Chapter One: Second Chance

“Warner!” My mother screamed from the top of the stairs, her eyes blazing with anger. I knew that look; it was one I always tried to avoid.

“I’m here, mom,” I said.

“It’s been one week. I sent you to restock the house, didn’t I? But you keep making excuses. It’s just a few blocks away. Why, if your dad was here—“ she stopped, placing a hand over her mouth. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t need to.

“I’ll go now. Sorry, mother.” I didn’t look back; I kept walking, holding onto the credit card with a viselike grip.

My father was a truly admirable man; everybody loved him. Even my little sister. But he died when I was 12, and everything changed. Even though he died in the line of duty, he was gradually forgotten by everyone around him.

It didn’t matter that he fought for his country; it didn’t matter why he did it. Nobody cared. And the world was always going to go on. I needed to come to terms with that. My mother had been cold since then, and my little sister, who was three years younger, was insufferable. Not the cute or cuddly kind either.

I took my bicycle and made my way to the grocery store, my mind muddled beyond comprehension. I didn’t care for friends; they were all superficial anyway. My dad used to have them; where is he now?

Dead. He was dead. And there was nothing his so-called “friends” could do about that. Sure, they came around a few times after his death, but gradually the visits dwindled. The government compensated my mother, but it was hardly enough. She’d become the sole breadwinner in the family. That was truly terrifying.

I watched her grow older, knowing there was nothing I could do. I didn’t mingle or care about humans, so I had no friends. And by proxy, no jobs. I didn’t mind, though; my little sister and mother fended for the house, working many odd jobs to make ends meet.

I tried to do that, but it didn’t work out. Nobody could stand my attitude, and in less than a week, I was already looking for another job. I hated my life. And being from a respected family that’d fallen from grace just served to add insult to injury.

“Warner!” I heard my name, but I didn’t turn to look. Aside from family, I was a pariah. I wasn’t bullied in school; I was just treated like I didn’t exist. I rode my bicycle with vigor, anger fueling my body.

I knew there was something my mother wasn’t saying; she had eye bags the size of a dwarf planet, and she kept insisting nothing was wrong. I was many things, but an idiot wasn’t one. I knew her jobs weren’t paying, and Darcy, my little sister, had just lost her last job.

In simple words, we were in deep sh*t.

“Warner! Look out!” I heard, but it was too late. I was in front of a giant truck, driving at full speed toward me. The driver was arguing with someone; at least I could tell he wasn’t paying attention.

CRASHHHH

I didn’t need a soothsayer to tell me I was fucked. I was dying. Thinking about it, I never imagined I’d be watching myself bleed out and people screaming in horror.

So, this is how I die.

Truthfully, I didn’t live a life, per se. I never had friends and acted like I never needed any. Everything I did, I did to escape from others and to not build bonds.

“Staunch the blood flow and call an ambulance!” A voice I didn’t recognize spoke, warm hands cradling my head. It was the voice of earlier, and it was filled with warmth.

“Ah, this isn’t so bad,” my inner voice said. I was losing blood, but strangely enough, I didn’t feel any pain. I was just a clearheaded mess that had nothing to do with the fact that my body was broken and my legs bent at an unnatural angle.

Even if they wanted to save me, I couldn’t be saved. There were screams from various places around me, but I paid them no mind. I just really wanted to know the owner of that voice, but I knew I wasn’t going to.

I was slowly drifting away, losing my hold on reality.

“I wish… I had a second chance,” my inner voice hammered over and over again, and I could see the faces of my classmates and the school I walked out of. Or, preferably, dropped out.

It wasn’t their fault; it’d never been. And I was realizing it at my death.

[WHY DO YOU WANT A SECOND CHANCE?]

A voice boomed, and I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. But I just knew that I couldn’t lie to that voice; everything in me screamed not to.

“To be a better person, a better human...” I said, my hallucinations fading away. The lightheaded feeling came again, and I embraced it this time.

Because I knew from the beginning that I was going to die.

You will prove yourself first.

That was all I heard before the world completely faded to black, and I saw or heard nothing anymore.

~~

Death hurts. I didn’t know why, but all over my body, I was in severe pain. I cracked open one eye to see white walls and the steady beating sound of a monitor.

I was clearly in a hospital. Which meant that I hallucinated everything else.

But then something kept nagging at me. For one, I recognized nothing about the place. It was a hospital, yet it felt like a home. The mattress was uncommonly soft.

“Where am I?” I asked, looking around. A lady walked past my room and backpedaled almost immediately, her eyes wider than saucers.

“Patient 919 is awake!” She screamed, and suddenly, the hospital became a den of pandemonium.

What is happening?