Afterlife


Chapter 01



By: CJZ♂
email: lycanpureblood@hotmail.com

The author claims all copyrights to this story and no duplication or publication of this story is allowed, except by the web sites to which it has been posted, without the consent of the author.

This story is purely a work of fiction and any resemblance to person's living or dead, or to events that may have occurred is purely coincidental.  Moreover, none of the actions of the characters in this story are meant to condone, approve, or sanction their behaviour.

My other novel in progress can be found under the same category of...

Science Fiction/Fantasy 

Lycan Bloodline



Please, support the Nifty Archive by making a contribution.


And as always, a great big thank-you to Matt for all his patience, assistance and support.











It was a peaceful, happy and serene dream...

I dreamt that I was standing in the backyard of the old house where I had grown up as a kid...

As I looked around the backyard, I noticed that a cloud of mist hung low over the well kept and manicured lawn.  Dew drops sparkled like diamonds on the rose petals of my mom's favourite roses and as ray of sunlight touched my arm, I could hear in the distance the distinct laughter of my brothers.  I couldn't see anyone yet, but I knew they were there, I could feel them near...    

I felt happy and anxious to see my brothers, afterall it had been a long time since we've all been together.  And as I ran around to the front of the house, I stopped dead on my tracks when I saw a very familiar figure sitting on the steps of the house.

It was my dad, I couldn't believe my eyes, he was alive.  There he was sitting on the porch, reading the morning paper and smoking his favourite stogie.  My mom had always given the old man such a hard time for smoking and since he didn't have any intentions on quitting, quite to the contrary and whenever she nagged him to stop, he would smoke even more just to annoy her.  So, the old man was banished to smoking his beloved cigars on the front porch of the house.

My dad had always been a giant of a man and while growing up, I had truly loved and admired him.  He had been a caring, hard working and loving husband to my mother, and a devoted dad to my brothers and me.  In my eyes, he had been a Colossus of a man who easily towered above all of my brothers, even the oldest one who was seventeen at the time of my dad's prime.  And I, being the youngest one, always felt like a little ant and insignificant compared to him.  

In this dream, my dad seemed calm, even relaxed, something that when I was growing up, I seldom saw him in such a mood.  I was very surprised that he looked so young and physically amazing, but most important he seemed cheerful.  All his life he had worked hard to support his large and growing family.  He had been a robust and gargantuan man, who until the last days of his life, he had been a very fit and quite the athletic guy.  

He was wearing his favourite wife beater shirt, and tight and wornout blue jeans and sandals.  As I stood near the steps of the house, I could see why all the wives in the neighbourhood always loved to flirt with my dad.  Quite a few times and while I had been present, I had heard the more bold ones whisper to him that they were there for him, if he ever needed anything.  

He looked well rested just sitting there on the steps, like he had had a good night's sleep.  And I assume he had just come out of the shower, because his hair was still wet, he was clean shaven, with rosy red cheeks and his usual neatly combed, conservative, and highly trimmed jet black hair.   My dad turned heads wherever he went, he was that good-looking and as he sat there on the porch, he was the epitome of the traditional and handsome black Irish male.  

As he lowered the paper, he looked at me and while blinking those big, sparkling grey-blue eyes, he spoke in a deep baritone voice.  

"Good morning, Braeden.  How's it going there, buddy?"

I felt tears trickling down my face and as I ran towards him, he smiled, tossed the newspaper aside and stretched his huge, muscular arms.  

But, as I was inches away from him, a blinding bright light appeared out of nowhere, and I heard another voice calling out my name.

"Mr.O'Connor, can you hear me?"

I felt sick, very sick.  

I wanted to open my eyes and throw up.

"Relax, Mr.O'Connor...everything is going to be fine...just relax and breathe."

"Hit him again, or we might lose him!"

I felt a bolt of painful energy run through my body and that's when I opened my eyes, and took a huge gulp of air.

I let out a hellish cry like a fucking banshee and bolted to a sitting position.

"Atta boy, Mr.O'Connor...welcome back!"

My stomach felt weird, heavy almost and I lost count as to how many times I threw up on the floor, I felt so weak that I couldn't even sit up straight.  I tried to sit up, but I got dizzy and fell back on the bed and my head was spinning and pounding profusely.   That's when the nausea kicked in and I wanted to throw up again, and...I did.

"That's allright, Mr.O'Connor...it's perfectly fine, your body is having a normal reaction.  These are very common symptons to having been successfully cloned."

I opened my eyes and looked towards the direction of where the voice was coming from.  I was too confused and disoriented, but all I could make out was a blurry image of a man.

"What did you just say?"

The blurry image of the man got closer.

"Blink and open your eyes, Mr.O'Connor.  Try to focus them on this object."

I was trying, I was doing my best to focus my eyes on whatever he had in his hand, but everything was still blurry.  I was afraid I was blind...

"I can't see properly...what the fuck is going on?"

I heard an alarm go off and another voice in the room sounded nervous.

"His heart rate is increasing Seth, he's panicking.  Lower the goddamm lights in the room or he might go into cardiac arrest.  We can't afford to lose him!"

My heart was racing and my chest was pounding, and I started to get lightheaded.

"Mr.O'Connor, you have to listen to my voice and calm down.  Please, you have to calm down, calm down..."

Easy for this fucker to say.  But, I had to calm down...calm down...calm, the fuck down.

"Mr.O'Connor, can you give me your full name?"

"Tell me, Sir...what is your full given name?"

I was finding it hard to breathe, fuck!  What is going on?

"My name...my name is..."

What is my name?  Why, can't I remember?

"His heart rate is way off, Seth.  Call in for help, we're going to lose him!"

The man closest to me grabbed my right hand and squeezed it.

"Listen to my voice and relax.  Breathe in and out...now, concentrate and tell me your name!"

"My name is...Braeden Cullen O'Connor."

I felt my right hand being squeezed again.

"That's great, Braeden.  Now, where were you born?"

Born?

"I...I was born in Boston"

I was coughing some sorta vile greenish fluid and my mouth felt all bitter and nasty.

"That's amazing...Boston.  I can't believe it, he's from..."

Another male voice quickly interrupted him.

"Shhhh...shut up, Adam.  Let's see if he remembers..."

"What state is Boston in, Braeden?  Can you remember?"

I could distinguish colour now, my vision was improving.

"Whaa?  What do you mean, what state?  Is this a fucking geography test?  Where the fuck, am I?"

I could make out the faces now, a little bit blurry...but, certainly better than before.

"Please, Braeden indulge me...what state is Boston in?"

I sat up, pulled my hand away and rubbed my eyes.

"What?  Are you fucking kidding me, Boston is in the fucking state of Massachusetts."

The other man approached the bed and took my left hand.

"Now, can you tell us what country the state of Massachusetts is in, Braeden?"

I looked at him and almost coughed in his face.

"What?  What fucking game are you two clowns playing?  Massachusetts is in the U.S. of fucking A."

I heard both men gasp and the one holding my left hand ran out of the room.   

"Allright, I've gone along with your game and answered your stupid questions.  Now, are you going to tell me where the fuck I am?"

I could see his face clearly now and he was just a fucking kid...A kid, for Christsakes!  

This kid couldn't be more than twenty years old and he was wearing a white plastic and shiny medical coat.  He looked fucking comical with this weird fucking helmet on his head and there were all sorts of flashing lights and fucking cables coming out of the back.

"Everything will be explained to you, Braeden...trust me.  But, first just one more question...please."

I rubbed my eyes and cleaned my mouth with my right hand.  I could still taste that nasty and bitter vile inside my mouth.

"NO!  No more fucking questions...TELL ME, WHERE I AM!"

The kid took off his plastic gloves, walked over to a table and poured some blue liquid into a crystal glass and gave it to me.

"Here, Braeden drink this.  It will help with the aftertaste that you have in your mouth.  And I wish I could tell you everything, but I'm forbidden from saying anything.  Besides, my lab parthner has gone to get the Senior Lab Physician and he will tell you everything you need to know.  Please, try not to get too upset..."

I yanked the glass from his hands and gulped down the blue liquid.  Right away the bitter taste disappeared and even my stomach felt a bit better.

"What you just drank is Blueberry juice, you remember that right?  It's high in antioxidants and..."

As I sat up on the bed, I noticed that my body was covered in something slippery and slimy.  When I paid closer attention to my sorroundings, I noticed that I wasn't laying on a hospital bed, but what look like a fucking large glass tube.  

The sticky green liquid covering my body felt warm, yet cool to the touch.

"The liquid you're in...it's...I should really wait for the Senior Physician."

I was also naked and getting cold.

"Please, you've got to tell me...something.  Please, I'm begging you!"

The kid must have seen and sensed how worried I was.  He looked around the bright white room, leaned closer and almost in a whisper, said.

"Please, Braeden...don't worry.  You're going to be fine, the liquid you're in is Amniotic fluid.  The liquid contains proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, phospholipids, urea and electrolytes, all of which aid in the growth of a..."

I knew what this shit was...

"a fetus...a fucking fetus!"

The young man shook his head up and down and sighed.

"Shhhh, yes and you're correct.  You're in a cryotube, what is the last thing you remember?  What year is it?"

I looked up at him and his face was flawless.  Not a pimple, ingrown hair, stubble...nothing...just pure perfection.

"What year?  What do you mean, what year?  It's 2010...right?"

The young man simply smiled and as he held my right hand, he shook his head from side to side.

"No, Braeden, it is not.  It's the year 3505, we're in the 36th Century of the Anno Domini, or Common era of the Gregorian calendar as it was known in your time.  This is the sixth century of the 4th Millennium."

My mouth fell open and once again, I felt like I couldn't breath.  

That's when the glass fell out of my hand and shattered into a million pieces on the bright and shiny white floor.


To be continued...