Yay, my 2nd chapter's up! As you can read, the title is Life is like that. Maybe some people will get whereI get my chapter names. Though it is rather obvious.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darren Shan saga, or any of the author's other books, or any of its characters.

Now here's the chapter some people have been waiting for! (You know who you are...) Thanks for the reviews, and happy reading!

Welcome to:

Hell, Heaven and the In-Between

Chapter 2: Life is like that.

"Crepsley?" I call out anxiously. "Crepsley? Larten Crepsley?" I've been calling his name in this so-called Paradise for hours. Time seems to run as smoothly here as it does back on Earth. But anyhow, I've been calling his name for hours in this God-forbidden place, yet I have not achieved anything but the soreness of my throat.

I tap the floor again, as I had a few minutes ago. The floor is strangely wooden, yet there is a feeling of softness, like the tenderness of a marshmellow just dipped in chocolate sauce.

There is no walls, no feeling of enclosed, limited, airless space. Just...emptiness. The sky is grey and there are no clouds. Actually, I'm not even sure if there is a sky.

"Crepsleeey!"

"Quiet there, you're annoying the rest of us down here! Y'know we're trying to rest as peacefully as we can!"

Hm? Someone down there? Rest of us? Where's 'down there', and how can I get there..."Who're you?" I ask.

The stranger 'down there' replied, "Someone who you do not need to know...now stop bothering me!"

"Wait, how can I get down there, where you are? Is this Paradise? How come it seems so empty? Is it always like this? Does the weather change? Is there some kind of reception desk where I can search for my friend's name? And can I -"

"Stop! No more questions! I am trying to get rest! I already told you once. Must I come up there and shout in your ear?"

Fine, I guess I'll have to find my way around here on my own. Damn! My body's sore again. Since I've come here, my body's hurting everywhere, yet I feel fine at the same time. I feel like as if I'm alive, yet I know I'm dead. I've been wondering why, and I'm pondering a question of my own, why do I feel...empty?

The stranger 'down there' must been asleep again. I thought it'll be no use bothering him again. Looking around again, I see nothing but sky, sky and sky...of which I'm not even sure IS sky.

Damn, if there's a way to go down, wherever down is, let the gods of the vampires give me a view of it...what?

Suddenly, a sensation of falling from an airplane twenty thousand kilometers above the ground comes to me. And then, I land with a rather loud "Oomph!" I stand up, ignoring the immense pain, and look around. Except, there's nothing to look at, literally. Absolutely NOTHING.

"What the? Darren? Is that you? Are my eyes looking at you right? It is you, unless my eyes decieve me." A startled voice pops up at me from the darkness. Something about his voice sparked up something in my mind...

What? "Who are you? How do you know my name?" I ask cautiously. I am not sure whether it is an enemy...or one of my many friends. But by the tone of the voice, it is a male's voice.

"You do not recognize me? Or my voice even? Hm, you must not have mastered the strange forces and ways of this world above world below world." His voice sounded strangely desperate, as if he had not met a single person that he knew, or wanted as a friend.

"Pardon? World above world below world?" I'm confused, what's a world above world below world...

"World above world below world. Above Earth, yet underneath it at the same time. This, is not Paradise, if that was one of your questions, when you bothered me from my slumber. This...is the In-Between.

"Not Paradise? Not...! But...What? How can this not be Paradise? So what is this place? How can I be here if not in Paradise? How can -"

"It is not Paradise," the voice repeats, "It is the In-Between. There is no Paradise, only Heaven. And of the Lake of Souls, yes I know of the Lake of Souls," he says, as I gasp in shock. "there is no Lake of Souls, only Hell."

Heaven? In-Between? Hell? My mind's working against itself...I can't think... then I try protesting, I try shouting, I try to repeat his words, in order to attempt to understand them, or make them seem easier to listen to, but my mouth doesn't work, my mind doesn't work.I feel faint…I wish to understand the words…but it seems that by trying to understand is making me … dizzy… tiring… exhausted… And I fall. I hit the ground (or whatever it is…).

And before my eyes close and see blackness, I hear the stranger's voice, "It is lucky you are not in Hell, better the In-Between then it, if not the Heaven. I know you wish to go to Heaven, to meet your friends there…" He sounded sympathetic, not for himself but for me, "but I think that Fate does not think you ready for Heaven. Too bad so sad, as some humans say. But as I like to say...

Life is like that."

End Chapter 2

Boring? Strange? Unnatural? Unbelievable? Un-anything? Tell me in your reviews! Please do! I appreciate all of your reviews, and I hope to read more of them in the future!

My thirdchapter will be out soon, depending on my amount of homework and housework. I hope you'll enjoy reading more of my fanfiction!

May you be triumphant even in death!