Heaven & Hell

Chapter 1

Melody

I didn't know what I would have done without him. Killian was my best friend in life and, even though I missed being able to see him, I had hoped it would be quite a while before he became my best friend in death.

***

"Melody! Please don't leave me! Please wake up!" Killian's pleas and sobs were faint and distant, in the back of my mind, as I laid there, my body washing over and drowning in pain. I wanted to keep fighting, I wanted to speak to him, to tell him I was going to be alright. I wanted to be able to open my eyes and see his face again, his dark brown eyes and his perfect smile, but the harder I fought, the fainter his voice grew. No matter what, it seemed like I was fighting against a current that was too strong to win against.

Killian's voice had completely faded for a short moment before I heard an echoed scream and faint sobs. My eyes jolted open as I gasped for air. The world around me hadn't changed, but there was no one around. The dark car yard I had last seen Killian in was empty. The cars were still squashed ans stacked in uneven piles and I knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong and I couldn't do anything about it. Killian has only be pleading for me to keep fighting a short moment ago, his scream had only echoed though my ears mere seconds ago and yet, he was nowhere.

I started walking, hoping to be bale to find someone, anyone, that could help me. I had remembered the gun being aimed at me and moved my hand to check the painless wound, only to find a faint scar. The bullet hole was practically gone. Nothing was adding up. Nothing made sense.

I could still hear faint sobs and had decided to try and move around to see if I could find where the sobs were coming from, but they only grew fainter the further I walked. I wanted to find someone, I needed to find someone. I kept walking further away from the faint sobs until they were just a faint whisper in the back of my mind. When I reached the exit of the car yard, I was stopped. The crooked, metal, yellow sign, that read 'Madinia Car Yard', hung from one ring, attached to the frail wooden gate, telling me that I was definitely standing in the right place, but there was a force of some sort holding me in the car yard.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?!" There was an eerie feeling about where I was standing and the sobs failed to disappear. I called out again as someone appeared in front of me. A man, with warm skin and dark brown, almost black hair - complete with a beard - appeared as though he had been walking towards me for a short while, but his presence was only visible right before he took his last steps in front of me.

"Melody Nolan, I am terribly sorry for your loss, but you must come with me now. Your life has ended, but your death is just beginning." The man turned without any further description, his hand swinging out to reach for mine before dragging me along. As we walked, the world around me started to fade. Dark turned to light as we walked, but the sobs still failed to leave my head.

"What happened? What's going on? And why can I hear crying that won't fade?" I stopped mid-way between light and dark, waiting for a reply. The sobs finally started to fade as I heard Killian apologise. I didn't know where he was, but I wanted to be able to tell him that it wasn't his fault, he didn't need to apologise for whatever this mess was.

"Melody, when you were shot, a piece of bone fragmented from your ribs and pierced into your heart. I was your guardian angel and I succeeded in my task to lead you towards good, but now, I must take you to be assigned to a charge of your own. As for the crying, it is the tears of the one who watched you die. It is good that you can hear his tears. It means he is safe. It means he cares." My eyes widened as the sobs faded completely. My heart almost shattered at the fact that his sobs had stopped. Did that mean he wasn't near me anymore? Was he okay still? I didn't know if I would ever be able to talk to him again, but I just wanted to see his face, just one last time.

I took a step forward, showing the man that I was ready to keep moving. We continued to walk for quite a while, dark and light slowly fading from one to another. When we finally stopped, we had reached the brightest of light and the world around us had changed completely. It was at this point that I realised I had no choice but to believe him, especially when the crying started in my head again. He was okay. Killian was still okay.

"You will be able to travel between our world and theirs once you get your wings, it will be much faster to travel once you can fly, just remember that you cannot communicate with the living and we do not communicate with the evil." Evil? What did he mean? Did this mean I could indeed see Killian's face again?