After Death (Editing)

Chapter 4

Lilianna POV

Once we got to the house that was provided to us in Seattle, I was exhausted. I was physically and emotionally drained. When I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror I was stunned by my transformation. Gone was my curly black hair, brown eyes, and chocolate colored skin. I was now blonde, had gray eyes and was naturally tanned.  I had to touch my skin a couple times to confirm that it was all real. It was truly unbelievable. I went to bed that night thinking about how to investigate my death.  I thought I should talk to Devlin because he was closest to me. I didn't look like myself anymore, so I didn't know how to get him to talk to me.

I woke up the next morning and headed to the kitchen where I saw Gabriel cooking breakfast.

"Good morning, what are you cooking?" I asked while rubbing my eyes.

He paid attention to whatever he was doing and said "I am doing waffles with chocolate chips and caramel sauce."

I could imagine eating them right then and I moaned involuntarily. "Oh my, I am really starting to like you."

He laughed and said "Well I hope you like me because we have to work together. If we hate each other, that would not be good, now would it?"

"True" I shook my head in agreement. "I have good news, I already have a plan to find my interferer."

He put some waffles on a plate and asked "What is it?"

As he drizzled caramel sauce over the waffles I said "I think I have to talk to Devlin, my ex- fiancé. I don't think he would kill me or that he is any sort of supernatural, but he was close to me, so that is a start."

He brought the plates to the kitchen bar. "Okay, we will start with that. Now here you go, eat."

The food looked delicious. My mouth was watering. "Are you sure you didn't poison this?" I questioned him.

He chuckled and put his hand over his chest and said "I promise on my angel's honor I did not poison your food. I can't have you dying on me. You are my responsibly, now eat up. Caramel and chocolate are my two favorite things to pair together."

I smiled and said "Funny thing, mine too. I especially love chocolate caramel ice cream." I took a bite of his food and it was absolutely scrumptious. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds to savor the flavor of it all. Once I had my little moment I gobbled it up like a rabid animal. I ate the food so atrociously, Gabriel even looked horrified. When I was finished chocolate and caramel was decorating my face. I even had some food in my hair. 

"Mmm, mmm, mmm" I exclaimed while rubbing my stomach. "Thanks so much for the food, it was excellent. I am going to get dressed and then we could go out and stalk my ex. Sounds like a plan?"

He looked at me as if I belonged in the nutter house and said "It sounds like a plan, I guess."

I bathed and put on clothing that was provided for me and went to the living room where I saw Gabriel sitting reading the newspaper.

He looked up and asked, "So how are we going to stalk your ex?"

"Well Devlin is a very predictable man, but I don't know how my death affected him. It would be safe to go and check my old house to see if he is there and what he is doing."

"Okay, we can easily walk there."

We went out of the house and headed towards my old one. I didn't know if I would be able to handle all of this. Seeing all of the places Devlin and I used to go, it was too much.

As if Gabriel could read my mind he said "Don't worry about it. I know you will do just fine. You are a strong woman."

I rolled my eyes "Yeah, right. You are only saying that to make me feel better."

He looked a bit offended. "I don't do that. When I say something I mean it. I sincerely believe you are a strong woman, you just have to believe that yourself."

I smiled slightly " Well I appreciate the vote of confidence. No one has ever told I am strong before, so thank you. I have to say, you have a knack for lifting up people's spirits."

He smiled back "You are welcome, glad to help you feel better."

We continued walking the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the gentle breeze.

When I saw my old house, it was like a bucket of memories smacked me in the face. I started to feel a bit dismal, but reminded myself that this was no time to be sad, but a time for action.

"So what is the plan, captain?" Gabriel whispered.

"You don't have to whisper, it just seems suspicious. I think we should go on the side of the house. You can see most of it from there."

We tried to do that without raising too much attention. Did you know how hard it was to casually walk in someone else's yard? The windows were much higher than I remembered them to be. They were so high up neither of us could see through them."

"Give me a lift," I told Gabriel.

"Who made you boss?"

"You did when you called me captain, so can you please give me boost so I can see inside." I rebutted.

He sighed and said, "Okay, but please be quick up there."

He grabbed my legs and put me over his shoulder. Inside the house was in total disarray. I found that odd since Devlin was a tidy man and never liked things out of order.

"Are you done up there?" Gabriel asked sounding very strained.

"Yeah, you can let me down." I was off his shoulders in a split second. "I think we should go in the back of the house, inside looks a bit odd."

"Aye, aye captain." He said with a salute.

Around the back, the door was open. I turned to Gabriel and asked, "Do you think we should go in?"

"Yeah, I don't think anyone is home. We might be able to find something" He said with a shrug.

We walked through the house and had to step over a lot of things. We wanted to check all of the rooms. We looked in the bedrooms, the living room, the bathrooms and the kitchen. We had one more place to look, the dining room.

When we opened the wooden double doors, my heart stopped. Devlin was sitting there with his shirt off and his face in a plate of old food. He was bloodied and dead. Gabriel rushed to check his pulse and there was none. I passed out at the sight of his body. Darkness consumed my vision and my mind.

"Wake up Lilianna! Come on now!" Gabriel shouted as he fanned my face.

"What happened?" I asked attempting to get up.

"Um, well, um, um, well." Gabriel looked down and stuttered.

"Say it will you!" I screamed at him.

Gabriel looked me in the eyes and said "Devlin is dead."

It felt like a boulder of weight crashed upon me. This could not have been happening. I looked at Devlin's  lifeless body to see if it was just a cruel joke. Reality was harsh, he was gone. Who killed him did a number on him. His face was beaten up so much, I didn't even recognize him. A message was carved on his back "Should not have talked".

It was really hard to see the man I had loved like that damaged. It hurt to see him gone. I felt bile rising up my throat at the sight of the brutality. It was all too much. I didn't want to believe that this was all real, but seeing his body I had no choice. He was a good man, he didn't deserve this.

Another thought ghosting my mind was, that it didn't make any sense. I knew Devlin was not the kind of man to get involved with the wrong people, so how did he end up dead?

A/N: So what did you think happened to Devlin? Let me know in the comments.