Luciana's pov***
Death wasn't dark.
That's what surprises me the most.
It was white.
Endless, blinding white, stretching so far that my eyes almost hurt trying to find where it ended. At first I thought I was still falling, that maybe the staircase hadn't stopped and this was just the afterimage of it, but there was no wind against my skin, no rushing sound in my ears, no pain tearing through my body.
There was nothing.
I breathed in cautiously.
Air filled my lungs easily.
Too easily.
I looked down at myself and my heart skipped. I was still wearing the same brown dress, the soft one with the tiny flowers stitched along the hem. It looked untouched, as if I had never hit a single step. No tears. No blood.
But when I lifted my hand to my head, my fingers came away sticky.
Red.
The memory hit me so suddenly I almost dropped to my knees.
The shove.
The missing step.
The flash of emerald.
The dragon bracelet.
My stomach twisted violently.
its face—
I tried to see it.
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to remember. The angle it stood at. The way it moved. Anything.
But every time I reached for its face, it blurred like smoke. I could see the outline of a human. I could see the bracelet wrapped around her wrist. I could even see the chandelier light reflecting off the scales.
But its face?
Nothing.
It slipped away from me every single time.
"I can't remember," I whispered to no one.
"That is because it was not meant to follow you."
The voice wasn't loud, but it didn't echo either. It just existed, the way everything else here did.
I turned.
She was standing a few steps away from me, though I hadn't heard her arrive.
She had a Blonde hair falling perfectly over bare shoulders. Her skin was so pale it almost blended into the white around us. Lips painted a red that felt intentional, like it had been chosen carefully.
Her eyes were blue.
Not soft blue.
Sharp blue, Watching me like I was something under glass.
"You were pushed," she said calmly.
"Yes." I quickly responded
My voice shook even though I wasn't cold.
"A woman?."
"I dont know " I said.
"Green dragon around her wrist."
My throat tightened.
"Yes."
"You do not remember the person's face."
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed and shook my head. "No. I try. It's there and then it's gone. I don't even know who it was, and I don't know why that person did it."
The white around us felt heavier somehow.
"I need to go back," I said, the words rushing out before I could stop them. "I need to know why. I need to know what I saw. I can't just… stay like this. I only remember my name. Luciana. That's it. I don't even remember my own life properly."
She studied me quietly, like she was measuring something.
"I can return you," she said.
Hope rose in my chest so fast it almost hurt.
"How?"
She didn't answer right away.
Instead, the air beside her shimmered and an image formed.
A man.
Dark hair. Serious eyes. Strong features that made him look painfully real compared to everything else here.
He wasn't smiling. He wasn't threatening.
He was just… alive.
"Who is he?" I asked.
"The price."
My brows furrowed. "Price for what?"
"For your life."
It almost sounded absurd.
"You want me to kill him?" I asked slowly.
"Yes."
I let out a breath that trembled despite myself. "I don't even know him."
"You will."
"That's not a reason."
"You are not here to demand reasons."
Something in her tone shifted, not louder, just firmer.
I crossed my arms, hugging myself without thinking. "And if I refuse?"
"Then you remain." wandering forever.
"Forever"?.
The thought made my chest tighten.
"I don't even remember who killed me," I said, my voice breaking slightly. "I can't see its face. I can't remember the person's name. All I have is that stupid bracelet burned into my mind. I can't stay here with nothing."
Silence.
Then, "Do you wish to live?"
It sounded simple when she said it like that.
Live.
Not float. Not drift. Not exist unfinished in some blank space.
Live.
"Yes," I breathed.
"Then take his life in exchange."
I stared at the man again. He didn't look like someone who deserved death. But then again, I didn't think I did either.
"If I agree," I said carefully, "I go back?"
"You return."
"to my life right,"
she paused faintly before speaking again.
"You return where you are required."
That didn't comfort me.
But staying here terrified me more.
If killing him meant answers… if it meant finding the person with the dragon bracelet… if it meant seeing my killer face clearly and understanding why—
"I'll do it," I said.
The words felt heavy, but once they left my mouth, they didn't come back.
"You agree?" she asked.
"Yes."
The white beneath my feet began to shift, almost like mist being pulled away.
"What happens now?" I asked, panic rising suddenly.
"You return."
The ground disappeared.
I didn't scream this time.
I just fell.
Music hit me first.
Loud, vibrating, drowning out thought.
My cheek was pressed against something hard and slightly sticky. The smell of alcohol burned my nose. Laughter burst somewhere too close to my ear.
"…Annabel?"
The name cut through the noise.
Annabel?
"…Annabel, are you sleeping walking again?"
I tried to move but my body felt heavy, like I'd been dragged up from deep water.
A hand touched my shoulder and shook me gently.
"Annabel."
My eyes fluttered open.
Colored lights flashed overhead. Purple. Blue. Gold. A bar counter stretched in front of me, glasses lined up in messy rows. Music pounded through the floor.
I pushed myself up slowly, my heart racing.
I was breathing.
I was solid.
Alive.
But that wasn't my name.
Someone leaned closer, frowning at me.
"Annabel, what's wrong with you tonight?"
My pulse roared in my ears.
If I wasn't dead…
If I was back…
Then why was I here?
And—
Who is Annabel?