How do I get to Heaven?

Chapter 5- Excuse Me?

I ran down the hall after Ryan. My steps echoed through the concrete hall as I caught up with him. I grabbed his bicep with both hands and pulled him to a halt.

"Wait wait, I am where?" I demanded. Ryan puffed out a breath and said "I need you to stop talking so much and just follow me." He tried to start walking, but I stepped in front of him.

I pushed up onto my toes to try and get eye level with him, but he still towered over me. I stabbed my finger into his chest and growled "You need to tell me what is going on, right now. I have had the worst day of my life and I can't take much more of this."

Ryan opened his mouth to say somthing, but before he could his eyes flicked over my head. He smirked at me and said "Thankfully, you are no longer my problem."

Echoing footsteps approached me from behind, and a calm voice asked "This her?" I whipped around and looked up to see a man who was even taller than Ryan. He had short brown hair, firm features, and wide blue eyes. The most beautiful blue I had ever seen. They were a deep blue that reminded of an ocean, just after a storm.

"You can have her. She's got an attitude problem." Ryan scoffed. I turned back and shot him a glare. The second man chuckled and said "I'll handle it all. You're dismissed." Ryan nodded and continued down the hall, leaving me alone with this stranger.

The man turned towards me and said "I'm Cody. I'm in charge of training here."

"Training?" I asked. He sighed and said "Ryan didn't tell you anything, did he?" I shook my head, trying to hold back tears.

"Look. I started my day alive and well. One car crash later, I appear to be dead. I start floating up in a huge bright spot light like I'm being abducted by aliens or somthing, and suddenly your friend Ryan yanks me out of the air and we fall into this weird ass hallway and he tells me I'm in hell?

"I'm confused, exhausted, and very overwhelmed. I need answers and I need them now."

Cody nodded once and said "Okay, follow me, and on the way I'll explain everything." My body sagged with relief as I stared to follow him down the hall, in the direction Ryan disappeared down.

"You are, unfortunately, dead. I'm sorry it had to be that way. You seem like you had a lot ahead of you, but now your future lies with us."

"But... you are you?"

Cody was silent for a moment, before looking to me and asking "Am I safe to assume you are Christian?"

I sighed and shrugged as I said "Honestly I'm not sure. I didn't like the fear aspect, and all the hate that the religion kind of turned into. I believe there is somthing but I don't know what."

Cody smirked and said "Well, now you get to find out. Souls do go somewhere, but your version of Heaven isn't quite right... truly it's called Libertas. That's Latin for Freedom. However, if there is a Heaven, then there must be a Hell."

We turned a corner and were greated by yet another hallway. I guess interior designers are never condemned to Hell.

"Ryan said we were in Hell." I told Cody. Dread churned deep in my stomach. I looked down at the floor and asked "Was I a bad person? Is that why I'm here? I know in kind of a bitch somtimes but I felt like overall I was a good person."

"No, Rosalie. You were not a bad person. Heaven and Hell don't actually work that way. You see we are in a place called Bellum, or Battleground in English. We are the... warriors so to speak that keep order in the land of the living."

Warriors? Warriors against what? Finally we turned one more corner and at the end of the hall was a set of grand doors. They had to be at least twelve feet high, and made of solid wood.Gold accents were screwed into the wood, to match the golden handles.

We continued on towards the doors, and I asked "What do you fight against?"

"Souls are supossed to go to one of two places. Libertas, or here. Thoes who get stuck... tend to go a little crazy after a while. That's where you get the inspiration for horror movies and ghost stories. Eventually, if they stay on earth too long they can be recruited into an organization called The Tenebris. The Darkness.

"They are nasty creatures. Made from sorrow, hatred, and shadows. They terrorize, murder, possess, etcetera. Our jobs are to keep them at bay, and keep souls going to Libertas."

We stopped in front of the double doors, and Cody asked "Are you hungry?" I shrugged. Honestly I couldn't tell. I really just wanted to sleep, more than anything. He placed his large hands against the doors and easily shoved them open.

They slowly swung open, to present to me a giant dining hall. Mingling scents of chicken, steak, vegetables, spices, wine, and an underlying hint of chocolate assaulted my nose. I suddenly felt an emptiness within myself, and my mouth began to water.

"Okay, maybe I am hungry." I murmured. Cody laughed and said "Come, I'll show you to the food tables." He bowed slightly and gestured me towards the left. I nodded once at his manners and let my nose lead the way.