#Chapter 33 – The Deadlands

Anton groans in dismay as he follows me through the door. “You’re going to kill me, Sinclair” he mutters. “The stress of being your ghost helper –“ “Handmaid,” I correct, striding forward into this new world. “Is going to kill me,” he continues, and I can nearly feel him glaring hard at the back of my head. “Well then you’d still also be here,” I say, casting a hand out to the world around me. “And I’d be coming to visit you, because I’d miss you.” He glares down at me for a moment. But then we both go still, distracted from our argument by the absolute…nothingness that is this place. I inhale sharply as I tear my eyes from my ghost and begin to look around at the rolling grey-brown hills, the beige sky, the almost complete lack of shadow and light. The entire place isn’t at all flat but it is… “Lifeless,” Anton murmurs, glancing around, a shiver passing through him. “God it’s just…it’s dead, isn’t it?” I step closer to him, gulping hard. “Please,” he begs, and I look u