Heaven & Hell

Chapter 3

Melody

I heard his promise. I didn't want justice. I just wanted him to look after himself. My life was over and I was coming to accept that already. My fear was no longer placed in my death, it was placed in his life.

"Melody Nolan, you were undeserving of your death. You were young and were not meant to die. However, you are not too young to earn your wings and be trained as a guardian angel." I was confused by what I was being told. Everywhere I looked I saw strangers. I didn't understand what was even meant by being a guardian angel.

"Although you are young and inexperienced, I am concerned for the good of your friend." Nothing was making sense, but I was fully captivated the moment Killian was mentioned. An older woman walked out in front of me as my guardian angel continued to speak.

"Beth is currently Killian Lehr's guardian angel, but we will both be assigned to new lives. You, however, will be assigned to Killian from this point on." I was so confused by what he meant. I had been told his name was Drake, but his name didn't help with what a guardian angel was meant to do.

"Melody, Killian is a tricky one. You were what was keeping the evil away from him. You must do whatever you can to keep the evil from concealing his heart. I can't do it anymore, not now that you're here." I couldn't understand how Beth could think that I would be able to keep the evil away from him as an untrained guardian angel, especially if she couldn't do it as a fully trained guardian.

Without any warning, I was taken to another area in this place that I was assuming was 'heaven'. The place had a small room that looked like an expensive apartment that was squashed into a cheap building. "This is your room Melody. Your soul still needs the rest when it can get it, but that will only be occasional." I took a deep breath and fell onto the bed. I could hear Drake starting to talk to me before hearing something else from Killian. I didn't understand why it was that I was still hearing him. It had been something around a day since I had passed and I could still hear his voice.

"Melody, I have a plan. I know what I have to do to get the justice you deserve." Hearing Killian's words, I very quickly snapped back to where I was. Drake was still talking and hadn't noticed my absence of mind so, I decided to tell him and be honest about not hearing what he had said.

When I told Drake that I had heard Killian again, he simply gave me a shocked expression. I explained to him that the last thing I heard was the promise Killian had made, hoping to keep from him what Killian had just said. I knew it sounded crazy that I was hearing these things, but I was certain they were real.

Before Drake and I could figure out what was going on, I started screaming and fell onto the ground in... pain. The pain shot out around my body, making me remember the pain from my death, the only difference being the origin of the pain. Whilst my death had been a cold, burning pain radiating from the bullet wound in my chest, this pain was radiating from my back.

Curling into a ball, I felt the warmth of my skin as tears started to fall down my cheeks. Even though I was dead and only a soul now, everything made me feel like I was still alive. The skin on my back started to tear, my screams growing louder as the pain grew stronger.

No one portrays the truth. Everything I've seen where an angel is portrayed getting their wings, it's always so fast and painless. They are always so happy to be getting their wings. I wasn't happy. I didn't want to be dead. The pain seared my skin, wings forcing through the surface. The way my wings came in was as if they had been inside my body the whole time, but I knew that wasn't true. My body was on Earth. I was merely a soul.

"Melody! Are you ok?" Drake called out when I stopped screaming. The pain had subsided slightly, but was very much still there. I nodded slowly before trying to push myself up off the ground. I didn't care anymore about the pain, I didn't care about my job. All I cared about was what Drake had told me when I first met him. He told me that when I got my wings, I would be able to see Killian again and that was all I wanted to do.

When I finally managed to get up off the ground, I quickly ran out and went straight to the gate that Drake had lead me through. It wasn't a physical golden gate like so many had believed, rather more like a portal floating in mid-air. I heard Drake call out to me a few times, but I was too focused on what I was doing to stop.

Reaching the gate, I felt my feet lift off the ground and realised that I was actually flying. It had come so quickly and naturally, but I was genuinely flying. Without a moments hesitation, I was flying out through the gate, the distance between heaven and Earth seeming much shorter than it had the first time. Landing on the ground, I looked around taking in the sight of the car yard. Of course, I had returned to where I had died. I quickly ran out of there and followed my gut on finding Killian. I didn't care what happened, I just knew I had to find him and stop him from making a mistake.

I was right in where I would find him. We had a little place that we would always hide. We found it a few months ago. It was right in the middle of town, equal distance from each of our houses. I knew he would be there and was relieved that he was, but I was also scared. I didn't know whether he would believe me or not, whether he would believe I was real or think he was just going crazy.

I walked up to him and sat down. I wanted to hug him so badly, but I was scared. I was scared that he was going to leave. I tried to speak to him instead, but got no reply. Killian simply got up and started walking away, as if I never said anything. it hurt, seeing him like this, more than anything I had felt so far, even more than my death or wings growing out. "He can't hear you. Nor can he see or feel you." Drake rested his hand on my shoulder as he spoke, but I was hurting. I was also confused so, I looked up at him. I asked him why I could see Killian now, but couldn't see him before. His answer was simple. He told me that it was because I was a guardian now, I had my wings.

"Your connection with him is stronger than any angels connection with a human, even the human that watched them die. Be grateful for that rather than upset over what you don't have." I looked up at him again, his height making him tower above me. He didn't look like he was much older than me when he died, but the way he spoke, I couldn't help but ask.

"D... did you... were you married?" He nodded calmly, closing his eyes for a short moment, as if he was blinking in slow motion. He told me how he had been married with kids when he passed. He swore that he was past it now, but I had that burning feeling that he kept a close eye on them all, hoping for the day they finally got to join him. I knew he was still praying, however, that it was a while yet before he could talk with them again.

I lowered my head before walking off, back towards the car yard. After a few steps, I heard Drake ask where I was going. When I told him that I was going back, he smiled and explained that we could go back from wherever we wanted. After turning around, I watched as Drake 'summoned' the gate to him.