The Criminal Diaries: Chapter 42. Before The Heart Stops

Hello, my sweet estrellitas! I call what's gonna happen next in the book "The Criminal Diaries" something like "Not enough madness, I need much more”. Here's my attempt to write something slightly fantasy-like, slightly otherworldly, slightly insane in Chapter 42… Why otherworldly? Because the lead male character finds himself in a certain parallel world – between life and death – after a terrible accident outside during a violent hurricane that mercilessly sweeps away everything in its path. And at that moment, no one could help him. So the character ends up in another world – a calm, peaceful one. A place where the soul doesn’t ache. A place where breathing feels easy. It's the place where he will have to wait for his death and go into the world of the dead, or hope that someone will find him and dare to challenge the raging storm to save him. Besides, he will have to return to what he's been running from for most of his life and finally remember who or what broke him so that his mind decided to erase it from his memory. Well… Almost everything… It left him some hints of the shocking event that happened to him. And after learning the truth, he will have to make a choice: return to the world of the living and live with this pain for the rest of his life, or let his soul leave his body and go to a place he will never be able to leave. The only question is… Will the girls take the risk and take matters into their own hands? And will the men remain angry even under the threat of losing the person who means a lot to them, after all? This scene was not part of my original plan either. As well as the idea of blocked memories about that terrible childhood incident. I came up with all of this during the writing process (I think it was Chapter 18), and I had to develop the storyline based on that idea. Actually, I try to make the events in my books somewhat realistic. I try not to come up with outrageous nonsense. And I understand that this episode with the lead male character in another world doesn’t fit the concept of the book series. But if you’ve been with me for a long time, you know that if I want to, I will fit what can't fit anywhere. And now, inspired by some fantasy content, I just couldn’t help but add this scene. Yes, maybe it seems absurd, but I like this kind of “madness,” and I consider this chapter one of the strongest and most emotional. While working on it, I cried a lot and clearly pictured every episode in my head. And although I did not plan this parallel between the storm and the calm, and it came to me on its own, I think it perfectly suits everything that happens in the new chapter. Thank you for your attention! Have a nice day! Love, Estrella Rose. FicFan: https://fic.fan/readfic/01944120-1b52-766e-9dbe-5b5ae2545a46 Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ-u_D7Jdn0