Chapter 2

“Luca!? ” I was overwhelmed with joy and confusion at the same time. I fell into his arms. “I love you, I never got the chance to tell you, brother, so I say it now. I love you” I looked up at him. There was something different about him. He was…translucent.

“I thought you were�"“

He cut me off “dead? Well, I am. Luca is.”

“what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Listen Evelyn�"“

“Am I dreaming?” I gazed around the room. Everything looked different. The same, but not scruffy or dirty. It was clean and white. Everything was where it was supposed to be, the lamp the bedside table, bookcase, except that it was all white.

He started again “ No, Evelyn, I need to tell you something�"“

I cut him off again, I didn’t want to hear anymore bad news. I wanted him to be alive. “That’s ok” I ignored his anoyed expression “I thought I’d never get to see you again, brother” I felt a smile on my face. Now he looked sorry or hurt, I couldn’t tell. He sat next to me on the bed and sighed.

“Listen, Evelyn. I’m not your brother anymore. I’m not Luca anymore.”

“what? What do you mean?”

“My name is not Luca anymore. That was a temporary name given by your parents for my human journey on earth.”

“I don’t understand?”

I looked down and noticed that I was translucent as well. I was calm, though. I felt like I was supposed to freak out and my mind became overloaded with unanswered questions.

“what happened to me? Am I dead?”

“no you’re not”

I rushed to the window. Suddenly the interior of the house dissapeared as if it was a hologram of some sort.

“where did it go?”

“I was hoping to save time, by letting you think you’re still in the room, but I guess that’s not possible. I should know that you have a busy mind by now”

“where are we?” We stood in the exact place the house stood, except the house wasn’t there and there was no sign of it ever being there. The path that lead to it was gone too. It was like the place has never been touched by human hands.

“welcom, Evelyn, to the 7th Dimension”

“the what now?”

“the spiritual realm. Limbo. The 2nd phase after death.”

“2nd? How many are there?”

“There isn’t enough time to explain that right now, but you will learn more of this at a later time. The Spirit world cannot allow the un-dead in it for very long, so listen up.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt at that moment. My emotions were mixed up.  I felt confusion yet very calm and sure of myself. I didn’t feel as if it was unusual to be standing in the spiritual realm.

“I need you to go up this mountain. Follow the trial. Walk up until you find a cave. You will meet the Chepi tribe there. Tell them Tien sent you.”

What was he talking about. Is this for real? My mind was starting to question whether This is just a dream or not. I looked at my hands. I was dissolving, no. shattering into a million…butterflies?

“what is this? What’s happening” I exclaimed in a quick panic.

“Don’t worry just do as I say when you wake up. Remember to tell them that Tien sent you! They’ll understand!” His voice faded.

I woke up. The pillow was soaked in my tears under my head. My nose was blocked and my eyes were puffy. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was broken. I checked my phone. It was just past 6 am.

Suddenly, like a flood, my dream came back to me. Was it a dream? My gut feeling told me to do what Luca said. “follow the trail”. Should I? what’s the worst that could happen, right?