The Anchor

6

"Mommy! Mommy! No mommy please!" The little girl cried aloud seeing her mom's head separated from her body, and blood gushing all over.

Her cries were very loud knowing her mommy has left her. Her mommy is dead.

In anger, she glared at the monster and stood up to pursue the monster away. It must go away. The fire monster must go away!!

"You..."

She sighted her dad shake his head in disapproval. "Ca.."

But before she knew it, she found herself flying with her scream all over the room, and then she rose from the bed like someone with a heart attack. Her breathing was incredibly fast, and it made her wonder when she'll ever stop having nightmares about that unfortunate day.

After a heavy gulp to completely steady her breathing, she got a glimpse of her surrounding, and her face scowled as she looked around.

She got off her bed wondering why she was in the middle of the road, and a seem to be empty city.

Funny thing is, no matter the time, Capital City is never empty.

She kept looking around totally heart napped by fear. 'What the hell is going on?' She thought, breathing very fast.

"Hello!" She yelled, but no reply.

"Hello!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, but nothing.

She was in a complete state of panic and didn't know what else to do. Everywhere was bright, but..but there was no one.

Could she be in hell?

She shook her head and mentally gave herself a slap. 'This isn't hell, Kara. Bring yourself together.'

"Hola."

"Ahhh.." She immediately screamed and turned around. Her heart painfully pounded in her chest.

She looked at the old man with a frown on her face.

"H...hi."

"I can tell you don't know where you are."

Kara immediately nodded. "I...I don't."

"Well, just so you know, if you're here, then you're dead." The man dropped, and it didn't give any help to Kara's heart. It spiked her fear the more.

"Here? Wh...where is here?" She asked.

"The other side."

Kara shook her head. "I must be dreaming, Sir, 'cause I'm not dead. I went to sleep peacefully."

"Then maybe you died in your sleep." A guy came walking towards them. He equally has a Hispanic accent.

Kara frowned at him, and the old man. "Wh..who are you guys?"

"We are dead people, and this place.." He said looking around. "We learned it was built for people who's got anger in their hearts."

"Do you have anger in your heart?" The old man asked Kara.

Kara paled at the question remembering the dream she had about her death, and the anger...the anger she felt, and still feels...

"With that face, the answer is obvious." The guy noticed.

"When you say anger, what do you mean?" Kara asked curiously.

"People whose death wasn't avenged. Who died unjustly, and with anger, and resentment. People with unfinished business." The guy made known.

"People? There are more of you here?" Kara asked with furrowed brows.

"All around the globe. Just depends on where you died."

Kara sighed and looked around. "This is exactly the replica of..."

"Capital city, I know. A boring version I might add."

Kara looked at both of them. "How did you die?"

"In a fire." The old man answered.

"Fire?"

The guy nodded. "I and my grandpa were trapped in it, and the fire ate us whole."

Kara furrowed her brows at the information. It was familiar. "Are you the Riveras?"

"Oh. You must have heard."

Kara nodded. "I'm a journalist."

"Oh."

"But the case was closed. It was rendered suicide."

"Yeah, because a son and his grandpa will give themselves such a gruesome death." The guy said sarcastically.

"Someone set the fire?"

The guy nodded. "Yeah. An enemy I created."

"Who?"

"Don't know exactly who the real boss is, but the boss I knew, and I worked with, we called him Greene. His name is Bernard Greene. Very bad."

Kara blinked and looked around. "Apart from you guys here in Capital city, is there anyone else?"

"In Kansas as a whole, there are a lot of us here, especially in small towns. In Here, there are in different places."

"Can't you guys meet each other?"

The guy scoffed. "To do what? Talk about our life? Everything we do is grieve, and regret. We can never be happy until our deaths are avenged, so we can move to our judgments."

Kara furrowed her brows at what he meant. "You're saying you can leave when your deaths are avenged."

He nodded. "Yep. At least now that you're here, we can help you settle."

Kara shook her head. "I'm serious, I'm not dead."

"If you're not dead, then how are you here then?" The old man asked.

Kara shook her head still battling that question. "I don't know. I went to bed yesterday. When I woke up, I was there. On this bed." She said pointing at her bed.

The guy shook his head. "Maybe you died crazy. Go back, and lay on the bed to see if you'll just magically appear back in the real world. Let's go back, Pa." He said giving Kara a crazy look.

Kara sighed wondering what to do.

She looked at the bed. Or should she really lay on the bed like he mockingly suggested?

She looked to see the guy and his grandpa was almost out of sight and laid on the bed closing her eyes. She was waiting for something magical to happen which should be impossible, but so is the explanation she can give for being on...the other side.

She waited, and waited, but nothing.

And then she suddenly gasps loudly, breathing very heavily, her body completely wet due to the water pouring on her.

She looked around to see her family taking breaths of relief.

"Oh my God, Kara! You scared me." Nora lamented.

Kara blinked trying to calm her breath. "What happened?"

"You went completely pale, Kara." Sofia made known.

"Like a dead person," Jonah emphasized.

"We've been trying hard to wake you up. We gave you a series of slaps and hits, but you didn't budge. Water was the last resort." Ellie informed.

They were all looking at her worriedly, but she just gulp. "I'm..I'm fine."

"I'm definitely taking you to the hospital, Kara," Nora told her.

Kara shook her head. "No hospital, mom. I'm fine."

"You looked dead, Kara. I was scared because it looked familiar. I was scared because maybe death realized you were missing and took you away!" Nora blubbered breathing heavily. It was one thing she was always scared of.

Kara's face softened knowing how affected her mom was by it, and then she sighed. "Fine then. I'll see a doctor."