Chapter Two

"Why Jenna, you mean you haven't figured it out yet? The higherups of Hell."

Your breath got caught in your throat. Your brain was probably about to short-circuit and turn into flames. Hell? That's a joke, right?

"I'm sorry, what?" Don laughed. "Oh yeah, thanks for the info. Good to know I'm in a ah, what's the phrase? I'm in a made-up place? This is a prank?"

Quince smirked at Don's denial, "I assure you, this is actually hell. You guys are pretty lucky though, you died young!"

"How is that lucky ?!" You exclaimed.

"You're lucky because you're young enough that the universe doesn't really feel like weighing your soul. You haven't done enough in your life to be considered good or evil. This house is really more of a middle ground."

"Oh," you relaxed. "So, like. Purgatory?"

Quince nodded, "I would agree with that. The spirits or whatever in charge of all this afterlife shiz just call everything that isn't heaven 'hell.' It's really a lazy system considering how many different levels of Hell there really are. Sorry for giving you guys a scare like that, I just couldn't resist."

"We... are dead?" Jenna continued.

"That is correct."

Don rubbed his eyes, "And how uh. How do you fit into all of this?" You nodded with the question since you wanted to know, too.

"Oh, I'm dead, too. Truthfully, we are almost the same. The difference is that I died a couple decades ago and you guys died just a couple hours ago."

Jenna groaned, "Could you please just give us a run down? This interrogation is driving me nuts." You had to agree with her on this one. It felt like he was toying with you all.

Quince sighed, "Alright, alright. Miss no-fun-loser-pants." Jenna huffed "So, You guys all died. You all died and you're all under the age of thirty. There are some people who are under thirty that get their souls weighed, but only when it's someone who seriously did something that changed the world at a young age. None of you did that. Because of this, you are now here. It's called a 'Hell House,' but it's really just a house with some other occupants around your age who also died young. There's Four other people in this house, plus us four makes eight. Two more and we'd have a full house."

"There's other houses like this?" you questioned.

"Yes, but we can't reach them. As of now, you live in this house... until the end of time. I doubt you can wrap your head around that yet, so It may be better to just not think about it."

"And how do you know all this?" Jenna asked.

"I died a lot earlier than everyone else in this house. I've simply been here the longest. I was alone for nearly a year. When the big guys upstairs wanted to fill up this house, they decided to give me all the information I needed to run this house rather than just give us a guide. The perks are that I know a lot of shit, but on the flipside, I also have a lot of rules."

"Like...?" You prompted.

"Liiiiiike, I'm not allowed to tell you guys everything I know, and I'm supposed to keep you in check," Quince sighed. "It kinda sucks. I have to babysit, and I'm not even allowed to lay it all out there."

"Do we have rules?" Don inquired.

Quince laughed, "Yes there are some house rules. Rule number one! No going any more than seven days without seeing at least two other occupants."

Don scoffed, "That seems arbitrary."

Quince shrugged, "I didn't write these. Rule Two, no exiting the house. Rule Three sorta ties in. No serious damage to the house. You won't get in trouble for punching a wall or ripping a door off the hinges, but if you take say, a pickaxe to the wall, we might have a problem." You giggled at his example, and he smiled at you. "Are you always this cute?"

"Uh, haha, I, um." You blushed, "Thank you...?" That seemed really out of nowhere...

Jenna huffed, "Rule Four?"

"Jeez Jenna you really are Miss no-fun-loser-pants. Rule number four, No serious harm to occupants. Again, it has to be a pretty serious injury for you to get in trouble. Rule Five is no denying other occupants of basic needs. Basically, don't take away someone's food or water. Rule Seven, No physical self-harm." At this, he glanced at the three of you, almost smugly. "You all might struggle with that a little, huh?"

Both Jenna and you looked at the floor, but Don seemed confused, "I never cut myself, what are you on about?"

"Yeah, you didn't physically harm yourself on the outside, so this rule shouldn't be a big deal. It really shouldn't be a bid deal for any of you. It's been a couple years, right Jenna and (y/n)?" neither of you replied, even though he was right. "But drinking like you did, man. You can't deny that was a form of self-harm," Quince chuckled.

"Yes, I can," Don answered. "What makes a little drink self-harm?"

"Look, I won't argue this point all day, but you should be a little self-aware. You drank every day, you lived your life in a haze and now you're dead because of it. Your life was so awful to you that you preferred to drink it away. Habits like that become self-harm when you do it to escape your emotions," Quince spoke seriously. "The last rule, rule number seven, is no going in the attic"

"The attic?" Jenna questioned, "Why?"

Quince shrugged defensively, "I don't know, man. I didn't write these rules, I just gotta make you aware of them. Do you want to meet everyone else?" The three of you felt tense but nodded anyway and followed him out of the room.

The four of you walked through long hallways before turning and finding a room with several couches and a coffee table. This must be a living room of sorts. The house seemed huge... You were definitely going to get lost at some point. In the room was two people, another boy and girl. It was kind of a relief that everyone would be around your age in here. The boy was slumped over a book and didn't seem to even notice you walking in. His dark blue hair matched his eyes. The girl sat on the floor in front of the coffee table as she put together puzzle pieces, her light brown hair framed her face with bangs that honestly made her look really cute. Quince cleared his throat to get their attention, "Jason, Suki, we have a few newbies." At this, the girl (who you assumed was Suki) looked up excitedly and jumped up to greet you. Jason, on the other hand, stayed calmly in his chair.

"Oh wow! It's been so long since we've had new people! My name's Suki!" She bounced excitedly and held out a hand. You shook her hand and smiled.

"I'm (y/n)! It's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Jenna," Jenna smiled softly. "Suki is a lovely name." Her words surprised you a bit, Jenna has certainly had an attitude change...

Suki grinned at the compliment, "Thanks! And you?" She looked expectantly to Don.

"I'm Don," He smiled. Suki seemed to almost shake in excitement.

"It's so fun to have new people!! I hope you guys like having fun, it gets too boring in this house with losers like Jason," she stuck her tongue out at the boy that watched across the room. She giggled lightly, "He's not really a loser, I actually get along with him the best." Jason sighed and crossed the room. Holy shit you thought. This guy is tall as hell... He certainly towered over Suki, but he even made Quince and Jason look tiny in comparison. He had to be more than six feet tall. Your nervousness caused a light dusting of pink to cover your face. When he noticed this, Jason's neutral face shaped into a more amused one.

"As you know I am Jason," He spoke to the group, but he kept his eyes on you. "I'm sure we'll get along. If you want to find me, I'm usually in here or in the kitchen"

"The kitchen?" You questioned.

Jason smiled, "Yes, I like to cook."

"I love to cook, too! We should cook together sometime!" You were very determined to make friends with these people. Jason seemed surprised at this but let his face settle into a gentle smile.

"That sounds lovely, I'll be sure to ask you to help me with meals sometime."

"Hey! Jason that's no fair I want to play with them first!" Suki whined as she latched onto your arm. Your face heated up at this. Just what is this girl implying!

Jason shrugged, "There's two others. Besides, it's not like we're cooking now." After a few moments of consideration, Jason seemed to change his mind. "You know, actually, A little cooking is a good idea. Are you three hungry? I was when I first arrived." You were about to nod, you were famished. How am I hungry if I'm dead? I'll have to ask Quince more questions later. Before anyone got the chance to speak, however, Jason dragged you out of the room.

"Hey! Wait, Jason!" Quince chased after you. "Jason, she hasn't met Ryo or Dianna!"

Jason grinned and picked up the pace, "Yeah? She can meet them later. What's the rush?" If he was any less cute, this would be annoying. Despite yourself, you smiled with him.

Quince stopped, "Alright, I'll take Jenna and Don then. Be careful, ok!"

Jason's excitement seemed to only grow at Quince's concession. You smiled at him, he was really pretty. The pair of you entered the kitchen. It was pretty spacious and had marble countertop. The higherups certainly didn't hold back. Before you had a moment to think, Jason picked you up by your sides and placed you on the counter. You blushed, "What was that for?"

He shrugged, "Thought you might like a seat." You nodded. You have been standing the whole time. "I'm glad we get to have some time together." You smiled.

"Me, too! I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this."

Jason nodded in understanding, "I understand where you are coming from. I don't know everything like Quince, but I might be able to answer a few questions you have." As you thought, he pulled out a cookbook.

"Why do we get hungry? Aren't we dead?"

"Yeah, the dead didn't always get to eat. Apparently, that was a huge complaint back at the beginning of human afterlife. People like to have certain needs, so they can find comfort. Food and showers and the likes are comforting, So the higherups allow us to feel hungry and greasy, et cetera et cetera. It's something to do that makes us feel a little less weird about all this."

You nodded, "That makes some sense. Can I starve to death?"

"No," Jason began flipping through the cookbook. "But you can pass out. There is an even deader version of the dead we are now, but it takes quite a bit to reach that point."

"How do you know this?"

"I asked a lot and read a lot. I like to know things. Should we make a meal or a dessert?"

"What time is it?"

Jason smiled, "Who knows. The rest of us had a meal a bit more than an hour ago, but if the three of you are hungry then we can make whatever you'd like."

"I guess a dessert would be nice. Can we make a cake?" You smiled and hopped off the counter.

"Certainly," Jason placed a hand on your shoulder. You tried not to blush, but you couldn't help it. Jason seemed to notice but it didn't stop him. "Do you have a preference? We can get the ingredients for anything you want. "

You tilted your head a little, "Maybe something a little simple, like a German chocolate cake? Or maybe a light coffee cake would be better..." You thought out loud. Suddenly the door to the kitchen burst open which caused you to jump and Jason's grip on your shoulder to tighten slightly. A man with his blond hair pulled into a short ponytail walked in. His green eyes grazed over the two of you, but he ignored you both as he pulled a glass from the cabinet and poured water into it.

"Hi, I'm (y/n)! It's nice to meet you!" You smiled at him and shook off Jason's hand. You held out your hand expectantly. The man just sighed as he turned to you. Jason stepped closer to you as if guarding you.

"Don't speak to me," He spoke before exiting. You watched him leave in shock as your hand fell to your side.

"Try not to let him bother you too much. Ryo is a bit of an asshole to everyone at first. Or maybe just an asshole in general," Jason shrugged.

"Why would he want to spend an eternity in a house and be an asshole to everyone in it? That sounds like a good way to get very lonely," you commented.

Jason nodded, "I agree. He could at least be civil. I think a coffee cake would be appropriate for a small meal."

"Oh," you nodded, "Right, I forgot about cake for a minute." You laughed lightly. Jason smiled and began pulling out ingredients.

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