Chapter 3

Portal travel always made me sick. Swirls of purple light danced across my vision as I traveled to the world beyond. Right at the moment where I thought I would hurl I broke through. Entering the between world felt as though I was catching my breath after holding it until your lungs began to burn.

And after travel through the dark portal eyes struggled to adjust to my new surrounding due to its brightness. The world between was a giant room of light that seemed endless. Souls in need of purification rushed along doing their work. Some were diving through portals to the mortal world while others hurried about to the small rooms where they worked

Each person wore the color that signified how he or she died. The murdered wore blue, the victims of accidents wore yellow, those who drowned wore green, those who killed themselves wore black, those who died of sickness wore purple, those who died from old age wore orange, and the ones like me who were raped then killed wore red.

Because our innocence was taken then we were killed we had a separate category than those murdered. It was just another thing that reminded me how terrible my death really was. No matter the color cloak I took from the human world I could never hide the color of my death. It either melted away or in this case was taken away.

Not only were we defined by color but each persons clothing also reflected the style of their time period in which they died. My clothes reflected the style of the 1600's. The dress had a red corset on the outside and a red lower portion while the part from my waste line up was white. Red leather gloves covered my hands and upper arm and a red rider's hood covered the top half of my face.

As I walked through the crowd of souls I spotted a familiar face. Christina, my mentor when I first came to the world between. She wore a purple dress that had a very similar style as mine. In truth we were not really friends but more companions who usually had a bit of small talk but nothing more. Though people who would most likely go to eternal paradise surrounded me, I was still ashamed to wear the red. After that experience I struggled to talk to others.

She called me over and I was startled to see a look of pure disappointment on her face. I approached with the upmost caution. She must have known about the mission. She had to know or else she would not have ever looked at me like that. When I was within talking distance she finally spoke.

" The superior would like to speak to you about your failure."

"It's amazing I knew exactly what you would say Christina."

"That's good you have finally learned to read people. If only you could have learned to do that earlier you would not be wearing the red."

" Then you have taught me well. I must go or my meeting with the superior will be longer then it needs to be."

I began to walk away when a hand came down on my shoulder. I flinched at the contact and turned to see Christina looking at me with a look of sympathy.

" I did not mean that to sound rude, sorry, and about the mission it was not your fault. They should know better then assigning a red to this case. I can talk to someone and maybe get you reassigned."

I shook my head and replied, " No, this has been the first chance in a long time I have been assigned to the human world. Who knows when I will ever get this chance again? I love their world so much and I will do anything to go back even if it means dealing with Incubo."

She flinched at the name. Incubo and the other demons hardly ever had their names spoken allowed but Incubo and I had a long lasting feud. I deserved to speak his name.

" I must go I don't have much time to waste."

And with that I walked on.

The superior's office was a small room. The only thing in the room was a small desk that seemed to be made out of the sun's rays. On the desk was a newspaper from the human world. This particular paper had a very familiar headline.

In a quick flash of light he appeared. His beautiful wings were spread out before me. His face reflected a look of disappointment, which I knew was coming. The superior's face was hard to make since of. Due to him being a full-fledged angel he was nearly beyond description. The easiest way to describe him was having perfect blonde ringlet curls, elfish upturned features, and a perfectly chiseled face. His body type was even harder to describe due to the baggy white robe he wore.

I knew I was in trouble before he even started speaking.

"Jacklyn Radcliffe, We had you perfectly lined up to stop Incubo but you had to get side tracked."

"Are you kidding me? I mean really. I got information on the chosen who was supposed to help me. I had no idea Incubo would have enough strength to murder Mrs. Nickels. Last time he returned he had hardly any strength. I admit he hid very well till he recovered his strength but I guess I never suspected him to disguise himself as the shoemaker because he usually wears a beautiful face. Facing Incubo is hard enough for me already and I am doing everything in my power to stop him."

"I know how hard you work Jacklyn but you can't go around wandering when you have direct orders to follow. It was great that you found the chosen but you disobeyed direct orders. Due to this mistake we have completely lost our lead on Incubo."

" I am sorry, I really am, but I have never heard of an elect exterminating a demon without the chosen."

" That's why we chose you dear. You are the best suited to do this. Your skills alone and with a chosen is unmatched by any of our other exterminators. This time Incubo is returning with almost all of his strength. You were lucky to find the chosen as fast as you did, but you had a chance to destroy him while he was weak. With blood spilt his power has grown profusely.

He sighed and then said. "This is your second strike dear. I know a way to help you no lose this chance but you will have to sacrifice much."

" I will do anything I have to do to become an angel. To have another chance live would fulfill all I have ever hoped."

" I have decided to let you stay in the mortal realm until Incubo is stopped. By accepting this you will lose all contact with the realm between. You will also lose your immortality, even if wounded in combat. You will be weak to all that humans are weak to and you will lose the complete control you have over your emotions. You will have a time limit as well. I shall only grant you three months to live like this. Nothing more, nothing less. Your senses will be dulled to that of a human's but a bit enhanced. Your strength and endurance will rely on the nourishment of the humans as well. This job will be the hardest you have ever taken on. I must ask you dear, are you ready to except this?"

Author's note: Wow, so many reviews. I was not expecting this. I feel so loved. I really hoped you all liked this chapter. I must give a really big thanks to ThawMyFrozenHeart who not only supporting my story, but also got me some more followers. I could not thank you enough. I would also like to give a big thanks to MarkTheTinyGiraffe who has become my beta reader for this story. She really helps me improve my story tenfold. Note I have loads of problems with spelling and grammar so having a peer review my work is really helpful. Below I will answer any questions and concerns for the story and respond to your reviews. Oh and if you are really interested in the story check out the website in my profile.

ConcealDontFeel: Thanks so much. Stay tuned for more.

Guest: Thanks I wanted his attacker to be female because I believe women are just as capable as men. I am also a very independent young woman and I like girls portrayed strong and able to fight for themselves.

Guest: The story of Williams past will all come together in a pretty bow just stick with me.

Guest: I am glad you are interested. ThawMyFrozenHeart is really awesome and I am stoked that you took her advice. Thanks so much for checking my story out and I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

MarkTheTinyGiraffe: I must thank you so much for your advice. Thanks so much for letting me know because sometimes I am so busy I forget to look the chapter over. I am honored to have you as my beta reader. FYI I sent you my redo of chapter 2 and I was wondering if you received it. Also, if the whole beta reader thing proves too stressful or time consuming let me know. I feel like I am over burdening you and I hate taking advantage of people. I am releasing this without sending it to because I don't know if you got my other chapter and I don't want to keep sending my chapters away with no idea where they are going so yeah.

ThawMyFrozenHeart: I am really glad you are so in to this story. I have so much planned for this story that I hope you will enjoy. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and for recommending my story to others. You don't know how much that means to me.

Thank you all for everything and beware the shadows.