Earthbound : A gripping crime thriller full of twists and supernatural suspense Fynn Perry (if you liked this book TXT) 📖

More importantly, you were able to see the consequences of everyone’s actions––how, and with what magnitude, they affect others. Without that realization you cannot hope to understand the level of strategy involved.”

John recalled the deluge of information that had poured into him, the tremendous pressure he had felt to move on to another form of existence and how he had fought it, doing everything he could to take back control of his mind

“Don’t worry, John,” she said with a surprisingly soothing tone, seeming to sense his anxiety. “I won’t trick you into going to the afterlife against your will. I understand not everyone has been satisfied with their time on Earth, and not everyone wants to move on. Your reasons for not doing so are by no means original, John. Love is the most common reason of all. You also felt anger—a need for answers as to why your life was cut short. And, of course, you experienced the fear of losing your mortal identity. The latter is the reason why all earthbound spirits look like their mortal selves and why their intelligence is limited to the level it was at when they were alive.”

“But my body is still alive. It’s in a coma. I’m not actually dead; there is brain activity.”

“Do you think you are here by mistake? Like a quirk in some kind of ‘system’ that decides when it’s your time to go”? She mimicked air quotes and didn’t wait for a response. “I hate to break it to you, but there are no mistakes.”

He felt momentarily deflated, then asked hopefully, “This is a test, right? I have to do something good to earn my way back to my body?”

A mocking smile spread across her face “You mean like do a good deed? And then your God will reward you by giving you your old life back?”

John nodded, although he winced at her use of ‘your’ in her statement, as if she did not share a belief in God––or any god for that matter.

“It’s so amusing that you primitives still believe in religion. Perhaps you could get one of your mortal priests to exorcise the spirit who possessed your attacker.” She gave a little laugh.

“Santiago?” John burst out.

“Very good, John! I can see you’re more resourceful than most. Still a long way from being a player, but all the same, you’re interesting.”

“What do you mean by that?” John asked, even more confused.

“Enough questions for now, John. You really must let me show you The Game,” she said holding her hand out again. “Take it. Come on! You have so much to learn and nothing to lose.”

This time John didn’t hold back and tentatively offered his hand. As their hands connected in a handshake, he saw the orange glow of her body darken and she became almost invisible. Then, alarmingly, he saw the darkening progress up his own arm, reducing the intensity of his own glow. He tried to take his hand away and found he couldn’t. It was as if their hands were fused together.

“Relax, this is just a conduit of information. I’m not going to swallow you!” Nikki laughed.

A sudden surge of knowledge flowed into John and he started to panic, recalling his previous experience and the sense of nearly losing his mind. This time there was no gradual widening of his vision and awareness, stretching out beyond New York to other cities, then countries, then the entire planet. This time he was not alone, and as he stood connected to Nikki, both of them were surrounded by the sudden appearance of a wonderous tapestry of billions of constantly changing images. Depictions of human joy and celebration were interspersed with visions of hideous acts of torture, execution, and exploitation, which in turn mixed with images of political speeches, marches, and uprisings. Despite their vast number, John found he could take in all the images at once, and his initial panic started to slowly subside.

“You’re watching every single event happening on Earth now, in real-time,” Nikki advised.

John didn’t answer; he was shocked to see how much of the world’s population was subjected to violence and suffering.

A wave of change swept through the images and they all suddenly showed deaths occurring around the world. Every second a new image of someone who’d just died came up. The reason for each death was different but, in every case, it was followed by the emergence of a strange entity from the body. Spherical in shape, and invisible to the mortal eye, these entities looked dark and seemed to absorb light.

Nikki interrupted his obvious fascination. “That, John, is a Void––the human consciousness departing upon death. The essence of every human being, no longer bound by the limitations of time and space or being trapped inside a slowly decaying mortal body. At that beautiful moment, each consciousness is finally able to realize its full potential and intelligence and become all-seeing, as you are at this moment.”

As she said this John noticed that in most cases the Void simply disappeared after emerging but occasionally, he saw the mysterious entity transform into a glowing, earthbound spirit––just like he had been.

Finally, overcoming his stupefaction, John managed to ask, “Where do all the Voids go? There must be billions of them.”

“Anywhere in the universe—it’s a big place, some say infinite,” Nikki responded, flashing him a grin. “But we stay in contact, pool our intelligence––”

“We? You’re one of them?” John said, startled, and then added quietly, “of course you are,” remembering how her eyes had rolled back to reveal empty black space when he had first met her.

“Enough!” Nikki snapped. “That was all just background. Now we come to the interesting part...The Game.”

John couldn’t possibly have prepared for what he would see next. Before him flashed vivid, bloodcurdling scenes from the greatest atrocities in the history of the planet: civil and world wars, genocides and famines. The screams, agony, and terrified expressions of millions of people were overwhelming. He had the same feeling of nausea and inability