Visiting the world of the dead on Christmas day isn't quite the surprise someone would wish to wake up to, right? Well, people are different. And I am also not the type to wish for sweets or some expensive phone. Okay, maybe I do have those on my wish list, any teenager does, but they're not on the top of it.

Who, in their right mind, would want to visit the world of the dead? Actually, what is the world of the dead?

I know, there's a lot of stuff to unfold here. Let me introduce you to the unluckiest person on Earth and her pathetic story. No sugar-coating here.

When I was young, around seven years old, my parents suddenly died in a car accident. Or at least that's what my sweet aunt told me on the 24th of December, right before Christmas. Yes, at seven years old I woke up on Christmas day with no parents and no presents. At eighteen years old I woke up in the Underworld. It's starting to make a little sense, doesn't it?

My whole life I lived in denial, thinking that my parents did not die and that my aunt was lying to me, because they had some big surprise waiting for me. Well, pretending to be dead isn't the best way to cover up a surprise, but I tend to be very creative. With each day and year passing I became more and more desperate, until I reached that age where all hope dissipates into thin air and you realize you've lived all your teenage years like a regretful idiot. Bullied at school for living with my old, poor aunt, having no friends, breaking an ankle and having to give up on dance lessons, things seemed to go for the worse as I continued to grow up.

But that tiny spark of hope from my chest never actually disappeared. I fooled myself for too long to just let it go so easily. So of course, when a half-dead boy told me he knows a way for me to actually confirm if my parents are dead or not, I believed him. Friendly advice, never do that. Never trust random people that show up in your bedroom in the evening after you just came back from school. Especially if that someone is half-dead. And looks like a handsome young man in his twenties.

I can justify myself. I had a really bad day and I was on the brink of losing my sanity. So, no, I wasn't in my right mind when I said yes to the totally not suspicious offer of helping this guy get an approval to reside in The Between as an official citizen and in exchange getting help to find my parents in The Underworld. I was dumb. I know.

As I discovered from this guy named Minho, The Between is a world designated for those lost souls that weren't granted the honor of drifting peacefully into The Underworld for various reasons. Either they committed serious sins and didn't repay enough for them or the reaper who had to guide them just wasn't in the mood. Even dead beings have changing moods, as it seems.

There were some cases where souls were granted one last chance and it was their choice what to do with it. Either take it and repay your sins in order to sleep for eternity in peace or just ignore it and live in The Between as a half-dead person. Not alive, but not quite dead either. Just... existing. And this was the case for my new friend as well.

Trusting him was a very rash idea, especially after I heard everything about how the afterlife works. But if he really was entirely suspicious, he wouldn't have told me everything, right? Of course, I didn't have the affirmation that he spilled all the beans, but considering the state I was in at that time, no one has the right to judge the way I chose to do things.

"So", the voice of the young man who brought me here resounded into my ears, bringing me back to the present. "How long do you plan to stare at the wall like you want to burn this whole place down? Is that wall a portal to your mental journal or something?"

I turned my head to look at him with gritted teeth. As much as he annoyed me, I needed his help. And we made a promise. And I dislike breaking promises.

"You're exceptionally rude for a dead person".

"Technically, I am not entirely dead."

"But you are entirely unbearable."

He scoffed, turning his head to the other side. The problem was, there was nothing interesting there. Just another plain wall with a faded poster on it. I wouldn't expect more from an elevator that brings you to the afterlife. One day you're just chilling, drinking your coffee on the terrace of your house and the next day you discover some people can summon elevators to Hell. There are many mysteries in this world.

"We're here", his voice sounded thankful, like he couldn't wait to get out of that elevator.

I also couldn't bear to stand there any longer. The Christmas carols were making the whole situation even eerier and it made my insides hurt. Was it fear? Anger? Confusion? Maybe a mix of all of them at once. As I was standing there, in the large elevator that was descending to The Between, I realized just how weird the cycle of life is. We just randomly appear into existence without being questioned beforehand if we actually want to be here, then we crawl through life pretending we enjoy it, and then... and then we go back into nothingness. Or that's what I thought until a few days ago when I first met Minho, a soul who wasn't allowed to reside either on Earth or in The Underworld. He didn't show it at first, but he was lonely and he was very desperate. And that must mean that life — if I could call it that — in The Underworld and in The Between wasn't that scary.

"Can you tell me what exactly am I supposed to do in order to make that... uh..."

"Reaper."

"Right... how do I convince that reaper to give you permission to reside in The Between?"

He turned around, hands in his pockets and expressionless. Minho didn't seem that old, but from the way he was dressed, in cloth trousers and a silk shirt, he most likely died long ago. He wasn't wearing many accessories, but his golden wristwatch was another detail that could betray his age. Even if he roamed the Earth for so long, he just refused to adapt to the changes of everyday life. Not that he was allowed to do it, anyway.

Before descending into The Between, Minho didn't give me many details regarding how a mortal person could get entangled in the affairs of the dead and get out with a positive result, so I was kind of confused. He assured me many times that I was the secret key he had been looking for all along. I doubted it all at first, naturally, but I felt like it had something to do with my parents. Since no one had told me anything about them, I was suspicious. My old grandaunt wouldn't go into detail every time I would ask her about my parents, like I was forbidden from learning the past of the people who brought me into this world. And Minho was the first person, even if dead, that was willing to help me. It actually looked like he knew something I didn't, which made me even more curious and suspicious. Plus, if there was ever the possibility of me not coming back to the world of the living, it's not like I was leaving much behind.

"You'll paint."

"I will paint?"

"Yes", he waited for me to reach him. He wasn't that tall, but it was hard to keep up with his pace. "I thought mortals still call it that nowadays? Or is the process of you filling a canvas with color not called painting anymore? I'm pretty sure I've seen a lot of drawings in your room."

"I know you're half ghost or whatever, but that doesn't give you the permission to rummage in a stranger's room." I said, trying to catch his eyes. He wasn't even sparing me a glance, as if I wasn't that important to be given the honor.

"I didn't have to. You are not the most organized person I know."

I waved my hand aimlessly, trying to remove his mischievous remarks.

"I just cannot understand what a reaper could do with a painting. Do you have art expositions in the world of the dead?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Wow", I said, shaking my head. "The Underworld and The Between seem much more ordinary than I thought."

"I wouldn't say so", he finally took a hand out of his pocket to check his watch. "Time here passes differently than on Earth. Day and night are the same thing, there's no sky and everyone has a job they have to complete according to how much they accomplished in the living world."

I raised my head while he was talking and I let out a shocked gasp. He was right. The sky was just plain blackness. No moon, no stars, nothing. But it also didn't look like a ceiling. It was just an eternity of darkness.

"I thought good people would have a better view in the afterlife."

"The sky looks different to everyone. Since you're not dead yet, you don't see anything at all."

"Oh... Then what do you see?"

He stopped and I almost hit my head on his shoulder. He took me by surprise by turning his head and looking me in the eyes. I felt a shiver down my spine. His eyes were blue, the darkest shade I've ever seen in a person's eyes. He smiled, but it didn't look honest at all.

"I don't see anything either", he said. "Since I'm only half dead."

"That's sad."

"Not really. Once you're made an official resident, The Between is said to be much better, anyway."

I didn't answer because I was trying to scan my surroundings. The elevator, which Minho called unironically Hellevator, brought us to a completely deserted place. I feel like this way of coming into The Between wasn't something legal, because me and Minho stepped into a weird looking alley. The air was very humid; it smelled like rotten flesh.

There was noise not so far away.

He raised his hand with his palm up.

"I don't think dancing in a stinky alley in the afterlife is a very wise idea."

"That's not it, idiot", he shot me a deathly glare. "I'm asking you to hold on to me. It's going to get crowded."

"Oh, what a gentleman. When were you born, in the 19th century?"

"I don't plan on giving you history lectures", Minho took my hand against my will, but he held it gently. His brown locks were blocking his eyes, but the dark blue in them sent shivers through my body nonetheless. I knew he was doing his best on keeping his composure while talking to me and the fact that he was succeeding made my fear decrease by a degree. Whatever he had done when he had been alive, he didn't seem like a bad person.

"I'm pretty sure your life was so boring, the reaper just wanted to make the afterlife more interesting for you by giving you a hard time", I followed in his quick steps making sure not to trip on my own legs. "He seems the type to be into anything that proves to be entertaining, since you said a painting could convince him to change his mind."

"I'll make sure to make the rest of your life as interesting as it can be after we get out of here", he squeezed my hand, but his good manners didn't allow him to do it too hard.

"I can't wait."