Silence. I quietly tapped my bare toes against the chilled floor in silent protest of the horrible, pressing soundless noise that suffocated me. Tears, frozen against my eyes, burned and I could feel that I was losing it. I looked around me, my death cell, I tried to convince myself I could get out of this, but I knew I was done. And you know what, I was good with that. As I looked around me, I remembered playing in the snow with my mom and dad and baby brother. Of course, we got cold eventually, but the cold was… fun. I remembered during one of those rare times when it actually snowed at my house. I was younger, about five or six, and I had marveled at the intense beauty of the snow and ice crystals. I took another glance at my frozen cell and remembered that day. I realized my cell really was beautiful and I wanted to see it for the rest of my short life.

But all too soon, a man from another parallel life unlocked my cell door. We-the prisoners- had been ordered to remain completely silent and he must have heard me tapping my feet against the floor.

“Silenccccce…” he hissed in that awful way of speaking these other life forms had. But I was done being silent, I was to die soon anyway, and I downright refused to do it while still taking directions from these insane creatures.

“And I will call upon Your name, and keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace, for I am Yours and You are mine!” I belted out. It had always been one of my favorite songs, Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United. I had always thought about it these last few months and I finally decided to sing it out loud. To me, it sounded beautiful after so long remaining silent. But clearly, the other life form didn’t agree.

He slapped me in the face with his jagged nails and pinned me on the ground. I tried to fight back due to my instinct to stay alive, but he held me down. I finally went limp and smiled as I finally truly understood that he was actually setting me free. I bared my neck and he was so surprised that he dropped me on the ground. Then he seized the opportunity and stuck a needle in my neck.

I thought about everyone I loved and missed. Mom, dad, Keefe. All my friends: Sophie, Fitz, Marella, Biana, Dex, and Wylie. They had all been killed on the first day, and I had to watch.

Finally, my vision went black and I surrendered to the soothing oblivion.

I opened my eyes and... wondered why heaven looked like an arena? And why was there a loud voice?

“Two humans, a man, and a woman will fight to the death, the winner will proceed to the second round and the third and so forth. The battle begins… now!”

Crap. Not in heaven.