Brooke slowly opened her eyes. She was laying on the ground. Everything was white and pure. She sat up and looked down at her hands. There were no injuries. No cuts. No bruises. No blood. She could remember the bomb going off. Was it a dream? She got up and looked down at her clothing. She had a white dress on. "What? What is this? Where am I?" she asked. She looked up and saw a man. He was in his thirties. It was Andrew.
"Andrew?" Brooke asked.
"Nice to meet you," he smiled.
"Where am I?" she questioned.
"Your in heaven," Andrew sighed. He paused and looked down. "The bomb... it um... you died..."
"This doesn't look like heaven... no one is here!" Brooke slowly said. She avoided the fact that the bomb was not a dream. Then she looked up at Andrew. She suddenly felt intense anger building up. "You the angel!" Brooke yelled. "The angel that let me die!"
"That wasn't what I was sent to do, I was sent to bring you here. To heaven," Andrew explained. He looked in Brooke's eyes and sighed. He could feel her pain.
"Then why didn't God or who ever sent you send me an angel before the bomb, huh? Why didn't He protect me? Was that just too much of a problem? Did it just take time and he didn't 'feel' like it?" Brooke questioned angrily as tears streamed down her face. She fell to her knees, crying. "Why would He let this happen?" she asked.
Andrew bent down to Brooke's level and hugged her. "He never wants these things to happen but He does need you, now. He needs you to help Him, He needs you to be an angel..." Andrew explained, smiling slightly. He looked up. "You're a very special girl and God wants you to know that," he explained. He looked down at Brooke and lifted her head up with his hands. "Brooke... look at me," he whispered.
Brooke looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I believe you..." she quietly said.
Three women walked up behind Brooke.
"I want you to meet someone," Andrew smiled, looking behind Brooke.
Brooke looked at him confused then looked behind her. There were three women in white.
The first one had brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses. She had a warm smile on her face. She wore a white business suit. "Hi," she said. "I'm Gloria!"
Brooke smiled at her, still sitting on the ground.
The second one had aurburn hair and brown eyes. She had on a white dress, which flowed gracefully. "Hello, I'm Monica," she smiled. "Nice to meet you,"
Brooke got up slowly. Somehow she felt already she could trust Monica.
The third one had black hair with a few silver streaks. She had one a white shirt and skirt on. "Hello, sweetie, you can call me Tess," she nodded.
Brooke nodded back and smiled. "Nice to meet you and not to sound mean but, why are you here?" Brooke asked.
"They're here to recruit you," Andrew replied.
Brooke looked at him confused. "Re... recruit?" she asked.
"Well, okay, maybe that wasn't the best word to use..." Andrew explained, his words trailing off. "Now I'm not sure what word to use..."
"Let me handle this..." Monica smiled. She walked over to Brooke and put her arm around her shoulder. Behind them appeared a bed. Monica sat Brooke down on the bed and sat next to her. "Let's see how to say... or explain this... God has, well made, different groups of angels to work together. So when you arrived, He, being God, put you in our group," Monica explained.
"Monica here is your teacher," Gloria said. She walked over to the bed and sat down beside Brooke. "Me and Tess... hold on... Tess and I are your co-workers,"
"That's right," Tess smiled.
Brooke turned to Monica with a smile on her face. "I knew I could trust you!"
"What do you mean?" Monica asked.
"When I first saw you, I could feel love and trust coming from you"
Monica hugged Brooke tightly. "I'm glad," she smiled.
"So now what?" Gloria asked.
"I don't know, Tess?" Andrew replied glancing over at Tess.
"Not sure... we don't have anything to do... we got free time," Tess explained. "What about you Monica? Any ideas?"
"We can show Brooke here around," Monica suggested. "What it's like to be an angel, ya know?"
Tess shrugged. "Sounds good to me!" she agreed.
"Yay!" Gloria excitedly clapped, jumping up and down.
Monica looked at Brooke, anxiously. "You ready?"
"Yeah... but..." Brooke said, letting her words trail off. She looked down trying to figure out what to say. She was worried about something but she couldn't tell what she was worried about.
"What is it, sweetie?" Monica asked, her voice full of worry.
"Uh... it's... it's nothing..." Brooke sighed. She put on a fake smile and looked back up.
Monica rubbed Brooke's back. "Just remember, you can talk to me about anything, okay?"
Brooke nodded. "It's just..." Brooke sighed. "It's gonna be weird..."
Monica gave her a tight squeeze. "I know sweetie..."
"Well, let's go!" Andrew excitedly said.
"Okay!" Gloria smiled.
They appeared in front of a café'. Gloria tilted her head to the side as she read the sign. "McBride McPride Café'?" she asked. She chuckled. "Well that's certainly a unique name..."
"It was named after the owner's son trek family. The owner's son, Andrew, went on a pioneer trek with his church and he was in the McBride family. They would always be chanting 'McBride McPride'," Brooke explained. "He told us many stories about the trek. He said they walked 25 miles in three days,"
"Sounds exciting," Tess smiled. "Now that I think of it, our friend Sam was sent to that trek to help someone who passed out or something,"
"I remember hearing about that guy," Brooke smiled. Just then she saw someone familiar go by. "Amy!" Brooke yelled.
Monica put her hand up to stop Brooke but Tess stopped her. "But Tess..." Monica sighed. "Please... just let me..."
"No baby... she has to find out for herself..." Natalie interrupted.
Brooke ran over to the 15 year-old girl. "Amy!" she smiled. Her smile though was only for a moment. "Amy?" she frowned.
Amy looked around. "Hey, did you hear that?" she asked her friend. Her friend shook her head. "No,"
Brooke felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Monica. "She can't see you Brooke..." Monica sighed. "Your in an angel form... and when your in angel form, humans can't see you..."
Tears formed in the corners of Brooke's eyes as she looked down.
"I'm so sorry..." Monica mumbled. She could see tears starting to stream down Brooke's face. "Oh hunnie..." she sighed. Monica pulled Brooke into her arms and hugged her. She knew how Brooke felt, she felt the same way when she first became an angel.
"I... I want to talk to you Monica," Brooke whispered.
"Of course, anything," Monica nodded. She brushed a couple of strands of Brooke's auburn hair out of her face. She held out her hand and as Brooke took her hand they appeared on a roof. It was nighttime and snowing. Around Brooke's neck she found a long scarf. It was white with blue and brown stripes. On her head was a white hat. Brooke opened her mouth to ask a question, but decided not to. Tears started flooding her eyes. Brooke hugged Monica tightly, crying.
"I know... it's okay..." Monica whispered. She held Brooke as if she was a baby. Monica rocked her back and forth while stroking her hair.
"I miss my friends! I miss my family!" Brooke sobbed.
"Shhhh... It's okay..."
Brooke could feel anger and hate building up. "It's all David's fault..." she slowly and angrily said. She clenched her fists as tight as she could.
Monica softly put a hand on Brooke's fist. "I understand that Brooke..." she sighed. "But..."
"But what?" Brooke interrupted. "I died because of him! Am I supposed to be okay with that?"
"No... what I mean is..." Monica stuttered.
Brooke stood up slowly, shaking her head. "Im sorry Monica... I really am..."
"What do you mean?" Monica asked.
"I don't know... I..."
"Please Brooke... Talk to me..."
Brooke just shook her head and disappeared.
Monica sighed. "Tess? Gloria? Andrew?" she called, choked up. "I need you!"
In an instant, Tess, Gloria, and Andrew stood behind her.
"What's wrong baby?" Tess asked in a motherly tone.
"Where's Brooke?" Andrew asked, looking around worried.
"She left, I couldn't stop her! She's new to being an angel and I'm so worried!" Monica cried. "What happens if Satan finds her?"
A strike of fear hit everyone.
"God's with her," Gloria said, looking at Tess. "Isn't He?"
"He is always with her but, she is a brand-new angel. Her ears are not trained to her God as well as we can," Tess explained. "And if Satan finds her..."
"He can turn her evil," Andrew continued.
"What about free will?" Gloria asked.
"He can't make her do anything she wouldn't do on her own..." Monica sighed. "But she's in so much pain right now... He can easily get her in his grasp..." Tears fell from her eyes onto the building. "What do we do?" Monica tearfully asked.
"We need to find her..." Gloria replied.
"Let's go..." Monica nodded as she stood up.
