Sentenced To Eternity (On Hold)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Alise's Point of View

It was four o'clock in the morning and the sun had not even appeared yet. The doors of the mall were already open and being used frequently by people wanting to get in on the Black Friday fiasco. I walked through the doors quickly, trying to get away from the night time cold. I tried to adjust my eyes to all the lights which were in stark contrast to the still dark and eerily quiet land outside of the doors. My mother was looking at the map of the mall slightly ahead of me. I decided to go get a drink from one of the nearby vending machines. They were located in the middle of the hallway of smaller stores leading up to the middle of the mall where the biggest stores would be. I picked a simple water from the vending machine and began walking back.

Suddenly I heard a noise. Even though all noises in the mall were already incredibly loud, I still heard it. It was just like in the action movies. When the producers don't want to show someone getting shot, so you just hear the gunshot and assume that someone was shot. I could easily tell that the noise I just heard was indeed a gunshot.

The people in the stores heard it too and all of them began running out of various stores at once. They didn't run the way people do for exercise where they're stable and calm; these people were running to get away from that terrible sound. I could feel myself lose my footing in the hassle of people. The people in the front of the mob saw me, but there was too much pushing from behind for them to stop. I reached out my arms trying to get my footing again, but it was impossible. There was too much pushing from behind for me to regain my balance.

Once I was fully on the ground I could look up and see the people's faces when they noticed me. Their horror scared me more than the pain going through my body as the crowd stepped on me. Their faces showed that this truly wasn't their fault. Though, just as I had been pushed to the ground, the entire crowd was being pushed forward.

I closed my eyes and after a few moments it felt like the floor was moving. Only I was moving with it. I was going down in a spiral motion. The further I went the better I felt, because I was getting away from that horrible pain. The world darkened, and I lost consciousness.

~~~~~

When I woke up to a light that was beautiful in my eyes. It was the type of light that comes in the early morning and gives you a peaceful awakening. I could tell it was from behind me. I began to turn my head and just as if my body told me it wasn't time to try movement, pain shot up my neck.

Instead, I looked forward at the room. Around me there were chairs. It was as if my bed was a table and I was the delicious turkey they were about to dig into. Only the chairs weren't occupied. Next to me was a little wooden bed-side table. It had flowers, cards, and a large teddy bear on it. There was no doubt that they were put there especially for this moment. The moment in which I woke up from my post-trampled sleep. Directly in front of me was a window. Outside the door, which was cracked open, was a large round desk at which several nurses sat.

Just then the door was opened further. My mother, father, and younger sister, Clara, came from behind it. When they saw that I was awake they nearly broke their faces with their wide smiles. They hugged me and kissed me. It was kind of hard to execute this simple gesture though because of all of the bruises on me. They explained that I had a moderate to severe concussion, one broken leg, and several broken fingers. They said I'd have to stay overnight but I should be able to go home soon.

They also said I was lucky.

That made me think of the shot, wherever that bullet had gone. Were there others who left the store with far more injuries then me? I asked them if anyone else got hurt. Their faces, even little Clara's, grew solemn. "Three others died. They were shot," Mom explained.

"The police are still trying to find out who committed the murders, and why," concluded Dad. Once he finished telling me the names of those who died, we didn't speak of it again.

We ate the bland hospital food, played games, talked, and just enjoyed each other's presence.

A nurse with dark hair and silver eyes appeared at the door telling my family that they needed to go and let me get rest. In all of the happiness I had not realized how tired I had become. My family left along with the other visitors and the hospital grew silent. It was quite amazing how silent a hospital grew at night.

I was about to close my eyes when I saw something by the door. At first I thought that it was just light from the corridor outside, but then I heard a voice coming from it.

Is my concussion playing tricks on me?

The light grew larger, and a blinding shade of white. It was hard to see with the light suddenly coming from the darkness and practically blinding me, but I thought I could see a face masked by it. As my eyes got used to the new light I could see that it was a woman.

She looks to be in her early twenties. Her wavy blond hair was cut short, going just a little bit past her shoulders. She had rosy cheeks and a round, beautiful face. She was wearing a white dress which was tied right below her chest with a golden rope. Sprouting from her back were a gorgeous set of cream colored wings. I couldn't quite make them out very well because of the white light behind her, which was too similar to the color of her wings.

"Stand up, Alise," said the woman in a chime-like voice.

The first thought that came to my mind as she said the was 'I can't,' but she replied, "Your body will allow you."

I felt shivers erupt down my spine. How had this woman contradicted me when I hadn't even replied yet?

Frightened by this woman, whom I assumed was an Angel, I decided not to argue. To my surprise, my body moved with unnatural ease as I tried to stand. There was no pain at all. Once standing on the tiled floor, I glanced at my bed. A quiet gasp left my lips as I saw that my body was still in the bed. 'Wait,' I thought. 'If my body is down there, than what am I?' I looked where my feet would usually would be. They were there, but they had the same white light around them as the Angel.

Again, a gasp escaped my lips. "Am I dead?" I asked her, hesitantly.

"No, not yet," she responded, in a soothing tone.

Not yet?

I shivered as I thought it over. A knowing look crossed the Angel's face, almost as if she were reading my mind. . . again?

"Why are you here?" I asked, hoping that the worry I felt didn't show on my face.

"You're going to be visiting Heaven!" she says enthusiastically. A brilliant smile lit her features.

Why would an alive person go There? Is this like the field trip to the high school all the eighth graders went on just months before we were going there? Is this an orientation of sorts for the place that in a few short months would become my new home?

She answered me without my question being asked verbally. "You're going to be on trial."

How did she know I was going to ask that? It didn't seem to be an intuitive act, more like she had heard me and was answering a question.

Wait, what was I on trial for? I don't really remember any crimes that deserve a Heavenly Court. "You're on trial for the murders of three people, at the mall yesterday morning," she informs me.

I felt my jaw drop, but I made no effort to close it. What would be the punishment in a Court such as this? I thought. Again she answered me before I actually asked the question.

"Hell is your punishment. Death then Hell." I felt as if a bomb had gone off. I remained silent, making a desperate attempt to comprehend what she was saying. Finally, the words sunk in. This surely couldn't be a prank. So that's why she said I wasn't dead yet. Because my life and more than that, my eternal life were in risk of being taken away from me. And Hell would be my sentence. . .

~Rach

~Edited By Kara