Angel and Devil

Delivering the News

Kyle and I followed Robert to the conference hall. We followed him through the grand lobby, up the stairs to third floor, down the hallway and we stopped in front of a room.
“Go in please, (Yn),” Robert turned around and told me.
“Can Kyle come in also?” I asked, gripping Kyle’s hand tighter. I was actually a bit nervous… And scared. I was not sure what was waiting for me inside.
“Sure, there’s nothing secretive about this,” Robert smiled.
So Kyle and I entered the room. The room looked was smaller than I had imagined, with just a desk and a cabinet inside. Behind the desk sat an old man who had a pair of gold trimmed glasses on his nose, and he was slightly bald with grey hair. He smiled at us, and motioned us to sit down.
“Good evening,” the old man said, “My name is Max. I’m working for the BTHW department, as in Back to Human World.”
After I heard his words, my heart rate just went higher. Yes, our hearts still beat. So I was right. It had something to do with returning to Earth.
“So, why are you calling me here?” I asked, nervously. Kyle gripped my hand tight and put it on his lap.
“I know you’re curious about this,” Max smiled again. He seemed so nice, “And well, you see, there’s this boy…”
Max took out a folder from his desk drawer. He placed it on the desk and opened it, showing a picture of a boy with blond hair that swept nicely across his forehead, shadowing his eyebrows and a bit of one of his eye. He had nice green eyes, I noticed.
“You see,” Max continued, “His name is John Grimes. John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes. He is the same age as you, and he’s a nice and kind boy deep in his heart, but recently he lost his aim in life and he has started to get out of focus. We don’t want a nice soul like his to get wasted, so we would like to send you down back to human world to save him.”
I froze. So they were really sending me back. But I did not really feel like doing it, as I had just found a date! I would not want to ruin my chance.
“I must do it?” I asked, “Can I reject this mission?”
“Yeah, we just met and I don’t want to say goodbye so soon!” Kyle added.
“Sadly, no,” Max shook his head, “You’re the most suitable person for this task; you are chosen out of the population of heaven!”
“Well…” I was speechless; I just did not feel like leaving so suddenly. I knew I could get back once I had finished my job on Earth, but still.
“We’ll give you a day to get ready, so at nine tomorrow morning, can you come here again?” Max asked.
“I can’t say no, can I?” I said, rather harshly, but then regretted my words – after all, it was not Max’s fault, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it. And sure.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” Max smiled, “I’ve been down there once too, and guess what, I’ve been very good friends with the guy I’ve helped ever since – he’s also working in this department right now.”
“Really?” I said, surprised – it seemed not a really bad experience after all.
“Yeah, so (Yn), you can go back to prepare, see you tomorrow!” Max said.
“Bye, see you tomorrow,” I replied, walking out with Kyle.
“Bye,” Kyle said, sadly.
Once we’re out of the conference hall, we stopped our footsteps.
“(Yn),” Kyle turned to look at me, “I’ll miss you. I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“Me too, but I can’t control this,” I told him.
He sighed, “We better get going, you have to tell everyone about this,” Kyle dropped my hand, and instead he put his arm around my shoulder. We walked to my home in silence.
“I’m back!” I shouted once we got into the house.
“Hey!” Dad walked down from the stairs, bug-eyed, “Since when did you have a boyfriend?”
I blushed, “Dad! We’re just friends, we just met,”
“Looks like our baby has got herself a nice lad,” Mum said, walking out of the kitchen. I could smell that she was cooking dinner.
“Mum!” I exclaimed, and Kyle chuckled, “Mum, Dad, this is Kyle.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kyle shook hands with Dad but Mum just went straight to grab Kyle in a bear hug. I could see Kyle was surprised as he looked at me wide-eyed over Mum’s shoulder. I giggled.
“So, do you want to stay for dinner?” Mum asked Kyle.
“Sure, thanks Mrs. (Your last name),” Kyle smiled.
“When should I tell them?” I whispered to Kyle, when everyone was back to whatever they were doing.
“Maybe after dinner – I guess it’s better to have a drama-free dinner first,” Kyle whispered back.
“Yeah that’s true,” I said, “But shall we tell Edwina too?”
“You should,”
“Then shall we go now?” I pulled Kyle out of the house again, “I’m going out for a while!” I shouted.
We walked to the house next to mine. I pressed the bell and Edwina opened the door.
“Hey!” Edwina looked shocked; she looked from me to Kyle, then back to me again, “What brings you here? Did you two…” she stopped when I gave her the look, “Well, hello, Kyle.”
“I have something very serious to tell you,” I said, “Can we come in?”
“Sure,” Edwina led us to her bedroom; I said hi to her grandmother when we passed the longue.
“So, what is it?” Edwina asked curiously once we had settled down in her room, sitting on the carpeted floor.
“I… I’m chosen to go down to Earth again to help save this boy named John,” I said in a rush.
“WHAT?” Edwina shouted. I jumped.
“Yeah, you heard me right,” I mumbled.
“Can’t you say no?”
“I wish I could!”
“That’s too bad! How am I going to spend my time? And I’ll miss you so, so, SO much!” Edwina hugged me tightly.
“I’ll miss you too,” I hugged her back, “Do you want to join us for dinner tonight? Seeing that it will be our last before I leave.”
“So soon?” Edwina released me, shocked.
“Tomorrow morning at nine,” I breathed.
Edwina fell silent for a while, and then said, “I’ll really miss you,”
“You can always look down from the well,” I told her, “While I can’t see you.”
“I guess you’re right,” she smiled weakly, “And yes I’ll join you tonight.”
So we all headed back to my house. Mum had prepared a big meal. Great. A farewell feast.
We all ate happily, with Kyle, Edwina and I forcing smiles and laughter.
After the meal, I got everyone to sit down. It was time to deliver the news officially.
“Mum, Dad,” I began, “I got brought to the conference hall today. I’m chosen to carry out a mission. I have to go to human world again to save this boy called John.”
Silence.
“WHAT?” Dad boomed; I could not help but find it funny that he reacted more or less the same as Edwina.
“Are you serious?” Mum said, looking as if she was suffocating.
“Yes, I’m being very serious,” I said.
Dad looked at us, “You two already know about this, don’t you?” he accused Edwina and Kyle.
“Yes,” I replied for them, “Kyle was with me when I was delivered with the news.”
“I don’t want you to go!” Mum said. I could see her eyes had turned red.
“I can’t say no Mum, I wish I could,” I said.
Then we continued to discuss about the details, with Mum crying all the way through. I tried my best to hold in my tears.
“I guess I’d better go,” Kyle finally said, standing up, “It’s getting late.”
“Me too,” Edwina also stood up, “So we’ll come around at eight tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” I smiled at them, and followed them to the front door.
“Bye,” Edwina said, squeezing me with a hug.
“Bye beautiful,” Kyle kissed me on the cheek. I blushed.
I went back into the house, and went to bed early before having a group hug with Mum and Dad. I would certainly miss this.
I went to bed, and cried myself to sleep. I would miss this so much. I was not even sure when would I get to come back. Or maybe not coming back after all.
I shook my head to clear the bad ideas. I fell asleep at last; this was the last night I could sleep here before coming back again.