Vampire Sorceress: Beyond the Gates of Death

What happens after you die? I know exactly what happens. You're probably thinking that a vampire can't die or that if I did, how could I tell you and be alive to tell it? Well then, I'll quench your curiosity. I've died on several occasions, but I only remember one of them clearly, like a well cut diamond.

The night was cold, and the air smelled like death. Ravens flew overhead, crying out to whatever was left on the land. Skeletons and blood covered this particular island. Nothing was alive, except for a man called Ned who was in fact crazy. This was the handiwork of my father, Jolly Roger. It had been a few years since his invasion, but nobody was aware of the island until it suddenly appeared, shrouded in thick black fog. The island was and still is called Raven's Cove.

I continued walking, my boots snapping old bones like twigs. I didn't mind at all. I was use to dead bodies, so this was no big deal. Using the key I had acquired from some ghostly inhabitants that resided in Raven's, I took the elevator to a higher cliff, which then led to a bridge, and finally an abandoned ship inside a closed waterway. "You guys there?" I called down. It was pretty quiet, with just the waves slapping against the hull of the ship and the ravens crying from overhead. "We're here, Vampire!" a females voice responded. Smirking, I launched myself over the edge. Almost as silent as a mouse, I landed gracefully on the deck of El Patron's ship. "You trying to give me a hear attack, Vampire?" my female friend questioned. "No, Mermaid. Relax, I can't die that easily," I said calmly. I leaned against the railing of the ship, and opened a portal in front of me. "Come on out, Jack," I called into the swirling black and green mist. Footsteps thudded across the wooden floorboards, and a man emerged from the portal I had created. Without warning, a gunshot echoed and pain spread throughout my side, then another gunshot, and my arm burned with the same pain. I don't recall much, but I remember my friend getting hurt by the same man, with the same gun, with the same bullets... My body had crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. I felt so cold.... so heavy... I couldn't move... Blackness consumed my vision, and I knew that I had died...

Startled, I woke up, or so I thought. Around me were spirits crying in agony, buildings made of pure white bones, and rivers black as tar. Is this what lies beyond death? I thought. I stood up, and walked the path ahead of me. I felt nothing, no emotions, no pain, it was as if my senses had died themselves. I need to get back somehow, but I wasn't sure if I could. "Looks like I finally have you," a whisper echoed through my head. Death, I thought. "Very good" the whisper hissed. ( tbc)