The Anatomy of Killer

Chapter 23 - Truth

"A magician never reveals his secrets." Caleb winked.

I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by Noah.

"Evelyn?" He croaked.

I rushed to his side. "Hey, hey. How are you feeling?"

"Groggy." Noah's eyes flicked to my - his - shirt. "You're wearing my shirt."

"I'm not sorry."

"It looks good on you." He moved to sit up, but I gently pushed him back down.

"Don't."

"But I'm uncomfortable," he complained.

I looked to Caleb. "We could probably move him to your bed." Caleb regarded Noah. "It depends on whether he can walk. We ain't carrying you."

Noah grinned. "I can try." He began to get up. I placed an arm around his shoulders and helped him sit up.

Once he had swung his legs over the side of the coffee table, he put his arm around my shoulders and leaned on me to stand up. I wrapped my arm around his waist and helped him get to my bedroom. I got him propped up in bed. 

I took his hand, interlocking our fingers. He raised my hand to his lips. 

I looked at Caleb, who was leaning against the doorframe, grinning. "It's late, I'm gonna head home. No strenuous activity for a while, Noah." He winked.

I wrinkled my nose. "Get out of here."

Caleb left the room, laughing. "I'll call to check on you soon."

I got up off of the bed and followed him out of the apartment, saying my goodbyes to Caleb before locking the door behind him. 

Once I locked the door, I returned to Noah's side, climbing into bed next to him and leaning my head on his shoulder.

Noah sighed and put his arm around me. "Crazy day, huh?"

I nodded silently.

"I think you owe me an explanation, Eve."

"I know."

"What's going on? Who was that guy? Who's Gabriel really?" Noah asked.

"They're from Upstairs, as they call it."

"From where?" 

"If you want to get biblical, it's Heaven. They've always just called it Upstairs." I was struggling with how much to tell him.

"How do you know all this?" Noah asked.

"When you die, you go to Heaven, or Upstairs, or wherever, or you just cease to exist, depending on what you believe." I sighed. "Sometimes, when you die, you get saved. Sometimes you don't remember if you're saved. Sometimes you do. I do." I honestly had no idea how I knew all of this.

"What?" 

"Noah, I died. I should be dead. I was saved," I said, making the decision to tell him. "Some people Upstairs don't think that I should have been saved. People like Uriel, who I just killed."

"So you died and came back? I - I don't understand," Noah said.

I extracted myself from his grip. "I can't believe I know you - care about you - in this life too." I looked Noah directly in the eyes.

"You died and came back and you knew me before - "

"Noah - " 

"Oh - oh my God. I killed  you." Noah's breath quickened. "You died. I was at your funeral. You killed people. You were a serial killer. How did you get a second chance?"