THE LCCA OBSERVER IS PROUD TO PRESENT “THE ACCIDENT” CHAPTERS 1-6. IN THIS EDITION,

-GUEST AUTHOR ZOE ARCENEAUX-

CONTRIBUTED TO THE WRITING OF CHAPTER 4!

-GUEST AUTHOR JAYLON MARTIN-

CONTRIBUTED CHAPTER 5!

-GUEST AUTHOR KEAHIMAIKALANI PELEIHOLANI-

CONTRIBUTED CHAPTER 6!

The Accident 

Chapter 1 

“Hello?” Came a small voice in the darkness. “Is anybody there?” She asked again but was met with silence. Olivia had no idea how long she had been in the dark. Her brain was cloudy, and she couldn’t even remember how she got there. Her thoughts were racing, and her heartbeat was like a drum in her ears. 

Think, girl, think, she told herself. She knew she wouldn’t get anywhere if she couldn’t calm her mind. Deep breath in, slow breath out. Deep breath in, slow breath out. What was the last thing she remembered? The bus stop. She had been at the bus stop waiting for the Ryan St. bus to take her home from school. 

She had to take the bus. Her mom worked late hours cleaning office buildings and wouldn’t be home until after homework, dinner, and bath. 

Who was she with? Emma and Liam. She had been sitting with Emma and Liam who were bickering over which flavor of skittles was better sour or tropical and then nothing. Her head hurt. It was this pounding headache that reverberated like the bass in an old car that shook the doors as an extra sound effect. 

That was it. An old car with bass that shook the doors coming straight for them with no time to move. Suddenly, a lone, soft lightbulb appeared several feet in front of her and what appeared to be a mirror. Olivia cautiously walked up to the dim yellow glow and peered into the mirror. Yes, she could see herself. Except it wasn’t just her reflection. The Olivia in the mirror smiled at her. 

“Hello Olivia.” Said the girl in the mirror. 

“Um, hello.” Olivia said back. 

“I bet you are wondering where you are…or do you think you have an idea?” she asked. 

Olivia stammered, “I think – I know, I mean I’m not sure. I mean, I thought I was, but no, not really.” 

The girl in the reflection looked at Olivia with soothing and gentle eyes. “Shhhhhh. There, there. No need to get yourself upset, that will only make things worse.” 

“What? How?” 

“Do you remember the accident?” She asked pensively. 

Olivia closed her eyes so she could see the accident in her mind more clearly. “Yes, I see it. I was standing at the bus stop in front of Liam and Emma who were sitting on the bench with their backpacks between their feet arguing which flavor of Skittles was better. I don’t really like either flavor, so I guess I kinda zoned out listening to music in the air pods I was sharing with Emma.” What was that song, she wondered? Olivia’s mind wandered. 

It was hard to focus. When she focused, a burning sensation like a pin prick began in the center of her vision and quickly spread across her entire being. 

“Good,” The girl in the reflection brought her mind back. “There was an accident and a car full of high school boys ran a red light, jumped the curb and ran right into the bus stop where you were standing. You, Emma, and Liam were struck and all three of you have been brought to the hospital.” 

“What? The panic began to rise in her again and her head began to pound and a beeping sound so loud in her ears-like an alarm. It was an alarm. Even from her unconscious state she could hear the alarm of the heart rate monitor as it signaled for help. 

Chapter 2 

Charlotte and William Gaffney stood trembling in silence in the lobby of Good Shepherd Memorial. Holding one another up, unable to speak, unable to sit, they stood there in a daze, under water, as the world moved on around them. Their entire world lay shattered in the room just beyond them, and the pain they felt was inconsolable. 

“Mrs. Gaffney?” Dr. Johnson placed a gentle hand on the trembling woman’s shoulder. “My name is Dr. Johnson, and I am the head of Neurosurgery here at GSM and I performed your daughter’s surgery. Can we step into my office to go over a few things?” 

Not really convinced they heard most of what she had said, Dr. Johnson led the Gaffney’s to her office and offered them a seat, tissue, and water. Once she could see their eyes had fixed on hers, she repeated who she was and began the process of explaining their daughter’s condition to them. 

She turned her computer monitor to face them. “Your daughter has suffered an intercranial hemorrhage. I had to go in and cut open her cranium to allow room for her swollen brain and to stop the bleeding. The surgery was successful, and we expect the swelling to go down in a few days. 

Mrs. Gaffney let out a huge sob and collapsed into her husband’s arms. Dr. Johnson had seen this before and allowed the mother a moment to compose herself before continuing. “While we won’t know anything for certain until Olivia wakes up, there are good indications that she will survive this. We just don’t know for certain with the brain. Sometimes it is quick, and other times it is a very long process.” 

Mr. Gaffney turned his attention from his wife to respond. “Thank you, Dr., can we see her now?” 

“Of course,” Dr. Johnson replied. “Follow me.” And with that, the three of them left her office and headed to the elevator destined for the ICU and the unknown.  

Chapter 3 

Gradually, her heart rate slowed, Olivia was never one to panic before this. She was always the voice of reason for her friends-the one everyone turned to when they needed advice. She was so out of her element. “So…you’re telling me that I’m in the hospital…?” she asked trying to keep her composure. 

The mirror-Olivia responded with a coy smile on her face, like she had secrets she wasn’t telling. “Yes.” 

“…and so are Emma and Liam?” 

“Yep.” Mirror Olivia replied again. 

Olivia’s panic began to rise again. Her friends! They can’t be hurt! “I have to see them! I have to make sure they’re okay!” she said as she failed miserably to get out of bed. 

“Maybe you should calm down-“ 

“No! I’m the one that told them to meet up with me at the bus stop!” Olivia interrupted. 

“Oh, don’t blame yourself, you didn’t mean it…” She tried to explain herself, but Olivia cut her off. 

“But if I didn’t tell them, they wouldn’t have been there with me!” Olivia was on the verge of shouting! 

“You weren’t the one driving-“ 

“Yeah, but-!” 

“Sup, homies.” A familiar voice said. 

Olivia and her reflection whipped their heads around to see who was talking. 

“Liam! What are you doing here!? What happened to you!” Olivia and other-Olivia exclaimed in unison. Then turned to look at each other in confusion. 

Liam was always the jokester in the group. He could have been a stand-up comic if his first dream of being a famous You-Tuber didn’t pan out. 

“Ok, so now you’re here, but where is Emma?” Olivia questioned, flabbergasted. 

“Okay, okay, fine. It’s me, Emma.” she explained, revealing her true self to be the reflection in the mirror Olivia thought was her own. 

“I was worried about you when you first woke up. It seemed like there was already so much going on that I didn’t want to scare you.” Emma explained to Olivia why she didn’t appear as herself in the reflection at first. 

“Scare me from what?” Olivia asked. 

“Livy,” Emma began. “I didn’t make it. I was killed in the accident.” 

Olivia was overwhelmed with grief and exclaimed. “Why…what…how?” She could barely get the words out. 

“I was just trying to calm you down…because…um-“ 

“Look, at least we’re all here together now!” Liam said. 

“Yeah, that’s all that matters.” Olivia said, realizing how cheesy it sounded but decided that it was true. 

Olivia was still worried though, she was concerned for her family, and still had many questions. Where were they? Are they in the same place? Could she get to them? This was all still really strange, and she still had a lingering feeling she was missing something. As well as questioning if this is just a dream. 

Just then, Olivia’s parents were standing in the doorway, eyes bloodshot from crying. 

Chapter 4 

Olivia was so relieved to see her parents, she ran to them with open arms. “Mom!! Dad!! I’m so happy to see you! Everything has been so crazy…” But as she reached them and tried to put her arms around her mom to pull her into an embrace, all she found was air. Her parents walked by her, towards the bed where her body lay. This had to be a bad dream.  

Emma spoke up, “They can’t see you. You aren’t here in their world, this is only your subconscious.” 

But Olivia just couldn’t accept that. She needed her mom, she needed a hug, and for someone to tell her everything was going to be okay somehow. 

“Mom…Dad…I’m here! So are Liam and Emma!!! We are all here…can’t you see us?” But there was no sign of recognition.  

It was hard for Olivia to watch her parents so upset. Her mom crawled onto the bed, curled up to her lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably. Her dad stood there helplessly, rubbing his wife’s back. “Shh, it’s gonna be okay, honey.” He said in an attempt to comfort her. “The doctors said everything will be okay.” 

Olivia stared at them, devastated. She wished that this was all a bad dream, but she knew it wasn’t.  

Even Liam, who could find a way to make people laugh in any situation, couldn’t find any words. He comfortingly put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a brotherly squeeze instead. 

A nurse came in to check her vitals and Olivia could’ve sworn they made eye contact. The glimmer of hope dashed as she realized she was mistaken. 

Chapter 5 

    This was a situation Olivia had no idea how to control. The thing is… she had no control over her situation or… her condition. Was it a condition? Was she dead or on her way to greeting death? She placed her hands through her hair as she tried to keep her breaths steady. 

    Emma and Liam were not only at a loss for words, but also a loss for action. The fear that masked their faces was nothing compared to how it drowned Olivia’s face. 

    Liam shook his head, still refusing to accept the situation. “It’s not supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.” 

    Although their astral bodies still lingered in the hospital, Olivia couldn’t help but wonder if it was heaven or hell that they stood in. It hadn’t been clarified if they died, so she began to assume they were between two worlds. 

    The world of the living… she didn’t even want to think about what the other world could be. Tears streamed down Olivia’s face. “This is all my fault. I told us to wait at the bus stop, and look what happened to us.” Olivia couldn’t even feel the hospital wall as she slid down, breaking into tears. 

Emma reasoned, “Olivia, this is no time to blame yourself for something you had no idea was going to happen.” 

    Liam was curious. “The guys that hit us? Do you think they made it?” 

    Emma crossed her arms. “I don’t care. Those idiots were probably drinking. The last thing we need is for them to end up on this side.” 

“Well, we did unfortunately.” said a broad male with a deep voice. 

    Emerging from a cloud of white fog were three guys. All wore high school football jackets colored blue and white. The other two high school boys stared at their hands in confusion. 

Emma rolled her eyes. “Well, this day just keeps getting better and better.” 

“I know you’re angry.” 

“Angry?” Emma laughed sarcastically. “Not only did you kill me, but you robbed me of whatever future I did have.” 

“Emma.” Olivia calmed. 

Liam demanded, “Were you drinking when you hit us?” 

“No.” says the guy who stood on the left of the other two. 

“Why were you speeding then?” Emma shouted. 

Olivia stood in the middle of her friends and the seem-to-be jocks that appeared out of the fog. “Can we all try to calm down please?” 

The jock on the left, whose name was Chad, explained, “I had to hurry home. My friends were just trying to bring me there.” 

Olivia asks, “For what?” 

“It’s complicated.” Hunter, the boy on the right, sighed. 

Emma abruptly announced, “Well, all of us, but Olivia is dead, so does it really matter?” 

The high-schooler standing in the middle, named Brock, questioned, “You’re still alive?” 

“I-I don’t know.” 

    Olivia looked at her reflection, and saw Mirror-Olivia-turned-Emma grow nervous. “What’s wrong?” she asked. 

    Mirror Olivia looked upward at all the lights in the hallway flashing from black to white. Her expression shifted to an unbalanced nervousness. “He’s here?” 

“Who’s here?” 

 Brock asked, “Who are you talking about?” 

“Uhh…” Liam pointed to a slender entity that teleported from the blinking range of lights. 

    The entity was tall, and dressed in a flowing black cloak. Blacker than any night sky any of them saw when they were alive. 

Afraid, Chad asked, “Who are you?” 

“Who am I?” the hooded entity responded with a devilish grin. “Everyone meets me sooner or later.”  

Chapter 6  

The entity of pure darkness and malice crept closer and closer. “Everyone meets me sooner or later… you were just a few of the many unfortunate souls to meet me in this barren void.”  

Fear struck their hearts as they stood frozen, trembling in their places. Was this the end? Was this figure the Grim Reaper, ready to drag their souls to the Shadow Realm?   

“Én vagyok a sötétség, én vagyok az éjszaka. Azért vagyok itt, hogy elvigyem a lelketeket ma este.” 

The shadowy figure chanted as it raised its hand and clasped the murky air all around. Emma whispered lightly, “Umm…L-Livy? I don’t feel so g-good…” 

Liam muttered, “I don’t either, kid… my body feels weird.” 

Their bodies were slowly enveloped in a glimmering light. “What is this…AGH!” Hunter screamed as a shadowy substance covered his chest. 

The dark figure sprinted towards Emma but Liam jumped in front of her to shield her with his body and was covered with the shadowy substance as well. 

“LIAM!!!” Emma screamed in horror. Brock and Chad tried their hardest to fight the figure off but failed. 

“Hey… ma’am… Shh…” the sudden noise startled frightened Olivia. She looked around and at first didn’t see who the voice belonged to, when all of a sudden a young child stepped from the darkness. 

“Hey, you! Who are you? Where did you come from?!” 

“Shh…” 

It was a horrible sight, watching the shadowy darkness cover the chest of her friends and even harder for her to comprehend when they vanished into thin air. 

 Olivia shrieked from the top of her lungs as she watched her friends disappear in front of her eyes. An ominous, evil laughter filled the void. She thought to herself why wasn’t she taken away as well? Why did she have to stay in the pitch-black alone?  

“E-Emma? Liam? Please say something… Say something, please… Please! Say SOMETHING! ANYTHING!?” She yells as she collapses to the floor, her face flooding with tears. 

“Do not be discouraged. You still have time left.” The child’s  voice came to her again. 

“Who are you? And what do you want from me? I have nothing left and that… that thing took them from me! It took everything from me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it!” Olivia cried in despair. 

“My name is Faith. Just like you, I am between the two worlds of the living and the dead. The Darkness cannot see us because we are not completely dead. We must be as quiet as a mouse so we can survive this place.” Faith came closer. “Please don’t cry… It was their time to go. You are still alive and that is all that matters.” 

“Did you not hear me? What is the point of being alive if I’m trapped here?” 

“Because you haven’t died yet.” Faith explained. “Your other half is still alive. You just need to find her and reconnect with her before the Darkness does.” 

“The reason the other souls were taken was because the Darkness destroyed their other half.” 

“Emma’s connection to the living world was lost in the accident, and Liam’s is hanging on by a thread. But, if you manage to find them, there may be a slight chance that both of your survivals are guaranteed.” 

“That still doesn’t answer my questions.” Olivia rattled off her questions again: Where am I? Why am I here? What is an other half? And most importantly, who, or rather, what was that horrid thing!?” Olivia took a step back and hung her head in despair 

“We can’t explain everything to you as you have little time. Please be careful, as you may shorten the time you have left. Just know that you cannot afford to lose hope too quickly.” an elderly soul says. 

As the souls fade away, Olivia is left once alone again to fend for herself. Despite the unhelpful information, she is now left with no choice but to hope that she will survive. 

Meanwhile in the land of the living… 

“We’re losing her!” Dr. Johnson’s assistant, Nurse Joy yells. 

“It’s something we’ve never seen before! I’m picking up signs of abnormal brain activity!” another nurse states. 

“L~Liam… Emma… say… something…please…” the partially lifeless body mutters. 

“Prepare to add more anesthetics! Don’t give up, kid. You got this. Whatever is going on in there, I can’t help you with but this much. The rest is up to you.” Dr. Johnson utters. 

As she heads off to reconnect with her “other half”, she is met with the feeling that she is being followed. 

“Alright, you can come out now. There’s no reason to hide at this point. Just get out!” 

“Okay, okay. You got me. Hey there, I’m Miles. And this is Charlotte.” 

“H-Hi…” 

“Okay, Miles and Charlotte. What are you doing here?” 

“We are lost souls for sure, and we also happened to escape that creep.” 

“I can see that. Where are we? And what is the ‘Void’?” 

“The Void is a limbo state accessed by souls who are not conscious like the ones who are dead and barely escaped Eternity or others who are trapped in a comatose state and are trying their hardest to reconnect to their other half. You are one of the many few who are in the coma because of the… umm… accident, I think? That’s why you aren’t dead. Eternity? He’s the ‘god’ of lost souls. He drags souls who have not made it to Heaven or gave up and drag them to a dungeon-like base.” 

“T-Thankfully I f-found him before we were both enveloped.”  

“But why didn’t you make it home, Charlotte? Why aren’t you in Heaven?” Olivia asks. 

“Because I am not whole yet. I’m s-still missing my other half.” Charlotte explains. 

“And we aren’t gonna find them if we keep standing here doing nothing, so I guess we’d better get going!” Miles declares. 

“We? Nuh-uh, I barely know where in the Void I am.” Olivia rebuts. 

“No duh. That’s why it’s gonna be the three of us. And I think we might become really close friends!” Miles states. 

“Good luck. You have 36 hours left before the clock runs out. Then your soul will belong to my Collection.”