Angel of Death
“Ellie,” a voice whispered.
She stirred, her brow knitting in consternation.
“Wake up, Ellie.” More forceful this time, a boy’s voice insisted. He sat in the hospital chair next to her bed.
Ellie opened her eyes, slowly. The cancer made it hard to do much more than this; lesioned bones aching at the slightest movement.
“Hi Ellie,” the boy smiled. Mousey, brown hair dampened his forehead above dimpled cheeks. He couldn’t have been more than seven, about her age.
“Who are you?” She muttered, weakly. Her hair long since lost to the failed chemotherapy.
“I came to help you.”
“Where are my mum and dad?”
“I let them sleep for a little while, so we could talk.” The boy’s smile only grew.
“Do I know you?” She whispered.
“No, but I came to help.”
“What do you mean?”
“You won’t feel any more pain. I’m here to take you away.” Something about the boy’s words felt final. Ellie could feel her pain beginning to slip away almost immediately, her strength growing moment by moment.
“Are you an angel?” She asked, her eyes filled with wonder.
“Something like that,” he laughed standing up. He walked towards the door, beckoning. Ellie sat up but felt no more pain. Tenderly, she put weight on her feet and gasped as she stood up after being bedridden for so long.
“We should go before the others come.”
“What others?”
“Don’t worry about them, I’ll protect you.”
Outside they turned a corner and found her mum and dad curled up on one of the sofas, asleep.
“Can I say goodbye?” Ellie pleaded, pulling at the boy’s hand. Tears filled her eyes.
“Okay,” he relented.
Ellie walked over to her mother, quietly. She reached down and stroked her face.
“Goodbye, mama.” Ellie cried softly.
“Ellie…” Her mother mumbled, half-asleep.
“We have to go now. They’ll be okay. I promise.”
Suddenly a sound rang out, distant but distinct. Trumpets.
“The bad ones are coming, we have to go” the boy implored, fearfully.
The trumpets sounded a little closer, the air seeming to quiver in anticipation as the noise grew in intensity.
Ellie took one last look at her parents, tears falling down her cheeks.
“Please don’t forget me,” she whispered to them as the boy grabbed her hand again.
They rushed down an empty hallway, Ellie’s bare-feet pattering along the cold tiled floor. Then at the end of the hall they stopped by a door, the boy pulling a large, ornate key from his pocket.
“Are we going to heaven now?” Ellie asked, nervously.
“Somewhere even better, I promise. It’s where all the special children go.”
Ellie could barely him over the blaring trumpets.
He unlocked the door, bright light suddenly pouring through the cracks underneath and inside the keyhole. He opened it, drenching them in blinding sunlight.
“Just step into the light, Ellie.” He shouted over the now deafening trumpets, the door and walls shaking in trepidation at the imminent arrival of something otherworldly.
Ellie hesitated for a moment. She cast one last look at the boy. He smiled at her kindly and she stepped through.
The boy sighed deeply before letting a terrible laugh curse his lips. The purest souls always tasted the sweetest. He followed Ellie into the light.
