A silence descended between us.

“So what secrets did he tell you?” Joey asked, moving to sit on the one swing.

I sat down on the swing beside him, and used my feet to push slightly and sway the swing back and forth with my feet still on the ground.

“The Casey Green one,” I revealed studying him to see his response.

I was new to all this and wasn’t sure how he would react. It was one thing to say you were accepting of the possibility of the dead being able to communicate with the living but to experience the realness of it.

His eyes swung to mine. He was surprised.

“What did he tell?” His voice slightly hoarse.

“You cheated with Casey Green on her boyfriend and it ended her relationship.”

I studied him closely pushing the swing back and forth.

He looked up to the sky and took a breath. “Not my proudest moment.”

I shrugged. “We all make mistakes.”

“What else did he tell you?”

“He broke the window at your house and you took the blame.”

He stared at me like he was seeing me fro the first time, his eyes wide. “You can really talk to him,” he murmured.

I nodded. It was a lot to take in.

“Why hasn’t he moved on…you know to… wherever people go when they die?” he asked.

“Well if you’re good then you go to heaven and if you aren’t you to go the other place.” I didn’t want to say the word to describe the place where I belonged. I feared voice it would somehow conjure the reaper.

“So there’s really a heaven and hell?” He seemed surprised.

I nodded.

“So why is he still here?” His eyes were on me.

“He stayed to help me.”

I had never expected this conversation to take this turn and I was unsure of how much I wanted to reveal to him but there was something about Joey that made me feel comfortable in his presence. Maybe that was the only reason I found myself revealing more than I had intended.

“Why?”

I swallowed nervously. My eyes found his and I was talking before I even realized what I was doing.

“My story is crazy. It’s hard to believe.”

My story was a lot more complicated than what had happened to his friend.

“I believe you Tessa.” The way he said it made me give him a long stare.

“In the accident where I lost my parents I was supposed to die but my guardian angel saved me.” I moved my gaze from to stare in front of me, knowing Damien wouldn’t be happy that I was sharing these details with someone who was effectively a stranger. “He was turned into a demon to take my soul to where it belongs.”

“Where does your soul belong?” His question was soft spoken.

“Hell.”

“Why?” I expected this question.

“During the accident I had the chance to save myself.” I stopped feeling emotional. It took a few moments before I could continue. “And once I realized that my family weren’t going to survive…I gave up.”

Admitting it out loud to someone was more difficult than I had anticipated.

He stayed silent. What could he say?

“The guardian angel who saved me became a demon. He has haunted me for the last seven years trying to get me to go back.”

“Wow.” Was all he could say.

“When Parker died and reaper appeared to collect his soul he saw me and marked me.”

I lifted my sleeve to show him the mark. His eyes wide.

“He is going to come back for me. Parker stayed to help me.” I gave a hollow laugh. “I don’t even know if he can.”

I exhaled and stood. “He did that for me so I was willing to do anything he wanted. And he wanted me to give you a message.”

The wind blew slightly as I faced Joey.

“There isn’t a moment that hasn’t passed where I haven’t thought about him.” His words heavy with emotion. “I feel so much guilt. Like I should have paid more attention and maybe I would have seen something. You know.”

I nodded. “I get it. I have those same feelings.”

“Really?”

“Like I told you I can see people’s auras and when I first met Parker his aura was grey.”

Joey frowned. “What did that mean?”

“I didn’t know at the time but later I discovered that when someone is effectively dying their aura turns grey. If I had just paid more attention maybe I could have stopped what happened.”

It was quiet.

“In the short time I knew Parker he meant something to me. He was the first person who was able to see Damien.”

“Damien?”

Then I remembered I hadn’t said his name before.

“Damien is my guardian angel who has also been the demon trying to take me back to hell.”

“If Parker could see Damien could he also see the dead?”

“Only when his aura began to grey.”

He studied me thoughtfully. “How do you deal with all of this? I don’t know if I could have managed what you seemed to have.”

I shrugged. “I had to. I’m the only living relative for my grandmother. She can’t lose me. Even when there were times I didn’t want to go on. And there were plenty of those.”

“You’re quite something Tessa.”

No one had ever said that to me. Especially someone who knew the truth about me.

“None of this has been a choice.”

“You’re wrong. You have a choice every day. At any time you could have chose to give in.”

He was right. I hadn’t thought about it like that.

When it began to darken I realize I hadn’t given him Parker’s note.

“I have a note for you. It’s from Parker.” I got it out of my pocket and handed it to him.

I had intended to read it to him but maybe it was better for him to read it himself.

He held the folded paper but didn’t open it.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for what it says,” he murmured as he stared at the piece of paper.

“Read it when you’re ready.”

He put the note into his pocket.

We stood facing each other. The sky began to darken with large clouds as the wind picked up. It was so similar to when the reaper had appeared I was convinced time was about to freeze and the reaper would appear but it didn’t happen.

“You okay?” Joey asked.

I nodded absentmindedly.

Lightening stuck the swing set beside us and Joey threw his body over mine and we both hit the ground. I was winded when Joey rolled onto his back to see the ground where the swing stood burn.

“That was…”

Another flash of lightening had Joey get to his feet and pulling me up to stand. “We have to get out of here.”

He jogged to where our cars were parked, pulling me by the hand. My mind was still reeling with what had just happened and how close we had both been to dying.

My mind was still reeling when Joey shoved me into the passenger side of his car before he went around and got into the driver’s side before another strike of lightening hit the ground in front of the car.

“This is insane,” Joey yelled, when another strike hit closer to the car.

My mind couldn’t make sense of what was happen and next Joey pulled me to him and put his arm around me, holding me close.

“We should be safe in the car,” he whispered to me.

I looked up to him. We were so close. I felt something, so out of place it was hard to figure out exactly what it was.

His eyes held mine.

Lightening struck the car with a large boom. It shook, and my heart raced.

I held onto Joey tightly, fearing that we were both going to perish. The car rocked.

His eyes flickered to my lips. My breath caught.

The thunder boomed outside and the lightening continued to strike around us.

But something far more dangerous began to unfold as I gazed at him.

“I…” I didn’t know how to describe what I was feeling.

This time his gaze fixed to my mouth and he leaned closer.

Damien. I put my hand to his chest and halted him.

“I…”

I couldn’t explain what was happening but I knew I couldn’t allow it to unfold.

Even if there was something about it, that felt right.