The Purple Flame (A Mephisto Pheles/Blue Exorcist Romance Novel)

Chapter 90

I feel warmth on my skin.

I smell clean air.

I taste honeysuckle on my tongue.

I hear the gentle sound of the wind.

And I see a hand gently stroking back my hair.

I initially jolt, but the hand holds me down so that I don't move.

"Gentle, child." Jennifer's voice says. "You have no need to strain yourself any longer."

I slowly look up and see Jennifer's twinkling eyes. I'm laying down on her, my hair falling in numerous braids that she's done.

"Ma..." I smile. "You have... no idea how good it is to see you."

"My sweet daughter..." She kisses my forehead softly. "I miss you everyday."

My happiness of seeing Jennifer subsides once I realize why I'm here...

With her.

"Oh, god..." My voice quivers. "Am I... am I dead?!"

"Judi-"

"Oh my god... He killed me. He killed me!" I try to move, but she holds me down again. 

"Shh... Judi, it's okay." She continues to stroke my hair. "Don't panic."

"But, Jennifer..." I shake my head. "What about Shura? Rin? Mephisto?!"

"You're not dead yet, child."

My eye twitches. "Yet?"

"They're operating on you as we speak." She says. "Your mind has traveled to where all lives on the line go. Once your fate is sealed, that is when you either return or pass on."

"But..."

"I've been doing this for a long time, comforting people who are afraid to die." She continues. "But they come to enjoy the peace here, and sometimes don't even want to go back."

"But I have to go back, mom. You know that I do." I retort. 

"Of course I know." She says. "But it depends on you whether you pass away or not."

"This can't be happening..." I sit up and cover my face with my hands. "This can't be happening-"

"Think positively, dear." Jen suggests. "Most who bring negativity to this peaceful place are often times the ones who don't make it."

I immediately shut my mouth and face her.

"Your life is on a very thin line, that's for sure..." She says. "But knowing you, you'll find someway to defy it."

"How thin?" I ask. "Do you know how badly I was hurt?"

"Well..." She tilts her head slightly. "I could show you, but..."

"Show me, how?"

She looks up at me and doesn't reply immediately.

I raise my eyebrows.

"C'mon, Jen." I urge. 

"If you truly wanted to, you can view what's happening right in this moment of the human world, but that often drives people crazy, but-"

"I want to see."

"Let me finish." Her motherly tone returns to her.

I shrug and nod my head.

"But I can only show you the two possible outcomes."

I wrinkle my eyebrows. "What... what do you mean?"