Chapter 3

The woman held out her hand to Hazel like she knew that she wanted help. She gave her hand to her, feeling safe. 

"It's alright," the woman said.

The sweet feeling in her eyes made Hazel remember her Mom but this woman was even prettier than her mother. She seemed to be of the same age as Hazel or just one or two years older.

"How did I get here? What's your name? Why is everybody here wearing white?," she asked her.

"Oh, so many questions. It appears you are one of the victims of Carter, the lust demon. My name is Maria. And as to why everyone here is wearing white, including you, is because we are pure and white is the color of purity," she said.

"What? But where in the world do you wear all white clothes? And to symbolize purity? Nobody wants to know if you're pure or not. So why?," she asked.

"Oh my poor Hazel. You have to wear white clothes here at all times unless you want to be named as one of the damned. Everybody here has to know that you're pure or your soul will be in great danger. And just so you know, you're standing in one of the judgemental places of heaven," she explained.

"What? Did I die?," she asked.

"No, my dear. You did not die. You are simply here on trial," she said.

"Then, does that mean this is just my spirit?," she asked.

"No, poor girl. This is all of you- body and soul," she said.

"But I thought only the spirit could enter heaven or hell. So how?," she asked. 

"This is a rare case, my dear. And you have been standing all this time. Please take a seat," she said. 

She gestured her to sit with her on one of the seats. They say down and continued talking. 

"So you said something about me being a rare case. What about it?," she asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it", she said. 

"Please tell me. It's about me so I should know, right?," she asked her. 

"First of all. Tell me Hazel, do you remember where you woke up?," she asked.

"You mean the white room? Yes, I do," she said.

"Well, it's not a room for pure souls, you know. It's for people who have their trials yet to come. Do you know why you were there? Was there anyone in there with you?," she asked.

"No. I was the only one in there and then suddenly a sharp tune on the flute started playing and a door in the wall opened and I crawled out of it and then I met you," she said. 

"Oh....... I see. Wait, did you say that there were no doors earlier?," she asked.

"Yeah. Just all walls and no doors", she said.

"Hazel, then.....you.......... I was joking earlier. But it looks like you are actually the victim of Carter everyone here is talking about," she said.

"What does that even mean? He is just a choreographer!!," she said.

"Oh my dear Hazel. You were kept inside the only prison here where no one except the prison keeper can enter. Only people who are victims of Carter are put in there. Also, somebody helped you out of there and they knew that the tune they played will get you out. Oh my God, we've got to tell Alex about this!," she said. 

"Wait, wait, wait!!! All of this is going way too fast. Explain it to me clearly," she whined.

"There's not time for that," she said.

"I'm not gonna get up from this seat until you tell me every single thing," she said.

"It'll be very late until then. We have to leave now. The HPA will be here any minute now. We've got to go," she said.

With that, she grabbed her arm harshly and they rushed off to meet this Alex guy. Maria ran so fast, it seemed Hazel will lose the arm she was gripping on. She was struggling to keep up with her. 
Finally, they reached a crossroads. They took the right one. Maria said "Open" and just then a door opened in front of them and they passed through it.