Disclaimer: Still don't own it
The Reaper was starting to get on my nerves.
Of course I would never tell him this since making him angry was detrimental to my situation and I couldn't take the risk this close to the end.
I was always curious to know if he was watching me all the time or it was just a coincidence that he kept appearing when I was alone. He never seemed to change appearance and I wondered if he was like that all the time; wearing such casual clothing despite what he was. I also wanted to know if there was more like them; from our brief conversations, I got the impression that there were more like him out there. I was tempted to ask but I doubted that he would give me a straight answer.
"Are you watching me?" I asked him as we kept walking down the street; more out of curiosity than anything else.
"If I was, would it matter?" he asked me back in that annoying tone of his. It wasn't unfriendly but an innocent kind of thing that seemed to rub me the wrong way.
"It would matter to me; I am running blind right now," I said as I stopped to stare at him, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.
"Looks like you are handling everything quite fine to me; there is even a well thought out plan to resolve things that I have to admit is impressive," the Reaper said and it almost seemed like he was complimenting me.
"Because I had to step up and do something; you hung me out to dry without so much as a clue on what to do," I argued as we stood out in the middle of the street. Since it was so late out, there weren't any pedestrians or cars out.
"That is because I knew that you could handle it; you are a very intelligent woman Mona and I had faith that you would figure out what to do on your own," he countered, keeping his voice level while I had raised mine.
"You had faith in me?" I asked, more confused than anything else. Only my mother had expressed any faith in me while others had abandoned me.
"If I didn't; you would be in a much worse situation. That is the only reason why it was permitted for you to try and fix this mess," the Reaper told me as he became more serious.
"You keep saying that; is me being dead that bad?" I inquired since I was really dying to know what was going on behind the scenes; no pun intended.
"Yes; it meant that someone was asleep at the wheel. Don't ask why because it is complicated," he answered and I got the sense that it really was complicated.
"So why are you here now? If I have a great plan, what is the point of you being here and conversing with me?" I asked, not seeing the point of his visit if I wasn't going to learn anything new right now.
"Because it was decided that you did need help in one area that you and your friends could not accomplish; thus my surprise visit," answered the Reaper as he smiled at me and I was curious on what he meant.
We were suddenly transported from the street to a new location and it took me only a second to realize where we were. My first instinct was to run and run fast since I didn't want to be here; I couldn't be here. I was starting to panic because the last time I had been in this house, I had remembered the way I had to die. It wasn't that which bothered me but the fact the person I wanted to avoid was sitting in the chair in front of me. The last time I had seen my mother was a fluke; this time, I had been brought to her.
"Why are we here? There is no reason for it," I told the Reaper as the panic began to creep into my voice.
"Yes there is; while the situation with A is the primary reason why you are still here, there is still the unresolved issue you have with your mother. The fact of the matter is that you need closure before you can pass on," the Reaper said and I could only stare at him as words failed me.
"You're scaring the girl; knock it off," said a new voice from behind me. Startled, I turned around to see a third figure in the room.
At first it seemed that we had been joined by another person; maybe another Reaper but that didn't fit his demeanor. Appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent, he wore a pure white suit that looked casual but official as well; I had to admit it looked rather fashionable though I wouldn't be caught dead in it. He was tall, had brownish hair, blue eyes, and teeth that had to be the cleanest I have ever seen on a person. While I never really felt anything coming from the Reaper, there was aura of light and power coming from this new person.
"Well it's about time; I thought I would have to do this solo," said my Reaper to the newcomer and he sounded irritated.
"I've been watching and things seemed to be handled pretty well so far," said the mysterious visitor casually.
"Pretty well? It is lucky that Mona here has a sense of common intelligence or we would really have a problem right now," objected the Reaper, now very annoyed.
"There is a plan for everything," was all the guy said and that caused me to be a bit more confused than I already was. Despite the situation, it was amusing that the three of us were standing in the front room of my house while my mother was reading a book, completely unaware we were here.
"Wait; I thought I was an accident?" I asked, not sure what to make of what the visitor said.
"You were; our Angel here is referring to the Grand Design," the Reaper answered and I looked over at the Angel because truthfully, he didn't look like one.
"You're an Angel?" I inquired as I studied the man; if he was one, it's not what I was expecting given the amount of stuff out there about them.
"Yes; my appearance though is to fit your sense of sight so that I can to what I need to do. My name is Benny," he answered and I was taken aback by the simplistic of his name.
"Benny?" I stated with disbelief evident in my voice.
"Yes; short for Benjamin," the Angel said and smiled; I noticed that he was a little more calming than the Reaper.
"Well since you are better at this than I am; I will take this moment to bug out until the appointed time. Chow." and the Reaper was gone in a blink of an eye.
"I don't understand what is going on; he said that I need to resolve things with my Mother but I am not seeing the point," I stated and Benny just smiled at me.
"The tragic thing here Mona is that your death was not supposed to happen. Your mother has been praying for quite a while now for emotional relief and I am here to grant her prayers as well as help you at the same time," the Angel informed me and just looked at him; not really seeing what this had to do with me.
"I am glad that you are here for my mother but I am fine," I said; a slight lie that I hoped he wouldn't see. Unfortunately, this was a real Angel and he saw right through it.
"No you are not; you have a tremendous amount of guilt that needs to be cleared before you are able to move on," Benny said quite seriously.
"Why shouldn't I feel guilty? This is my entire fault," I said and I fully believed that. I felt that my Mother's and Mike's suffering were the result of my actions.
"It is true that you share some of the blame but that lies more in the fault of your murderers than you completely. You need to not only forgive yourself, but to help your mother do the same as well," Benny said and I was once again confused.
"My mother doesn't have to feel guilty about anything; it was because of my actions that I died," I stated, looking over at her and not understand why my mother felt any guilt about what happened to me.
"Your mother feels guilty because she knew that you needed to be free of Rosewood; that because you convinced her to stay, she missed the opportunity to have you escape your fate," the Angel informed me and I began to understand now.
"But as I said before; that is my fault, not hers," I countered, becoming agitated with the Angel as well as my mother. I could not understand why they didn't understand that.
"But she was your mother; she was the one who birthed you, raised you, taught you, and ultimately failed to protect you. Leona Vanderwaal feels that she failed you and that your death is more her fault than yours," he said and I became angry.
"Because of my actions, not hers. I did this; I did all of this and it is because of me that I am dead and gone. She didn't fail me, I failed her," I practically yelled at him, knowing that it might have been a bad idea to scream at a divine being such as he.
"Actually, Alison DiLaurentis and her sister are responsible for all of this as well as others. The blame for all of this resides in all the people involved; not just a single individual such as yourself," the Angel argued and what he said made some sense.
"But my death has escalated all of this; if I hadn't become involved with Mike or taken my meds like I was supposed to, then things would have been different," I countered; arguing with the Angel even though I did have some understanding that he was right.
"No; you are quite wrong Mona about that fact. Things keep getting worse because your friends choose to keep all of this a secret even though more and more people keep dying. It's because of their secrets that things have gotten this bad. If they had gone to the police sooner then maybe a few more would still be alive," Benny countered back and I had to admit that I was slightly unnerved on how polite he was.
"But with all that I did, I am still in the wrong," I stated and the Angel nodded as if he agreed with me.
"Yes you are but you are not damned; you never killed anyone and had the potential to be redeemed. In fact, you still have a chance at a peaceful eternity depending on how things get resolved as well as your future actions," Benny said and I was curious on what he meant.
"What do you mean by my future actions? I can't exactly hurt anyone as a ghost," I said though I knew that I could affect the environment around me.
"Yes you can you know it; you're little escapade in the pool was noticed and you would have gotten into trouble if something had happened," Benny said and I felt guilty because of the way he chided me about it.
"So there is a chance that I could kill Alison or Courtney out of anger; even as a ghost," I said, more as a statement than a question. The Angel nodded anyways and I was starting to understand why Caleb had been so apprehensive these last couple of days.
"You are on the brink right now; while you were always destined for Heaven, there is a chance that you could mess it up," he stated and I nodded as I now got what he was saying.
"So I have to keep my emotions in check or wind up damned; no pressure," I said, slightly sarcastic and the Angel smiled.
"You are a very intelligent young woman though you made some very bad choices; there is still a chance for you though so have some faith," Benny stated and that was better said than done. I turned back towards my mother who had fallen asleep during our conversation.
"So what am I supposed to do? She can't see me," I said as I watched her sleep. Her head was rested on the side of the chair while the book was still in her lap. I noticed that it was one of mine from my room; a classic French book which could only be read if you knew the language.
"Talk to her; tell her how you feel," the Angel said, more as a command than anything else.
Sighing, I turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry for doing this to you. If I had been a better daughter or listened to you when you gave me advice, then maybe things would have been different. But none of this is your fault; you were a great mother who tried her best. You didn't fail me, I suppose I failed you and I want you to be happy," I told her softly as she slept.
"But I was your mother; I was supposed to protect you," she softly said back as if she was talking in her sleep. I was caught off guard and looked at the Angel who just smiled at me and motioned for me to continue.
"You did what you could and you need to move on; for me. There is nothing you can do for me now but maybe there are others that you could help. Make sure that what happened in this town never happens again to anyone else and their family," I suggested and I could hear the choke of her almost crying.
"I love you Honey," she said and I fought to hold back the tears as I got closer and kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you to Mommy; please live and be happy. I will see you again in the next life," I whispered into her ear and then stepped back. The second I did, we were gone from the house and back where I had originally had been.
"Is that going to help?" I asked as my head hung low. I had to believe that my words would help my mother move on from her grief.
"Yes; you did great Mona and helped yourself as well. Now you are nearly ready," the Angel told me as he just smiled. I think was calmed because of his presence but I wasn't completely sure.
"So how do I help Mike?" I inquired. If I needed to resolve things with my mother then I really needed to help Mike; especially from the dark path he was on.
"That is a bit more complicated; plus he has yet to pray for guidance so you will have to handle that yourself," Benny said and looked over at him in shock.
"Mike needs help or he'll end up like me; you need to do something," I stated, almost pleading with the Divine Being.
"I can't; but you can help him. There will be a moment coming up that is going to be crucial and you will determine the outcome. Be sure to choose wisely," the Angel told me and he was then gone; leaving me there in the darkness.
I then realized that a lot needed to be accomplished between now and Friday night since there was a good amount on the line. While things seemed to be resolved for my mother, I still had the others as well as my boyfriend that needed closure. Only by defeating Alison and her sister could the process of healing begin as well as being able to move on. I needed to be at my best and lead these people to victory for everyone's sake.
It was time to become what I was; only this time for the good of everyone.
Please Read and Review; also a special thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read!