Prologue: New Journey

Jackson approached the intersection at top speed, nearly hitting a dog crossing the road.

_

"What do you mean he's not at the institution?" asked Ms. Ranger.

"He sped off in his car during rehab, I don't know what's wrong with your boy but we don't think this was the right institution for him." replied the voice over the phone.

_

The cliff approached; Jackson floored the brakes.

_

This was the fifth rehabilitation program that rejected Jackson because of his behavior, and Ms. Ranger was not going to give up, "Give him a chance Mr. Anderson, he's adjusting to this new environment, the traveling has been hard on him."

The voice over the phone was quiet for a minute or more, typing could be heard in the background.

"With all due respect Ms. Ranger but we've contacted Jackson's previous centers and it's not good," the chancellor took a breath. "He's unruly and hardly attends the sessions, this year he has been to less than half the sessions he was meant to attend. That doesn't bode well for him."

_

The breaks fail. Jackson tried pulling the clutch.

_

"But-" Ms. Ranger was cut off by an incoming call to her phone.

"Just hold Mr. Anderson" she put him on hold before he could protest.

_

The car skids across the asphalt and hits the barrier to the cliff slowing the car enough to stop it.

A shaky breath escapes his lips.

_

"Mrs. Jackson," comes the voice over the phone.

"Sorry to inform you-" she doesn't need to hear the rest of the call; she's had this call before.

_

The barrier breaks. Jackson plummets down the cliff.

His last thoughts adrift as the ground approach, he whispers, "Sorry momma."

Light floods his vision.

"What an end." Booms a voice from seemingly everywhere, followed by slow clapping.

"Just let me be," Jackson replied.

"Believe me, kid, I would if I could, but you lived an incomplete life-"

"Just fuck off!" Jackson snapped back.

"What a shame, all that lost potential." The voice drifts and a shape took form in front of Jackson, his father.

A blonde-haired man, standing at 6' tall, with an athletic build and wearing a black robe stood before him.

"Papa, " Jackson replied stunned, he tried reaching out, but he had no hands, nobody, just his mind adrift in the white abyss. "Am I dead?"

"No, not your father. And yes, you are dead," his father replied nonchalantly. "Just thought you'd find it easier to talk to a familiar face."

"Who are you?" Jackson asked.

"The more appropriate question would be what am I," His father then narrowed his brows and appeared to be deep in thought. "I'm a guardian between worlds."

"So, you aren't god?" Jackson retorted with a frown over his non-existent face.

The guardian burst out laughing.

"Well not really, maybe?" He continued laughing. "Well, that's what you humans or people from your reality have come to call us beings."

"So, god then," Jackson sighed. "Could you leave me be, I'm in the middle of something here."

"No can-do kiddo," replied the guardian. "I'm here to give you passage to another world."

"Can you send me back?" Jackson asked knowing the answer.

"Would it be any better if I told you, that your mother would be fine?" the guardian stared intently. "You are in so much pain-"

"What would you know about pain?!" Jackson cut the guardian off, "Especially my pain?"

The guardian's face changed from his usual playful look to a serene smile, that warmed Jackson, this hidden divinity within the being in front of him.

"Oh, but I know child," The guardian moved closer. "How much hurt you've endured, a life of silent suffering…"

Jackson trembled as warmth and hurt hit him at once, his gaze drifts to see his body had appeared and the guardian wrapped his arms around his body in a fatherly hug.

He whispered, with his mouth next to Jackson's ear, "There will always be pain, hurt, and suffering."

Everything went dark. Memories of Jackson's family and every happy moment flashed through his mind. "But this makes the happiness, excitement, and love that much sweeter, that much…"

The light returned.

"Brighter." his father was gone; the voice had reverted to being everywhere.

"Your new world awaits new adventures and darkness beyond compare”.

Jackson saw his mother smile and wave him on.

His new world awaits.