My Devil

This story is about the cruel capabilities love can have on an individual, even after death. However, this story illuminates a new idea of what the afterlife can be, and the problems you can face.

I died on January 16, 2006. It was like any other day, and over the years I have forgotten why I seemed to forget how cruel life could be. I was walking on my way to ride the shuttle to my first college class, and decided not to waste my time looking both ways before I crossed the street. Little did I know that it would cost me my life. I was pronounced brain dead two days later.

                I was sent to a place I read about in fairytales. A kingdom in the clouds, with vast surroundings and a cottage I was to call home. There was only one difference about heaven that I never pictured back on Earth. No one could talk, or make a sound. Each individual lived their days waiting for their soulmate to join them in heaven, regardless if you met them in your past life. You could only speak to that special someone, because you shared a special bond with them no one else could sense. I sat up in the clouds waiting patiently for my soulmate to join me in heaven. I needed to feel the love I felt back on Earth.

                Every once in awhile I would look over the edge of the clouds to take a quick glance at what floated underneath. I soon found out there were three stages of the afterlife. I joined the elite on top, who never created disruption on Earth and were pure. Underneath us were average people, the folks who tried but failed to lead perfect lives. On the bottom was what the living calls, "hell." Only the worst end up there; the murderers, thieves, and vile humans who shouldn’t have lived in the first place.

                Hell fascinated me because of its cruel concept. I would strain my eyes and see their subjects being tortured by a force unknown with their constant, silent pleas disrupting the wind on the worst of days.Unlike the Elite landscape, hell was a land that stayed dormant on the ground, the dark rocks refusing to allow the landscape to float like the others. It simply existed, because that was its only purpose. I knew all the people who went to hell deserved what they received, but it still sent chills up my spine to know that they were going to stay that way throughout eternity.

                I wasn't sure how much time went by, but I soon become very lonely. All my neighbors were starting to have their loved ones join them, and time began to reveal that I still had a long time to wait. I would patiently play with the clouds I sat on and watch the people below me, their lives being the only source of entertainment.

                 "Devon, why are you not happy?" A voice whispered in my ear.

                " How can I be happy if I am alone?" I answered back.

                 "We can fix that."

                

                None of us knew who the voice was, but it controlled our lives and tried to make us as happy as it could. It made me a bridge to walk over to where new souls arrive, so I could be there sooner when my soulmate arrives. At that moment I was allowed to search for my beloved, not simply wait around bored. Whenever I would hear the golden bell that signaled the train of newcomers, I would run over to where they would all appear. However, with this opportunity came a warning. If I left the world of the elite and accidentally crossed into another level, I would never be able to join the elite ever again. I would know them by what color they wore, all white robes were of my class. The purples were the stage below me, and the blacks were hell.     

                This was how I lived, waiting and searching for the time I would see my future. All I had to do was listen for her angelic voice to whisper words to me, and then we would start the rest of our time with each other. I waited patiently everyday, never once missing a train. I was finally content, and the voice's work was done.

                That was until the day I heard her sweet cry as she was being carried away. 

She was unlike any girl I have ever seen. Her hair was lively and full of colorful jets of crimson and gold. Her eyes were a bright blue and filled with fear as she was shuffled into a pile of people leaving the shuttle. What I noticed the most was her black robe emphasizing her pale skin. 

My heart dropped into my stomach as I began to run towards her, finally hearing the sweet sound of another being after waiting for so long. Her black robe made me shudder at what would happen if she was led to the land of torture. The voice of the wind began to whisper to me as I jumped into the pile of confused people. 

“Leave her, she is not for you”

I wanted to cry as the group of people with black robes started to walk down the ivory stairs that slowly turned black as they got closer to the bottom. My eyes never left the girl who searched desperately for help from the darkness. 

“There must be some mistake!” I screamed to the sky, feeling the heat of my tears burn in my eyes, “She’s there! My soulmate is there!” 

The girl looked up at me from the stairs below, jumping from the sound of another human’s voice. She stopped her descent and gasped at my image, and then began shuffling back up through the groups of people to meet me at the top. 

“She cannot be here! She is not for you!” The whisper started to become more lively with every word, “She is for the devil!” 

I wanted to run down the stairs, but my feet would not allow me. I tried to reach for the girl who ran as quickly as she could towards me, smiling when she was only feet away. 

“Come here!” I yelled to her, “Please, touch my hand!”

She was inches away before the darkness caught up to her. As she lunged towards my hand to save her, a black vine of darkened embers rose up from the ground below and snatched her ankles, making her fall down on the stairs. She desperately tugged at the vine, crying from the burns she received from the struggle. 

“No!” I screamed desperately as she was slowly dragged away. I reached out to try help her, but my body wouldn’t allow me to walk on the stairs. Her face was frozen in a state of pure panic, which struck my heart with terror. 

“Help her!” I screamed towards the sky, still trying to walk on the stairs. 

“She is for the devil” The voice repeated

Before she was dragged away, my lungs allowed one last breath of air to ask a question.

“Please, tell me your name.” I whispered.

Her tears began to sizzle on the embers that slowly twisted around her body, “Layla.” she said softly. Then the vine finally won the battle, sending her down to the darkness below. I sat there waiting to hear her sweet voice again, but heard nothing. She was gone to the underworld, where I was forbidden to go. 

“She is not for you. She is the devil’s child.”

“No,” I whispered back, refusing to take my eyes off from where I saw her last, “She is perfect.”

After the girl disappeared, I refused to become happy with my status. The wind would constantly reassure me that my soulmate would still be arriving, but I refused to believe it. My soulmate, the only one who I would spend eternity with, was dammed to a place where light refused to shine. If there was another soulmate that would arrive, I didn’t want to be with her. I wanted this girl who was sent below me, the girl who stole my heart. 

The golden bridge that was made for me to search for my soulmate deteriorated as days went by without me using it. I spent my time on the edge of the clouds, searching diligently for the crimson hair of the girl with whom I strived to be. I only saw her on days when the fog in hell was thin, and those times were never enough. 

There was one day when I saw her look up towards the sky, straight in my direction. I didn’t know if she could see me or not, so I waved slowly to see if I could get her attention. After a few moments of her crying softly to the clouds, a force made her wail in pain and she ran away. 

“Why do they hurt her?” I asked, feeling a sharp pain in my heart. 

“She deserves it. It is her reward.”

“What could she have done? She looks so innocent.”

The wind refused to tell me, instead asking what it could do to make me happier. 

“I want to see her, even if it is only for a day. I want her to talk to me and feel my arms around her. I want us to be the soul-mates that you refuse to let us be!” My words were angry towards the wind. 

“We are warning you, If we let her live with you, your happiness will end.”

I shook my head, “That isn’t true. We will love each other.”

I heard a crack in the wind, and suddenly the girl appeared next to me. She smiled and ran into my arms, crying softly. 

I pressed my face into her hair and finally submerged myself in the touch of another human being after so long. “Nothing can separate us now.” I whispered, feeling her tremble, “Nothing ever will.” 

The time went by and I was finally happy. I enjoyed her presence at my cottage, her sweet voice, and constant movements around the clouds. However, what never changed was her darkened robe that made her skin so pale and the frown she wore all the time. It bothered me to a great extent.

One day I woke up early from my afternoon nap to see her at the edge of the clouds, the wind gently floating around her and playing with her hair. I walked out of the house and wrapped my arms around her, noticing that she was looking down at hell. 

“What’s wrong Layla?” I asked after a long moment of silence. 

“I don’t belong here.” She whispered, “I have to go back.”

A sudden spark of terror hit my heart, “Layla, you don’t belong there. You belong up here with me.”

“Then come back with me.” she said as she turned around to face me, “We’ll be happier down there.” 

I shook my head, “No, it is horrible down there. Don’t you remember how much pain you were in?”

She smiled, “It wasn’t pain. It was more like,” she stopped and looked down from the clouds, “A reward.” She held her hand in mine, “Hell is so much better than this place. There’s no rules or hardships, and everyone can hear each other.” 

“You can?” I missed the sweet sounds of having a conversation with different people. How they curled their lips and added information into one’s mind. I wondered if it was really true. 

“Don’t listen to her.” the voice whispered. 

She looked into my eyes and I felt my heart beat faster, “Is it really better than here?”

“Hell is not what you think it is. The voice is just trying to trick you into not experiencing it.” 

I began to think of the alternate world that I was so interest in. “We’ll go together?”

She nodded and smiled sweetly, “We will be happy forever.” She held my hand tight, and we walked closer to the edge. With one last breath I felt us jump from the clouds, the wind floating around me as we fell. 

As I touched the ground and opened my eyes, something was wrong. The hand that was supposed to be in mine had disappeared, along with the girl who was supposed to be at my side. 

“We warned you.” the voice whispered as I looked up to the sky. 

I felt the tears in my eyes as I watched her stare at me from the clouds above, smiling evilly. She had tricked me to an eternal hatred, fulfilling her final deed with the devil before living a life of eternal peace. 

Author's Note

This was for a contest I submitted that had a word count of 1500- 2000 words, so it may seem very fast-paced

Reviews

[Mavs]

OMG I LOVED IT

[Jag]

Soo cool. Thank you so much for sharing.