(Short Story) Responsibility
“Open your eyes.”
A classroom. I woke to a classroom, lit by the setting sun. Posters about equations and classic novels hung on the walls. The windows were open, letting a soft breeze flow through. Standing in front of the chalkboard, waiting for my eyes to finally fall on him, is a man. Smiling, his arms crossed, dressed in a fancy black suit. I try to wrack my brain for any idea of who he is. He clears that up for me.
“We have never met. I’m an angel, after all. The only reason we are meeting now, is, well, because you’re dead.”
I grab my chest, almost instinctively. A pain there. Something familiar?
“Dead? I’m…oh…dead…right.” The snapshot of a bullet echoes in my head, followed by a dull hint of pain. My grip on my chest tightens, before the pain turns fuzzy, and dissipates.
“There’s no need to keep dwelling on it. Come.” His words persuade my legs to stand up from the desk I’d been sitting at. Making my way past the neatly put-together desks, I pass him to the door leading out to what looks like a hallway. I know it’s not though. Just a simple feeling that something can’t possibly be that fills my head with hesitance. In that hesitance, I feel my eyes being drawn to the chalkboard, where I notice a little doodle.
“Don’t make a mess on the board, the teacher will make me clean it.”
“Ehehe! Look, look, it’s us!’
“D-don’t draw me like that, I look like an orc!”
“Bubby is an orc!”
“Oh yeah? If I’m an orc then you’re a goblin! I’m gonna get you!”
“Noooooo!”
“...” I feel myself stop. “Where’s my sister?”
“Safe.” His tone sounds too assuring. What was I doing? I feel a harsh wall of noise in my head, trying to keep me from remembering.
“Is she with my body?”
“I don’t understand why you’re so worried. I already told you, she’s safe. I need you to open the door.”
“What does safe mean? Is she with my body?”
“She’s not going to die. She’s going to find her way back home and live the rest of her life with your mother and father.” Find her way?
“What does that mean?”
“It means she’s going to live a healthy, happy life.”
“Answer my fucking questions!” I could feel cracks forming in my vision. Oozing with red, filling my vision with a pulsing, crimson tint.
“Listen to me. If you don’t walk through that door, I can not guarantee anyone’s safety ever again. Do you get it? Do you want that uncertainty for her? For everyone? Don’t be selfish.”
“Selfish? Selfish…” I felt my hands moving on their own, grabbing this angel’s neck as my fingers grew longer, nails growing sharper. “No one else matters but her.”
My other hand that had seemed to form a fist without my noticing moved forward-
“Huh?”
-and smashed into someone’s cheek. I could feel the vibrations of the tearing skin and muscle of their neck as it tore itself free from the body, sending that head flying and landing somewhere closer to the entrance of…the…alley…
I looked down at my body. A bloodstained shirt, a hole in my chest. I reached my new, long fingers in, and pulled out a bullet.
“Bubby?” I saw her, looking at me. Her eyes were filled with fear. I felt myself wishing to reach out to her when I heard a yell.
“F-FUCK!” My attention turned to a man holding a gun. “STAY DEAD YOU FUCK!” I felt another bullet enter my shoulder before I heard the bang. No, wait, it didn’t enter. I watched as the thing fell to the ground. “A-ahh…I-I’M SORRY!!” I watched as the man ran off, leaving the alley empty of al but us and the beheaded body of that man’s partner. Now in the silence, I could feel myself being drawn to the blood soaked cloth sticking to my stomach. Staring down at it, I could feel my mind racing. What the hell? What the hell happened? Am I alive? Was I killed? That classroom, was that an actual angel? I…
“Ngh…hic…” Her crying breaks me from my thoughts, right back to her. I can see her tears, falling down her cheeks. I bend down, reaching my hand out, letting one of my new thumbs rub some of them off her face.
“Hey. I’m here, ok?” She manages to lift her head, showing me her terrified gaze. Taking her face in my hands, I bring my lips to the top of her head, giving it a soft kiss. “No one is ever gonna hurt you. Nothing will keep me from protecting you. You know that?”
“Y-yes.”
“Good. It’s ok. Bubby’s here.” I felt her move forward, into my chest, crying louder against me as I hold her gently. Her tears against my wound send a warmth through my body. Whatever that bastard was saying, It would never matter, it would never change my mind. I will never abandon my responsibility.
“Let’s go home, okay?” I whispered. I felt her nod her head before I picked her up, letting her snuggle into the crook of my neck as I took us both into the light of the late afternoon. People seemed to pass us by, not taking notice of us. It was surprising, admittedly, not earning even a passing glance. Still, something more unnerving was going on just above us. Looking up in the sky, I noticed against the bright white clouds…a large crack.