Page 42 of An Unexpected Ascension
I nod to her as she leaves me on my block, alone, in what feels like the middle of the day.
Chapter 14
The Angel
Aknock sounds at my front door. Pulling it open, my blonde-haired friend waves with a smile brighter than the forever sun.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” I greet, widening my door.
“I totally forgot to tell you yesterday that I promised Will I would spend the day with him since I’m not pulling a shift at the orphanage.”
“Oh! No big deal. I’ll see you... whenever!” I laugh.
She pulls me into a tight hug before literally skipping off down the street as if she isn’t in her mid-forties. Heaven must have sparked a little youth back into her. It’s refreshing.
Despite also being off today, I gather the clothes for Sister Mary to drop off before roaming around Heaven. It’s not like I have a full schedule or anything.
As I start down my block, I notice movement through my neighbor’s window. The house two doors down from me, the one next to mine hasn’t been filled since the last guy was condemned.
I decide to check in on the woman. I’ve barely seen her leave herhouse; she stays holed up most of the time. The idea that some folks don’t ever leave their grey cement box doesn’t sit well with me. Especially when one of these hermits could be my own mother.
My knock on the door goes unanswered, even after a few minutes of waiting, but my gut is telling me I need to see this woman. There aren’t any locks in Heaven. Any ill will towards our neighbors would grant us a one-way ticket to Hell, so safety isn’t an issue.
The door creeps open. “Hello?”
No answer. I know she’s in here, I saw her.
Stepping inside, I call out again. “Hello? It’s Briar, your neighbor. I just want to check in. See if you need anything.”
Nothing.
I place the clothes on the bench that sits in front of the windows, the house an exact replica of my own. It’s so small that I can see a majority of it from where I stand in the entryway. Making it easy to find her in the only other part of the house – her bedroom. Lying in the cot, she stares at her ceiling.
“Hi!” I say, waving a hand in front of her face. “Are you okay?”
The woman’s brown gaze doesn’t leave the spot it’s anchored to. Taking her in, I note the frizzy fawn-colored hair and the deep-set wrinkles in her face. She’s plump, yet deflated in a way that indicates she let herself go before she even got here.
“Miss Betty?”
Her lips twitch as if she wants to say something but just can’t bring herself to make a sound. I wait patiently, the muscles in her mouth working out the kinks.
A groan at first, then a vowel.
At last, a whisper, “Hell is coming.”
Okay, not creepy at all.
“I’m sorry?”
“Hell is coming. Hell is coming! HELL IS COMING!”
Her chant forces my retreat, my back knocking into her wall. I watch as her words grow more frantic, a warning or maybe it’s fear? I’m not sure what it is, but I suddenly regret being here.
“Fancy finding you here, Angel.”
My blood nearly evaporates as if it has the right mind to flee at the sound of the demon. His footsteps echo through the room as he saunters in. His presence sucking the air from this little box.
“It’s here,” my neighbor warns.
