The blaring echoes of Cain's alarm alertly woke Lorelei up. Grunting, she sat up in a daze and crawled towards Cain's bedside table, looking furiously at his smartphone vibrating, the hideous ringtone filling the room as it echoes, shattering what was left of Lorelei's good morning mood.
Cain woke up just moments after, casually reaching towards his bedside table to hit the turn off button of his smartphone. He hadn't noticed the pair of icy blue eyes that seem to be stringing curses at him, and so he yawned once again, oblivious to the girl underneath his bed.
Even if he did manage to catch a glimpse of her sprawled on the floor shouting for her life (yes, he acted deaf), he paid her no mind and continued on his daily life, as if there wasn't another person inside his apartment; as if he hadn't met someone yesterday in an abandoned building; as if he hadn't met a girl, an annoying one to be precise, who turned out to be a grim reaper; who, unfortunately, turned out to be HIS grim reaper.
The world's toying with him, he knew it.
It's not like he expected any different of what he was usually thrown at. In Cain's mind, he's given the scraps from the scraps: the undesirable among the undesirable, the useless of them all.
But isn't this what his life is built from?
So there he is, attending class like a normal student in a normal high school with decent grades and off the charts six feet under, going negative popularity.
Lorelei, on the other hand, was still on the floor of Cain's apartment, crying in a dramatized fashion of how she could not move her body and if she ever does, she will, and is quoted, 'cut off his private part, cut him limb from limb and see his soul get out of that useless and shitty of a body and not have someone to guide it to the afterlife so he is stuck roaming the earth until the very end'.
Of course, Cain wasn't there to listen to her vivid description of his possible grand exit from the world; he was busy rolling his eyes kilometers away.
As to why Lorelei was on the floor?
She was used to the soft and bouncy queen-sized beds that sleeping on the floor made her whole body ache. It wasn't until her anger dissipated from Cain's ringtone that she realized just how much it hurt.
She had screamed for Cain's help only to be ignored the rest of the morning and had the door slammed in front of her.
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Realizing she wasn't going to get any sympathy, she used up the whole morning trying to stand up with wobbly knees and do her morning yoga.
Suffice to say, that didn't end well.
She laid on Cain's bed after a few hours, trying to figure out her plan for the day. She can't do much in her own state, even using her powers was a chore.
Lorelei sighed. The ticking of the clock softly echoed across the apartment room, and she looked around to find anything of interest; and she did.
Across the bathroom door was a face mirror. Realizing she could use it as her source of entertainment, she patted her shoulder, a big smile plastered on her face.
With a snap of her fingers, the mirror floated towards her and rested on her hand, where she traced the circular shape of the mirror with her finger.
She stared at the mirror to her reflection with a puzzled look.
"Magic?"
As her finger traced the mirror, small sparks emitted from it. It was unnoticeable, but it was, no doubt, there.
How suspicious...
Lorelei threw the mirror aside at the very corner of the room and placed a pencil case on top of it. Realizing she had to use her magic, she sighed once again, imagining how much her body would ache for the next few days.
She closed her eyes with her palms open towards the sky. "Revelare."
Just then, balls of white energy emitted from her hand, and, using her fingers, weaved the balls of magic into a personalized mirror.
Pink, of course. Complete with frills and bows.
She opened her eyes just as she was done and looked at her beautifully crafted masterpiece. A dream for stalkers, what she did was create a mirror of magic, capable of being the lens to broadcast the life of another.
An image formed from the mirror: dull almond eyes, messy auburn hair that sticks out in all ends, and the face of a fucker.
Cain Adela.
Lorelei fumed in anger as the mirror formed what looked to be Cain's classroom. If only she could reach out and strangle the guy to death, the guy would already be on his way to the afterlife.
She pointed at the mirror and made a sliding motion, and the view, which was only focusing at Cain's side profile, changed. It revealed the slouching figure of Cain's back, along with the back of his chair. His chair was in a state of disarray: a stark contrast from the rest of the chairs in the classroom. Theirs was polished and looked fairly new. However his was vandalized with all sorts: from stickers to markers to pen marks, his chair got it all. And what struck Lorelei the most was the prominent large white sticker at the very center.
Loser, it read.
Lorelei was oblivious to the pair of legs that were using his lap as a cushion. It wasn't until a shrill, high-pitched giggle came from the back of Cain that she finally noticed.
A woman with platinum-blonde hair inched closer at Cain and pulled some strands in his hair that the boy's head craned backwards.
"Hey, you taking down notes?"
Cain didn't respond.
The girl kicked him in the shins and made him look at her, in which Cain winced. "Didn't you hear me? I said, did you take down notes?"
Lorelei, who was watching (stalking) the whole scene unfold in front of her eyes, was getting increasingly disturbed. No wonder the guy wanted to die. He was getting bullied!
"I did." Cain muttered.
The girl smiled and pushed his head forward. "Don't make me ask again next time, okay?" She leaned in close to his ear and continued, "Or you're not getting out of here without a fucking black eye, you hear me? Make my notes later."
Cain nodded. The other classmates snickered at him, getting the teacher's attention.
"Is there anything funny?" The teacher stopped writing on the whiteboard and went to look at his class.
The class shook their head in unison, and just as the teacher was about to go back to complete writing the equation of the parabola with its vertix at origin, the girl earlier stood up.
Lorelei adjusted the view towards the girl.
She was fair, and average in height, with her hair straightened and wore a headband. She had multiple piercings on both side of her ears and cakey foundation that was almost three shades lighter, and Lorelei laughed at this monstrosity. She was fashionable to say the least, Lorelei admitted, but girl can you not hide that ugly-ass personality even with five layers of that ugly-ass foundation with ugly-ass coverage and with an ugly-ass color that was too pale for her.
"Oh we were just laughing at Cain's joke, Mr. White." She smiled innocently at the teacher. Mr. White sighed and looked at Cain.
"And why are you joking in my class, Mr. Adela? Do you see this subject as a joke? As something humorous?"
The girl sat back down and resisted the urge to laugh.
Cain replied, "No, sir."
"I'm sure as hell you won't be laughing and making jokes once I let you out of my class, again, Adela."
Lorelei punched the floating mirror and the magic dissipated. She was fuming in anger from what she had witnessed and out of spite, acted out in anger. With a snap of her fingers, a swirl of magic appeared in front of her that almost engulfed the whole room around her. Out of the portal was a wind so strong it knocked out most of the things in Cain's room, rearranging them hazardly.
Just as she was about to enter, Lorelei snapped her fingers again and disappeared into thin air, the things going back to their original positions. When she took a step towards the portal, she emerged in a different place; a place that smells like lilies and a meadow, with lush trees surrounding a gated kingdom made of gold, and radiating luxury with the scent of familiarity: a smell like home.
Lorelei walked briskly until she appeared at the entrance, and stared at the small kid in front of a small enclosure, busily typing on the computer in front of her, blasting Beyonce's Halo. As Lorelei approached, the small girl looked up and smiled at her.
"Welcome to the Afterworld, how may I help you?"