Adrian was still waiting.
It wasn't exactly the kind of waiting he'd expected, like the calm, peaceful afterlife he'd imagined in his childhood. No. It was more like being stuck in the lobby of a hospital except this hospital had no beds, no nurses, and absolutely no signs of life.
At first, he wasn't sure where he was. His senses felt muted, like a thick fog had rolled in around his mind. He could feel his body, but it didn't feel right. His limbs didn't ache. His chest didn't rise and fall with the familiar rhythm of breath. It was almost like he didn't exist.
But, still, he was aware. Too aware.
He tried to move, but his body refused to cooperate.
"Am I... dead?" Adrian asked out loud. The sound of his voice startled him. It was just an echo, bouncing back at him from all directions, like he was standing in a void.
A vague sense of something being off made him uneasy. His mind raced through the options. Was this what happens after death? A brief stop before the real final destination? Did they take his soul and drop him in some weird cosmic purgatory?
"Well, this sucks," Adrian muttered. He was used to dealing with bad situations, but this was different.
"Good job, Adrian. Way to go out with a bang."
He chuckled at the dark humor, even though there was no one around to hear him. But then, a flicker of movement caught his attention—a light on the far end of the shadowy hallway. As he walked toward it, the hallway seemed to stretch longer and longer, like some kind of optical illusion. But no matter how far he walked, the end didn't seem to get any closer.
"This is taking way too long," Adrian sighed, rubbing his temples. "This better not be a trap. I'm not exactly in the mood to get scammed in the afterlife."
And then, without warning, the entire hallway collapsed into itself, the space around him folding like a bad magician's trick. Adrian stumbled forward, throwing his arms out to steady himself, but nothing felt solid anymore. There was no ground beneath his feet. No ceiling.
Just endless... nothing.
"Okay," Adrian groaned, "What the hell? Is this some sort of weird cosmic joke?"
A deep voice boomed from everywhere at once. "You could say that. It's more like... a cosmic sick joke, though."
Adrian froze. That voice. He recognized it immediately sarcastic, mocking, as if whoever was speaking had just come out of a five-minute nap and decided they'd heard enough of his existential crisis.
"Great. I'm about to get a lecture, aren't I?" Adrian muttered, looking around wildly. "Come on, give me a break! What am I supposed to do now?"
"Oh, relax, buddy," the voice continued, dripping with amusement. "I'm not here to bore you with some monologue. I'm just here to explain the basics of what's going to happen next."
With a snap of fingers, the void around him dissolved into a chaotic swirl of colors, like a psychedelic acid trip. The air shifted. The lights blinked, and suddenly, a figure appeared before him, casually leaning against the shimmering nothingness.
Adrian blinked.
The being was tall, cloaked in robes that looked like they'd come from an ancient civilization... but they were covered in patches. Like someone who'd gotten dressed in the dark. The figure's face? Impossible to make out at first. Just two glowing eyes, burning through the haze. It was... too much.
"Well, hello, Adrian," the voice said again, this time with a grin that felt more like a sneer. "I'm the one who's going to fix your little issue. The one where you managed to fuck up your life and die in the most unremarkable way possible. Pretty underwhelming, huh?"
Adrian raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute... Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the guy," the figure said, rolling its glowing eyes in mock exasperation. "Not the grim reaper, not your fairy godmotherdefinitely not your therapist. Call me whatever you like. Just know that I'm the one who's going to drag your sorry ass into a new life."
Adrian blinked, trying to process. "Wait... what?"
"You heard me. You're getting a second shot. A new life. And it's going to be a wild one, I promise. Welcome to Derry, my friend." The figure grinned. "I hope you're ready for this."