Ghost

Chapter 21

"In the end it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years."
- Abraham Lincoln
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The room fades away quickly.

We're floating somewhere. It's like being inside a huge ball of light. Tiny iridescent lights sparkle around us.

Adele's face fades away and I turn back to Harry and Niall.

"What's the bloody hold up?" Harry mutters. He pauses for a minute. "Ah! Earthquake in China, lots of new arrivals. We're in a queue." He sighs.

"Are you ok Louis?" Niall asks softly. He's staring at me intently.

"Yeah."

I can feel Harry watching me.

"Louis, stop it." He warns. "You have to want to leave, accept that it's time, otherwise it won't work and Lola-Rose will be stuck there."

I try and focus on that. I don't want Lola to spend an eternity crying for her mother, I really don't. Niall is still watching me with with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I'm sorry about that girl Lou." He says. "I never saw you like that about a girl, you really love her don't you?"

"Yeah. I do." I feel a stab of pain.

I'll exist for eternity and I'll never see Adele again. Niall's still watching me closely.

"What's taking so long?" Harry mutters.

Suddenly a disembodied voice reverberates through the space that we are in.

"Archangel Haniel?"

"Ah! Here we go." Harry grins and suddenly adopts a posh voice. "Hello? Saint Peter? I'm waiting with the new arrival."

"Excellent." The voice says back. "We're experiencing delays on line 2 at the golden gates. Earthquake in China."

"How long do you think? I'm due back out to deal with the demon in New York subways soon. I really don't have time to hang around." Harry sighs.

"The queue is moving along, shouldn't be long now, it's all the bloody paperwork that I have to fill in with each arrival." The voice answers exasperatedly.

"Tell me about it." Harry sighs. "Thanks Pete."

There's no answer and I stare at Harry. He's floating in mid air with his wings slightly extended and I have to bite back a smile at how banal this all is. Heaven seems so close to the human world.

Suddenly the light around us begins to change.

We're about to pass over.

I don't want to. I want to go back to the house and wait for Adele to wake up.

"I'm sorry Louis." Niall says suddenly. "I spent centuries looking for you, but you'd already found what you needed to be happy. It's not right that it's just taken away from you."

He's frowning at me but before I can answer the lights around us change again and we all begin to fade. The last thing I see is Nialls sad smile before it all goes black.

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I'm in a room. It's like a huge church with a domed ceiling. The light pouring through the stained glass windows is unbelievably bright and an odd peachy colour.

Minutes pass as I look round. Time itself feels odd, it feels like minutes and years have passed at the same time.

Is this it? Is this heaven?