The Butterfly Effect

Chapter Three - The In-Between

Some people believe there is no Heaven, nor Hell, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. One's belief does not cancel out another's. Faith and Fact can coexist or they cannot; that is entirely up to the human race to decide-for better or worse. Emily believed once her number was called, it was over. There would be no afterlife. Your brain would shut down, the blood flow would stop, and with no heartbeat came no function. Darkness. Nothingness. Call it what you want. It was what Emily assumed to be the definition of death, not a foggy meadow.

Emily opened her eyes to a gray sky. Her fingertips were tickled with what felt like grass. Sitting up slowly, she found her guess correct. Around her tall pine trees loomed overhead. Fog drifted between the treelines, concealing anything she might have seen beyond them. Emily stood, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The reflection of the fog tinged the meadow in a dull gray color, and yet the bleakness did nothing to soothe Emily's fear of danger. The trees didn't move, they were steadfast from the lack of wind. Every piece of vegetation was utterly still as though they were watching her with rapt attention. The noiselessness caused a light hum to whine in Emily's ears.

At the sudden feeling of being watch Emily whirled around. A few feet away stood a black-cloaked figure with a hood over their face. Their lips, the only visible part of their being, twitched as if in reaction to Emily spotting them.

"What is this place?" Emily asked unexpectedly.

The sane option was to scream and run, but Emily felt no need to do either. The figure's vibe was gentle enough for Emily to forget any logic she garnered from scary movies. Those rules didn't apply where she was.

"Every culture has a different name for it." The hooded entity answered in a feminine voice. She lifted her hood to reveal an ethereal, heart-shaped face. Her skin was creamy ivory and her hair fell in deep cherry wisps you could get lost in. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. Vibrant malachite eyes met Emily's baby blue's, and quickly she realized this woman wasn't human.

Emily stepped back. "I thought I was dead. If I'm dead why am I here? What is this place and who the hell are you?"

Her eyes studied Emily closely as she spoke. "You are in what I believe most cultures call Limbo, or is it Purgatory now? The In-Between, perhaps?" The woman scanned their surroundings as though she were in the middle of an afterthought. "This place has many names."

A silence fell upon them.

Emily laughed, but there was no humor behind it. "You're kidding, right?"

The woman pursed her lips. "No, I am not."

"No," Emily shook her head in a panic. "No, there is no such thing as God, that means no Heaven or Hell and that definitely rules out Limbo!"

"Oh ye of little faith." She murmured, then amusement twinkled in her eyes. "And yet here we are, Child. Fascinating, isn't it? How easily the rug can be pulled right out from under you, leaving every single belief you held in a mound of, well, nothing." She flashed a set of flawless, snowy teeth.

Emily blinked, at loss for words. The more the woman spoke, the more Emily became certain she wasn't human. She was far too graceful in the way she held herself-the way words dripped from her tongue like an incantation. "Who are you?"

"Some refer to me as the Angel of Death, but I am merely one of many that serve lost souls such as yourself. I am a Reaper. We guide souls to their final resting place."

A feeling of dread washed over Emily. "And... why exactly am I lost? Where should I even be?"

The woman smiled sadly. "That, my restless girl, is for you to decide."