Chapter Three ~ Assault

I woke up with a throbbing head and faulty memory. What just happened?

I quickly began to take in my surroundings and fill the empty slots in my mind.

I was laying on my side, and my ribcage and temples were radiating pain.

My arms were sloppily bound behind me with rope.

It was also cold and dark, so it was obviously still nighttime.

About an hour passed as I lay weak, semiconscious and cold. I drifted in and out of darkness, waking when the cold was too much to bear and I would shiver, only to be swallowed up again by a black cloud of pain and half-formed thoughts.

I heard heavy footsteps approaching me at a leisurely pace, the grass whispering dark secrets with every step.

The rustling under his feet subsided, and I assumed he had stopped next my shuddering form.

With a strong and clumsy hand, he turned me over and dragged me to the edge of a pond. He snickered softly as he sat down and hoisted me into his lap.

Being too weak and hurt to fight back, I let out a pitiful mew, not unlike a newborn kitten, and my captor laughed again.

It wasn’t a nice laugh.

“Don’t worry babe. As soon as I’m done I’ll chuck your pretty ass into that pond and we’ll be done here.”

I wanted to slap him across his ugly rapist face, but my arms had turned to lead. As his hands began to wander, I found myself suddenly transported to a memory of mine, back when I was 14. I had always tried to suppress it, but resistance was futile, and it washed over me with overwhelming force.

It was crisp and damp as I staggered down an alleyway, decorated with graffiti and gang symbols. My mom had ditched me at one of my friend’s houses before going out for the night, which would actually turn into absence of three days. We had snuck out and walked to another friend’s house, who was having a party. After my usual beer-pong routine they finally got me to try a heavier drug than weed: Coke. Before long, everybody there was as high as a Boeing 747, and I’d found myself a new friend. He was three years older and sexier than any of the guys in my grade. We hit it off quickly, and had been making out for a solid hour before he suggested we go take a drive to somewhere more private. I obliged and we started walking down the street to a public parking lot. We were about halfway down the alley when I felt him grab me by my shoulders and throw me down. I hit the wet concrete hard, too stunned to react. Within seconds he was on top of me, ripping through my clothes like tissue paper. I tried to scream, but half of me was so out of it I didn’t realize what was happening. The other half knew, but was petrified with fear. The next hour or so had been a haze of pain, fear, and soul-shattering anguish. I had stayed motionless in that alley long after he had left, sobbing quietly, head buzzing, even puking twice. The faint light of dawn began to sweep across the sky, and I finally got up to limp home. As I looked at myself in a dirty puddle, I vowed to never fall victim so easily again. I would never allow myself to get close enough to somebody. Nobody would ever break me like that again. I was going to be strong. 

I gasped as I surfaced into reality again, and tears began to stream down my face. Just as I felt his hand go under my skirt, I let out a scream. It was a cry full of fury, devastation, helplessness and determination. He pushed me down and slapped me until my lip split and my ears began to ring, but I continued to scream. I began to regain the strength in my arms and legs, and I struggled. I bit, kicked, clawed, cursed and punched. I let loose everything that I was capable of, given the circumstances, and my attacker drew away briefly, cursing.

“You dumb slut! I should’ve just killed you in your sleep!” He snarled, leaning into my face.

I laughed darkly, “I would’ve liked to see you try, asshole.” I spit out a gob of blood, and it landed on his cheek. He gave a disgusted grunt, and punched me smack-dab in the middle of my face. Stars filled my vision, and I vaguely remembered that I was supposed to be fighting something, but was distracted by the pain and bright spots the punch had delivered.

I suddenly felt his weight vanish, and I heard voices. I was grabbed by the shoulders again, but much gentler this time, and dragged off to a soft patch of mud by the bank.

The voices returned, and it sounded like an argument, but I was mostly focused on the fact that the mud puddle was much warmer than the air around it, and my shivering had subsided a bit.

I heard the distinct sound of fist hitting flesh, and it registered that a fight was currently underway.

I tried to sit up, but a fresh trickle of blood left my nose, and I lay back down.

Somewhere through my hazy stupor I heard the snapping of bone, and a cry of pain. I listened as my attacker screamed in agony, and heard his heavy footsteps sprint in the opposite direction.

Just as I drifted off into a definite unconsciousness, I felt tender hands lift me out of the mud, and as the stars in my vision mixed with those of the sky above me, I felt safe for the first time, cradled in the arms of a stranger.

Update woopwoop

Well howdy!

So my Mom had a complication with her cancer which took a while to fix so that’s why I haven’t updated in a while hahaha. Anyways, I’m leaving for camp tomorrow and I wont be back for 2 weeks (I’m sorry I’m leaving without updating!) I’ll get right to work as soon as I come back home. Until then, stay classy xx

❤ Erin

Chapter Two ~ Discord

Walking.

It seemed like the only thing I could do. I didn’t get hungry or weak.. I was dead, obviously. But the nights were freezing, and the days were long and hot.

I expected to run into tons of people, but it had already been two days and I hadn’t even come across a sign that others were here at all.

Maybe this island was bigger than I thought.

As I walked farther and farther through the shade, I began to hear something that awakened memories from my life on Earth:

The sound of rushing water.

These were pleasant memories, though. Of my childhood, before it fell apart.

When my family first moved to the town my decaying body currently resided in, we would take hikes through the state park, and picnic by the creek. I would waddle into the shallows on pudgy toddler legs, while my dad taught me how to skip rocks, and mom would be fretting good-naturedly on the bank with a cigarette in one hand and a cheap romance novel in the other.

I quickly scampered across the clearing towards the waterfall, I didn’t like being out in the open, even if nobody was around, I always felt like I was being watched.

I stood for what must have been several minutes, just staring at the water. In it I saw that my childhood was reflected, so pure and innocent, oblivious to my parents’ failing relationship. I felt a pain in my heart; It had been there ever since Eve had shown me the place I assumed was Heaven, but it was a little worse now.

I willed myself not to cry. I was irritated at how easily my emotions surfaced here. I guess dying had taken a larger toll on me than I had originally thought.

You’re stronger than this, Mira. You know that.

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a sudden noise; barely audible, but to a girl who had spent practically her whole life looking over her shoulder in case of a fight, I heard it loud and clear.

I whirled around and crept slowly towards the noise.

I was undoubtedly terrified, but I would never back down. I didn’t when I was alive, and I wouldn’t now.

Of course, the stakes were much higher now.

I combed through the underbrush with my eyes, looking for any sign of movement. I knew without a doubt that if attacked, I would kill whoever it was without a second thought.

I was not going to lose.

“If you had been a blue, I woulda killed you by now.”

I jumped at the voice and, even though I internally scolded myself, screamed quite loudly.

The voice snickered, and as I turned around, I saw it belonged to a girl about my age, wearing a deerskin dress similar to mine.

She looked surly and stuck-up, like the type of person at school I would get into a nasty fight with.

“If I had been a.. What?”

She huffed impatiently, and smirked.

“You’re new here obviously. But I haven’t run into anybody for days, so you caught me in a good mood. I’ll let you off easy.” She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, which infuriated me.

“You don’t talk to me like that and maybe I won’t pretend that you’re not on my side. Got it?” I snarled. I was reminded strongly of my old school, full of  gangs and druggies just dying to start a fight with anything that moved. Being naturally strong-willed, I’d never had much of a problem with them, mostly because I never lost a fight, and people stopped trying to beat me.

I didn’t like being threatened, and I’d won against way bigger people than this self-entitled bitch. I gave her a firm shove to emphasize my point.

She looked taken aback at first, probably thinking that I was some middle-class suburban barbie; An easy target.

Then she broke into a sly grin.

“I stand corrected. I like you, girl. You’ve got guts.” She smiled, and so did I. This was what I was used to: Impressing others with my ability to push back. That’s how it worked at my old school. If you earned respect, it was through your physical strength.

Needless to say I had earned a lot of respect back in school.

“So what did you mean when you said ‘If you had been a blue?'” I asked

She pointed down to my left hand. “Once you’ve been out here for a while, you’ll get really good at being able to tell which ring somebody is wearing. Eventually, it’s the first thing you’ll see on a person. You’re wearing a red ring, Eve’s ring, not Adam’s, so you’re a red, and obviously not a blue.” She huffed. “I’m a red too. Understand? It’s just how everybody out here says things.”

“Oh uh, yeah. Thanks I guess. I’m Mira.”

“Carmen. Hey, you wanna stay with me tonight? I know a great little place that’ll keep you warm after dark.” She smiled and pointed in the opposite direction of where we were currently standing. “It’s kind of a long hike, but we have time, right?” Carmen snickered.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to stay together?” I remembered what Eve had told me right before disappearing.

“Nah, only when somebody is making a kill..” Carmen’s voice took on a more serious edge “It’s like, something that they just have to do alone, you know? It’s like our one unspoken rule here. If you’re about to.. You know.. attack, you do it by yourself. One on one.”

She shook her head, chocolate curls bouncing around her face, and smiled her cocky grin again.

“But anyways come on, I guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed.”

.

.

.

Carmen was right, by the time we reached our destination, the sun had sunk well below the horizon.

We came upon a cluster of willow trees, and Carmen pushed her way through the tendrils without hesitating.

We sat down and continued talking through the night, our breath visible; Dancing through the frigid air.

“So, how’d you die?” Carmen eventually asked. She wasn’t inquisitive, mocking or smug, just solemn.

“Ehh.. Car crash. I was drunk though.” I said to the ground “What about you?”

She smiled faintly, a bitter smile, which quickly turned into a scowl.

“I lived Juarez with my Papi and little brother. You’ve heard of the wars going on there right? My father was being targeted by some drug dealers.. He owed money. They killed me and my brother to scare him into finding that money. He cared about his drugs more than us, so it really didn’t work. But whatever.” She huffed

“Wait.. You’re from Juarez, but how are you speaking English?” I asked

“We all speak the same language here.” She said “What sounds like English to you might be Spanish to me, or Chinese to another.”

“Wow.. That’s actually really coo-” Carmen cut me off with a forceful shush

She slowly got up looking into the trees, and whispered “Did you hear that?”

“No.. Why? Is somebody out there?” She shushed me again, and crept a few feet towards the noise she heard

I looked in the direction she was heading towards, and words died in my mouth as I caught sight of a skinny pair of legs in the moonlight.

Then a face.

Then a blue ring, glinting like a chip of ice on her pale finger.

“She’s mine!” Carmen snarled. She took off after the girl, who darted through the trees with ease.

“Carmen, WAIT!” I screamed, but she had already disappeared, driven by a burning desire to kill and be rewarded.

I watched her receding form, and realized that I wouldn’t see her again unless the girl managed to get away. But remembering how quickly she had given chase, I knew that it would end with one of them being killed. Escape was not an option.

I wondered if Adam’s soldiers were rewarded for killing one of us.

Not knowing what to do with myself, I curled up on the ground, and tried to fall asleep. But the girl’s calculating eyes kept swimming through my head, and I suspected that maybe Carmen had been the one to perish.

Eventually I was able to slip into a light doze.

However I was jarred awake by rough hands yanking me up and attempting to throw me over their shoulder.

My instincts kicked in, and suddenly I was in another schoolyard brawl. I swung my fist around and caught him on the jaw, and next in the nose. He cursed and kicked my feet out from under me, then swung his foot at my temple while I was on the ground.

I screamed as it struck me, my vision exploding like a firework into different sparks of red, white and yellow. I threw a few choice-swears at him, and managed to claw a fairly nasty gash in his leg. He brought his foot back to kick me again. Teeth gritted, I watched in slow motion as it got closer to my head.

Everything went black.

Chapter One ~ Purgatory

What.. Is this place?

I was in a clearing, that much was obvious. It was a pretty place, with lush foliage and clear blue skies. But something about this place unsettled me. It was too quiet.. No birds were singing and no animals rustled through the trees.. And the air was as still as my cold, dead body. My hospital dress was gone, replaced by something that reminded me of deerskin, which was funny because there weren’t any deer to be seen or heard.

I turned my head to take in my surroundings, and caught a glimpse of something gold in my peripheral. With a shock I realized it was my hair; my natural hair color. I felt my body for burns and bruises, but they had vanished, leaving smooth, pale skin in their place.

“I’m.. Healed..” I whispered.

“Indeed you are, dear one.” An amused and sultry voice purred behind me

I whirled around upon hearing her voice, and tensed. A woman was practically gliding across the meadow towards me, in a midnight dress with a blood red staff. What really made my breath catch were the jet black wings jutting out of her back. Red eyes burned into mine, cutting right through me. I was vaguely reminded of the light that invaded my senses when I died. It was harsh and molten, burning me to my core; and I couldn’t escape.

Whenever I was about to get into a fight at school, I always curled and uncurled my fists, ready to break their nose and run the moment my opponent made a move for me.

I realized that I was doing just that. This woman bothered me. She was unimaginably beautiful and seemed kind, but underneath… She was extremely unsettling.

But the angel continued moving slowly and fluidly towards me, her eyes never leaving mine. She looked young, and full of life, but her eyes reflected a calculating wisdom that I felt could only come from an eternity of backstabbing and betrayal. She stopped in front of me and looked down, studying my face. Back home, whenever I caught a man staring at me, I would glare right back. I never looked away until after they did, because I didn’t like giving up; I was not weak.

I held her gaze.

To my surprise, I was the first to speak.

“Where am I.” My voice was a lot more forceful than I’d hoped, and it came out as a statement rather than a question.

The woman’s wings ruffled, and she laughed

“Welcome to Purgatory, Mira.” She smirked

She waited patiently for me to process what I’d just heard, and before I could open my mouth, she answered my unspoken questions dismissively.

“I know your name because I brought you here, Mira. And I call it Purgatory because we are fighting a battle, essentially, between two worlds.”

I considered what she said briefly, but continued to question her.

“This isn’t heaven is it?”

“No dear, this is not heaven.”

“Why am I here?”

“Because you are young and strong. I need you to fight.”

“What am I fighting?”

She smiled at this, and ran her finger along her staff thoughtfully. I didn’t like how much she thought about her answers. I hated how vague she was. I knew she was figuring out exactly what to say to reel me in, and keep me interested.

“Long ago… So very long ago..” She sighed “Are you familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, Mira?”

“No.” I clipped “I wasn’t religious.”

She chuckled, wings stirring the dead air around us. I noticed how strange she looked. A hellish angel standing in the middle of a heavenly meadow. “Eve was tempted by Evil, essentially. She gave into the temptation, and created Sin. She and Adam were cast from paradise.”

Her face hardened, and for a moment I thought I saw something there that chilled me to the bone. But it was gone before I could process it.

“That’s not what really happened though, Mira. You see, Adam tempted her. He created Sin, not Eve. And they were both cast from Eden, but not before enduring unimaginable consequences. They were sentenced to feel every bit of pain and suffering that Sin would ever cause, to any person that would ever exist. Through the thousands of years of pain and despair she endured, Eve wanted only one thing: Revenge. She knew she had to punish Adam for having her wrongfully accused. She didn’t deserve to suffer, but she did. Do you understand Mira?”

I did.

“You’re Eve.”

“I am.”

“I’m fighting Adam.”

“In a sense. You see, he caught on, to my plan, and retaliated.” She smirked “Do you know what I do, Mira?”

This, I didn’t know. She smiled again and continued

“I find young, strong-willed people like yourself, and I ‘enlist’ them so-to-speak. I summon them here, to fight in the name of God. I need you to fight with me, Mira. I need you to help me defeat Adam. To end Evil. Once and for all.”

My head was reeling. I had been taking too much information in too little of a time.

“Hold up a second. I just died, and you expect me to go out and fight a war? Against a.. man I’ve hardly ever hear of?”

Eve gave me a look that I had often used when something I expected to work failed. It was a mix of surprise, irritation and curiosity. I wondered if she’d thought I would be much more willing than this. Her smoldering eyes burned holes into my mind. “Perhaps I should tell you of your.. reward.” She said stiffly. Before I could react, her wings shot forward enveloped me. I tried to scream, but the pitch-black air around me was suddenly frigid; it clawed at my lungs and froze me from the inside out.

Sudden light broke through the dark, and I looked out onto a land of indescribable beauty. It was unseen, but seen all the same. The vast spectrum of colors I had seen in the hospital was dancing before my non-manifested eyes. Tears began to stream down my face as my heart swelled with joy and happiness. I felt my soul reach forward, extending to other, equally elated consciousnesses. They embraced me, and I felt a strong sense of homecoming. A silent song drifted around me, filling my senses with hope and jubilation. I cried out in bliss as I felt my spirit become whole again. My life had been shattered on earth, here it had been reassembled with happiness and unimaginable love. Eve’s voice resonated within my euphoric mind;

This is the heaven you so desire, dear. Help me defeat the Evil and this will be your eternal reward: A place for you in the holy kingdom.

Before I could react, I heard the rustling of feathers, and screamed as I found myself on my knees, back in the meadow. Anything I had felt in that moment was ripped away from me, and I felt hopeless and broken beyond repair. Eve watched me with a blank face as I sat sobbing in the grass.

“Take me back..” I choked, standing slowly and rubbing the tears from my eyes. Gasps racked my body as I struggled to handle the void that was wrenching my heart back into fragments.  “Take me back.. Please.”

Eve finally smiled, and put a slender gloved hand on my shoulder.

“I will, dear one. But you need to fight for me.” She murmured gently.

The haze of despair in my mind was enough to make me agree to anything. The only thing I could think about was going back to the place Eve had shown me. To feel love and happiness, and to feel whole again.

“I will..” I whispered

As soon as those words parted from my lips, I felt something burn my hand.

Yelping in surprise, I looked down at the ring on my finger. It was a dark silver band, with a glittering ruby set in the middle.

I didn’t like the Ruby. It reminded me of Eve’s eyes.

Eve laughed, a surprisingly light noise for her deep, seductive voice.

“That, my dear, is your identification, so-to-speak. You see, there are others like you, who I have brought forth to join the war against Adam. They wear the same ring. That way you know not to attack them. The moment you were killed, I sensed your strong spirit, and I claimed you with this ring before Adam could.”

“Adam was going to.. claim me? Why?”

Eve frowned slightly “He discovered my plans, dear. Remember? I was building an army, so he decided to build an army as well. That’s who you’ll be fighting.”

“I have to fight other people?” I was a little hesitant now, because I felt that something about this was very wrong.

“Not people, dear. The moment Adam steals a soul on it’s ascent to heaven, they become tainted by his blue ring; His claim on their spirit. They turn into what you would call a demon. They keep their human form, but underneath is the same Evil that poisoned Adam’s heart so long ago.”

My heart sank as fear settled into the pit of my stomach. For the first time since I had died, I felt truly afraid.

“I have to fight.. demons?”

Eve smiled satisfactorily “You have to kill them, yes. Don’t be afraid dear one, you are strong. That’s why I brought you here, I know you can do it. All you need to do is kill one, and your soul will be deemed worthy enough to enter the Eternal Kingdom.”

I thought about the light, the love, and the pure radiating joy that I had felt earlier. I needed to go back. I had to do this.

“Okay..” I whispered

“I truly thank you, Mira.” Eve smiled, “You are doing a great service to both me, and God.”

“We will meet again, soon hopefully, and I promise you, I will return you to where you should be.” She said

Eve backed away, and flapped her wings once.

“Oh, and before I forget: Do try not to stick too close to your fellow soldiers for too long dear. Your journey to the Holy Kingdom is best faced alone.”

She faded into the shadows before my eyes, leaving nothing but some black mist lingering on the grass.

I was overcome with a strong feeling of dread. How on earth could I kill a demon? I felt like doing nothing but sitting down and crying, and I desperately wished I had a bottle of vodka or some pills to steady my nerves and slow my racing thoughts.

“I just want to go home.” I murmured

Not home to my life on earth, but to the place Eve said I would go after I fulfilled my purpose here in this Purgatory.

I sighed, looking up to the lifeless blue sky.

I took another deep breath, steadying myself.

And I started walking.

Intro ~ The bitter end

“Daddy… What’s heaven like?”

I remember asking my father that question one night long ago, before he left us and sent mom into a permanent, drug-induced stupor. I couldn’t have been more than four years old. He looked away from the cheap little television and shrugged, beer spilling from the aluminum can in his grubby hands.

“I don’t know baby-girl. Nobody does.” He mumbled in his gruff voice, before turning his attention back to the football game.

Funny how I remembered that specific memory, considering I would be finding out soon enough. Or maybe I’d go to hell. That wouldn’t surprise me either.

I wasn’t exactly a good kid. But what did you expect? No father, a mom who would disappear for days at a time, a trashed house and “ne’er do well” friends. I always thought hard drugs or drinking would kill me, not a stupid car crash. Well, I was driving drunk, so I guess it was drinking. At least I was the one dying, not the mother and son who I hit. I was knocked out on impact, and judging by the burns and blisters decorating my skin, my car had caught fire shortly after. The other car was a little battered, but they were fine. They wore seat-belts. They were peachy-keen.

Not even a scratch.

I could see my body. I knew I was dead. But I could see everything. It was black and white, and yet a vast spectrum of colors danced behind my eyes.. Well I didn’t have eyes. I was still in my body, but simultaneously I was in every corner of the room at once, like one of those 360 degree surveillance cameras that would catch me shoplifting at the local mall. I could see how damaged my body was, but I couldn’t feel it. I was floating, weightless.

Earlier some nurses had come in and slipped me out of my bloody hospital gown, cleaned most of my body with a washcloth, and put me in something more suitable for the morgue. I heard them mumble something about a brain hemorrhage and disconnecting me from life support. They couldn’t contact my mother, which didn’t surprise me, and went ahead and unhooked me. They said my heart had already stopped beating, but my brain would remain active for almost another 15 minutes.

I saw them adjust my hands and lay them across my chest.

I wished they had cleaned up my face. It was the only thing untouched by the nurses.

I looked at my empty shell, my seventeen year old drug abused body, for what seemed like an eternity. Examining my over-the-counter-dyed hair, burned and bruised skin, half closed eyes and downturned mouth, I thought of what this body had gone through, how it should be seventy years old, not seventeen. I should have been sad, devastated even, that I was dying, but I wasn’t. There was noting here on earth for me. There never had been.

Eventually the nurses and doctors came back in.

“She should be gone, Doctor.” I heard one say

“I’ll measure the brain activity.” A solemn woman stuck a little pad, connected to a wire, on the back of my head, towards the base of my skull. A machine next to me flickered to life and small waves danced across the screen;

They were getting smaller and shorter each time.

As the waves on the screen began to flatten, my “vision,” or whatever it was, began to brighten. Everything took on a glowing whiteness about it, like sunlight on snow, and it got uncomfortably bright. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. The light was everywhere: In the room, in my mind, in my soul. I felt like my entire consciousness was being swallowed by the sun. I could barely see what was happening around me, and could only make out rough edges. Right before the line on the screen flattened out completely, I felt a nurse take my stiff, cold hand.

Daddy…

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save you dear.” She whispered

I began to float.

Up, down, backwards, forwards, all at once.

Daddy…

I couldn’t see. I was drifting through the sun, snowblind, ever-expanding across the universe. I became aware of a ring on my finger. I hadn’t been wearing it when I got dressed this morning.

Daddy…

I felt as if I was nearing the endpoint, the climax of my journey, where something or someone was waiting for me. Everything got even brighter, which I hadn’t known was possible. I wanted to cry out, to shield my eyes from the terrifying beauty of my ascending spirit, before my very existence burst into the same dazzling light.

I suddenly felt solid ground beneath my body.

I realized I had a body again.

I felt the brightness behind my eyes begin to fade, and it was no longer unbearable.

I felt warm sunlight bathe my body.

I felt whole again, and knew my injuries were gone.

Slowly, and very carefully, I opened my eyes.

I rubbed the lingering brightness from them, and looked around.

“Daddy… What’s heaven like?”