The cliffside was supposed to be Life's escape. It was a peaceful place, untouched by human misery or creation. The grass bloomed around her feet as she stepped closer to the edge, reaching up to brush against her thighs. The bitter scent of the sea crashed against her body just as its waves crashed against the rocks below. But even the warm sunshine on her back couldn't stop the shadows that loomed ever closer to her. 

"I've got a problem." His voice broke through the quiet like a knife.

She resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. A headache throbbed at her temples before he had even stepped closer. "You've got another problem?" This wasn't supposed to be so hard. He was supposed to stay in his world and she was supposed to stay in hers. That was the deal, but it never seemed to matter to him.

"These ghosts are driving me freakin' nuts. They whine, they complain, and they keep asking me 'What's beyond' like they can't go find out themselves. I'm getting real tired of this. We need to get rid of some." 

"Get rid?" She turned to face him, her brows furrowed.

Ever-smiling, Death stared her down, his hands outstretched as he spoke. "Yeah, you know. Make them move on." Hands meeting, his fingers crumbled into one another, mimicking bodies falling downward.

Reasoning with him was pointless. Life knew that. Still, she couldn't help herself. It was a game they played too well, and one that she often fell into, no matter how well she tried to keep herself from listening to his grievous ideas. "They're there because they can't move on."

"I'm sure there's a way we could force them." He was indifferent. To him, forcing the dead to 'move on' was as simple as telling them. The laws of the universe said otherwise.

Life scoffed, dismissing the thought with a shake of her head. "That's unethical," she reminded him. There were no loopholes when it came to the demands of the job, no shortcuts he could take no matter how many times he tried. The dead did as they pleased, and they did it just as well as the living. 

She should have known by the wicked glint in his eyes that there was more. "What if they consent to it?" The counterargument struck a chord deep in her gut, lips pursing and brows furrowing as she started to protest. "What if we made them a deal?"

"A deal," Life repeated. 

Death took another step forward, nodding with every word that left his lips. "A game," he clarified. "We set them up with some bullshit tasks and if they can do it, then you give them another shot at life. But if they can't, then, well," the shrug rolled off his shoulders with ease, "they have to move on one way or another. Send them to hell, I'm certain they deserve it if they're hanging on this long anyway."

"And why," she began, crossing her arms across her chest, "would I ever agree to that?" The protest in her voice was starting to fade. Life could feel the excitement coursing through her body just at the thought of it. A game. It was entertainment, competition, a final tug towards the inevitable. 

"That's the thing." His grin could have crumbled cities into dust. "You don't have to do anything. We'll rig it. Nobody will be able to pass."

The ideal was illogical. Impossible. It was- "Unethical," Life told him. "That's unethical."

He was in front of her now, dark eyes glowing bright. The grass withered and died around his feet, shrinking away from their bodies no matter how much she tried to make it grow. "You say that too much." Life puffed out her chest, trying to look taller, turning back to face the sea. "Well? Are you in or not?"

The waves slammed against the cliff one after the other, like bodies drug in by the tide, begging to reach the shore once more. At last, she sighed. "Do I really have a choice?"

***

Welcome to Author Games: The Forgotten! Here is what you need to know to get started:

-Life and Death have decided to play a game with those poor lost souls who can't cross over to the other side. In a series of challenges, each one harder than the last, your character will try to complete each round in an attempt to gain one chance to change how their story ends.

-This competition will revolve around twelve ghosts participating in these trials.

-Characters can come from any period in history, so please don't give us twelve 1600's spirits angry about the colonies, okay?

-Reservations will open Saturday, November 24th at 12 PM (Noon) CST

-Any early reservations must have their forms submitted at least 48 HOURS before normal reservations begin.