Jayden had not been able to do anything since the beach night. It's been a week since the accident, yet, he still finds himself looking over his shoulder. Those creatures could be back at a second's notice.

    He's avoided the phone calls he's gotten from the other five. Not that his father has let him have any privileges since his "wild night out." As if it was one extensive fun experience where he wasn't taken from the beach against his will and chased by shadow monsters. As if he didn't watch someone he knew sprout trees from the ground with the wave of their hand. Or another has the sky obey what they commanded of it.

    "Jayden, I swear if you don't get your head in the game," his dad said, staring at him in anger.

    Jayden wished he could. It would be so much easier to get back to playing baseball. Sure, he was miserable, but his misery would only last until college. His father would be out of his life, and he would finally be able to be normal- go to parties, get a girlfriend, be reckless.

    "I'm trying, dad," Jayden mumbled as he once again missed the ball. The crowd booed behind him. He was never used to hearing that. Jayden was the star. No matter the struggle, no matter what it took to get there, he was the star. Two strikes and two balls, and he knew that if he didn't hit this ball, his father would never let him hear the end of it.

    He took a deep breath and tried to center his head. He straightened out his back and popped fingers as he stared the pitcher down one last time.

    His strengths are fastballs. He will probably try to throw one last time to just quickly get me out.

    Jayden positioned himself to hit the ball. He watched as the pitcher rewound his arm and let out a fastball as he had predicted. He could hear the audience hold quiet as the ball came toward him. It was as if time was moving in slow motion. He swung his bat, and with the sound of a loud crack, he took off running. He watched as the ball flew deep into the outfield until the crowd was screaming in excitement! He had made a home run.

    He darted around the bases and watched the other team furiously threw their gloves on the ground. He smiled tauntingly at them as his body crossed the last base. He threw his hands up in victory and screamed a triumphant roar as the audience cheered, but when Jayden looked at his dad, he didn't see a smile or a face of pride but a scowl. The game ended, and his team rushed out onto the field and lifted him in the air on their shoulders.

    But Jayden was far from celebrating. All he could see was his dad.

"You should have hit that the first time!" screamed his dad as they pulled into the driveway of their house. It was the conversation of the night, and Jayden had heard all of this before so many times he could probably quote it before his dad even said it. "What if there were scouts there?!"

    Jayden's mom did her best to run interference, but there was no stopping him when her husband got going.

    "Paul," she said as he got out of the car and slammed the door. "Paul!" said his mother as she got out of the car and followed him.

Jayden let his parents go into the house before he got out of the car. It was going to be a long night of arguing and trying to calm his father down. He walked up to the porch and sat down on the steps of his family's home. He could hear the loud talking of his parents.

"You can't baby him forever, Lorraine!" screamed his father.

"You can't expect him to be perfect in everything, Paul!" responded his mother.

Jayden closed his eyes. He wished that it could just all stop.

The loud hoot of an owl alerted Jayden. His eyes snapped open, but he was no longer at his family's home. He was sitting in the middle of a graveyard. An eyrie smoke was wistfully spinning over the grass, and sitting before him was a giant stone angel. It looked strong and was holding a sword up in the air.

"Where the hell am I?!" Jayden gasped, looking around the graveyard.

He recognized this place. He had visited this graveyard multiple times in his dreams, but this time it was different. Jayden could smell the scent of death in the air. He could feel the mugginess of the weather. It was as if someone put a grey filter on reality before Jayden got here. Everything looked dead and rotted.

Trees surrounded the cemetery, and sounds made Jayden's heart quicken with each strained branch and creepy sound. He got up and backed away quickly from the cemetery. He ran in between the tombstones, desperately searching for a way out of the dark maze. He got to the edge of the forest clearing, and before he could take a step toward it, a hand reached up from the ground and gripped his ankle.

"Aiken," he heard a creepy voice whisper. "Prince of the dead. We've waited a long time for you to return."

Jayden screamed as he tried to kick off the hand that grabbed him, but the grip was ironclad. He kicked his foot over and over again, but there was no budge. "Let go of me!" he screamed. He fell to the ground and watched as multiple hands reached up from the buried graves. Slowly, bodies started to emerge from the ground, and Jayden stared into the eyes of a corpse as it wiggled its way up to the surface.

"Hello, Lord of death," whispered the corpse with a sick grin.

"I-," Jayden gasped. He could hear the blood filling up in his head as his adrenaline started to flow. The pulsing of his heart almost drowned out his frightened voice. "I, please! Let me go!"

"This is who holds the dominions over us?!" laughed one of the corpses. "The baby is screaming for mercy! Isn't he supposed to bestow that on us?!"

A chorus of dark laughter filled the air, and Jayden felt shivers to his core.

Shit, shit, shit. Jayden thought to himself, frozen in fear. Calm down, Jayden. You can find a way out here.

But as the grip remained on his ankle, he began to realize that he was not going to get out of this situation by just kicking and begging to be let go.

A dark cloud traveled over the graveyard as multiple corpses stalked toward Jayden. He finally kicked his leg free and turned to run, but dead beings surrounded all sides of him. He placed his hands over his ears and screamed as they put their boney hands on him.

"STOP!" screamed Jayden.

He pushed their hands off. He felt the rough patches of skin and cried out in terror as pieces of dead flesh fell on him from the walking corpses that surrounded him. He curled himself into a ball and tucked his head into his lap when a bright white light shot out through the sky. The corpses retreated as a white flame trickled down to the center where Jayden was curled up. He heard the screams of the dead as they fleed from around him, but he was too scared to open his eyes.

"Jayden," said a familiar voice. "Jayden, you have to get up now!"

It can't be...

Jayden opened his eyes and saw his grandfather's hand outstretched to him. Tears welled in his eyes as he gaped at his grandfather, who stood tall and robust before him. "How is this..."

"There's no time to explain, Jayden," said his grandpa. "Grab my hand!"

Jayden did as he was told and felt a white light envelop him. It felt safe and warm as he felt his body lift into the air and zoom through the sky. He watched the graveyard disappear, and his grandpa laughed as he gasped at how high they were. Jayden could see from miles all around him, and much to his peace, this strange land he has found himself in wasn't just a giant creepy graveyard. There was green everywhere. Bright lights shone all around him, and Jayden found himself forgetting all about the scary experience that just happened.

His grandfather began to lower them into a meadowy area filled to the brim with sunflowers. The sweet aroma of flowers wafted around them, and he stared in awe as butterflies flew in between each flower pollinating the area. A small stream flowed through the middle of the meadow with the clearest water Jayden had ever seen. The temperature was perfect as if someone opened up his brain and found his ideal weather and placed it around him. The sky was the most prestigious blue he had ever seen; it was as if blue had never been bluer until this very moment. A light melody danced around in the wind as he stood there taking in the beautiful scenery.

"Oh, my grandson," said his grandfather. Jayden snapped back into reality and looked at the man standing before him in awe. He had his arms wrapped around him in moments. He half expected to fall through him, but when he collided with his grandfather, he was as solid and sturdy as he remembered.

"How-" Jayden began as the tears poured down his face. "How are you here right now."

"You," his grandpa answered casually as he sat down. The warmness of his smile still made Jayden feel at home as his grandfather looked introspectively throughout the field. "You brought me here, Jayden."

"How?" Jayden asked.

"From what I gathered," his grandfather said as he puffed his chest out. "My grandson holds power over the dead. Everything that is on this land is under your control. The graveyard, the meadow, even the beings that are here," his grandfather added.

"Is this heaven?" asked Jayden as he froze, thinking about where it was that he was before this. "Was that.."

"No," said his grandfather. "This is the Dead World. Where the people of Glorianna go when they pass on. It's a different realm. Kind of like another side  where people that do good can live in their perfect paradise and people that don't, well, you saw that."

Chills ran down Jayden's spine as he remembered the corpses that grabbed at him back in the graveyard.

"You came in dreams. Several times, but you didn't know your history yet. So I've watched you and waited until you came into your own," His grandfather said with a smile. "You have a great destiny ahead of you, my boy-"

"I don't want it!" said Jayden getting up and walking away from his grandfather. As he walked by the flowers, the once vibrant field began to rot as Jayden's panic swept over the scene. The atmosphere completely changed, and what was once the vision of perfection was now a wasteland. "I can't do it," said Jayden as he looked at his grandfather.

"You, my boy," said his grandfather as he walked over to him, "Are stronger than you'll ever know. I've watched you, and I know that you're going to change the world. These people, the ones in other parts of the Dead World, are celebrating that you five have remembered and have awakened your powers. The day they were promised and hoped for is finally here."

"I didn't ask for this!" Jayden screamed as tears welled up in his eyes. His grandfather wrapped him in his strong arms, and Jayden collapsed. He watched the scene revert back to the vision of perfection. It was slow as he felt his mood calm. His grandfather patted his back and pulled out of the hug.

"No one that is truly extraordinary ever does, Jay," said his grandfather. "I used to think you were going to be the next big baseball sensation. I now know that you were so much bigger than anyone in our family knew. You are greatness."

Jayden hung onto every word his grandpa told him. This was why he missed his grandfather so much. He was the perfect balance to his father's impossible expectations. The unconditional love that Jayden was feeling was something he only imagined he would feel again.

"You can't stay here too long, Jayden," said his grandfather. "Lest you want your soul trapped here with the rest of us. You have to go back."

"I don't want to leave!" Jayden begged his grandfather.

"I'll still be here when you return," his grandfather smiled as he pushed Jayden. The Dead World faded around him, and he stared up at his ceiling on his family's front porch a moment later.

"Jayden," said his father as he opened the door. "Get in here, boy; it's late."

"Yes, sir," Jayden responded, following orders.