Where am I? What is this bright light? He was surrounded in darkness, distant thoughts he knew were important flickered at the edge of his mind. What are they? So far away… A hazy white started to come to him.
"Oh, you're awake. If I waited any longer, excessive measures were an alternative," a female voice spoke.
Blinking, he tried to bring the world around him into focus. "Who?" He winced, still blinking, lifting an arm up to block some of the light unsuccessfully. "What are you?" the male voice asked.
"Oh, Sean, I'm your Guardian Angel. Welcome to the afterlife." The voice warmed as it spoke.
"The afterlife? Where is Tabatha?" I can't even remember. He rubbed his eyes, still attempting to get them to work.
"Tabatha? That is your past, and we need to concentrate on the present," Sean finally got his eyes to focus enough to catch the Angel's gentle smile.
Sean sat up in the bed, letting the cover slide down his chest and pool by his left arm. He looked around the tiny white room. Lifting his gaze past the pristine white walls, there was a midsized rectangular window that stood vertically, giving him a small peek into the world beyond the room. Outside the window was a crystal, near emerald-blue ocean that had waves cresting and shimmering beyond his reach. The smell of the salty water was refreshing in the sterile environment. Though if he were to be stuck in this place with only the view and the scent, in time, it could drive a man nuts…Didn't she say something about after life? Did he go to a place of torment? No, no, he must be in a hospital room… without equipment… He turned his attention to the woman standing at his bedside. She appeared to be seven feet tall, and her wings were tucked behind her gray business suit. Aww, a lawyer… there must have been an accident…
"Nice wings." The compliment escaped his mouth without thinking. Turning his head to look himself over, seeing if he could find the reason he was here. "So, what happened? Are you here to help me with a case so I could get some cash…" He trailed off, frozen for a couple of beats as his mind started to try and reason through what he knew and had seen. Wings, afterlife, didn't she say something about being an angel? Lifting his head to eye her, he swallowed. "So…" He licked his lips sucking them gently. "You're my Guardian Angel?" He waited a beat to see if she would react like any sane person on Earth would, but she just stood there calmly and composed. "But You, you—look like a 1980s businesswoman!" He gestured widely at her clothing. "Why are you wearing a power suit?" Sean's eyes furrowed as he waited for her answer. Maybe this is a wild dream… yeah, a dream.. what did I have for dinner last night? Steak, wine, mashed potatoes… maybe a wild dream… Wake up, wake up, wake up!
"What's with the snarky look? The Goddess Anastasia told me I could pick any outfit I want." The angel crossed her arms, and if Sean didn't know any better, he would say that she was almost pouting. "This one spoke to me…" She whipped her head around to look at him, sending her cotton candy traces fluttering. "Don't make fun of it." Sighing and letting the tension drop out of her shoulders, she then winked at Sean and smiled before twirling slowly.
Sean shook his head for a moment, his thoughts racing. He was still here… not a dream then. So he didn't want to start negative… "I'm in the afterlife?" He gripped the blanket to give him some sense of security. "Am I in heaven, paradise…" His grip tightened. "Or somewhere else?" It was taking everything he had to remain calm.
"You're in none of the above." Her voice was smooth and clear, a tone that suggested she was not playing a joke on him… she seemed serious. "You are in a spiritual battleground." The angel stood upright, towering over him, and locked her caramel orbs onto his hazel ones.
"A spiritual battleground," Sean parroted softly.
"Yes." Samantha nodded. Her right hand reached over toward her left as she fidgeted with the purple metal charms that rested there. "Right now, we're in between the realm of Heaven and Earth. Anastasia created a checkpoint here for us to fight the demons." Her delicate fingers traced one of the star-shaped charms, the light catching it and reflecting from the gem therein… it was dazzling. "For you to make it to the afterlife, you have a choice to make."
"A choice?" Sean stared, mouth hanging open. There was no choice; he had to go back! "I was about to propose to my girlfriend. The stage was set." He lifted a hand to his head and rubbed his temples, hiding his eyes, and he tried to calm himself… "What happened? I need to know," Sean persisted.
"In time you will understand." She dropped her right hand back by her side before gesturing upward. "Do you want to go to Pardise?" Moving her hand out to the side she asked, "Do you want a second chance?" The angel looked sternly at Sean.
Sean shifted as he rose up more in the bed. It caused the white blanket to slide more to the left, revealing his black and red plaid jammie pants that did not in any way match his blue dolphin shirt. Sean paused in his movement, realizing he couldn't just go…. Another realization popped into his head; he didn't even know what to call her… "First of all, what's your name? You look like you can handle yourself." His eyes traced the sword on her hip, which mirrored the length of his body. "You could impale me before I even move."
"As your Guardian Angel, I am given certain powers by Anastasia to kill demons, but yes, if it means keeping you in this room, I could kill you ten times over and send your soul away." The angel put her hand on the hilt of her sword tilting it. "Like I said, this is a new spiritual testing ground. We are trying to see if humans can be redeemed a different way."
"When you say redeemed, you mean a different way other than Anastasia?" Sean looked at the angel cautious, trying to decide whether he could make a break for the door.
"No." She shook her head. "Anastasia is still the one and true way to redemption. Humans reject her. This experiment, or shall I say the new mission is to give humans a different chance at improvement." Turning her head away slightly, she looked at Sean out of the corner of her eyes. "I will say no more." The angel put her left arm out the purple and gem stone covered star charm bracelet swayed with movement as she used her right hand to brush off an imaginary critter or dust from her clothing. "What is your choice?"
Sean frowned, his eyes sliding to the door and back to her. "First your name, then choice." Sean crossed his arms, appearing unfazed by her persistence.
The angel frowned a bit. "My name is irrelevant, your choice?"
Sean shook his head. "I need your name before I can answer." He wasn't about to budge on this.
"Human!" She drove her right leg into the ground shaking the room violently. "My patience grows thin. My name cannot be pronounced by your tongue. You can call me Samantha."
Smirking, Sean rose up and took her left hand in his bringing it up to his lips, "What a pretty name," Sean said.
Samantha pulled her hand back as if she had been burned. "That charm of yours is ever-growing. People were enamored by you." She looked at him and his mix-matched clothing. "You could have done great things on Earth. The party lifestyle you adopted ruined you. All of those low-income jobs. Your parents paid for your Roth IRA. They also made sure you had a place to stay. Your mom worried all the time." She eyed him sharply. "Shall I go on?"
Sean shrugged his shoulders rolling them forward. "Brilliance takes time to produce. Don't people party in hell?" Sean looked at the angel with a mischievous grin.
Samantha snapped her fingers as screams filled the room.
The young man cupped his hands over his ears. "Make it stop!" Sean bellowed.