The Drazen World: Purgatory (Kindle Worlds Novella)

deeply, I closed my eyes before releasing a loud breath and my sarcasm along with it. I knew it was a defense mechanism but old habits die hard, apparently. Pun intended.
"Okay. Hunter came to my room. He's...well, he's different, I guess. He said something that has been running through my head for a while. He said 'Music exists within beauty. Accept the latter and the former will follow.' Is that supposed to explain something to me?" I looked up at Ernest with expectant eyes. Suddenly, I felt like a child needing answers that would miraculously give sense to the world around me. Maybe help put things in perspective so that I didn't always feel like a dying tree in a gigantic forest filled with healthy greens. Everyone here spoke in riddles and I needed some concrete answers. No more ‘You need to figure it out, yourself,’ type responses but the honest, ‘Go right. Then go left’ kind.
That was it.
I needed guidance. For the past however many years this mental cancer had been invading my will to live, I'd needed guidance.
"Yes, it is. How did you feel while you were with him?" Ernest asked, tilting his head to the right, his eyes intent on my face. It didn't escape my notice that he hadn't really answered my question. Such a professional psych thing to do. I had to think about that for a few minutes. Every time my psychiatrists had bombarded me with that same exact question, my skin would prickle and my anger would boil. Of course, my answers were always the same—‘I feel like committing mass murder then bathing in the blood bath.’ Obviously, that answer never boded well for my mental evaluations. After a while, they recognized it as my way of telling them to fuck off and leave me alone. Not that it ever worked.
"I felt...content, I think. I just, I don't...I mean, the darkness?" I knew I was stammering but I just couldn't get the words out. Thankfully, Ernest came to my rescue.
"There is no place for darkness here, Gabby. Only healing. Hunter was drawn to you. Your aches and pains are similar, so his soul was pulled toward your own. Sisters in misery, you could say." A small chuckle escaped the man's lips. He looked as though he were remembering fond snippets of his life and enjoying the mental walk in the park.
"Like...soul mates?" Looking back at me, Ernest smiled and nodded. This was getting a bit weird. Was he trying to set me up? I flushed at the thought, I mean, who wouldn't want to be mating souls with a man like Hunter?
"That's a very human term, Gabby. Here, we talk about sister souls. Our Father feels we all deserve to be bound to another whether on earth or in the afterlife. Two entities that bond make for one stronger soul. Down there, Monica and Jonathon have bonded. In your mental despair, you missed the beauty of that significant moment. The growing links of their bodies and minds, the necessity of their union. But here, you can witness it firsthand. Your homework, this time around, is to read your book and when Hunter comes around to see you, I want you to open your mind. Breathe in his aura and accept his words. Maybe, just maybe, you'll hear music."
With that, Ernest rose from his seat and left me bewildered, my eyes staring at gray nothingness.
Sister souls. The pull I had felt toward Hunter earlier...could it have been our souls, one reaching for the other? With only a few words, a pool of hope deep within me had begun to form, something I didn't think I was capable of doing. Shaking my head as though my thoughts were addled in cobwebs, I forced my mind to return to reality. Hope was for the birds, it flapped its wings and took your life along with it. Ernest must have been a romantic, his matchmaking skills in fully effect.
But his last words? They spoke to me at a level deeper than anything else ever could.
‘Maybe, just maybe, you'll hear music.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter 4
"How did it go, Spunky?"
My head snapped up at the sound of Hunter's baritone voice, humor lining every syllable. Apparently, we were quickly becoming BFFs where showing up uninvited in my sanctuary was the norm. So much for privacy in the afterlife's waiting room. And that nickname? Just, no.
"Spunky? Really? That's the best you could come up with? I sound like a hyperactive teenager with identity issues." Granted, those issues had been present from day one but my teenage years were far behind.
Sitting on my bed, legs spread shoulder-width, forearms resting on his knees, Hunter tilted his head in my direction and rewarded me with a smile so captivating my knees threatened to buckle. A quick scan of his body revealed he was dressed in the same clothes as the last time he'd waltz in my suite. There were more important things on my agenda than flirting and fawning over some guy. Even if his milk chocolate colored eyes were just as enticing as a box of Valrhona truffles. I fought the urge to throw myself at him. In my defense, I didn't think it was at all appropriate to have carnal thoughts toward a fellow Purgatorian or In-Limbo-ist.
From what I had gathered in my earlier conversation with Ernest, everything was somehow monitored by omniscient eyes and ears. Nothing new, really, considering my every breath was scrutinized during my time on earth. God forbid a sigh would escape my mouth, it would lead Darren and Monica into a frenzy.
‘Is she okay?’
‘Did she take her medication?’
‘Did you count her pills?’
‘How much sleep did she get last night?’
And on and on... Their concern was exhausting, their fear so palpable I could feel my patience waning with every