Afterlife

five: wait, I killed God?

Darkness. Cold darkness is all Aelia can feel in her death. She opens her eyes to feel arms gently shaking her awake.

How the hell did she survive?

She looks up into eyes that she has never seen before. They are a deep gray color, almost like ashes after a campfire.

"It is time to go." The man says, standing to his feet before extending his hand out to her.

He wears black ripped jeans paired with a white shirt and a black leather jacket. His hair matches his jacket and is swept back on top of his head. He appears to be about twenty-two years old, if she had to take a guess. Surrounding his head are three black butterflies. They make circles around his head slowly at their own pace. Behind them they leave a small golden sparkling trail.

Without a thought, she takes his hand and allows him to pull her to her feet. There is no pain anymore, it has all disappeared. She looks down and sees the blood saturating her torn grey hoodie.

Then she sees it.

Laying on the ground is her. A dead version of her rests on the floor in a large crimson pool of blood. She looks like hell, too. Her hair is covered in sweat and blood. Her hoodie is ripped where the man had plunged a knife into her, revealing a small bit of broken flesh. The wound on her side looks about as deadly as she thought. Her lips are parted in her death. Aelia next gapes at the giant gash across her throat.

She feels like she might throw up.

"It's creepy, isn't it?" The stranger says from behind her. His voice is soft in that moment, as if he is trying to be delicate with the young woman.

Turning towards him, she whispers out "Wha- what happened?"

The question is silly, really. She knows what happened. She got fucking stabbed.

"You died." The man says plainly as if death is normal to him.

"What?" She exclaims, fear running through her.

This can't be happening. There is no way that she is actually dead...

She furrows her eyebrows at the man in confusion. If she is dead, is this the afterlife? She bites her lip as she glances back to her corpse.

"So what are you, the gatekeeper of hell?" She snorts, trying to hold back her tears.

Death was the thing she feared most. There is no way she is dead. Aelia was only seventeen years old. She hadn't even finished highschool yet. She hadn't even gotten to live with Ian and Jeffrey for more than a couple of hours. This can't be how it ends. She wont accept it.

The man chuckles lightly, "Think more of... the taxi driver." He answers a little too casually for her liking. She draws her attention back towards him and meets his tender eyes. They are old eyes that look like they have seen a little too much for such a young age.

"Call me the Grim Reaper." He nods to himself.

Her lips part slightly. When she pictured dying, part of her thought that a lovely angel dressed in white would carry her up to heaven. She wanted to float on a cloud and ask God all of the questions that she had always wondered. For instance, why do good people die? Why is the world plagued with evil? Who were her real parents and why did they leave her?

"If you will just take my hand, I will take you to where you need to go." He takes a step towards her and extends his palm. "It will not hurt, I promise."

"I don't want to die." She chokes out softly, a small tear falling from the corner of her deep green eyes.

He lets out a small pained sigh. "I know, child. But your time has come." He says solemnly.

She nods gently, wrapping her fingers around his open hand. He gives her hand a small squeeze as black feathered wings sprout from his back. Her eyes fall closed and he scoops her into his arms.

She feels safe at this moment. Finally at peace, she embraces the darkness and feels her body being pulled up into the sky. The world goes quiet and she wonders if there will be a bright light when they reach heaven.

Are there gates to heaven? She wonders about whether that detail in the bible is true, or if it is a long line that she will have to wait in to get admitted through the pearly gates.

Aelia has no doubt that she is going to heaven. She has not lived a perfect life, but she believes that Christ saved her and that was all she needed to enter the gates.

Soft murmurs buzz in her ears. The Grim Reaper speaks quietly to somebody. Aelia opens her eyes but all she can see is darkness. The Grim Reaper's tone sounds harsher towards whoever he is talking to.

Aelia makes an attempt to ask what is going on, but her voice is gone. The Grim Reaper speaks inaudibly for another moment before his fingers begin to stroke through her long red hair. It shouldn't be soothing considering the man is a stranger to her, but Aelia feels her body relax to his touch.

"We are almost there." He whispers to her softly.

A few seconds pass before the strong hold around her vanishes and she begins to fall. This feels like falling from a building in a dream, but this is reality. Finally catching her breath, Aelia screams as she hits the ground.

But there is no impact. There is no hard surface beneath her when she hits the ground. Instead, she jolts back to consciousness, gasping for a giant breath of air.

Her eyes pop open and she can finally see light once again. She sits up, breathing in the clean air for a moment to catch her breath.

The ceilings are the first thing she notices. They are made of gold. Actual gold that has been crafted twenty feet over her head to form a dome. Decorating the golden ceiling is thousands of different colored gems. They form giant red and blue flames. It is the most beautiful art work she has ever seen.

The walls are made of a darker metal, with large windows letting light into the massive room. There are golden pillars holding the roof up which are also decorated with smaller white jewels.

Aelia pulls herself to her feet, her eyes now glued to the giant throne of pure gold above her. Large hairy legs are in her face as she rises.

Is God himself greeting her?

She finally stands and her face morphs into the most vulgar expression. She lets out a loud shrieking bellow at the sight of God dead on the throne.

There he sits, head back, long white beard covered in blood. He appears to have been impaled with a large blade made of an obsidian black metal.

Her hands slap over her mouth as she begins to sob. There is no way this can be happening. How can God be dead?

She turns on her heels and runs away from the body. She pushes through the large decorated doors and enters a large hallway. She runs as fast as she can, tears streaming down her puffy cheeks.

What is there to do now? This cannot possibly be heaven. It is very dark in the building, only a pale moonlight streaks through the windows. The ceilings are just as tall as they were in the throne room.

"Hey! Stop right there!" A bellowing voice calls from behind her.

Aelia blinks back in that direction, making eye contact with a guard of some sort that has now decided to chase after her.

They must think she killed God.