But something felt off…

Beth woke to the sounds of hurried voices and loud beeping. She felt a stabbing pain just about everywhere in her body, her heart was racing and her eyesight couldn’t adjust at all. Suddenly she could hear one clear phrase…

“Hurry up we’re losing her!” Panicked voices shouted all across Beth. 

There was no more panic in her heart anymore, Beth knew what was happening. She expected this to happen but yet she felt disappointed. The shouts grew even louder as the final beep from the machine appeared.

This was the end, I didn’t even get to say goodbye… that was the last thing Beth thought as she closed her eyes one last time in the operating room.

In a blink of an eye, Beth found herself awake, but with the sight of the recovery room. Instead, she found herself standing in a dark void with a floor that resembled water with its ebbing and flowing every time she took a step. The room was only illuminated by the faint specs of light that closely reminded her of stars. 

“Am I in judgment right now, either that or this is hell…” Beth mumbled to herself.

After standing around for a while, Beth saw that she wasn’t alone. She could see a figure walking toward her. Its shadow took the form of a slender woman; her presence was regal. Once she approached Beth, she knew right away who it was. Her long brown hair and eyes were average traits, but the snake tattoo wrapped around her neck gave it away. It was Julia Raventós.

The expression on Julia’s face was only one of pain, experiencing it repeatedly. 

“How strange to see you here, Julia, I thought you were only a character in a book?” Beth could only muster a dead expression to add to her blunt comment.

“How strange to see another human in this space,” Julia responds.

“I don’t think so, I mean after all we are both dead,” Beth smiled.

“If only I could stay that way.”

“What do you mean by that Julia?”

“It’s my fate, no matter what I do I always become what I am. This snake around my neck is only proof of it, my foolishness. Acting as a dog collar, binding me to my fate. I am bound to always feel like something is missing, only to feel like half of me is there, I am always in pain. I only wish to die,” Julia starts to sob, her words only filled her with pain. “I lost the only people I loved, it started with my mother and her ‘accident’ and ended with Tobias and my father!All because of him I was all alone, no one to comfort me and tell me it was going to be alright,” she collapsed on the floor weeping.

Beth rushed down to comfort her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. Like how Dee had done for her.

“All I want is to just die. I want to move on from this life, I don’t care where I go. If I become another person or be tossed into an eternal void for all my sins, I don’t care! I just want to die!” Julia screamed as she buried her weeping head into Beth’s calming embrace.

Beth thought of her reasons for being here carefully. She knew that Julia’s family had loved her and her brother very much, but Julia was selfish and was terrible to her family when she got engaged. Even though Julia was evil, she still had people who loved her, while Beth had no one. Not even her family cared for her. She had no life. The only thing she took pleasure in was ripped away from her because of cancer. Beth never even felt whole, even things that made her happy always had one tiny piece missing. She was never fully happy in her old life. The one person Beth had a connection with was her nurse she met at the end of her life; her one friend and companion in life was Deirdre. 

With one final thought, Beth knew what she wanted, what would save both parties and give peace to both.

“I want to live, Julia,” Beth whispered.

Julia looked up at her in awe.

“I want to live, I had nothing, I only had one person. Now I cannot even see her anymore. So, Julia, I want to set you free and I will live as you,” Beth wiped the tears from Julia’s face..

“What?” Julia said behind tears, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

Beth wiped Julia’s tears, “Yes, and this time, I will give you a happy ending. You deserve it,” Beth stood up and reached her arm out to Julia

“My final death is my happy ending, I think us being here was the conclusion to my story and the beginning of yours. So please, live for yourself, Anabeth.” Julia took Beth’s hand and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Thank you Julia,” Beth said.

“No, thank you,” Julia responded as their surroundings began to change.

The void that surged them shifted into a golden field of stars and they both began to fade away into a cloud of golden dust made of pure light. Julia’s dust faded into the sky, joining a collection of stars in the heavens.

Only feeling an overwhelming sense of peace, Beth fell down into the ground as she became dust, she felt new, alive, and most important whole