Chapter 1 - Grace

When Grace first arrives in Caelum.

Chapter 1: Grace

 

The first thing I notice as I awaken is that I longer feel any pain. I feel completely relaxed and safe, although I have no idea where I am. I allow myself to lie there for a minute, my eyes still closed, curled up in a fetal position, reveling in the experience of finally being free. I can feel that I am lying on a bed of grass, so I must be outside, but right now, I don’t care where I am. I feel overwhelmed in a sense of security, in a sense of happiness.

I know that I have to get up eventually; I can’t lie here forever, even though I wish I could. I open my eyes regretfully, only to find myself in a vast and beautiful meadow, the sun shining warmly on my face. I am surrounded by flowers on all sides. They do not entirely fill the meadow, but instead are well-spaced and well-kept. I recognize a few of them: tulips, roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, marigolds. They are mixed together so perfectly, their colors more vibrant and beautiful than a rainbow.

To my far right is a tall mountain range with snow-capped tips. To my far left is a vast forest that, even at this distance, I can tell is full of living things. The whole scene brings me such serenity, until I turn around, and see the most amazing sight of all.

The city is set up much like a college campus, but the buildings are much larger, skyscrapers in fact.  The whole area is surrounded by a sparkling white gate; I can’t tell from my distance, but it looks like it is made of pearls or diamonds, the way it glints in the sun. There are a few towers close to the gate �" they look like battle towers, but this place seems so peaceful that I can never imagine a war. The entire city is aglow with �" I’m not sure what. Whatever it is, it seems to give every building an aura of pureness, absolutely white.

I know I am dead. That fact is clear to me; it does not frighten me. But why am I here? This place seems so perfect, so happy and safe. I don’t belong here. I’ve never believed in heaven, but I know this must be it. I never imagined any kind of life after death, but if it’s true, I belong in hell. I am in no means pure in any god’s eyes.

“Welcome,” a man’s voice says from behind me. The voice sounds kind and welcoming, but I do not trust it. I whirl around, searching for anything to protect myself if needed. I don’t know why I was brought here, but it can’t be for a good reason.

I am taken slightly off guard when I see that the man who had welcomed me has lavender-colored hair and blue-grey eyes. He is wearing a white robe that gives off a pure aura like the buildings in the city. The robe is trimmed with lavender, the same color as the man’s hair.

“My name’s Grata,” he introduces himself with a welcoming smile. I know that name. It’s Latin. It only has one translation: ‘welcome.’

The man, Grata, offers his hand, firm and strong. I give it a scrutinizing look. He places it back at his side, as if he’s used to people not accepting his handshakes.

He clears his throat. “I’m sure you have many questions. Normally I would answer them. But we’re short on time, so I will let Basilus explain it to you.”

Basilus. That’s Latin too. It means ‘king.’ How can heaven have a king other than God?

Grata must’ve seen the puzzled look on my face, because he quickly says, “I’m from that city over there. I’ve been sent to welcome you. Welcome to Caelum.”

Caelum. It means ‘heaven.’ Go figure.

“As I said, we’re short on time, so please follow me.” Grata walks past me, towards the city, Caelum. Having no other choice and feeling safe enough, I follow him.

The gate is opened when it scans Grata’s hand. “You’ll be able to go in and out of the city as soon as you finish therapy,” he explains. Therapy?

He leads me towards the building in the center of the city. I feel stares the whole way there. Most of the people �" if you could call them that �" who live in Caelum look like Grata, only different. I see one girl with long flowing red hair, purple eyes, and rosy cheeks. Another boy has wavy blue hair and eyes like the sea. Some of the people, however, looked completely normal. They aren’t all wearing the same formal robe as Grata, but some do. Those who do seem to be heading to the same building as us.

The lobby is surprisingly empty, except for a few people in chairs and a lady standing behind a desk. Grata walks over to her and I follow. “Grace Periclum, we’ve been expecting you. Your room is 167H. Here’s your key.” She hands me a plastic room key. “The elevator is over there. You should change. Basilus is expecting you at seven.”

As we enter the elevator, Grata pushes the button for floor 167 out of 200. The building is clearly bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

“There are some basic things you should know before you see Basilus. He is the king of Caelum, but I guess you could figure that by his name. And yes, it is Latin. Latin is our official language. Every caelestis’ name suggests his or her special talent. Each caelestis excels in one area of life. That area becomes the field in which they work in. For instance, my name, Grata, means welcome, and my job is to welcome the humans to Caelum and show them the ropes. You, however, are special, so I don’t have much time.

“A few thousand years back, Basilus decides to create new race, called humans.  He instructed the Caelestis Council to build a planet and populate it with mentiors, which mean fake. The mentiors were like the human that Basilus had created in all aspects other than the fact that mentiors do not have souls. The Caelestis Council did everything they could to make this planet as realistic as possible, giving it media, history, and even other animals. When they were finished, Basilus placed the human as a baby inside this planet, to live among the mentiors; all while being watched, monitored, and controlled by the Caelestis Council. This was before I was born.”

The elevator stops on floor 167, and we get off, Grata leading the way down the hallway to my room.

He starts talking more quickly now. “The Caelestis Council organized a time, place, and way for him to die, and everything went according to plan. When the human died, he entered Caelum, led by Basilus, and is now living among the caelesti. When he died, he stopped aging, so he is still the same age now as he was thousands of years ago. Caelesti stop aging after a certain time as well. For example, I appear to be about thirty five human years old, when in reality I am thousands of years old.”

We arrive at my room, 167H. “I must leave you now. Your robe is on your dresser. You’ll be expected in Basilus’ penthouse at seven. He’ll explain more about why you are special.” Grata waits for me to open the door before leaving.

I’m not exactly sure what I expect to see when I open the door, but what I do see takes my breath away. First off, the room is much bigger on the inside; it looks more like an apartment or small house than the hotel room that the building suggests. It is a very sophisticated area and very organized. The kitchen is equipped with a full fridge and freezer, oven and stove, sink, and a microwave, along with plenty of cooking utensils. The bedroom has a queen-sized bed, a desk, an empty wooden bookshelf, a nine-drawer dresser, a nightstand, and a large screen that looks a bit like a flat-screen television, but without any cables. The comforter on the bed is a black and white toile pattern.

I find the robe that Grata had mentioned, and try it on. It fits perfectly. I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. The robe is exactly like Grata’s, only it is bordered in gold and is more feminine. I grimace. I’ve never been pretty with my brown hair and brown eyes. I usually don’t wear anything this fancy either. In fact, the glowing aura of the robe makes my skin look even paler.

I push back my sleeve to look at my wrist. Yep; the seventeen scars are still there. How strange; all of my other scars and bruises seem to have been healed.

I hear a strange beeping noise coming from my room, and turn back to investigate. The beeping is coming from the large screen. As I enter, the beeping stops and an image of the girl from the lobby appears.

“Grace Periclum, you are expected at the penthouse in five minutes. I repeat, five minutes.” Her voice is almost annoyingly friendly.

The image shifts into a timer counting down from five minutes.

Nervous of what would happen if I didn't go, I left my room and started for the elevator, pressing the button for the penthouse, floor 200. Here goes nothing.

Author's Note

What do you think of Grace? Ever notice that she doesn't talk much?

Reviews

[Joan*Eckhart]

Very well written, very interesting first chapter.

[Aelia Darkshadow]

Grace seems like my kind of friend. I can't wait for the next chapter!

[Felicity's Eve]

I'm gonna go ahead and review this again ^_^

I am going to be entirely honest here. I sort of preferred the 1st version of this. Lol don't change it unless you'd like to, I just liked the layout a bit better. :)

Anyway... I feel like it was a little rushed and disjointed in some places. But you did better with the detail in this, so that's good though it could have more. Just a friendly suggestion. :)

And you could put spaces between paragraphs...

But, as you already know, I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! :D
Your characters are awesome as is the plot! :)

Btw, the Artisans names are Latin, too. Faber means "craftsman" and Pictor means "painter". ^_^

[Westminster Abbey]

Well... I kind of accidently deleted the first version of this and can't remember how it goes. Also I changed a few things like the layout of the city and how they enter the gate. Also I finally figured out the name of the pattern on Grace's comforter!

And SORRY! It's working on Word and when I edit it, but not once it gets published. Trust me, it's been bugging me too.

[Felicity's Eve]

Lol it's fine :)

[Aly]

I like this. you should write more

[Krista Weiss]

Wow!! Amazing job so far!! I can't wait to read the next chapter and see what happens!! :)

[Zachary_James]

Keep writing i must know more, this chapter is very good. What a fantastic way to start this. Very good

[disheveledApathy]

So many questions . . . and no answers yet. Please keep writing, I love the plot!

[MandaBear]

I totally cant wait to find out what happens next!!! Grace seems to interesting and the more and more I read the more and more I want to find out about her and the place that she is in. You are an amazing writer and story teller!! Please send me all the chapters you write for this I must know what happens next!! 100/100.

[Dark Rider]

I think Grace is a very well designed character, and is taking in everything that has happened pretty well. And yes, I've noticed she hasn't said alot. I hope you'll explain why soon. ;)

But I really like this chapter. You didn't go into great detail about the city, but you gave enough so we can use our imagine what it might look like ourselves. It was a very good chapter, and I can't wait for the next one. :)

[Anonymous Girl]

Wow.. This is filled with mysteries :)
Cant wait for next :)