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Chapter 43: A Final Rest

Danny continued on. It seemed like he had been traveling for days, maybe weeks, though he doubted he would have any energy left if that were the case. He'd taken naps and rest stops along the way, but food, human food that is, was scarce and he didn't trust a lot of the plants around him to try eating them. What if eating too much of them made him more of a ghost than he was already? Still, the Ghost Zone was strange, and time didn't always seem to pass the way it was supposed to. He'd been tempted to turn back many times, with no sign of familiar territory. Now, however, he felt as though he were approaching something… something familiar.

Danny increased his speed ever so slightly, despite the fatigue that seeped into his very core. He was close, he could feel it. The anticipation grew like a bubble in his chest, the excitement fighting the fatigue, making him increase his speed even more. The area didn't look any more familiar than it had since he'd first got in the Zone. There wasn't anything to look familiar. There weren't any doors to swerve around in this area. There weren't bits of rock floating free in the green void. It was just an empty expanse that continued on and on. He hadn't even seen the hint of another ghost for hours or maybe longer. Still, Danny couldn't shake the feeling that he was nearing his destination.

Suddenly, it rose up in front of him, a deep black wall that spread out, up, and down. The Ghost Zone ended at that wall. There was no way around it. Danny didn't have to look, he knew somehow. He wasn't going to get around this barrier.

Danny pulled almost to a complete stop, slowly edging closer as he stared at the blackness with rapt fascination. It was deeper than normal black, the kind of black that had endlessness behind it. The feeling to continue on, that there was something familiar and safe ahead of him almost overwhelming as he drifted right up to the wall and placed a hand against it. His hand passed through the outer surface, the blackness quickly covering over it like a dense fog. It felt good on his hand, warm but cool.

Danny swept his hand back and forth through the dense black. The gaseous substance swirled like smoke in its wake. Danny smiled as he watched it, only stopping when he realized he'd sunk his arm to its elbow into the black wall. Squinting, he tried to see through to the other side but there was no way to pierce the thick barrier. The more he looked, the more curious he became, but at the same time the more certain he was that this was what he was flying towards. It was like a hook placed at the center of his being, a gentle draw pulling him closer every minute.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Danny put both hands up along the barrier and pushed through. The blackness didn't resist at all as it closed in around him, cutting off all light and plunging the world into the deepest silence Danny had ever heard. He thought the Ghost Zone had been silent, especially in those last few hours of flying. He didn't realize there had been a subtle shifting sound throughout the whole of the Zone, like wind through short grass that faded to white noise as he flew. Here, in the blackness, that noise was gone with nothing to replace it in its wake. It was as though nothing existed, not even his body, the ever-present ghostly glow suppressed by the darkness.

It wasn't long before Danny became completely disorientated. He couldn't tell which direction he was flying in anymore and for a moment he was afraid he would be trapped in the endless nothing forever. If he needed to get out of it, he couldn't tell what direction to fly in. Or if he was heading for danger he wouldn't know until it was too late. The thought of the unknown had him tense and shrink into himself slightly, his speed faltering. Only the pull at his core kept him going forward. Stronger here in the blackness, it was like an invisible fishing line was attached to his center, drawing him. Then, something seemed to pass over him, soothing the fear and uncertainty and leaving only a calm peace behind.

Eventually, Danny saw a light ahead. Its appearance grounded and centered him, dispelling the vertigo he'd felt moments before. Eager to get out of the darkness and more eager to reach the Light, Danny sped up heading straight for his destination. It wasn't until he had just about to reach it that he realized what it was. It was the Otherside, the Afterlife, but it was too late to turn back. He'd passed on already.

::THE END::

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Well, that's what you get for not being decisive. Go back and try taking some risks. Leave a review before you do, though. ^_^