Revenge is.... sweet?

How long had it been? Days? Weeks? It could have been minutes for all I knew. The dirt they had tossed over my corpse was starting to settle back as if nothing had happened, as if I had never been here. They had buried me at the Olathe Memorial Cemetery, one of the many. After watching my burial, I waited. For a flash of light, or a tunnel, or anything really. Instead I laid sprawled beside my grave, staring at the sky, watching time roll over me. Night, day, night, day, night day.

I had wanted to scream, to break something to do anything to end this silence. I had wandered to KCI, hoping for some interaction, but I was invisible to the living, and fell into an even deeper sense of isolation. That time had passed, and I now spent my time thinking. I often thought of the girl. The one I had seen in that Barbeque place. Her sauce smeared smile was seared into my mind.

“Why am I here?” I whispered to myself.

“I was wondering when you would ask.”

I jumped, or did the equivalent of that when gravity decided you didn’t matter anymore. Sitting perched on my headstone was a girl in her early twenties. She was fair skinned, with light, wispy hair flowing softly at chin length. Her unnaturally blue eyes gazed down at me, unblinking, slightly amused.

“Who-”

“Adeline. I am your guardian angel.”

I laughed, “Well-”

“My job isn’t to keep you alive,” she said gently, “I mainly help after death.”

I slowly stood, frowning. She laughed at my expression, “I’ve been doing this for a long time; you aren’t going to say or ask anything that I haven’t heard before.”

“Right,” I laughed, “Sure.”

“You watched yourself being buried, why is this so hard to believe?”

I frowned, staring at her elegant features. She was beautiful. Her small frame was covered in a white gown that ended mid-thigh, and hid her shoulders, but revealed the delicate collar bones under her throat.

She slid off the stone, gliding silently a few steps closer, “I find it to be much easier if you just let me explain.”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“You asked why you were here,” she said, walking among the head stones, “Well, we’re at the gateway to heaven, this is the good part. This is where you are truly rewarded.”

“For what?” I snorted, “For dying?”

She set her eyes on me, gazing intently until I looked away. “You have seven rewards,” she said, smiling, “First, you are free to change anything about your world.”

I immediately thought of the girl. The beautiful creature that had smiled at me at my favorite barbeque place. I looked down at my pudgy body, my sausage fingers and muffin top crammed into my jeans. The mysterious girl would never love me like this.

“Ok.” She smiled sweetly, and opened her mouth to speak. “But,” I interrupted, “I have a question.” Her head tilted to the side and she nodded. “There’s this girl…”

Adeline’s smile faltered, but she laughed, “There always is.”

“No but she-”

“I know,” she interrupted, “She’s dark haired with a lovely smile, right?” I blushed, immediately feeling sheepish. “I can help you find her,” she hesitated, glancing down, “But you should-”

“Great!” I cried, grinning, I gestured down to my body, “Fix me.”

She looked up at me with her wide, sad eyes. “You are free to change anything about the world, you-”

“I know, I know. I want to change myself. My weight, my boring face.” She was staring at my tombstone now. “Adeline-”

“I know.” She raised her head up to me, her eyes now burning with light. A pain seared through my skin, racking up my body, licking my bones like flames of fire.

I gasped, and stumbled backwards, catching myself on a tombstone. I looked down at my hands. Slender. All of me was slender and sleek, and OH MY GOD I COULD SEE MY FEET. I laughed, relief snuffing out the remaining pain.

Adeline looked up at me, her eyes crystal blue again.

“Thank-”

She lifted her hand to stop me, her mouth grim. “Now, for your second reward,” she said softly. “You can do anything you want.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, but she shook her head.

“I’ll give you time to consider. Choose wisely,” she said before disappearing in a flash of light before my eyes.

I stared at the empty space where she used to be, contemplating the answer. That was a big offer. I slowly made my way to my gravestone, admiring my new body. If only I could see my face.

“Hi, Fred.”

I jumped and spun around, and there she was. Long legs and a slender waist, big dark eyes batting up at me from the shadow of her silky hair. She smiled, a Cupid’s bow mouth curved up to reveal flashing teeth. And not more than a foot away.

I gaped at her, unable to speak. She tossed her hair out of her eyes and put her hand on her hip. “What’s up?”

I laughed. Simple words for such an abnormal day. “Who are you?” I finally managed to sputter.

“Trinity,” she said in her silky voice. I just grinned goofily, too awestruck to respond. “I like the new look,” she purred. I beamed, thank God, I changed before she saw me. She reached out her hand and brushed it across my fingertips. “I’ve been watching you,” she said, smiling.

“Why?”

“I can tell you’re special,” she cooed, letting her fingers linger on mine for a moment longer before pulling them away.

“I…saw you…are you dead too?”

“Something like that,” she said, smiling again. “I heard the angels gave you your second reward.” I nodded. “Well isn’t it obvious what to do with it?” she asked, laughing. I shrugged. “Isn’t there someone you’ve always wanted to punish?”

“What? I don’t-”

“Oh, come on. You’ve never once wanted some justice?” I stared at her, confused. “You can be honest with me! I know how you were treated in high school, how you’re treated in work. It isn’t fair.” She pouted her bottom lip, looking up at me through her lashes.

“You’re right!” I exclaimed.

“They just didn’t see how amazing you are,” she said, locking eyes with me. “They deserve some punishment.”

“What should I do?”

She took a step closer to me, one hand resting on my chest, and stood on her toes until her lips were beside me ear. “Make them bleed.” I felt my face flush, the scent of her hair washing out all thought. And she was gone, in a blink of my eye. My heart tugged in my chest, and I quickly scanned the graveyard.

“Adeline?”

“Have you made a decision?” The small girl was sitting on a tombstone to the left of mine, her light hair waving gently in the wind.

“Why does everyone keep doing that?”

“What do you want to happen?”

I took a deep breath and thought. “I want,” I said slowly, “for my boss to go bankrupt.” This man had fired countless people, cut pay, and patronized everyone he met. He deserves this. He deserves this.

Adeline locked eyes with me, her face solemn. “You’re sure?”

I nodded, a feeling of thrill building up in my chest. A smile seeped onto my lips, and I couldn’t stop grinning. Her eyes burned white again, and the tortuous fire tore through my body. I stumbled to the side, immediately dizzy. When my eyes focused again, Adeline was gone.

“Fred.” Trinity was smiling up at me, inches away. “You’re so brave, I’m so proud of you.” I grinned down at her, drinking in her perfection. Her eyes closed, and I leaned down to meet her lips to mine.

“ENOUGH!” I jumped, and found Adeline glaring down at me with her blazing eyes, floating in the air, arms outstretched. I turned back to Trinity but she had vanished. “You were given many chances,” she said in a booming voice far from the softness I was used to. “I gave you a chance to improve the world, to change things for the better, but the deadly sins have overcome you.

“Gluttony and sloth consumed you in your former life and now you have succumbed to the temptation of greed, wrath, and lust.” Air began to whip around me now, knocking me back against my grave. “You have failed the test to heaven, and now you must burn.”

The searing pain racked through my bones again, but this time the pain didn’t ebb away. It tore through me, threatening to destroy my very existence. When I opened my eyes, my ears rang with screams and my body still burned like hell fire.

Trinity’s dark eyes appeared above me. Her grin turned into a wicked smile filled with jagged teeth, and her face crumpled to nothing but skin stretched over a skull. “You’re mine now.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Revenge is.... sweet?."