How do I get to Heaven?

Chapter 15-Earth Bound

Tears pricked my eyes as I looked up into the clear blue sky. After two long months in Bellum, I was finally on my first mission. I was home.

Well, sort of. I looked over and saw Aiden talking strategy with Travis. We had come to the final phase of our training: Job Shadowing.

Today, Travis and I were assigned to follow Aiden on a simple mission. We were after the soul of someone named Hector Lopez. He was a serial cheater, and had been Earth Bound for a few days. Usually Devils are dispatched within the hour to take care of a soul, but they saved him for our first mission.

Durango, Colorado gave me such joy and anxiety to see again. Nothing looked like it had changed, but at the same time it all looked so different. When Aiden offered me this mission to shadow, I almost said no. We talked for a long time about how it would be to go back, and in the end decided it would probably give me some closure.

Aiden told me that Travis could come if I wanted, which I agreed to. I figured having my best friend with me would help, in case the closure felt more like torture.

We walked the quiet downtown streets in silence. The Soul was last seen in the woods just past the end of town. When we arrived, we were standing behind the General Store. It was built in the 50's and really hadn't changed much.

Aiden, Travis and I slipped in through the back and mingled in with the other shoppers. We were supossed to go straight to the Soul, but when I started jumping up and down and shrieking, the boys shared an amused smile and agreed that ten minutes inside wouldn't hurt too much.

"Travis, put this on. I think you'd look amazing!" I laughed, tossing him a top I pulled off a hanger. He caught it, and held it up to his chest, groaning when he inspected himself in the mirror. Aiden laughed and said "Actually... it works on you and, Trav."

I smiled at the neon and black plaid shirt, with the arms cut off. The edges were frayed, and a few buttons were missing. Travis rolled his eyes and said "People pay money for this? It looks like someone dug it out of the trash!" He picked up the tag and his eyes went wide.

"Fifty dollars?" He gasped. He balled the shirt up and tossed it back at me. I shook it out and hung it back on the hanger. I wandered around some more and found Aiden looking at the knives in the back off the store.

I slid my arm around his waist and asked "Whatcha eyeing, babe?" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pointed into the display case at a pocket knife nestled ontop of a small black stand.

The blade was about three inches long, and was striped in a slightly darker metal grey than the blade itself. The rest of it was a fire engine red, with a small Fire Department emblem in black on the side. It had a little nub that was pointed, so it could shatter glass, and a hook to help it clip into your pocket.

"Is the fire fighter thing irony? Considering where we live?" I asked. I looked up to see the sales man looking at me with a raised brow. I chuckled and said "We are visiting family, we are from California." His eyes went wide and he said "Yikes.Yea you should all be trained as fire fighters."

We laughed, and he wandered away to help another customer. Aiden sighed and murmured "No, I was a fire fighter... before." I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I held him tighter and whispered "I'm sorry."

He shrugged before checking his watch. He kissed my head and said "Come on, let's go find Travis. We have work to do." I watched helplessly as Aiden shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back towards the front of the store.

I took three steps before stopping. I spun around and ran back to the counter.

Ten minutes later, I was dragging a pouting Travis down the road, towards the ever darkening forest. Aiden had an amused smile back on his handsome face, and I felt the grip of saddness loosen on my chest a bit.