Dead!

Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The next day was completely ordinary. I woke up to the familiar sound of Maya complaining about Dash, and as usual, I went over to her room to tell her that Dash was just being cute and affectionate and not bothering her at all. The return to routine was quite comforting.

At the same time, I wished that we had gotten a little bit more recognition. We had gone into Hell, after all. As Jack had said, only 8% of people who journey into Hell return to Heaven. We were now part of that 8%, and I thought that we should have at least gotten something for that. Unfortunately, life just returned to normal, despite all of the craziness we had endured.

Raj had gone over to the Medical Care department of the Celestial Bureaucracy shortly after we returned home so they could treat his wound. As far as I knew when I woke up the next morning, he was still there. I had heard that the Medical Care Department was much better than any doctors on Earth, even though there were far fewer patients in Heaven. I hoped Raj was okay. Despite all of his quirks, he was one of the few friends I had.

I got up and threw on a purple sweatshirt and yoga pants before heading downstairs for breakfast. Maya was already there, eating cereal. "It's nice to be back," she said as she shoveled food into her mouth. "The demons wouldn't let me eat while I was in Hell, and you can actually get hungry there!"

"Sounds terrible," I said.

"It was terrible," Maya said. "You should be glad that you weren't the one taken. I had to deal with those demons for far longer than you did, and they still didn't give me back my Patrick Stump poster!"

"Maya, the demons that took your poster were probably not the same demons that took you to Hell," I said.

"I don't care," Maya said. "I still need to get my Patrick Stump poster back."

"You could just buy a new one," I suggested.

"I'd prefer to have my old one back," Maya said. "I need him to complete my Fall Out Boy poster collection. I have one of Pete, Joe, and Andy, but now I don't have one of Patrick, and it's all because of those demons!" Maya sighed. "I should probably be thankful. I'm okay - trust me - and I'm back in Heaven."

"What are you going to do now that you're back?" I asked Maya.

"I'm going to work on Forbidden Passion!" Maya answered quickly. "I left off on the scene where Frank tells Gerard that he's pregnant, and that's such a bad spot to leave off on."

"Wait, how is that even possible?" I asked. "Is Frank trans or something? That's the only explanation I can come up with."

"No," Maya said. "In my universe, boys can get pregnant."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay then," I said, unsure whether to be grossed out or amused by Maya's stupidity. "Have fun writing your little emo fantasies." I finished my breakfast and ran out the door, hoping to get away from Maya as quickly as possible.

I spotted Adam on my way to work. He was trimming back a vine hanging near the sidewalk. "Hi Adam," I said as stopped to admire his handiwork.

"Hey Ivy," he said. "Where have you been? I didn't see you yesterday."

"It's kind of a long story," I said.

"I have time," Adam said, still wrestling with the vine. I told him everything, from Maya going missing to the journey into Hell to the fight with the demons. Adam listened carefully, occasionally adding an interesting observation or two. Finally, I finished the story. "Wow. That's crazy," Adam said. "It's impressive too. I'm surprised you guys made it. Well, I guess nothing's impossible. A lot of my old friends back on Earth wouldn't believe their eyes if they saw me now."

"That's true," I said, smiling. "I suppose we've both changed for the better."

"I'm glad you did that for your friend," Adam said.

"Maya's not my friend," I said.

"I'm glad you did it anyways, even if she's not your friend," Adam said. "The demons would have destroyed her if it wasn't for you and your friends."

I took a look at the clock. "I have to go to work," I said. "I'll talk to you soon." I headed off to work. It felt good getting everything about the journey into Hell off of my chest. I thought about telling Adam about Jordan too, but I was still scared of what he would say. I decided that this was good enough for now and went on my way.

Work mostly consisted of covering the demon attacks again. I hoped that the attacks would stop so I could work on something more interesting, but this was Heaven. Nothing interesting ever happened except for our never-ending war with Hell.

After work, Henri texted me. He asked me if I wanted to meet up with him, Jack, Maya, and Raj at the park. I said yes, and I met the four of them at the park. Maya, as usual, wasn't thrilled to see me, but that didn't matter at the moment. Raj was looking a lot better. His face had healed up quite nicely, and what was once a nasty cut had become a neat scar across his cheek. "Hi Raj," I said. "You're looking better."

"Thanks," Raj said. "The doctors said that this wouldn't be too noticeable when it's fully healed."

"That's good," I said. "I'm glad you're doing better."

"Me too," Raj said. "So what's new with you?"

"Not much," I said. "I'm starting to regret bringing Maya back. She's still working on her stupid fanfic."

"Hey! Forbidden Passion isn't stupid!" Maya interjected.

"It kind of is," I said.

"No it's not," Maya said. "It's wonderful. You should read it."

"I only got two chapters into the first one, and that's because you insisted on reading it to us back in the waiting room," I said. "I don't intend to read the sequel."

"Stop being so mean to me," Maya said as she walked off.

"Maya's right," Raj said. "You don't need to harass her like that."

"She deserves it," I said.

"I disagree," Raj said. "She didn't do anything to you."

Henri came over to us and said, "You don't need to argue. Maya came back, and we survived. That's all that matters."

"I suppose so," I said. I sat down on one of the benches and simply stared into the distance. I had done something incredible, but in a way, it felt unsatisfying. Maybe you're not meant for this, I thought. Maybe you were meant to be in Hell. I pushed these thoughts out of my head, got up, and went over to the swings. Maybe that would clear my mind

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back! Dead! will be back to regular updates, and thank you so much for getting this story to 1.5K reads! :)