Next Life Novels & Stories

With a gesture she invites me to sit down and I do it again when I put the chair back in its place. “It's normal the exaltation you just had. But I want to explain something to you, can I,” she asks a little cautiously and I nod, “perfect. Allie, you won't always have the power to decide what will happen to you, sometimes life can be cruel and decide for you but what you do decide is how to face the situation” I look at my hands in my lap with my eyes fixed on my feet, while I play with a small thread hanging from my blouse.

"I can't just go back to my old world and be Selena again?" He shook his head with regret. "I'm afraid not. You've already died, child. That's the law, and no one can change it. But you can go to a new world and live on with a new identity." I went quiet as something heavy and sad settled over me that I couldn't quite name. I flipped through the list the System had given me. It was full of all kinds of lives, from heiresses to pop stars to corporate executives. I skimmed through them all and, in the end, picked an ordinary wolf in a werewolf world.

As Nicholas was escorted past me, he spoke bitterly, "I’m sorry. In the next life, I’ll make it up to you." Well, I never wanted to see him again. A few days after he was taken to the hospital for treatment, I received the news that Nicholas had been sentenced to death. I heard that when he learned of his sentence, he completely broke down in prison. He muttered to himself every day, "In the next life, I’ll cherish my chances. I’ll treasure the people around me." But how many chances did one get to be reborn? Since someone had died in my house, I moved out and bought a new place.

I pointed out. "They live and die, being born again. They grow up as normal kids with their old memories coming back to them at eighteen. They make deals over the lifetimes, some asking to wipe their memories, living on as normal people in the human world through that life. When they are born into the next life, they exchange with some others who want to also do same, exploring. As long as there are at least fifty in the compound, the rest can go on living their lives." He said, my head nodding. How lucky they were to live through so many lives, given so many chances to have so many different lives, just choosing for themselves what want to be at that time.

But I was still trapped around Samuel. I knew it was time to say goodbye to Toby. That night, I held him in my arms after he'd spent the day playing. I told him a story about the next life. I said it was a world where we wouldn't be wandering, transparent souls. Instead, we would be normal people who could taste delicious food, play joyfully with friends, and attend school. His eyes lit up as he listened and said, "I'll wait for you in the next life, Mommy!"

In the next life, I only wanted the life I had before I turned 17. … "Never thought I'd run into you here." I sat on the couch in the cemetery management center. Across from me was a handsome young man. He turned out to be Kevin Graham, a neighbor from Lila's hometown. I used to call him "Kev" when we were younger. Now, he was actually a cemetery sales advisor here. Once a person knew the time of their death, it was inevitable that they would start making arrangements for what came after. I had come to choose my plot, right next to where Peter and Lila were buried. I wanted to be their real daughter in the next life.

I need to get out here, as soon as possible, since I didn't know where Joy lives. I walk over to the door and open it slightly, and then I saw mum suddenly passed by my room. She didn't notice me. "What!? Why hasn't the company been transferred under my name!? Dad is dead! He's been dead for a long time, so now, transfer it under my name. Do you understand!?" I heard mum's conversation with someone on the other line. And with that, I shake my head instantly. She's so obsessed with wealth and money. "What!? Who told you that he is not my real —"

Even when he sensed no wolf presence beneath the rubble, he kept searching until every stone had been checked. At the edge of the spirit realm, the gate to my next life opened. Before stepping through, I saw Mother preparing beds at the shelter while Father checked every child’s name against the room assignments. Farther north, Adrian knelt in the snow, clearing stones from a collapsed building with his bare hands. This had been my second life, and the second time I had died after being forgotten. Only after it ended did someone finally learn how to remember me. Light from the gate settled over my spirit, and for the first time, nothing held me back. “Thank yo

"Exactly. Jerome's been running the company all these years. Mark just got back. What if—" Dad cut them off, his voice low and firm. "That's enough. I trust what Mark can do." Watching Jerome and Laura deflate on the spot filled me with pure satisfaction. In my past life, I refused to face Mom's death, and it gave Jerome and Laura the opening they needed to steal her estate and wreck my life. This time, I wasn't letting them win. Every old score was coming due. The moment I got back to Swain Group, I acted on what I remembered from my past life and bought the struggling digital media company I'd once told Rosalie to go after.

That's why I'm going to have a sit-down and see whether I want to deal or not. I wondered what it would be like, to focus on something else for once. To look forward to living when I'd been so hellbent on dying. Knowing that you'd lived past the day you thought you were going to be dead is an odd feeling. It doesn't feel so much like borrowed time but a rebirth.