Blindfolded

Eight

"Oh come on, Tommy," Christine said, pouting and leaning forward, playing with the older boy's hair. He seemed to be uninterested. "Just this one little favor. We'll leave you alone after this."

"Why couldn't you bother Virginia?" Tommy asked, his voice on the edge of monotone. He was a very attractive person. Most of the AoD's were. It was how people wanted them to be. But he was lacking in the personality area.

"Why would we bother Virginia? She isn't half as good as you are. I mean, you've been here so much longer, you deserve more thought than she does."

Tommy looked down at Christine, who was trying her best to call back her skills she had once had back on Earth. He looked back at the large book behind him, bound in a darker leather than the book in the Guardian section was.

While the book the Guardians used showed who was alive and where they were, the book of the AoD's showed who had died and where they were supposed to go or be.

Tommy sighed and turned, Christine clapping her hands and laughing as he walked to the book. Tommy was the third AoD they had tried. Leann had tried her best to convince Virginia, a beautiful but older woman who was more strict than half of their teachers and principals put together.

Julie had tried convincing Ruth, the youngest AoD at fifteen years old, but Ruth took one look at her and said no. Turns out she was the one that was supposed to get Paul the day that she, Johnny and Dallas had saved him.

Bobby and Johnny had tried to double-team Kenneth, one of the few AoD's with a personality, but he told them to fuck off and disappeared.

"She's already in heaven. Virginia brought her there. I can go and get her, but it may cause some problems. She's still going through processing. Probably doesn't even have her place yet."

"Oh..." Christine said sadly. She was distracted for a moment however, as one of Tommy's wings momentarily flared out, probably from him stretching it. Guardian Angels had wings, but they were smaller and almost translucent. Tommy watched her carefully, probably noting her own small wings.

"Why are you doing this?" Tommy asked suddenly.

"Well... we want to see someone again."

"That's all? There's no other admirable reason?"

"Well, not really."

"... I'll go get her, but she can't stay long. When I say she has to go, she has to go. Understand?"

"Yes!"

xxxx

"Lillian, can I talk you?" Jennifer asked, peeking into her cousin's bedroom. Lillian looked up from her book, surprised, but she nodded and set the book aside.

"Sure Jen."

Jennifer sighed and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the desk and white wicker chair and sat down. "I've been... experiencing weird things."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well... you know all of those psychics and stuff, that tell you that they can talk to the dead and stuff? And then all those weirdos that say they see ghosts or things that have already happened?"

"Yeah," Lillian said carefully, guessing what her cousin was getting too, but not saying anything.

"I'm one of those weirdos."

"Nice try Jen."

"I'm serious!" Jennifer cried angrily. "I'm seeing things that I don't want to be seeing! I can't look out on the street without seeing someone dying! I even hear people dying! Why the hell would I lie about something like this?"

"I-I just thought... I mean, you have a history for telling ghost stories Jen..." Lillian said, concern on her face. "Look, when did it start."

"...A few days ago. Maybe two or three."

"And you have no idea why?"

"Oh, no, I have an idea about why it's happening, but I just needed to tell someone. It's hard, ya know? Like... I mean, I keep seeing all of this bad stuff. It's not always people dying. Sometimes it's people that were lost, like little kids. I tried helping one until people were giving me weird looks. That's when I realized she hadn't really been there.

"She had already gotten lost a long time ago. Maybe even died..." Jennifer explained.

"And... you said you know why it's happening?" Lillian asked. "Maybe we can get rid of it."

"Well, I dunno... I mean-"

"Why is it happening?"

"You'd never believe me."

"Try me."

"I know you won't."

"Well, think of something to prove it to me."

Jennifer sat for a moment, leaning back in the uncomfortable wicker chair as her cousin waited patiently on her bed. Finally, Jennifer pulled off the necklace she was wearing.

"Don't scream, okay?"

"...Okay."

xxxx

Johnny watched as Christine sighed loudly and laid down on the grass, covering her eyes with her arm.

"What's taking so long?" Julie asked impatiently. Dallas glanced at her and tossed another cigarette on the ground. Johnny counted that as the fifth one.

"Dunno. Maybe good ol' Thomas got held up."

"Or he had to get someone else," Leann suggested. "That could take-"

"A very long time. Which is why we should just go do our jobs," Bobby said, trying again in vain to get them to give up.

"Don't got one," the five others chorused.

"What? How can you expect to keep your place here if you don't do your jobs? At this rate, you'll be losing points, maybe even going into negatives and then you'll never get into heaven and-"

"So, I'm gonna go to Hell? Hey, Johnny, you owe me five bucks," Dallas said pointing to Johnny with a smirk on his face. Johnny grinned and hit him in the arm.

"This isn't a joke Dallas," Bobby said, a bit upset.

"Yeah? You should be more worried about yourself there, Bobby boy. From what I heard, you've actually killed people."

Bobby glared at him, the color draining from his face momentarily.

"The only similarity 'tween you and me is the fact that we both caused our own deaths. It ain't gettin' any better than that. You're still workin' 'cause you have to. Hell, you'll be workin' longer than I ever would. And if I'm right, we've all worked off our debts," Dallas said, moving his finger in a circular motion to include the four laying around. "We're here 'cause we chose to be."

"Dallas-"

"Bobby... don't," Leann said, rolling over onto her stomach on her place on the ground. "He's like that to everyone. Once he finds out somethin' he'll use it."

"Yeah, he called me a retard for falling off a cliff," Julie said disdainfully.

"That is retarded though," Dallas said, trying to convince the others.

"Yeah? So is pullin' a gun on the cops, ya jack ass," Julie snapped. Dallas frowned and pulled out another cigarette. Christine snorted, her grin clearly visible and her eyes still covered.

"Shut up Chrissy."

"I'm not-" But Christine stopped herself.

"Hey, that Tommy?" Johnny asked, squinting at the far side of the field.

"I dunno, is he holding someone's hand? Those AoD's are always doin' that," Dallas muttered, lighting the cigarette and placing it between his lips.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then it ain't him."

"I heard that Dallas and we are not always holding someone's hand," Tommy said bitterly, glaring down at him. "I have done your favor, the least you could do is be courteous."

"Yeah? I don't see the favor," Dallas said, flicking the ashes of his cigarette on the ground.

"That's because she insisted on hiding," Tommy said, rolling her eyes. "I'm afraid she's a bit... unlike herself. She's not all the way here. She may act like a child."

"You mean more than before."

Tommy sighed. "Yes, Dallas, more than before."

Giggling. Lots of giggling. And a girl was peeking around Tommy's wing a moment later, before disappearing and giggling again.

"A lot more. It seems I caught her at the beginning of her transition. She may not even remember who you are. The memories take a while, since, once in heaven, you have to understand your life, you have to understand your memories too. Whether she reached the memories of you are doubtful."

"Well, we'll see won't we, if she'd come out."

Tommy frowned and stepped to the side, but she followed. A few more tries of this and Tommy finally turned around and dragged the girl out from behind him.

"That's no fair," she pouted.

Dallas however nearly choked on his cigarette. The girl in front of him was only about ten years old.

"Are you sure that's her?"

"I'm positive. Go ahead Alice, tell him what you told me."

"Hi! My name is Alice Lilian Tate and I'm eight years old," she said, holding up eight fingers. "I live in Chicago, Illinois with my brother, mom and dad at 217 North Briar Street It's a house with a red door. My favorite color is green and I wish I had a dog," she finished with a grin. "I got an A on that."

"...Are you serious? You caught her when she was eight years old?"

"Well, since her death wasn't sudden as all of yours were... she has time to get settled in and remember things... when they are still fresh in her mind," Tommy explained. "The transition shouldn't take to long. She may even be going through it as I'm speaking, but... who knows."

"I can not believe it... that's the girl I went drinking with?" Julie asked, looking at the young Alice in disbelief.

"What's your name?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Er... Alice, I'm Julie, remember?"

"Nope."

Dallas sighed and tossed his cigarette away, before walking over to Alice. He looked down at her and she looked up at him.

"Do you even know where you are?"

"I'm dead."

"Well, she knows more than her name and address at least," Christine said, looking at Alice with a smile. "I remember when she rattled that off to the class. Everyone got an A on that."

Dallas kneeled down and looked Alice in the eye and she patiently looked back at him, interest evident in her eyes. Tommy took a few steps back, taking note of the fact that he really didn't belong there.

"So you forgot about me already huh?"

"I guess so."

"You remember this?" Dally asked, reaching into his shirt and pulling out his St. Christopher medal.

"Dallas," Tommy warned. "You don't want to spur her memories out of order."

"The hell I do," Dally muttered, holding it up for Alice to see. Alice carefully held it in the palm of her hand, studying it.

"That's St. Christopher... my brother and I had one..." Alice said quietly. Dally could see the transition already, the slow change from her eight year old body to the next one. She stared at it for a while longer, before a look of realization crossed her face.

"Dallas."

The others backed up as a faint crackling could be heard, the hairs on their arms standing up.

"Dallas, I'm only going to warn you once more, if you do this, she won't be able to rest."

"Dally, maybe you should listen to Tommy," Leann said, as Alice herself became translucent. "We should wait."

"You kept your promise," Alice said with a smile, her body changing rapidly. When it finally finished changing, a sixteen year old Alice was kneeling on the ground in front of Dally, holding the necklace. "I can't believe it... twenty years and you kept your promise."

"Hey, so did you," Dally pointed out as Alice leaned forward and hugged him.

She sighed, happily. "It's nice... to be able to feel someone else again," she said wistfully, her fingers running through his hair. "It feels like forever since you've made human contact, once you've died..."

xxxx

Lillian sat on the bed, waiting, though her patience was leading to annoyance.

"What the hell do you want this time?"

Lillian squeaked, covering her mouth and nearly falling off the bed. A tall, angry looking boy with bright blonde hair was standing on the side of her bed, glaring down at Jennifer.

"Lillian; Dallas, the Guardian Angel. Dallas; Lillian, my cousin."

Dallas looked over at her and nodded, before looking back at Jennifer. "Is there any other pointless thing you wanted? I was talkin' to someone I hadn't seen in a while when you called."

"I need you to explain what's happening to me."

"How is that important?"

"Dally. Please."

"Fine, but you ain't gonna get it."

xxxx

'Dallas was right. I didn't get it and neither did Lillian, but at least she believes me now. After he left, she looked at me, her eyes wide and said, 'Holy shit...' I laughed. She really isn't one to swear. Her mom kind of frowns on it.

'She brought up, like so many other people did, that I looked a bit like Dallas. I just rolled my eyes and walked out of her room. I didn't really need to hear that at the moment.'