She sat up slowly feeling as if she were dreaming.
Brooke looked around at the familiar place that she was in.
She was in the old Holbury Park. She had been lying on the cold stone of the gushing water fountain beside her. As a kid she had ran into the fountain on numerous occasions and created havoc splashing unsuspecting passersby's until she and Wyatt had gotten into trouble.
This had been the last place she had ever been able to have fun without any externally weird consequences. Brooke smiled as she smelled the rough scent of roses nearby. She played her hand over the restless fountains gleaming water and smiled down at her wavering reflection in the cold water.
Her father had always said she looked like her mother. Now she admitted it.
She had seen only one picture of her own mother at her age. It had been a black and white picture that had been torn up by her grandparents because they were angry with the man her own mother had chosen to marry. Her grandparents had estranged the whole family because her mother had gone through with the wedding.
Even the picture she had seen after it had been taped back up together had barely let her know until now how much of a mirror reflection she had been to her mother. No wonder her father had always had trouble looking at her sometimes. No wonder he had tried to keep her far away from him when her mother had first died.
She was like the living ghost of the woman he had fought to have in his life. She was the only thing left between them.
No wonder he didn't want to lose her so easily.
Brooke stepped away from the fountain and looked at the settings around her. Trees and bushes were everywhere. This place had been dedicated to natures preservation in its small time in existence.
It had been beautiful here before they had torn it down to make a parking lot for some local business.
She didn't have to look far to see what she had been missing since she had woken up. As she wiped her wet hand on her jeans she saw herself and Wyatt running around. They had already splashed a couple walking by and the man had ran after them.
She remembered it all too well.
The man had scared them half to death. Never before had anyone ever came after them when they had pulled their little pranks. They only got yelled at and a few people would splash them back but that had been their basic backlash from their pranks.
This man had been infuriated. He had been creating the mood for his girlfriend and here they were a bunch of idiot kids pulling pranks on the restless population. So, he had ran after them. He had practically ran them out of the park.
They had ran down the hill. She had fallen then. She had fallen and had been hurt. Wyatt had made her keep going though. He had made her get to her sore feet and run as far and as fast as she could. Even then, on her twisted ankle she had listened to him.
He had always known how to survive. He had always protected her.
He had lead her away. They had escaped the angry, scary undersexed man. Then, they had found a small cave to play in. It had then become their new hang out.
It was funny now that she thought about it, but she had never been able to find the cave on her own. Wyatt had always had to be there with her to find it and half the time he would make her cover her eyes so she wouldn't be able to see exactly where it was.
He'd always been a little off.
Brooke walked to the corner of the park. She stood beside a tree and leaned against it as she saw her memory pan out in front of her. She saw her child self's scared face and had to laugh a bit. it was completely priceless.
"I thought I would find you here." a voice interrupted her from seeing her child self and Wyatt run away from the scary man.
She knew that voice. She had found a lot of comfort in that voice so many times before this very moment. She smiled as she turned and was happy for once in a long time to see her old friend. "Glory, goddess, I have missed you."
She didn't wait for a response. Instead, she only landed herself inside of Glory's arms and hugged her.
Her friend was dressed in a white gown that only a goddess would wear. Her long golden hair was flowing down her back in ringlets that were tamed down now. In death she had found the perfect hair. How many times had they tried to keep Glory's hair tame in life? Too many to count now.
It was so weird to know her friend was alive here. That she herself was trespassing here in the land of death and that they only had a very small amount of time here to be together.
"Brooke, what have you done?" Glory asked her as she pulled her back at arms length to look into her eyes clearly.
"I couldn't not make sure you were okay. I couldn't save you in life I thought I at least could make sure you were okay," she let her words fade away as tears burned the insides of her eyes.
"Goddess, Brooke. This is forbidden." Glory told her quietly as her green flecked golden eyes surveyed the area as if at any moment millions of evil guards would throw her out.
"Come on. Since when have I been known to follow the rules."
"Never. Still, this is worse then your usual intrigues. If you are found out you will be punished."
"I know, but I need answers though, Glory. I need you to tell me." she told her. "I'm sorry. I couldn't. I.. it just.. Well.."
She didn't know how to say 'hey, friend how did you die? I need the 411 on who killed you so if you could just dish that out for me right now I'll be on my way. Oh, and bygones.' How wrong was it for her to be here asking her newly deceased friend who her murderer was.
"I know why you are here." Glory said.
"Oh, good." she gushed out in relief. Then, she felt stupid. "I wanted to come under different circumstances, but matters as they are."
"Don't apologize. Words mean nothing here."
"Yet we bother to talk." Brooke laughed bitterly.
"You are in danger. You are in more danger then you can expect Brooke. I can't even begin to warn you."
"Well, begin warning me and tell me who did this to you so I can kick some demonic ass."
Glory looked at her hard and shook her. Then she walked along the poppy strewn path.
Brooke immediately followed her friend as the world around them slowly darkened. Right about now her child self and Wyatt had found the cave and were playing in it. She had figured out her ankle wasn't really broken either after Wyatt had inspected it.
"Glory?" she asked her, unsure for once if she should have came here after all.
Her friend wasn't acting like she was herself at all. Her friend had been so carefree in life. She had been almost like a hippy with her whole peaceful laidback nature and nonjudgmental kick. Now here she was not laid back at all, but on edge like a black cat scraping around a room after hearing the screech of chalk on a chalkboard.
"You're kind of scaring me. So please stop that." she said to her friend.
Glory turned back to her then. Her eyes were glowing a green color that wasn't normal. They were a creepy glowing green that was almost opaque in the darkness. Glory put her hands on Brooke's shoulders firmly as Brooke watched her in confusion.
"You are the reason I am dead."
"What? No. No way." she said in denial as she broke away from her friend or whatever it was that was impersonating her friend right in front of her.
"They didn't want me. I was only in the way. I wasn't planned on. So he killed me." Glory told her in a voice completely devoid of emotion.
"He? They?"
A rush of light paralyzed Brooke as she asked. It was not at all what she was expecting. She felt her life rushing back at her like an oncoming train about to run straight into a broken human body.
She felt her body connecting to her soul again. Something she had not given any headway or choice on.
She felt the life poring back into her. She felt the world poring inside of her. She felt the pain from her body as it started to function again. She felt the rough edged pain soar through her brutally choked throat. Oxygen hurt as she coughed it into her body.
Glory disappeared for a moment and she was at the pool all over again.
Then, she felt the life drag out of her. She felt her connection to the real world spread out away from her and scatter as her body fell back into the water. She felt her brain not working as she saw gray and purple shadows cascade over her blurry sight.
Then, she was back again. She was in front of Glory.
Glory was staring at her so sadly. She looked so beautiful here. She was so serene. Whatever knowledge she had gave her even more beauty then she had had in life.
Brooke held out her hands to Glory who took them eagerly. She coughed on her own shoulder as she did. The world around her in its dark color was getting back into her system. When she got back to reality she was going to tell Conrad a thing or too about obeying the plan.
"Glory," she hissed out. Her throat felt raw as she smiled at her helplessly in her breathlessness.
"Brooke, your time is short here. You have already outstayed your welcome."
"What?" she asked still a little dazed.
Then she saw the black blobs coming at them. They slithered like snakes. They all made a noise like the static a radio made when the station wasn't found. They weren't happy with her. They were out for her blood now.
"He did this for a reason, Brooke. You have a destiny planned for you that they never told you about."
"What destiny? Who?"
"I can only answer you one question. If I say too much they'll get me."
"You're dead, Glory. Who is that powerful that you have to worry about them here in the afterlife?" she asked, laughing harshly at her best friend now turned goddess.
"Brooke, seriously. Don't screw around here."
Now that was the girl she knew. Glory, for being the laidback hippie that she was, always had a way to come to a point quickly.
"Fine then. Who killed you?" she asked her dead friend as they both backed up a little bit from the blobs.
There was only one good thing about the blobs. They were as slow as snails when they were coming after someone.
"Are you sure?"
"Okay, fist you say ask the right question. So then I do. Then, you ask me if I am sure. What are your trying to do here? Drive me crazy?" she asked impatiently.
"It was Conrad." Glory told her softly firm.
"What?" she asked, paling as her fingers bit into her dead friend's fingers.
It wasn't everyday that you found out the person you loved was a double crossing murderer.
Just as she asked she felt the real world coming back at her again. This was a harder hit on her soul this time though. This time it wasn't willing to give up. No wonder Conrad hadn't wanted her to come into the afterlife in the first place.
Why? Why would he do that? Glory had nothing against him.
She shook her head as she again saw Glory's image collapse in front of her very eyes and felt the cold chilling water erupt around her. She felt the clothes soaked to her body and the air raking through her system hurting her. She couldn't fight it.
It was happening to quickly. Glory smiled quietly as she watched her. The distance between them was greater now.
"He wasn't alone.... He had... you have to be.."was all she could hear pass from Glory's lips.
No! No, it wasn't time to go back yet. She tried to push Conrad away from her soaking body as the real world came back to her.
She was cold and her body was aching. Her heart was thundering in her body and her throat was raw. She was in pain and she had no idea what to do.
He had pulled her back for a reason. Maybe, he knew what she knew. Maybe, he was trying to make it short to save himself.
Why would he do that though? Why kill her best friend? Unless Glory had seen something she shouldn't have.
"No." she gulped in air trying to sound harder. "No! Take me back there now. I have to go back!" she said as her voice grew louder and more fierce.
Her eyesight was the last to come back.
Brooke opened her eyes to see a stranger in front of her.
Whoever had just saved her was a stranger. Ocean blue green eyes met hers fiercely as she felt herself being pulled away from the water and onto the cement ground as he leaned over her.
Whoever he was he had thought he had save her life when in all actuality he had just destroyed her only chance.