Chapter 1

‘Arielle?’

It wasn’t a question, yet it was. It wasn’t really a statement of any sort either. It was Candace, trying to get my attention, sounding annoyed about it too. Not that I blamed her. It must have been the twenty-fifth time. At least.

I was still pondering over the dream. Well, that’s what I think it was. I couldn’t tell. It was just an image. But I imagined it, it came from my mind. Not that I was asleep or anything. Angels don’t sleep. We don’t dream for that matter either. That was the main reason I thought of it so much.

‘Arielle?’

This time I responded. Candace had a slightly annoyed look on her face, but she managed to not let it show. I could still see it though. For me, emotions were easy to read.

I herded together some of the dead children. This was what I missed about Earth. Alive people. Everyone was dead on Zuse. Though they would be. Zuse was the planet of the dead.

Zuse was almost a replica of Earth. Except, of course, the only living things that went there were pure angels, the dead and the unborn. On the rare occasion the wicked would come to cause havoc. Which was, like I mentioned, rare. Zuse was the second planet, and Earth was the first, so Earth was better and more developed, so the wicked tended to target that, and not Zuse.

Zuse was, in a way, faded. But still, perfect. Perfect for the congregating of the dead. It was that or hell.

The children I was currently looking after had just come from heaven, so they were all shining. I would be, too. Though I would prefer to not be in their situation at all. Or the angel working at the other end. Their job was to sort the sinful from those who had no major crimes. The good ones came to Zuse. The truly evil were sent to hell.

‘What’s your name?’ one shining little face asked. Her name was Maya Sincar, I had gathered. To be able to care about an angel’s name was one thing, after being through death, the heaven sorting, and arrival in Zuse was amazing.

‘Arielle,’ I told her. ‘And I want you and your friends to come with me, ok?’

Maya nodded and the others followed. What else could they do? I pitied them. They had lost so much and come into a strange world. It was like nothing they had ever seen or experience. It was beyond their imaginations. And yet, they were experiencing it.

I had to take the children to their old families or friends. As the group had been friends, and had died together, (hence them being grouped with one another), it made my job a little easier. So did the fact that most families and friends of them were already together but it was still a tricky task. One only an angel like me could do.

It was not only a big day for the dead children, it was for me too. This was the day they died and the day I received the child to whom I would be guardian. There was even a chance that one of these children would be mine to watch over. Whoever I got would be mine to watch over for eternity. Usually angels are assigned theirs on earth, and most people receive their angels. But some fall through the cracks and when they do, they got their angel in Zuse. I was to be a guardian to one of these people.

Though it was a big day, I couldn’t stop thinking of the dream. It had to mean something. It had to. Otherwise I never would’ve had it. Because angels don’t dream.  They never have. And now, here I was, a perfectly normal pure angel, dreaming. About fire of all things.  I did not say anything about it, but I thought about it all day. That was what distracted me, why I couldn’t do my job properly. It was also the reason why I was nervous about my becoming a guardian. Especially as it was linked to the dream. You see, I used to be a guardian, on earth. I was meant to be a guardian to this person for eternity. But that all stopped with the fire.

 

The little cylinder of heavenly paper fluttered down. I opened it with great care and read the golden words, written in perfect, beautiful calligraphy. Reading and writing in heaven is unlike doing it on Earth, Zuse or Aphrodite for that matter. Aphrodite was the Planet of Feelings. Feelings were all made, kept and destroyed there. The feelings, when ready, entered a human-dead or alive- telepathically. Then, use the telepath, they were taken, or destroyed. Aphrodite didn’t cater for angels though. We created our own feelings.

Reading and writing in heaven-and talking for that matter- was done with the mind. We sent thoughts to speak to one another. Likewise we sent thoughts to paper, to create messages. The information is stored in the paper for the amount of time it needs to, until someone extracts it. The best thing was, no one but the intended receiver could read the message, unless high power and the instructions to do it were used. Then, one could break into another’s message. Not that I had the power, or knew how.

I almost laughed at the name written on the piece of paper. It was almost guessable. Maya Sincar. I should have known.

With a flutter of my wings, I flew away from the message receiver. I was never to tell Maya I was her guardian, I was to watch from afar, and only in the most urgent of emergencies was I to interact directly with her. Only when the most serious of serious was she to know who I was. I would still help her with her life, but without her knowing. I will watch her, if she has any problems I will try to solve those using angelic methods, and if she requires it I will send her power. Not that I expected her to need it. Maya seemed so happy and outgoing; I doubted she’d have any problems.

I landed in the main sorting area of Zuse, where I was when I met Maya. She had gone to the home that would now be hers, after being rejoined with her father and horse. No one else she loved had died, apart from those she had come with. One so young as her usually didn’t have anyone dead. However, her home was full of people-her father’s loved ones, and there loved ones and so on. Not that they needed to live together to see each other. Zuse was like Heaven in the sense that you could travel around it with thought alone, and quickly too.

However, I took the long route. I flew. I didn’t do the logical quick thing. I did the thing that, however slow, was actually preferred by us angel. Flying was relaxing and gave me time to think. We were never in a rush, unless on a rescue mission or something. Then we would use our thoughts to move.

The flight to Maya was short. I zoned in on my powers, or more specifically, the power that would allow me to be invisible to those who weren’t pure angels. Checking all the windows in the house, I saw many things. Her father, in the lounge with all of Maya’s relatives. Rooms and rooms that had children sleeping, reading talking, texting, playing. And in one of these rooms I saw Maya.

She was in the room of one of the children I had seen before, Hilda, I think. A relative? Family friend? I had no honest idea. However, she seemed to like Maya, and Maya seemed to like Hilda so perhaps they would be friends, here, on Zuse, as they possibly were on Earth.

Maya looked fine, actually, she looked great. She was happy, and healthy, well, all dead people are healthy because they’re dead, but, the fact that she was dead aside, she was looking well. A smile that beamed from ear to ear was spread across her face, and she was chatting happily to Hilda. Still, as I was being as cautious as possible, I decided to use my powers further, to zone in on their conversation.

‘What should we call this one?’ Hilda asked Maya, and showing her one of the new dolls that had been put in the girl’s bedroom. When rooms were made for the dead, we provided them with their dream furniture, curtains, electronics, toys, and the list goes on. They got, basically, their fantasy bedroom. Of course, it varied from person to person, but angels could easily pick up on personalities and preferences.

‘Hmm…’ Maya wondered thoughtfully at the dolls possible name. ‘Maybe Candy!’

It hit me like an earthquake. Literally, considering the way I shuddered at that tiny, two-word sentence. Candy. For a doll. Like the doll of the girl I was guardian to last. That was what she had called her favorite doll.

I quickly turned and flew away, all the time that one name going through my mind.

Obviously, Candy.

 

After getting over the shock of having my flashback of Earth I calmed a bit. I calmed enough to think properly. Furthermore, I was relaxed enough to fly straight. And when I flew, I thought more about the dream. It had to mean something, it just had to. If it didn’t mean anything, then it wasn’t real, then I was hallucinating. And that in itself had to mean something. Whatever it was, illusion or not, it was something big, that directly involved me, who I was, and my future. Maybe if I was dreaming, it meant I was going to be burnt to death. Which ultimately led to the assumption that I would, one day, be in Desdemona’s land. And that led to many other possibilities, possibilities it hurt to consider. And if I was hallucinating, something was going wrong with me.

I should’ve sought advice from an older angel. I even considered it. But  I chose not to. And that was why I let the dream come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

this is the whole chpt now. honest reviews plz i dont care if u hate it, u can say that u hate it but tell me why.

Reviews

[Princepessa]

ill consider the candace thing. i dont really mean for candace to be a main character, but ill have a go at describing her better!

[Von Alis]

Awesome job, really! I can't wait for the next chapter, actually not knowing a lot about Candace makes me want to read the next chapter even more!

[rae52]

i like the extra bit you've added since i last read it more about candace like who she is why she is near Arielle and stuff would be nice

[rae52]

wow ace but i agree maybe more about candace would be nice

[Alicka]

Well I've read a fair few Angel books and stories here on the Writerscafe, and I have to say that this is far different from the rest.Great job! This is only the first half of chapter 1, and it has me waiting for the rest of the chapter.
*You might want to add a little about who Candace is.*