The Prophecy

Cleaning Up

I could feel her now, she was so near. There was no mistaking this. I walked up the stairs, to the door. It had no name on it, downstairs the whole apartment didn't exist. It felt like I shouldn't be here at all. This was probably a better way to do it than "Heaven, Inc." I had to admit. Nobody would bother her, because nobody knew she was here.

I stood in front of the door for five or ten minutes, trying to steel my nerves and convince me I could do this. But what if she told me to leave...? What if... I shook my head. No. No, this was something I needed to do. My chest hurt so much when I thought I'd just leave and never see her again. There was no denying it further, now. I l... I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and let it all out. I opened my eyes, and knocked on the door.

Tessie opened the door and I almost flew into her arms. I had to use every ounce of my determination to not to do that. But... she looked so sad, so... broken. Her luscious black hair was a mess, she had dark folds under her eyes, her clothes hang off of her like she had been in them for weeks. Her maroon skin was dull and dusty-looking, her eyes a dim yellow tone.

There were piles upon piles of - hopefully empty - pizza delivery boxes behind her. She apparently had only one room, and I didn't even see her bed. The only place that was relatively clean, was the table with a huge book on it and a coffee cup next to the book. I figured this was the book she had been translating all this time.

I looked back at her and she looked... distressed, alarmed. My hand moved on it's own, and I brushed a lock of her hair off her cheek. I grabbed her hand and stepped closer to her.

"Tessie..." I said and felt my eyes well up. "Tessie... whatever you're going through, let me help," I said. She moved to the side and let me in, without saying a word. She closed the door behind me and stayed there, looking at me with disbelieving eyes.

"Take a shower, Tessie," I said to her, then turned to look at her apartment. "I'll start with this meanwhile," I said and nodded at the piles of boxes. She made a sound, but I shook my head at her.

"Nah, Tessie. Not this time. This is not something I can ignore. I hate seeing you like this, Tessie. You look awful and miserable," I said and walked to her. I grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the bathroom.

"Go," I said. "Inside now, Tessie. Take a long shower and I promise it'll feel better afterwards. Go now," I said and pushed her in the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Once I heard her turn on the shower, I turned my attention to the pile of boxes and trash everywhere. I took a scrunchie out of my pocket, tied my hair into a ponytail, rolled my sleeves up and started.

It took me awhile on the first trip to even find the trash bins downstairs, but I did. It took me about ten trips to carry everything out of the apartment. It already looked so much better. There were still smaller trash and dirt everywhere. But she didn't seem to have a broom. I grabbed a small dustpan and the accompanying tiny brush and set out to collect it all into a plastic bag I found on the floor.

I was nearly done, when I heard the bathroom door open and she stepped out. I shook the rest of the dirt into the bag, set it on the floor and turned around. My breath caught in my throat and I gasped aloud.

Alright, this was much better... Her eyes were back to the bright yellow tone I'd gotten used to, her skin was shiny and her hair curled down her in wet - not tangled - locks. She had a towel around her that was held up by her... uh... upper body. She was drying her hair and her body shook slightly and that made her... towel shake too. I felt my cheeks blush and I had to turn my gaze away.

"Why," Tessie said. "Why did you come...?" She dropped the towel she was using to dry her hair on to the chair next to the table and leaned on the wall.

"Technically you're on Hell's ground now," she said and run her hand across her forehead. "Annie... you're in real danger now. Why did you come?"

"I wanted, no, I needed to find you, Tessie. I couldn't continue living on without seeing you, at least finding out why you left all those months ago," I said and turned to face her. "And look at you! I was right to come! You're living like this, it's not good for you!"

"And what about you? You're on Hell now. I cannot guarantee your safety," she said and looked concerned.

"I'm perfectly safe here, Tessie," I said. "And even then, I'd gladly do this for you even if it meant I had to suffer in some way," I said and scowled at her.