Beyond (Afterlife book 1) by Willow Rose Read Free Book Online

the castle.
Our teacher was Mrs. Ohayashi, a small Japanese woman in a kimono.
She had narrow, almost black eyes that seemed cold and empty. I had
a hard time looking in her eyes because they always made me feel
like they would suck me right into her.
    And she didn’t like me from the beginning.
I could tell right away. Not only didn’t she like me, she seemed to
detest everything I did and said in class. And I wasn’t very good
at this. Not at first that is. Maybe it was my insecurity, maybe it
was her, I don’t know. But it took me forever to get the hang of
it.
    However, she seemed to love Portia and
her friends, and most of her classes ended up making me look like a
complete fool and then laughing at it.
    It all started the day we were supposed to
learn how to walk through walls. Mrs. Ohayashi had put up a thin
cardboard wall for us to practice on. And of course she chose me to
be the first one to try.
    “ Well come along,” she said and
signaled with her long fingernails that I should approach.
Reluctantly I got up from my chair and floated toward her. I knew I
would have a hard time with this. I knew it was possible, but I
clearly remembered the time Portia went through me on the football
field. That was not a pleasant experience.
    “ Put the palm of your hand
on the wall,” Mrs. Ohayashi said.
    So I did. I felt the wall underneath my
palm.
    “ Now slowly press it
through the wall.”
    I remember being so afraid of the feeling. I
smiled awkwardly and looked at the teacher.
    “ Just do it!” she suddenly
screamed.
    So I did. I pressed my hand through the
cardboard wall. It felt weird but the feeling wasn’t too bad. I
looked at the other side and started waving my hand. Then I
laughed, a strange, insecure laughter. When I turned to look at the
class, I realized my hand was stuck. I panicked and I couldn’t get
my hand back. It was as if the cardboard closed in on my wrist and
wouldn’t let go. I pulled and pulled, but couldn’t get it back
out.
    Then I heard a big laughter behind me. It
belonged to Mrs. Ohayashi.
    “ Please, Mrs. Ohayashi,” I said.
“Please help me get my hand back.”
    Then the whole class was laughing.
    “ Help me,
please.”
    Mrs. Ohayashi didn’t help me, instead she
addressed the class. She had a way of silencing us without saying
anything, just by a look.
    “ Now, prove to me that you are
not as stupid as Meghan and all the other idiots I normally have in
this class. Please, can anyone tell me what Meghan did wrong
here?”
    Of course Portia raised her hand.
    “ Yes, Portia?”
    “ Meghan didn’t believe in
it. She was afraid.”
    “ Exactly. The worst thing you
can do is to doubt yourself and your own abilities. That is an
earthly way of thinking and it will not work here in the Afterlife.
Anyone who will believe can be mighty and powerful.”
    “ Ahem,” I said. “How do I
get my hand out?”
    Mrs. Ohayashi came awful close to my ear.
Then she whispered:
    “ Just pull it
out.”
    I looked at her with disbelief, when she
grabbed on to my arm and pulled in it. Like the wall had been made
of water the hand came straight out.
    The class burst into giggles. Mrs.
Ohayashi’s lips curled.
    “ Now you’d better sit down
before you hurt yourself,” she hissed at me.
    I bowed my head and ran to my chair. She
followed me and looked me straight in the eyes.
    “ Don’t ever come to my class
without reading your homework!” she yelled so loudly, most of the
students jumped in their chairs.
    I forced myself to keep looking
at her. I had read the book Basics of Transition and I knew all there was to know. I
just didn’t know how to put it into practice in real
life.
     
    When I got back to my room that night, I
stayed up late to practice. I kept trying to put my hand through my
pillow, which I assumed would be soft and easy. And after a few
hours I finally got it. My hand slipped right through every time.
But that was just a hand, and just through a pillow. I was still
far