Eve shrugged off her backpack once she set foot inside her house. It had been a long, boring Monday at school and she was in no mood for homework now. She'd leave that for later, right now all she wanted was to grab some kind of junk food snack and watch TV.
She went into the kitchen to find Jay and Silent Bob already pulling a fridge raid. Eve frowned and could only watch as they did an inventory of their little feast.
Jay and Silent Bob had their backs to her and didn't notice her irritation.
"Ok, we got us some coco puffs, Cheetos, Doritos, pop-tarts, cupcakes, left over spaghetti-"
"Not to mention the kitchen sink." Eve remarked.
Both Jay and Bob jumped and turned to face her, fists raised. Eve rolled her eyes.
"Yeah right, like you're gonna fight me."
The guys relaxed and as usual, Jay was the first to say something. "Hey, you're lucky you haven't seen me in action. I'm like a motherfuckin' ninja on steroids-"
Bob punched him in the arm for his language.
"Ow, what?!"
Bob gestured to Eve.
Jay rolled his eyes. "Man, will you get off that? She ain't a damn baby no more, she goes to high school."
"He's got a point." Eve said as she grabbed a pack of pop-tarts.
Bob shook his head and followed them to the living room.
"Ok, what we watchin'?" Jay asked as he opened the TV guide.
"I want to watch Oprah." Eve said sarcastically.
"Hell no, we're watchin' Star Wars." Jay said as he took up the remote.
Eve rolled her eyes. She didn't know why her mom put up with them, but they were like her adopted big brothers and she loved them.
When she was little she had her first crush on Jay. Bob had helped her learn how to ride a bike with no training wheels. They had taught her all they knew about cool music and movies. They were an oddball pair of guys, but they sure made the day interesting.
Together, the three of them watched Return of the Jedi and stuffed themselves full of sugary junk food. It was a good way to cancel out the boring day she had been having at school.
As much fun as she always had with them, she was never a big fan of Star Wars. "I'm gonna go upstairs and do my homework." She lied.
"You're lying." Bob said absently as he watched Luke get his hand sliced off by Vader.
She turned to him and shrugged. "You're right, I am."
"Keep up the good work." He smiled back.
Eve got up off the couch and brought her backpack upstairs with her.
She liked being alone in her room, especially since she had redecorated it in pretty tones of pink and yellow. She had a dream one night and just decided that she had to redecorate-it was powerful inspiration and had worked on her like a charm. Now her room was the envy of all her friends.
Eve set her backpack down on the floor and flopped onto her bed. She turned on the radio and hummed along to a few of the songs when she heard the squeal of tires and an engine cut out.
Frowning, Eve went to the window, expecting to see Josh, her friend from school who'd just gotten a new Mustang GT and loved to show it off. She saw her mother instead. Eve watched as Bethany practically ran up the steps and stop short.
Bethany stood still for a moment, only moving her head and eyes. Then Bethany looked up at Eve, who naturally waved and smiled.
Then Bethany fainted.
"Mom!" Eve cried.
She rushed downstairs. "Guys, something's wrong with mom!"
"What? What happened?" Jay asked.
They both stood up at Eve's panic. "I don't know, I don't know, I mean she just looked at me-"
Bob asked calmly, "Eve, slow down, tell us what happened."
Eve took a deep breath and said quickly, "Mom just fainted in the front yard."
Jay rushed outside and found Bethany on the sidewalk, just as Eve had said. He cradled her face and felt for a pulse. He couldn't feel one.
"Bob, call 911!" he shouted.
Eve gasped and felt dizzy. Bob ran into the kitchen and she could hear him talking to someone one the other line. Eve couldn't move from where she was standing in the living room, watching as Jay was trying CPR on her mother-and nothing was happening.
As the mortals tried to help Bethany, Metatron and Reaper could only look on. Metatron felt horrible. After Reaper had told him of Bethany's fate-a heart attack-nearly 13 years ago, he knew that she was living on borrowed time. He didn't tell Bethany about it, he had promised Reaper that he wouldn't, but he couldn't let her die before saying goodbye to Eve.
He had even fought Reaper to give Bethany the extra half hour-but to no avail. Reaper, the death angel, was able to outwit him and escape his grasp. She had killed Bethany in her own front yard, and in plain view of her daughter no less.
Reaper watched as Jay tried again and again to get Bethany to breathe. "Doesn't he understand that it's futile?"
"He's a human, they rarely stop trying even when they know something is hopeless." Metatron said tiredly. Reaper did not understand humans the way he did, he often had to explain such things to her.
"He's a fool." Reaper said, her crimson eyes focused on Jay.
The paramedics pulled up beside Bethany's car, and rushed over to her. Jay backed away and let them do their job. Bob and Eve had come outside and Jay joined them. Eve was crying, while Bob had put his arms around her to keep her from running over to Bethany. Jay was pacing in frustration and cursing up a storm.
Metatron didn't want them to see him, they'd only plead with him to bring her back to life-a power he did not possess-and he'd prove only more useless. Bethany was right about what she'd said to him, he was a liar and a useless angel.
Reaper put a hand on his shoulder. "It was out of your hands, Metatron. It was her time. But I'm sorry, I know the mortal was...special to you." She said, somewhat bitterly.
Metatron clasped his hand over hers. "You were just doing your job, it's not your fault."
"Are you going to greet her?"
Metatron looked at Eve, the girl was screaming and crying. Bob and Jay were almost equally upset. The paramedics pulled a sheet over Bethany's face and recorded the time of death.
It was over.
"I'm of no use here, I'm going back." He said.
Metatron disappeared and the Reaper was left alone in the front yard of the last remaining scion, Eve Sloane. Reaper-still completely invisible-wanted a closer look at the child Metatron had supposedly "fathered" over 15 years ago.
Eve had dropped to her knees, crying hysterically on the grass as Bob tried to comfort her any way he could. He was silent-there was nothing anyone could say to make it better- he just let her cry on his shoulder.
Poor child, but it was Bethany's time.
Reaper's purpose was to know the exact location and time of death for every mortal being on the planet. She knew Bethany's fate even before Bethany had been born. Bethany was meant to die of a heart attack outside the hospital, but Metatron had interfered-fighting Reaper to give Bethany the chance to say goodbye to her daughter.
The Collector had no choice but to kill Bethany where she stood, it was meant to be. Metatron's interference had complicated the whole ordeal, twisting the situation so that Eve had to watch her mother die.
It wasn't his fault, Metatron didn't realize the consequences of his action-but it was too late to change it now. One way or another, Bethany was meant to die.
Jay was still screaming curses up and down the spectrum and pounding the ground with his fists. Bob was crying silently as he tried to help Eve.
Reaper leaned against the tree and watched the humans carry on for a few more minutes. She didn't like watching them react to Bethany's death like this. Reaper had rarely seen the effects of her work-screaming children and friends-and it made her feel...guilty, horribly guilty.
She went inside the house and poked around a bit. The television was still on, the credits of their movie scrolling on the screen while the coffee table in front of the couch was littered with snack cake wrappers and three empty soda cans.
There were photos on the walls of Bethany, Eve, Jay and Silent Bob. Reaper was interested in the mortal items, and went up the stairs to see what else there was. She opened the first door-Eve's room.
The room was pretty and feminine-pinks and yellows colored the walls, curtains and bedcovers. The room looked like pink lemonade. Reaper sat on Eve's bed and tried to imagine what being a human would be like.
She picked up Eve's math textbook and frowned. So boring, so conformist! Reaper tossed the textbook on the floor and began to poke around in Eve's other interesting things.
Eve had a collection of stuffed animals and trinkets; she had a lovely assortment of jewelry and kept a journal. Reaper didn't care to read it; she didn't have any interest of Eve's secret crush but she was interested in the framed photos that were on the nightstand beside Eve's bed.
There were four pictures: one was of Eve when she was still a very small baby, probably not even a year old yet. Metatron was in the photo-thankfully he'd had the sense to appear human in the shot. He was cuddling Eve in one photo, kissing her cheek in another, and holding her up in the third. The fourth picture was at a birthday party.
Reaper remembered the day the photo was taken, it was Eve's second birthday. The last day that Metatron could let himself be seen by Eve. He was upset at that rule, he had missed her so much, and Eve was no better, she had cried and begged Bethany to bring 'Melaron' back; thankfully, her baby's attention span wasn't so great, after two months she had forgotten all about him.
Metatron was even more upset about that.
Reaper looked out the window to see Jay, Bob and Eve all get into Jay's car and drive away. Probably to the hospital to find out what had happened to Bethany. She smirked-it was a heart attack, plain and simple. No evidence of holy foul play. It was just her time.
Speaking of which, it was time to go. Bethany was in Heaven now, and no doubt she'd be a more than a little angry at Metatron. Reaper just hoped she could help smooth things over.
Darkness had settled in, a deep, calm peace. Bethany remembered seeing Eve smile down at her from the bedroom window, then nothing. She had felt dizzy, like the room was spinning, she had heard a soft thumping sound slowly fade away. Then all was silent.
Gradually, the world came back to her. Bethany moved her fingers, her arms. From what she could feel, she knew she was lying on the ground outside. Her face felt warmed from the sun, and the grass underneath her was itchy.
Bethany opened her eyes.
Four faces hovered above hers.
"Agh!" Bethany yelped. The four people backed up and give her some room. Bethany quickly got to her feet and turned to look at them. She knew who they were, but her mind was still struggling to catch up with the rest of her.
"Ru-ru-"
"You forgot me? I can't believe this man, after all we went through!" The apostle cried.
"You have not been forgotten, apostle. The moral's mind is slow." Said one of the women. Her voice had a sibilant hiss to it, making her sound more like a snake than a human.
Bethany closed her eyes tight and put a hand to her temple as she stumbled back, trying to make sense of what she was experiencing.
Four people...
Two men, two women...An apostle, a muse, two angels...
"Her mind isn't slow, Reaper, she's just disoriented. We've seen this a million times before, if you'd stick around to greet the ones you collect then maybe you'd know that." The other woman said sassily.
Bethany finally felt herself begin to normalize, slowly the earth stopped spinning. Bethany opened her eyes and looked up.
Rufus, the 13th apostle stood before her. "You alright Bethany?" he asked. Concern was evident in his dark brown eyes and his voice. Bethany looked over his shoulder, where Serendipity the muse was waiting patiently.
They looked the same, save for the clothes. Both Rufus and Serendipity were in white robes-gone were her chunky boots and his long green coat-they looked like true heavenly beings.
Behind Serendipity were the two angels, Metatron and Reaper, both of them in their seraphim forms. Bethany instantly backed away once she laid eyes on the dark angel.
"Do not fear me, I cannot kill you twice." Reaper said.
Metatron knew she was attempting some mortal humor, but Bethany took it as an insult.
"You killed me?"
"I did." Reaper said calmly.
"Then I'm..."
"Dead, yes. But it ain't so bad, Bethany, I mean you're in Heaven, look around." Rufus said cheerily.
Bethany did turn around to see. It was as beautiful as anyone could've imagined. Plains of soft green grass, trees and plants of every species were in bloom, and there were multitudes of animals with other angels and humans all over the vast expanse.
But it wasn't enough.
Bethany turned back around to the angels. "Where's Eve?"
"With the ones the Voice deemed worthy of the title 'prophet'. Obviously I disagree." Reaper hissed.
"Show me." Bethany said.
Metatron finally spoke up. "Bethany, I don't think that's-"
"Show her to me!" Bethany cried out.
Metatron didn't want to argue with Bethany or deny her what she wanted. He owed her the world; he wanted to start making it up to her as soon as he could. He said nothing, only made a motion in the air.
A window appeared in the air between them. Bethany looked into it and saw Eve, Jay and Bob in some kind of waiting room. Eve was still crying while Bob rubbed her back, while tears streaking down his own face. Jay was pacing up and down the length of the room, cursing all the while.
"What are they doing?" Bethany asked.
Metatron started to say something, but Reaper cut him off. "They're waiting for the results of your autopsy."
"Autopsy? What?" Bethany asked. Her eyes never left the window that hovered in the air.
"It is formal procedure to have an autopsy to determine the cause of death." Reaper said.
"I...how did I die?"
"A heart attack."
"I saw her." Bethany said as the first tears spilled over her cheeks.
"What?"
"I saw Eve when you touched me...that means she saw the whole thing. She saw me die." Bethany sobbed as she reached out to the image in the window of her crying daughter.
The image blurred and then quickly faded away at the touch of Bethany's fingers. She looked past Reaper and locked eyes with Metatron. "How could you?" she asked.
"I didn't-"
"How could you do this? How could you do this to me? To Eve? You've known all along and didn't say anything. You've been lying to us for years." Bethany declared, her voice tight with cold rage.
"Bethany, I-"
"Take me back!" she cried as the tears spilled down her face. "Bring me back to life, do it! Do it now! Do it for Eve!"
Serendipity spoke up from the sidelines. "He can't."
"What?"
"Angels can't bring people back to life. You'll have to go to the woman Herself for that." The muse told her.
"How do I do that?" Bethany asked her.
"You can't." Metatron said quietly.
"What? Why?"
"God does not speak to the mortals, even after they have died. The voice is still so powerful that it could bring about a very final-and not to mention a very messy-end for the human." Reaper explained to her.
"I'm stuck here?"
"No human has ever been brought back, Bethany." Metatron said softly.
Bethany wiped her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to accept what they were telling her.
"Metatron, could you do me a favor?"
The angel immediately stepped forward and knelt down before her. Metatron knew that everything she had said about him was true. He had known for over a decade that Bethany was the one Reaper had warned him about-she was the one to die, not Eve.
Metatron bowed his head and his wings in a show of his desire for forgiveness from her. "Yes, Bethany, anything."
"Go to Hell."
"What?"
"You heard me. I don't ever want to see you again." Bethany said coldly.
Metatron stood up and looked into her eyes. They shone with tears and anger. Bethany had died because he did nothing to warn her, Eve was forced to watch her own mother die because he had failed to stop Reaper in time.
It was all his fault, Bethany was right.
"As you wish." He said quietly.
"What? Metatron, no!" Reaper cried out. "You've done enough for this mortal, you cannot allow yourself to accept her commands over you now!"
"I've done nothing for this mortal, Reaper. That's the problem. I owe Bethany the world, and I'll start here and now." Metatron said.
"No, Metatron, don't leave-" Reaper didn't bother to finish her sentence, as he disappeared before their eyes.
"Bethany, that was a little harsh," Rufus said carefully. He tried to calm and put a hand on her shoulder, but Bethany shrugged it off.
"He deserves it for what he did." Bethany said as she stormed off.
"If I could I'd kill her all over again." Reaper hissed.
"She just needs some time, she'll be fine. She doesn't really hate him, she's just angry." Serendipity said.
"Damn mortals. Who does this one think she is? No other mortal would dare speak to a seraphim with such disrespect." Reaper's crimson eyes nearly glowed with anger.
"Where d'you think he went?" Rufus asked Serendipity.
"Back to the scene of the crime, of course. Where else would he be?" she replied.
The day had passed by, night had fallen over Leonardo, New Jersey and nearly all was peaceful. Jay and Bob had elected to take care of Eve; but there was nothing they could do. Eve had locked herself in her room.
Jay was too wound up to stay in the house and was no doubt off getting drunk somewhere. Bob was at the kitchen table, staring off into space while trying not to cry. He couldn't be bursting into tears anymore, he had to be strong for Eve now.
Metatron passed Bob on his way towards the stairs. He had cloaked his presence from him, Metatron didn't want to be berated for his failure anymore. He was exhausted emotionally and felt helpless.
He passed the kitchen and went upstairs, walking through Eve's bedroom door and took a look around. After he said goodbye to her on her second birthday he had only checked in with Bethany occasionally. Never when Eve was around and only once every six months.
So this is what that little two year old he remembered had grown into.
Eve was sprawled on the bed, her pillow soaked through with tears. She was a little taller than he'd expected, almost as tall as Bethany. She had long dark hair and brown eyes. Though it was well past midnight, Eve didn't look like she would be sleeping anytime soon.
Metatron ached with a desire to lift the veil he'd created and reveal himself to her, but that would only scare Eve out of her wits. She didn't need that, so he simply stood over her and watched as she cried.
It killed him to watch this, so he leaned over her and put his hand on her back. Almost immediately her eyes fluttered and then closed. He'd put her to sleep.
The photos of him she'd kept on the nightstand were shattered. Eve had had a tantrum once she'd come back from the hospital and had thrown them across her room. Many of her stuffed animals had been ripped apart and her schoolbooks were missing pages. She had collapsed in the center of all the chaos she'd created.
Metatron kneeled down and mended the shattered glass of the frames. As he looked over the photos of he and Eve, a thought came to him, an idea so powerful it was like a bolt of lightening.
He went over to Eve's bed again and whispered, "Don't worry little girl, I promise I'm going to make this right."
Metatron disappeared, with only one thought on his mind: he had to find Reaper. Despite their differing opinions on the present situation, they were still friends.
And friends do their friends favors.