Fallen Grace

9

"You said you can explain!",Grace screamed at Damian who was playing with a shard of glass in his hands.

"I can."

She looked at him waiting for whatever he was about to say but her mind still wandered. She was trying to make sense of what was happening.

"I'm waiting",she said hastily.

"Oh, yes", Damian nodded. "Well it's simple, when people die they either go to heaven or to hell. Have you heard that before?",he questioned as he walked over to the tree in the corner of the yard.

"Of course I've heard about that, everyone has heard about that", Grace spoke as she followed him to the tree.

"I'm explaining, you wanted an explanation.  You're getting one,Amazing Grace."

"Continue",she replied as she watched him go to work on the bark of the tree with the shard of glass.

"There's another place you can go. It's called The Inbetween. It's for the Luke Warmers
The people that are too bad for heaven but are too good for hell. They go to The Inbetween",Damian said as he directed his gaze back to Grace.

"The Inbetween", Grace mumbled.

"You committed suicide Grace, that means you can't go to heaven. It's a direct ticket out of heaven",Damian said as he continued carving into the tree with the glass.

"So I'm dead?",she asked and she looked back at her body lying on the floor beneath Miles' bedroom window.

"Technically yes you are but we both know that you're not bad enough to go to the Lake Of Fire. You're not a bad person Amazing Grace",he smirked at her.

"That means I'm going to The Inbetween ",she said as she let out a deep breath that she didn't realise she was holding.

"That is what it means but I'm here now, to offer you the opportunity of a lifetime",Damian said confidently."Get it? Because you're dead",he chuckled to himself and then returned his attention back to the tree.

"I'm not following."

"Oh, Grace I'm starting to think this was a mistake. You're quite slow, I must say",Damian sighed and blew a breath out on the tree bark.

The dust of the tree filled the air as Grace stared at him. He sensed her confusion and frustration, and mostly her fear.

"I work for the Devil",Damian said in a casual tone as he moved away from the tree still holding the piece of glass within his grasp.

"You what?"

"I work for the Devil, whatever you call him. Satan, Lucifer, The Fallen Angel, The Prince Of Darkness",Damian shrugged. "I'm kinda like his right hand man."

"Is this a prank?",Grace shook her head.

"Grace? Do you think that I have time to prank little suicidal girls?",Damian gave her a look.

Grace wanted to punch him in the face but her fear of him stopped her. She was unaware of whether he was telling the truth or not but something deep inside of her told her that he was.

"You're rude ",Grace said as she gave him a dirty look.

"Well you're dead",Damian retorted. "Now do you want to hear my offer?"

"I'm listening."

"Like I said, my superior is the ruler of the abode of the damned. He gets his power from the souls he captures. Now he's a very greedy man, he loves power, but then again who doesn't?",Damian shrugged as he walked toward Grace who was standing perfectly still and listening to each and every word that Damian spoke.

"My job is to get him those souls, now the souls in heaven are untouchable. Their fates are sealed. We only have access to souls on Earth and souls in The Inbetween. The problem is The Inbetween, it's hard to get souls from there. It's usually atheists and agnostics that occupy The Inbetween. People with no potential so I steer clear of The Inbetween ",Damian explained. "Well I used to steer clear of The Inbetween but that was until I saw you."

"Me?"

"Don't flatter yourself Amazing Grace, you're not that pretty now but your soul. Your soul is quite the looker I must say. If I get your soul,  do you know what that means? Do you know how much power your possess within your soul?",Damian said as he brought himself closer to Grace.

She didn't say a word. She could feel his breath as he spoke. He smelled aromatic and reminded Grace of the spring rain.

"Your soul in exchange for an afterlife in the Netherworld",Damian said slowly."That is my offer, my deal,my proposal."

"That hardly sounds like an offer, or a deal or a proposal. I don't want to go to Hell",Grace shook her head.

"You'd rather be stuck in The Inbetween? Feeling nothing? Like what you felt just now? You and I both know that's not what you want Grace. It's not what you expected is it? You don't want to back there, I know",Damian reached out almost touched Grace's face but he didn't. His hand stopped in mid air. "If you accept my deal then in your after life you won't feel nothing, but you can choose what you want to feel. So no more pain just what you want. You can block out all the things you don't want to feel. You will be comfortable Grace, I just want your soul."

"This is absurd!"

"Grace."

"You're crazy! You expect me to believe this shit? How high are you? Is it drugs? Or are you like mentally unstable?",Grace yelled in anger.

"You're yelling. I don't do teenage rants. I'm giving you a day to decide. If you decline my offer then by the end of tomorrow you will die like you intended to when you jumped from that window",he pointed up at Miles' room window.  "However you will go to The Inbetween and remain in nothingness forever but If you accept then we have to do some work and make you legible for the Lake Of Fire. Let me know your decision Amazing Grace. Do you understand?"

Grace was still processing his words and what they meant. She felt that it couldn't possibly be true. Damian needed professional help.

"Do you understand, Grace?"

"Yes",she forced herself to say.

"Good, now close your eyes."

"What?"

"Close your eyes, this is not some romance movie",Damian rolled his eyes.

Grace closed her eyes only because she was scare of what Damian might have done if she didn't.  After a few seconds nothing happened and so she opened her eyes again. Damian was gone. She closed her eyes once more just to be sure and when she opened it again she was lying in her bed and the time on her alarm clock said two in the morning.