodded his head.
"I'll be at the east galley, and then I'm going to blow off some steam at the handball court. Page me if anything."
"Don't worry about him Matt, he'll be fine."
Matt walked through the door, and set off down the hallway. Moments later he reached the door that separates the ministry from the civilian part of Joa. At this time of night, there were very few people mulling about. The galley was empty, so he had to fix something to eat himself. He decided to keep it simple tonight, warming up some broth, and grabbing a piece of bread he had found.
The guilt washed over him, as he thought about how Near must've fallen apart after his death. That Near's love for him was so powerful, even after the years that separated them. He wished Mello had never found him that night, coerced him, screwed him, and then got him killed.
Is Mello even still alive?
He knew he allowed all of this to happen to him, and that blaming anyone else at this point was futile. It was too late. Near and he were together now, and that's all that mattered to him now, even if the circumstances weren't ideal. Feeling renewed after his meal, he headed off to the handball court to let out the last of his aggression.
Olivia sat at the bedside reading a book to pass the time when she heard Near grunt quietly. Placing the book down she noticed his eyes were starting to open again. Near eyed the young girl with olive skin and long dark hair. He figured she must be in her mid-twenties, and had a look that said while she worked hard, she played hard too. She was dressed in a dark grey shirt and cargo pants, and had a lean but muscular physique. She appeared tough, almost militant, and despite her hardened appearance her voice was soft and soothing.
"Are you feeling a little better?" She asked.
Near nodded, his eyes shifting around the room, nervously.
"Where's Matt?" Near asked.
"He was a bit upset, so I told him to go for a walk."
"Who are you? What is this place?"
"My name is Olivia. I'm going to explain everything to you right now. You just need to listen to me and keep an open mind. Some of it, actually most of it can be a little difficult to swallow. I'm going to ask you a few questions first, to get some information about you."
Near nodded.
"Your name is Near right? That's an interesting name."
"It's not my real name. My real name is Nate River."
"I see, kinda like how Matt isn't actually Matt's name."
Near nodded, wondering if it was wise to tell this strange person his real name.
"What did you do before your came here? What was your occupation."
"Investigator."
"Matt said you're a genius, like a real genius."
"I suppose."
Near was visibly getting tired of the questioning, and he showed it by crossing his arms and looking to the side.
"Ok, last one for now. What religion are you?"
"None."
"Well that should make this a bit easier then. Ok, here's the deal, stop me if this becomes too much. You're on a planet called Etherine. When you died, your soul was transported here. Your body remained on Earth, just the soul came over, and your body was recreated here. All of us are from Earth, and we all got here the same way. Here's where it gets interesting. We don't know how or why this happens. It just does. There's no great god that we worship, no pearly gates, none of that nonsense. Also, not everyone who dies on Earth ends up here. We don't know where they go. We just assume that there are many planets like this and that who ends up where is just random."
Near stared blankly at her for a moment, trying to get a grip on what he was just told.
"So a person just appears here? Where exactly?"
"Well, there are two places, both on opposite sides of the planet, we refer to as the arrival grounds. The person literally just appears there, laying on the ground. Very few have ever reported actually seeing it happen. Our government has set up arrival stations next to the grounds to retrieve persons. This arrival station is called Joa, the other is called Riley."
"Where did all of this come from? It appears that you have technology similar to Earth's:"
"That is true, although no physical objects have ever come over, knowledge does. This allowed us to create a modern society using raw materials from this planet. There are a few books I can give you if you want to learn more about it. It'd be far easier than me explaining it."
"Am I correct in assuming that my ending up in the same place as Matt is a bit rare?"
"Extremely."
"How many people are here? What's the population?"
"Well, the population was about 300 thousand. However currently it's about 30 thousand."
"Why? What happened?"
Olivia sighed, this was her least favourite thing to explain to a new arrival.
"About 3 earth years ago, we were invaded by an alien race, who wanted to colonize the planet for themselves. There was massive destruction and lives lost. Etherine was a beautiful place, full of modern cities. A place where humans have learned to live peacefully, regardless of where they came from on Earth. Currently we're living in large underground complexes adjacent to the arrival stations. The aliens wont bother us in here, they allowed us this much."
Near was lost in thought after Olivia's last statement. The idea of being an underground prisoner in a strange world disgusted him.
"I suppose that's what Matt meant when he said that this wasn't exactly heaven."
"Yeah, that's what he meant. We also haven't had contact with the other station for almost a year now. Our communications have been cut off, but nobody can go and find out why, not without risk of being slaughtered."
"So we're stuck here essentially."
"Essentially yes. It's not a terrible existence though. You'll find that the complex is enormous and despite being cold and steely in appearance, is rich in culture. It's an underground city. It makes it's own power, grows it's own food, recycles the air and so on. We never had anything like this on Earth."
"How long have humans been here? How far does history go back?"
"About 500 years of recorded history. Anything before that is a bit fuzzy."
"What happens when someone dies here?"
"Same thing that happens on Earth when someone dies. We dispose of the body, and then from there nobody knows. They may move on to another realm, or maybe not."
There was a moment of silence as all this new information rattled through Near's head. He knew he hardly knew anything, but didn't even know what to ask. His normally logical mind failed against something so illogical.
"Matt tells me he believes you killed yourself." Olivia said.
Near looked away from her quickly, stunned by the question. He didn't want to be forced to confront the issue. He wasn't ready for that.
"I'd rather not talk about it. It's not something I'm proud of."
"I'm sorry for asking. But just so you know, it doesn't matter now. That's in the past. You've been given a new life, a second chance, and you're unbelievably lucky to end up with the person who loves you more than anything in the world."
"He told you a lot about me?" Near asked.
"He told me all about you. He wouldn't stop talking about you in fact. He was a mess. It was my shoulder he was crying into. He got himself killed trying to protect you, and the idea of never seeing you again crushed him."
"I know the feeling well." Near said.
Matt entered the room slowly holding a bowl of soup.
"You're awake! I brought you something to eat, if you're up to it." He said, bringing the soup to Near and placing it in his hands.
"Thank you Matt." Near said, carefully tasting the warm liquid. The taste was a strange one. Not necessarily bad, just foreign to him.
"Well I'll leave you two alone for now," Olivia got up and started to head for the door. "Feel free to come and find me if you want to talk, Near."
Near nodded. Matt sat down on the bed, not sure what to say or how to begin. He looked Near over, still somewhat unable to believe it was actually him.
"Did Olivia tell you everything?" Matt asked.
Near nodded. Finishing the last of the soup, he placed the bowl on the nightstand.
"You know, I can take you on a tour of this whole place, we can hit the library too. There's a lot of books about this place that I'm sure you'll find fascinating."
"Hold me."
"Huh?"
"I just want you to hold me. I don't want to talk. I don't even want to think. I need to be held right now." Near looked into Matt's eyes. He looked like he was holding back tears.
Matt laid down next to Near and cradled him in his arms. Near was terrified by this new world, and at that moment he felt truly lucky to be there with Matt, because he wasn't sure how he'd handle it alone.
And that was Chapter 2. I hope you liked it! I forgot to mention earlier but I created a forum for my stories if you wanted to ask me questions, tell me I suck, whatever.
I should have chapter 3 out soon!