The bus rattled along the winding road, its frame creaking under the strain of the steep ascent. Rain shed against the windows, obscuring the jagged cliffs and dense forest beyond in a relentless cascade. Inside, the air was thick with the damp musk of soaked clothing, the bitter tang of spilled coffee, and the boured growl of the struggling engine.

  Midway down the aisle, Mindy—a nineteen-year-old with windswept brown hair—sat hunched in her seat, her cold fingers clutching her dead phone.

  "Damn it!" she smacked the device against her palm.

  "Why now? Of all times…" She stuffed it back into her coat pocket with a frustrated growl, rubbing her hands together before blowing warm air onto them. "Why is it so freaking cold today?"

  With a sigh, she dug into her bag and pulled out a sketchbook. Her pencil moved idly, tracing the outline of a steaming coffee cup, elegant swirls framing it, the word "Haven" scrawled beneath in careful script.

  Her dark hair swayed as she gnced out the window; Mindy’s eyes narrowed at the storm’s fury. She had originally pnned to go shopping and visit a new shop that had recently opened, but the sudden change in weather forced her to cut her pns short. She didn’t want to stay out in the rain.

  Switching her gaze, she stared at the drawing, then abruptly ripped the page out, crumpling it into a tight ball before tossing it to the floor. "My sketches are still as shit as ever," she mused nonchantly before stuffing the book back in her bag.

  As she packed her notebook away, her fingers brushed against a small, rose-shaped toy tucked inside. A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Bad weather aside, this trip was worth it," she thought, smiling to herself. She could already picture the fun she’d have once she got home when a jolt suddenly snapped her from her thoughts.

  Without warning, the bus lurched violently, and her head smmed into the seat in front of her, causing her to fall to the ground with a pained groan.

  "What the—?" She was about to question what had happened when her body went weightless.

  Then—bck.

  At the front, the driver, sweat glistening on his brow, clutched the wheel with desperation. The storm’s roar drowned out the flickering warning light on the dashboard. Unfortunately, the curve came too fast.

  He yanked the wheel, still trying to regain some control, but the rain-slicked road offered no mercy. Tires shrieked, and the guardrail splintered like kindling, giving way.

  Smoke rose from the ground as the world turned upside down.

  Inside a white void, Mindy awoke to a searing pain that cwed at her very essence. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t move—only endure as the agony pulsed through her, the white void stretching endlessly around her. Fragments of memory—the bus, her bag, the storm—slipped away, only to snap back as the pain peaked, threatening to obliterate her entirely.

  Then it stopped. The void receded, and Mindy stood on a surface that shimmered like a gaxy trapped under gss. The air thrummed with an electric hum, and the vast expanse glowed with a twilight haze, stars shining in and out of existence.

  Clutching her shaking body, she slowly stood up, her clothes untouched, but her hands continued to tremble, recalling the fear and enduring pain she had just experienced.

  As she began to calm down, she noticed she wasn’t alone in this space. Around her stood others she assumed were from the bus. She didn’t know any of them personally, except for a tall woman who happened to live close to her, along with a handful of unfamiliar faces—all staring at each other in bewilderment.

  Mindy rubbed her neck as she scanned the unfamiliar pne. A girl with short hair clutched her silent phone, her earbuds dangling uselessly, while a woman with red hair fell to her knees.

  “What the hell is going on?” a man’s voice sliced through the stillness.

  The woman who had colpsed to her knees whispered, her lips trembling, “I think… I think we’re dead.”

  “Dead?” a boy named Marcus asked, his tone questioning. “If we’re dead, how are we still here to talk about it?”

  "Is this the pce we go to receive judgment?" he mumbled to himself, still looking around.

  At Marcus’s words, a handful of people began to panic, their faces pale as they gnced around, their voices rising in a chaotic murmur. Mindy stood frozen, her heart pounding, surrounded by the growing unrest as the reality of their situation sank in.