Broken Hearts

I

September 10, 2069

¨Wha- What went wrong?¨

¨What do you mean?¨

“I could n-never do that to her,¨

¨You did though,¨

¨I-I…”

Hello reader, you might be wondering. How did I get here, or who am I?

Well, my name is Atlas Britannica. I am 21 years old, born June 15th, 2048 in Fushun, China. I met my best friend Aza when I was 7 (that's when I moved to America). Let’s get you up to date.

August 27, 2069

¨Welcome to the Land of Broken Hearts,¨ an unknown voice said as I fully woke up.

¨The what?¨ I started, ¨Wait, who are you?¨

¨Oh yes, where are my manners? My name is Wyatt Stanford. If it is not clear, I am the one who brought you here,¨ Wyatt responded with a blunt voice.

¨How old are you?¨ I asked without thinking.

¨Of course, I am 22 years old, I was born in Dallas, Texas 2047. Also, I am dead, just like you. The only difference? I died in a car accident,¨ Wyatt blankly responded.

¨Ohhhh- That makes so much sense,¨ I mumbled.

¨What makes sense?¨ Wyatt questioned.

¨Hm? Oh, nothing,¨ should I ask? … I will, ¨Hey Wyatt?¨

¨Yes Atlas?¨ he said, he probably knows that I have a lot of questions, I mean he did say he also died, so he probably had the same ones.

¨How- how did I die?¨ the way he looked at me told me that he didn't expect that question.

II

¨You wish to know how you died?¨ he asked cautiously.

¨Yes,¨ I replied confidently.

¨Very well,¨ Wyatt started, ¨you um...¨ I could tell he was nervous. I was about to say that he didn't need to tell me when he put his hand up to signal that he'd tell, ¨Atlas?¨

¨Yes, Wyatt?¨ I responded.

¨You died from cancer,¨ he said quietly. I could barely make out his words.

¨I DID? HOW?¨ I asked. How did I die from cancer? If I did, when did I get it?

¨All I know is that you died before you woke up, but the reason you are here is because your heart is broken,¨ Wyatt stated.

September 2, 2069

It's been six days since Wyatt introduced me to this place. Wyatt, Aza, and I went to high school together. To be fair I didn't know him, I mean he was one year older than Aza and me.

This place is very interesting, like a void or a mix of what we call heaven and hell. It is a beautiful place, but just as Wyatt said, this is a Land of Broken Hearts. So I think the part missing is that part of our heart that was never filled. In my case, It would be never confessing to Aza. I believe in Wyatts´ case it wasn´t apologizing to his ex. To be completely honest, Josh wasn't the best, I mean, he was a jerk.

4:20 pm

Is that gas in a jar? Wait, why does Aza have it?

That ant colony is going crazy, please don't end up in the wrong hands.

III

September 3, 2069. 5:00 am

I should ask Wyatt if what happened last night is important, I mean if he wasn´t busy I would´ve asked him… Wait it´s only 5:00 am, I don´t think he´s up yet. Whatever, I am going for a walk.

7:28 am

This place is nice, I wonder what happens after our broken hearts are healed. I should ask that too, but later. I don´t want to be a bother to him.

¨Hmm? I wonder how long Wyatt has been here.¨ I stated calmly

¨I´ve been here since the 20th of August,¨ Wyatt Stated out of the blue.

¨AHH!¨ I screamed, ¨Where the world did you come from?” I half yelled.

¨The road,¨ Wyatt sarcastically stated.

¨Well no duh,¨ I responded in a blink of an eye, ¨that much is obvious,¨

Wyatt chuckled, ¨you seem so mad Atlas,¨

¨I hate you,¨ I said with a scowl.

¨No, you love me,¨ Wyatt said while grinning.

“Leave me alone, Wy,¨ I mumbled as I turned away from him blushing a bit.

It was quiet for a while, then Wyatt responded, “You seem tense, are you all right? What’s on your mind, Al?”

I was silent for a while, “Nothing, I just saw something...”

“What did you see?” Wyatt asked me curiously.

“I saw Aza with some sort of gas and it made some ant go crazy on its colony!” I responded blankly. Wyatts’ face went blank for a second. It took him at least a minute to find the words to his statement.

“I do not have an answer for that, Al. However, what I do know, there’s probably a deeper meaning behind this,” Wyatt paused for a moment, “in your second year of high school, I remember you did a presentation in front of our class,” he looked up at me for the first time in what seemed like ages, “you said you wanted to be a detective,”

“Did I?” I responded, “I became a psychiatrist at Grand Canyon University,”

“I kn- You did!? That’s great, Al!” Wyatt suspiciously remarked.

“Thank you, Wyatt,” I said simply and calmly while smiling.

“You are welcome,” Wyatt responded in a gentle voice, it calmed me a lot if I am being honest. “Atlas?”

“Hmm?” I hummed.

“Come here,” Wyatt responded lightly.

IV

September 3, 2069

After Wyatt asked me to go over to him, he pulled me into a tight but warm embrace. “I know you only slept for a few hours last night,” Wyatt whispered, “fall asleep on me, Al,”

“Why?” I mumbled, “We’re dead, I don’t think it’s important,”

“We’re not entirely dead. Once we find everlasting peace then we will be truly dead,” Wyatt continued to whisper. I think he’s trying to make me calm so that I’d sleep. I mean it is working, “I love you, Al. Sweet dreams,” That’s the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.

9:15 am

I stirred in my sleep as I felt Wyatt softly play with my hair, “Mhh, Wyatt?” I muttered.

“The next thing you’re probably thinking is how long have you’ve been out,” Wyatt paused, “1 hour and 44 minutes exactly,”

“Why have you been counting that?” I asked him, perplexed.

Wyatt sighed before continuing, “Why not? You barely slept last night,” he continued to comb my hair to be fair it was calming, “You need to get more sleep, Al,”

“But there’s no poi-” I started.

“No,” Wyatt stated firmly, “I do not care if you think it is useless, because it is not,”

I’ll tell you now reader, that shut me up. I wasn’t expecting him to say that, “I know, but still,”

“What happened last night, is that still bothering you?” Wyatt stated surprisingly still whispering.

“Yeah,” I muttered. Then everything blacked out.

5:47 pm

I woke up slowly but surely. This is a soft surface- wait, I’m on a bed. Did Wy knock me out or something? “Ugggg, now there’s some unknown power in this?” Ya, I’m frustrated, “Welp, time to go find Wyatt now,”

I hopped out of bed and went downstairs to smell something really good. Going to the kitchen I see mac and cheese cooking in a pot, “Ha, you know a lot about me hm?” I then continued through the corridor to find Wyatt playing with… “Magic?”

V

September 3, 2069

Wyatt looked up to see me looking very confused, “Pff- You look so funny, Al.” Was he seriously laughing at me?

Once again I got flustered, “Shut up!” I practically yelled, “Wait no, you’re avoiding the question!”

Wyatt sighed, for once he looked nervous, “I planned on keeping this from you.”

“Keeping what, and why?” I asked as he stood up. He walked over to me and put his hands out and I put my hands into his.

“Your hands are cold Al,” he stated, “There’s more than one reason that we are here, it’s not only because we’re dead.” He paused as he looked into my eyes, telling me that he was being one-hundred percent honest. “We have magical abilities, Atlas, ones that others cannot comprehend; we are not normal.”

“We have powers?” I stated.

“Well technically, everyone does. We can just use them because we have a much stronger connection to them,” Wyatt responded. I could tell he was trying to phrase this in a way that I wouldn’t freak out, luckily it worked out fine.

I didn’t respond. I was still trying to comprehend everything. After at least a minute I responded, “Are they picked at random or something?”

“Our powers? Yeah sort of, I think the person who talked to me before I died was an older lady. I have many reasons to believe that she picked out random people from our generation, too, like carrying on a gift of sorts,” Wyatt stated as we were walking over to the kitchen.

,

“So these powers are a mysterious gift… does that mean we have to pick out random kids in the future to have an exclusive amount of powers?” I asked in amazement.

“I guess so,” Wyatt stated as he scooped the mac and cheese into two bowls.

That’s cool I thought. “Thanks for the food, Wy,” I said as I glanced at him. I feel like this is too perfect, like a utopia, but if it is a utopia where is the dystopian portion? “This macaroni and cheese is really good, than-”

Wyatt cut me off, “No need to thank me, that is what friends are for."

“Are you smiling?” I teased.

“I- no, I am most certainly not." Wyatt quickly said as he covered his now blushing face.

I stood up abruptly, “HAHA! I made you blush,” I said as I started to dance around the kitchen.

“Okay, okay calm down before your macaroni gets cold,” Wyatt stated. Let me tell you that made me stop dancing real fast, “Also, I believe I have made you blush two times, I am winning, Al."

“What! No, that’s not fair!” I started to pout. Then a sharp pain hit my head, “Aw, crap,” I whispered.

“Are you okay?” Wyatt asked me as he stood up to get a glass of water, “I’m honestly surprised you can feel anything, I don’t think we are supposed to feel anything here except for our feelings."

“Al?” I stood up to take the water, then the glass shattered and I heard Wyatt’s words before I collapsed, “You have gone pale- Atlas!”

VI

September 4, 2069. 6:49 am

“Ah!” I quickly sat up, breathing heavily.

“Atlas?” Wyatt questioned, “Are you alright?”

“I… Yeah, I’m fine,” I responded, catching my breath. What was that? An ant-sized human and a spider? Hold on, that was a poisonous spider. Great, what is the universe foreshadowing?

“Lies,” Wyatt responded bluntly, “you need to stop lying to me, I can see right through them,”

“I know, I just…” I truly don’t know how to respond to this, how can I lie if Wyatt can see through them. Forget it, “I don’t know, Wy,” I started to cry, “everything hurts. I don’t know what’s wrong. You said it yourself, we’re not supposed to feel anything here, yet I can feel everything. I understand that I deserve this for never fixing my issues, I would help everyone with theirs so much that I neglected my psyche. This fate is my own, I brought this upon myself and you know it.”

Wyatt listened very carefully before responding, “This is the problem Al, you ignore everyone’s flaws and only acknowledge your own. You have been doing this since middle school, please tell me why you do not ask for help. It doesn’t help the fact that you think not sleeping is okay!”

“Why are you staying so relaxed?” I stated, trying to calm my crying.

“I thought your majoring in psychology would mean you knew tactics on how to calm others down,” Wyatt responded sarcastically. This earned a chuckle from me.

“Fair,” I responded, “it wasn’t anything though, I just had a nightmare, Wy.”

“You broke down in tears,” Wyatt teased.

“Oh shut up!” I flushed again. The fact that he can continually make me laugh and forget about all my pain is amazing, only Julika has done that… I miss them.

“Umm, no,” Wyatt pushed, making me blush more.

“Tch, fine. I’m going to boil eggs now,” I responded happier than before. I wonder what will happen tomorrow.

VII

September 5, 2069. 1:04 pm

Yesterday was very nice, if I were in a book I’d skip over that mundane chapter. Well, all of it except what happened in the morning. That was a disaster. “Wyatt?” I questioned.

Wyatt who was looking at the cat looked up at me, “Yeah?” he responded, wondering if he should be worried or not.

“If you wrote a book what would you do to make your readers mad?” I asked him, looking as serious as I could.

“You look-” Wyatt started, “Cliffhangers, I would use those,”

“What were you thinking?” I mumbled. “Nevermind, why cliffhangers?”

“I am not sure, I just like them. Remember when we had to read Lord of Shadows for that project?” Wyatt responded.

“Who was it by?” I asked.

“Cassandra Clare,” Wyatt replied without a second thought.

I thought for a second, “Yeah, I do. Why?”

“The times there were cliffhangers in it, our classes freaked out! They wanted to know what would happen next, but our teachers would not let anyone read ahead,” Wyatt stated.

I swear, he can go from, ‘I don’t care about anything to oh let’s make some cake!’

“Mrs. Hills let Julika read ahead,” I responded ecstatically.

“Who?” Wyatt asked, tilting his head like a cat.

I looked at him confused. I swear they shared 4th period, they always told me how Wyatt would mess around, and how the math teacher would get so mad at him for it. “Julika, they were in my 7th period… That was my language arts class by the way,” I said proudly.

“The girl who works at Taco Bell?” Wyatt asked.

“Hey!” I yelled, “They work at Viva El Taco Mexican Food too!”

“Okay! Okay! Calm down mad kitty,” Wyatt said in defeat. He then started to smirk at my blushing face.

“Oh my God. Now the score is eight to two,” I whined.

“Why? Is that what you are concerned about? You had a panic attack yesterday and now you care about how many times I have made you blush?” Wyatt said pretty bluntly.

“Of course it is!” I shouted.

“Dear Lord, you are crazy,” Wyatt muttered under his breath.

“Thank you,” I proudly remarked. The rest of the day was fine, we argued a lot, but nothing unusual happened… yet.

September 6, 2069. 7:34 pm

“Now I know you are crazy,” Wyatt said watching me from the doorframe of the dance room.

“What do you mean?” I asked staring at the very large mirror.

“I just watched you do the Little Lad Dance, Al,” Wyatt said with a concerned expression.”

“So?” I replied I was going to laugh until.

“What would you do if the person you loved the most died?” Wyatt asked.

VIII

September 6, 2069. 7:42 pm

“Why do you ask?” I replied cautiously.

“A few weeks before I died my grandmother died. That was…” Wyatt paused looking for words he could use, “very difficult for me. She practically raised me when my mother could not. So I was merely wondering,”

“The person I love most,” I murmured, “well I’d probably be very emotional. Then eventually get over it. I mean there’s no use crying over it when I”m dead as well… Right?”

“True, anyway hurry up,” Wyatt stated quickly changing the subject, “Dinner is ready.”

“Since when?” I responded.

“Since you started doing the Little Lad Dance,” he countered as he took his hat off my head.

“No fair!” I whined.

“Where did you get this hat?” he questioned.

“Your room…” I whispered.

“Knew it,” he remarked.

September 7, 2069. 7:13 am

“Ugh!” It’s so boring without Wyatt. He went out to find his cat, Glimmer. “What to do, oh what to do,” I thought out loud, “I could go for a walk, find games to play, go on an adventure.”

“Sneak through Wyatt’s room,” something suggested.

“Sneak through Wyatt’s room,” I responded thinking it was me who said it before. “Wait, no,” I said sitting up, “why would I even think that? What’s wrong with me…”

“Boo-hoo,” something said softly while a book fell on my head.

“Ó, shénme... (Ow, what the)” where did this book come from, there’s no bookshelf above me. I looked up to check if there was, there isn’t. I don’t have a good feeling, I’ll put this under my pillow and read it later. It looks really old, but there is no dust on it inferring that someone… not something has been using it often.

8:49 am

“I am back, Al!” Wyatt said as Glimmer practically flew into my arms.

“Nǐ hǎo-“ I cut myself off, “Hello, Wy, I see you found Glimmer, where was she?”

“She was by that fake rip-off mall thing.” He responded, “Also, you speak Chinese?”

“Did I not tell you?” he looked at me perplexed telling me that I didn’t, “I was born in China, Wy. I lived there for a while before coming to America,”

“That makes sense. Do you want lunch?” he asked.

“Yes please,” I announced confidently.

September 8, 2069. 2:15 am

“Can you stop doing the Cha Cha Slide! It is two in the morning,” Wyatt started, “if you don’t go to bed I will knock you out… again,”

“Fine, I will. Can I do it later then?” I questioned as I slipped under the covers of my bed.

“If you get enough sleep!” Wyatt said softly but loud enough for me to hear “Also, if you find an old book can you give it to me? I can’t find it and it goes in-”

“His room,” something said blocking out Wyatt’s voice.

“Yeah, of course… Night, Wy,” I responded.

“Night, Al” He responded leaving.

11:56 pm

Nothing crazy happened, but I was with Wyatt the entire time so I couldn’t read the book that the voice said was his. Good thing he’s asleep now, “I shouldn’t do this,” I whispered looking up to see the night sky. Which seemed to have the colors purple, blue, and black in it, and of course the yellow like stars.

“Read it Britannica Atlas,” the voice in my head said as the book went from the ground to my hands.

September 9, 2069. 4:00 am

After reading the one page I passed out and woke up in my bed as if it was all a bad dream, “I have to be sure,” I said quietly as I snuck my hand under the pillow… It was there still.

IX

September 9, 2069. 4:00 am

“It was real?” I muttered, “But how? What kind of secret could he be hiding?”

“You know exactly what he’s talking about, dear,” something said again.

“So you’re still here?” I asked. “Wait is there anything I can address you as? It’s kinda weird.”

“Clearly I’m still here, and no you’ll find out eventually. Also, are you okay, that fall you took was quite ugly,” the mysterious voice said?

Fall? What fall? This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever had to experience. “Aw, that’s adorable! You seem so confused. Poor you, hehe,” the voice said again.

*knock knock*

“What’s up, Wy?” I responded.

“Who’s that?” Another voice said, “And before you ask who I am, can I come in to show you?”

“Sure,” as the door opened, Brock stood very confused. “Brock?” I yelled in confusion.

“A-atlas?” he questioned.

How did he get here? When did he die, no how did he die? “Brock, are you aware of where you are?”

“No?” He responded.

“Why the heck am I the one to ruin your life?” Brock had a very confused look at my statement. I sighed, “Brock sit,” he did that, “alright, I’m sorry that I have to tell you this. You should know though.”

He waited a second before asking, “What should I know, Atlas?”

“Brock, you’re dead,” I replied bluntly.

He didn’t take that well, but he was trying to hide it, I asked him to tell me what was on his mind. “W-what? Wait how? Are you dead too?”

“Yeah, I am,” I responded.

September 9, 2069. 8:00 am

“Crap,” I whispered.

“What’s up, Atlas?” Brock responded to my wording.

“Go hide,” I quickly responded.

“What? Where?” Brock asked.

“The closet over there, go now! I’ll explain soon… Promise” I stated. At that, he went to the closet and hid.

“Atlas!” Wyat screamed as he barged through the door to my room, “I think I ruined breakfast,” Wyatt whined.

He’s like a child “Lol, Let me help you with that.”

“Thank you, Al,” he stated.

“Atlas- I think Wyatt knows Brock is here…” The voice said once more.

Thank’s weird voice, “Wy? Could you go to the kitchen? I need to do something.”

“Ya, sure,” he responded.

“Xiè xiè,” I said.

“You are welcome,” he replied before heading off.

“Was that Wyatt?” Brock said as he came out of the closet.

“Yeah, it is. Why?” I asked.

“Atlas that kid is bad news,” He said worriedly.

I’m officially confused, “What do you mean, Brock? How is Wyatt bad?”

“You don’t know, do you?” He asked, I stayed silent, “Atlas… He killed someone. He killed Kris claiming she was getting too close to you. After that Julika found out and told Josh, Azra, and me. I’m really sorry.”

He killed her and got away with it, “He killed my best friend… How did Julika find out, and how come you guys never told me?”

“Julika found out because she was on the phone with Kris when it happened, when she told us about it Wyatt held Josh captive. He threatened to kill him as well if we told you. That’s actually why they broke up.” He responded looking at the ground.

“Hold on,” I can’t tell if I’m going to have a panic attack or if I’m going to slap him.

“Show yourself, Kris,” He said with a steady calm voice.

“Gladly,” Suddenly an orange mist appeared, and there stood my childhood best friend, Kris. “I’m sorry for hurting you yesterday, Las,” Kris said bowing apologetically.

“It was you?” I said about to cry.

Calmly Kris responded, “Shh Las, don’t you cry now. Plus you need to go to Wyatt, he’s going to get suspicious about the fact that you’ve been gone for like five minutes.”

“Right, but we’ll have to make a plan,” I started, leaving the room to that as both Kris and Brock evaporated in an orange and red mist.

X

September 9, 2069. 12:00 pm

Well, this can’t get any weirder and surprised filled than what happened earlier. Well, it can but I’m not going to think that far.

Suddenly Kris popped up, “Boo!” She said emerging from her orange mist with Brock following closely behind.

“Ah!” I sarcastically returned. “What’s up? And before you ask, I could feel, Brock.”

Kris cursed Brock under her breath. She probably did this because he gave up her surprise. “Well, anyway. Did anything happen with you and Wyatt? He seemed pretty spectacle when we were observing yall,” Kris asked curiously.

“Yeah, he seemed to be eyeing you a lot. It looked like he was planning something,” Brock remarked. He then let out a small, “I don’t trust him.”

“Well not exactly. I could tell he was cautious, but I couldn’t pry on the situation,” I replied lightly. “Besides that, we need to make a plan to figure out what he wants from us. Do you guys got any suggestions?”

Brock was the first to speak up. “You didn’t read all of that book, right?” As I nodded the notebook from last night appeared in his hands with a soft red glint. “Here read this,” Brock said as he handed me Wyatts’ book on a certain page.

I looked up in complete shock. “What’s wrong, Las?” Kris asked taking the book out of my trembling hands and reading it as fast as possible. “Oh my god-” Kris looked at Brock, “That… thing, has all of this planned out. He knows exactly what he wants to do to all of us. To me, Las. He sounds lovesick.”

“Lovesick?” I asked curiously.

“It’s a condition where someone has an unhealthy obsession with another person and will do anything to be with that person. The lovesick person will go through great lengths to be with the person that they are obsessing over, sometimes that includes murder,” Brock calmly stated.

Kris followed up after saying, “Right. So, I now have an idea in what I believe Brock agrees with.” Brock nodded, “Could you…”

September 9, 2069. 10:46 pm

“Wyatt!” I whined into the pillow on Wyatts’ bed.

“Yes?” Wyatt responded.

“Why is your bed so comfy?” I pouted.

“Because I care for my bed,” Wyatt responded sarcastically replied.