by Terri Bruce
“You know, I always thought it was weird that we put mummies in museums,” she said. “Those were people. Just ordinary people and we’ve dug them up and put them on display. How would we like it if someone did that to us?”
Jonah looked surprised at this. He seemed to mull it over for a second; then his eyes softened with approval as he looked at her. “Huh.”
They wandered up and down the rows reading headstones, which ranged in size from simple flat stones embedded in the ground to grand mausoleum vaults, from unadorned headstones to elaborate statues of weeping or praying angels, their stony heads bent in delicate and moving sorrow over the graves. Jonah threw out occasional bits of trivia about burial procedures in various cultures and time periods as they walked.
They paused to read the headstone of a man who had fought in the War of 1812. Was the man’s ghost wandering around here somewhere, Irene wondered.
“Did you know that the Japanese cremate their dead and then the family picks through the ashes with chopsticks to take out the bones?” he asked in a fascinated tone, as they passed three teenagers—living—sitting against a headstone, smoking pot. The sweet, heavy smell of cannabis tickled her nose as they passed.
Some of the graves had additional decorations—fake flowers “planted” in front of the headstone, small flags marking veterans, and even small porcelain statues and figurines. Some bore signs of recent visitation—fresh flowers, small rocks or pennies set on the headstone, and on one, an unopened can of beer.
“What are the rocks for?” Irene asked as they passed a headstone with a neat, orderly row of beach rocks laid upon it.
Jonah shrugged. “It’s just a custom, a way to show that someone visited. I don’t think it has any significance.” Then he added hastily, “Well, I mean, it’s not part of any particular custom. It’s just a thing people do.”
Irene looked over the cemetery spreading out before her. Something bothered her about it. The graves seemed endless, and this was just one of several cemeteries in Salem alone. When you thought about the entirety of the dead population—over thousands of years—the number became incalculable. Where was there a place big enough for everyone to be together—for all of eternity? She couldn’t imagine a place so vast. For some reason she had thought of the afterlife as being small—surely, smaller than the land of the living. After all, it had to fit inside the land of the living, didn’t it? It had to exist, if not on earth, then at least within the realm of the known universe. She was no astrophysicist, but something seemed wrong with the mechanics of the whole thing. She began to feel uneasy. Could such a place really exist?
Jonah broke into her train of thought. “It’s really late. I gotta get home.” He sounded reluctant to go.
While they had searched only a small portion of the cemetery, it was pretty clear to Irene that they weren’t going to find any kind of portal to the afterlife. Other than the group of pot-smoking teenagers, the place was still and silent. There were no other dead around. She imagined that if there was a tunnel, it would be easy to see, shining out like a beacon, visible from anywhere in the cemetery.
Irene shifted uncomfortably. “Well, what am I supposed to do next?”
“Can I just point out that you are a grownup? What do you usually do?”
“Live! Which I can’t do anymore... because I’m dead.”
His eyes widened with alarm. “You’re not going to cry are you?”
“No,” Irene snapped. “I’m not going to cry!”
Jonah looked torn. “I really have to go. Now. If my parents find my body, they’ll freak!”
“Your what?”
Jonah rolled his eyes, sighed theatrically, and, as if talking to a four year old, said, “When I go into the trance, my spirit gets separated from my body. My body gets left behind at the place where I was when I went into the trance, which, right now, is my bedroom. It’s like I’m in a coma, but it—I mean my body—is still alive and my spirit can return to it. Unlike a real dead person.”
“I thought you said you hadn’t done this before?”
“No, I said you were the first dead person I’d met. I’ve been visiting the land of the dead for months. I just never met any dead people before.”
“I thought you said this wasn’t the land of the dead?”
“Whatever! The point is, my parents are going to freak if they check on me before they go to bed. I have to get home. Okay?”
“But—”
He cut her off. “Look, I’ll come back later... like tomorrow... with the book. Okay? Maybe there’s something in it that can help you.”
Irene reluctantly nodded. She couldn’t do much else.
“Okay, fine, then I’m going...”
“You know, a gentleman would have offered to walk me home, made sure I got back safe,” she said drily.
He seemed surprised by this, then chastised. “Yeah, alright.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground.
She laughed. “I was joking. It’s fine. Like you said, I’m a grown woman. Plus I guess I’m already dead...”
He gave a half-shrug. “No, it’s okay.”
They didn’t talk on the way back. Once they were in front of her house, she said, “So I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah.” He kicked at the sidewalk. “Tomorrow.” Then his gaze sharpened and his head came up as if he was listening to something in the distance. Then, as before, he was simply gone.
If You Liked This Story...
If you liked this story so far, find out how Irene's adventure ends in...
Hereafter (Afterlife #1)
By Terri Bruce
Why let a little thing like dying get in the way of a good time?
Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes one little mistake after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex...well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.
Unfortunately, what waits in the Great Beyond isn’t much better. Stuck between the boring life of a ghost in this world and the terrifying prospect of three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment in the next, Irene sets out to find a third option—preferably one that involves not being dead anymore.
"5 out of 5 stars...What a book. Wow! To sum it up - witty, sarcastic, funny, smart, and a good book to curl up and read until you're too sleepy to see the words." ~Caterina, Reader Review
"So many paranormal's have been done over and over. The same 'ol thing. Hereafter is a rejuvenation of the genre. Something different! Finally!" ~Mary, The Sweet Bookshelf
“5 out of 5...This book is so good that I can't wait to make time to reread it. I highly recommend it. Not what I expected, in fact much much more. Do yourself a favour, and go out and get it-now.” ~Mallory, Mallory Heart Reviews
Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback, E-Book, and Audiobook!
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About the Author
Terri Bruce is the author of the paranormal/contemporary fantasy “Afterlife” series, which includes Hereafter (Afterlife #1) and Thereafter (Afterlife #2), and numerous short stories in various anthologies. She has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces strange, hard-to-classify fantasy and science fiction stories from beautiful Downeast ME, where she lives with her husband and various cats.
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Also by Terri Bruce
The Afterlife Series
Hereafter (Afterlife #1)
Thereafter (Afterlife #2)
Whereafter (Afterlife #3)
Irene and the Witch (Afterlife #3.5)
Whenafter (Afterlife #4) (May 2018)
Neverafter (Afterlife #5) (forthcoming)
Ever After (Afterlife #6) (forthcoming)
Short Stories
The Tower
The Wishing Well
Welcome to OASIS
Death and the Horse
My Lover Like Night
The Lady and the Unicorn
The Afterlife Series by Terri Bruce
Thereafter (Afterlife #2)
When recently-deceased Irene Dunphy decided to “follow the light,” she thought she’d end up in Heaven or Hell and her journey would be over.
Boy, was she wrong.
She soon finds that “the other side” isn’t a final destination but a kind of purgatory where billions of spirits are stuck, with no way to move forward or back. Even worse, deranged phantoms known as “Hungry Ghosts” stalk the dead, intent on destroying them. The only way out is for Irene to forget her life on earth—including the boy who risked everything to help her cross over—which she’s not about to do.
As Irene desperately searches for an alternative, help unexpectedly comes in the unlikeliest of forms: a twelfth-century Spanish knight and a nineteenth-century American cowboy. Even more surprising, one offers a chance for redemption; the other, love. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to have either if she can’t find a way to escape the hellish limbo where they’re all trapped.
“5 Stars... Terri Bruce's dark afterlife fantasy, Thereafter, is thought-provoking and intense... While wholly original in its own right, Bruce's story reminded me somewhat of Philip Jose Farmer's landmark Riverworld Series, and that's a good thing... Thereafter is well-written and compelling, and I found it hard to put down until I had read the last page. It's recommended reading.” ~Reader’s Favorite Review
“4 out of 5... Once again, Terri Bruce delivers a fast-paced read that offers more than the typical quest.” Reader Review
“5 out of 5... I am so glad I stuck with this series. I've gone from hating Irene Dunphy to adoring her. And I have to say that one of the best things about this series is the character exploration. Just as Irene is peeling back the different layers of the after life, the after life is peeling back the rough layers of Irene. She's stripping away all of the baggage and we get to see her for who she truly is—an incredibly stubborn woman who loves so big and has such a huge heart that she is terrified of using it.” Reder Review
Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback and E-Book!
Whereafter (Afterlife #3)
How Far Would You Go to Get Your Life Back?
Stuck on an island encircled by fire and hunted by shadows bent on trapping them there forever, Irene and Andras struggle to hold onto the last vestiges of their physical selves, without which they can never return to the land of the living. But it’s not just external forces they’ll have to fight as the pair grow to realize they have different goals. Irene still clings to the hope that she can somehow return to her old life—the one she had before she died—while Andras would be only too glad to embrace oblivion.
Meanwhile, back on earth, Jonah Johnson, the boy she left behind, desperately searches for a way to cross over to the other side, even if doing so means his death. His crossing over, however, is the one thing that could destroy Irene’s chances of returning home—after all, how could she ever forgive herself if something happened to him?
Too many obstacles, too many people too save, and the thing she most desperately wants—to not be dead anymore—seems further away than ever. Only one thing is clear: reaching her goal will require making a terrible sacrifice.
“5 out of 5... I love this series, the characters feel real, and I enjoy watching them grow and develop. Terri Bruce is wonderfully imaginative in her description of what comes after death, and I can hardly wait for the next book!” Reader Review
“5 out of 5... This book is awesome, I really loved it... HEREAFTER,THEREAFTER,AND WHEREAFTER. and more to come. I will buy them all.” Reader Review
Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback and E-Book!
Whenafter (Afterlife #4)
In The Afterlife, Nothing Is As It Seems...
Just as she’s found the doorway from the Great Beyond back to the land of the living, Irene Dunphy’s plan to return home as a guardian angel is derailed by a surprise attack from an old enemy.
Swept into the afterlife plane inhabited by the Nephilim, Irene is forced to call in a favor from the mysterious Samyel—the Nephilim who used her to bring him to the afterlife and then promptly abandoned her. He’s her only hope of survival and escape—if he can be trusted to deliver on past promises.
Coming Summer 2018!
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