Days past and I finally gain the courage to go to the heavens to see if I can get out of this dumb mission.
I stand at the gates of heaven. Waiting.
Don comes to me, a sympathetic smile playing on his face. "Sorry Thana, you have to complete your quest, no if, ands or buts,"
I roll my eyes at how foolish I was. They knew why I would come. Hell, this is the first time I've visit without a soul with me. Anger instantly boils within me at the quest of these stupid archangels.
"I'm sure it won't be hard to have him trust you." I raise a brow at his words, and he scratches the back of his head nervously. Green eyes that were once warm to me glowed in anticipation to be that way again.
"Yes, because being a reaper is so special and scream for someone to be friends with," I state as I turn from him. He was no longer the friend I once had, just like I was no longer an angel he once knew.
"Well, if you fail, you know I'm always here, we could hang out like old times," I cringe at every word from his mouth. Like eighty years of silence between us meant nothing.
"Yes, and I'll cut my wings off while we are at it," I state, my voice clipped as I glare into the in-between.
I look back at Don, who seems hurt.
"Come on, Thana. Don't be like that " I raise an eyebrow. He can not be serious. How can he act like angels and reapers could be friends, of course, they all believe they are so perfect.
"We aren't friends. You're an angel." I state the obvious.
He shrugs his shoulder. "What's wrong with an angel."
"Nothing," I state harshly. "That's what they say anyway. You're supposed to be perfect." I glare at nothing as the words fall from my mouth in distaste.
"Look, I don't know why you don't like Angel's so much." He argues. He crosses his arms, becoming defensive.
"Right, why would I hate the things that sent me to hell," I sarcastically state as I throw a glare to him. The memories of being tortured by demons for half a century make my blood boil even more at his words.
"It's part of being a reaper."
I nod my head at his words, the shit the Archangels would tell them.
"Yeah, I thought that too. Yet none of the others were sent, I was the first one. All of them were Angel's for half a century and then turned into reapers." I state, causing his eyes to widen. I found that out shortly after joining. Just because you leave hell doesn't mean the torture is over. The reapers learned that by having me around.
After a couple of seconds of silence, I break it. "Have you ever really been to hell? Like in a cell, with demons using you as entertainment. No sense of time, constant hunger and thirst and pain, and exhaustion. Desperation consumes you " I tilt my head as I look at his reaction. Guilt covers his features. Of course, it leaves after a moment.
"I didn't send you there." Is his lame excuse. I hold back a harsh laugh.
"No, you didn't say anything either. You never asked why, how long. If I truly deserved it." I state a fact. The look on his face tells me I'm right.
"So excuse me if I can't jump right back into being friends with you; you were one of my tortures in hell, Don. So no, we can not be friends."
With that, my wings break free and take me away from him back to my cottage.
*******
I sigh as I look at the dead man in front of me. Surrounded by woods, he hangs from a tall tree. I take my scythe and follow my routine.
