With a sudden jerk, Jaeden bolted upwards. The giddiness swirling inside his head was violently glazed over when he noticed the sheer feeling of emptiness encompassing the entirety of his being, only a lingering coldness that seemed to permeated outwards from within himself kindled him into the awareness of the changes his body had undergone.

His brain registered no weight, just a perpetual sensation of sailing up. Dread settled in, and before he knew it, his head had snapped slantwise where a body, or better, a sprawled corpse was on the stained wooden floor, upon a blooming flower of blood, a leaking hole in the victim’s head.

“Jaeden!” a wretched screech echoed out enclosed by convulsive sobs, “My son! No!” a fairly young-looking woman crawled towards the cadaver, gently cradling the head against her bosom as her tears trickled down copiously on it before gliding downwards, fading out in the denser and viscous red liquid beneath.

“YOU KILLED HIM!” the woman shifted her bloodshot gaze upon the perpetrator of her sorrow, the reason her son had become nothing but a lifeless shell resting in her arms, “YOU KILLED HIM!!” she reiterated, hatred pouring out of her tone.

Jaeden watched dazedly as his mother roared and lunged at the man who was mumbling incoherently to himself, his cracked lips moving up and down in the same motion over and over, like a broken record.

“It’s not my fault… it’s not my fault… it’s not my fault… it’s not my fault…”

However, before he could continue on his endeavors, a sharp sting shot through his right cheek alongside a clapping noise that reverberated and disrupted his initial shock, leaving a burning handprint behind.

“Get the fuck out of me, woman!” the man snarled, saliva springing out everywhere as he kicked the grieving woman on the stomach, prompting her to double over and slide down with a pained gasp.

"Mom!" Jaeden shouted flurriedly, yet his words cemented in his throat, not releasing the sound he had intended, as if his voice couldn't reach their ears, yet it was there, audible to him. Widening his eyes he tried to move, but his struggles were futile for his body didn’t want to pay his behest any heed.

What the fuck!

His vision dropped on himself, noting the partially visible mass of flaring ectoplasmic mist he had apparently become. No arms, no legs. Whatever made him human or alive wasn’t there anymore, utterly gone, or better, left behind. And the proof was still laying in the now larger pool of gore.

That was him, yet he was there. The fleeting thought that he and the owner of that corpse were two different people crossed his mind as quickly as it was shied off. Thankfully, his memories resurfaced, derailing him away from what he knew would have been an existential crisis.

Still, that meant he was dead. Because for how much he felt his head - or what had now dislodged it - was a mess, he still retained enough cognition to know a bullet straight to the brain was a one-way ticket to whatever afterlife was awaiting him.

The realization that he had just kicked the bucket dipped him down in a wave of turmoil, nonetheless, he couldn’t help but feel a sudden equanimity washing over him.

“It was not my fault! Okay!?” the assaulter sputtered, scuffing his hands on both sides of his greasy hair, “He… he shouldn’t have surprised me, I’m not a murderer… it was not my fault…” his features stretched out in anxiety before he raised his trembling hand, where a revolver was being tightly gripped on, “Don‘t waste my time! Pull out your money and whatever goods that can fetch me some good cash.” he furiously scratched his scraggly beard, his left eyelid constantly twitching up and down in a sign of a nervous tic.

Hearing the unpleasant throaty voice of the man ordering his mother around, after that heavy kick withal, and after having drilled a piece of metal through his brain, sparked boiling hot heat throughout him.

All the turned on lights flickered out in unison for an instant.

“What the hell, haven‘t you paid the bills or something? Hey, stop crying goddammit, and get up!”

“…”

The man scratched his beard again, “Woman! Arghh…” ignoring her, he scoured his immediate surroundings, looking for anything of value, pocketing shiny trinkets such as necklaces, rings, watches, and whatnot. However, his oversight came to bite him back.

Not wondering why the woman had abruptly stopped crying, he continued stuffing his clothes with whatever he could get his hands upon. It was only after he perceived a presence encroaching behind him that he spun around, just in time to see the marble bottom of a trophy mercilessly heading towards his face. The shadow of fury etched on the woman’s visage was the last thing he saw before he plumbed into darkness.

Jaeden's eyes trailed the spurt of blood that brushed the family‘s enthroning picture on the wall. The man unceremoniously flopped on the floor, his nose gruesomely sunk in with a moderate section of his cheekbones cracked.

His mother instead, resumed her weeping as she tried to clean her eyes from the tearstains and the blood with the heel of her hands.

The man’s condition was unknown, and honestly, she couldn’t bring herself to care about him. Her chest heaved with unshed rage, as if she hadn‘t streamed satisfactory punishment upon him, but it was enough to quench her thirst for revenge.

Sniffing, she tucked a chock of black hair behind her ear before waltzing back to his corpse, whereupon she nestled her arms around his head, “Oh Jaeden… I’m so sorry… look what he did to you…” she gritted her teeth, gently rocking him back and forth as if she was lulling a child to sleep.

Her lips quivered, her choked sobs tearing through Jaeden. He felt an overwhelming sadness gathering inside him, for it was not his demise that he was disheartened about, aside from a dash of trepidation for the unknown. What truly broke his heart was the emotional impact that‘d befall upon his family because of his death.

The heart-wrenching image of his mother kneeling by his soulless body was already hard enough to digest. He could accept the idea of his death; even welcome it. However, he knew that if he was the one bidding goodbye, he’d be no better off than his mother. She couldn’t accept it, and so wouldn’t have him had their roles been swapped.

He tried to move anew, however, the only progress was just a few inches forward. It was like he was forcing his way through mud, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. Apparently, the trick was not to walk but to float towards his desired direction; something he learned to do by chance.

Steadfastly hovering forth, he drifted by his mother’s side, getting a plentiful view of his cadaver. Patches of blood smudged his raven hair whereas his eyelids were slightly parted, unveiling spiritless sky blue orbs. Jaeden closed in, as if to wrap the crying woman in a reassuring hug, but the proximity elicited the latter to suddenly stiffen her shoulders up as a shiver trailed down her spine.

He would have sighed wistfully if his new body had allowed, the burglar was still unconscious, and he couldn’t even check out to see if the man was breathing or not. With quivering hands, her mother clambered back to her feet and dialed the police and the ambulance number, and not long after, sirens rang out in the distance, announcing the arrival of the officers and the paramedics.

Hurried knocks resounded followed by a, “Ma’am, open up. Help is here.” his mother flung the door open, as a bunch of men in uniform swooped in, and before the door gap closed, Jaeden stared outside, where a multitude of curious children and teenagers donning masks with baskets in their hands were circling around the backyard, bathed by the ethereal glow of the moonlight.

With a clunk, the image was closed off by the wooden frame.

What a wonderful Halloween. He thought ruefully.

Jaeden's eyesight shuffled over the bleeding body of the housebreaker, where the paramedics were looming on, attempting to resuscitate the unconscious man by using CPR and injecting epinephrine into him, helping his heartbeat restart, but the patient had gone in cardiac arrest and not long after they had to begrudgingly confirm his death due to intracranial hemorrhage.

“10.32 P.M.”

“Shall we call the funeral parlor?”

“I don’t know, no documents have been found on his person, we don’t have an ID, Driving License, nor even a name. He’s blank. We can’t even contact his family members, if he has any.”

“Let’s usher him out of here first, alongside that young man’s body.”

“Such a young man…” the paramedic wagged his head mournfully, “What a pity,” he uttered under his breath as he approached the corpse, boarding him up on a cot with the help of a police officer, whilst covering him with a sheet before trundling out, followed right after by his fellow-paramedics.

“Jaeden!!” the man in question looked back at his mother who was being forcefully held up by the conjunct effort of two police officers, neither of them intoning a word, their eyes disclosing how desolate they were by what had unfolded.

One of them beckoned his head towards the door, “Seal the area off.” he said to his companion before sidling back up to the woman, draping a blanket over her shoulders whilst soothing her back with his hand, “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“I-I’m Katherine Grey.”

The police officer allowed himself a weak smile to tug at his lips, “Well then, Mrs. Grey, I know it’s a trying time for you right now, but we need you to come with us at the central to narrate what happened here.”

Katherine nodded, her eyes seemingly unable to crop up more tears, “I… my son…” she started, flaring her soulless hazel orbs onto the officer, “W-where did they take him to?”

“I’m saddened by your loss, Mrs. Grey. But your son is currently being headed to the mortuary, we’ll tag along when we’re done with the report. Here…” he stretched out his hand, helping the woman back up to her feet, albeit slightly rickety, “Gather up all the evidence you can find.” he waved to the rest of the officers before filing out of the house with the paramedics, their jobs done.

Jaeden concatenated behind them, but found himself unable to take a step out of the door, as if a seamless barrier was hatched up on the doorframe.

Perfect! Fucking perfect!

He wanted to scream as frustration oozed out of him, the pent up rage and sadness were still storming inside of him. He watched as his mother was escorted out of the backyard into a police car before rounding the corner and driving off into the distance.

Damn it!!

Jaeden drifted back, where the police officers were busy in their endeavors. He ignored them for something snatched his attention. An orb of mist rippled up from the blood-stained spot the unconscious man was previously slouched in. It bustled and twisted before settling down, it was silverish in color, almost glowing.

A shaky voice wafted from it, “Wh-what the hell… what’s going on…” a voice he quickly recognized, it still held its rather unpleasant timbre, but the face of the man he identified it with instantly flashed through his mind.

True. The man had died, and like him, he was now the embodiment of his soul, or so was what he mused to himself. He was still shuddering at what was in store for him. But those thoughts were swatted away by the reminder of what the entity in front of him had done, fueling his still flickering apoplexy into an inferno ready to be unleashed.

“Remember me?” Jaeden growled out, advancing towards the recipient of his wrath, “You killed me!” he didn’t give the newly-formed orb time to process his words as he flung himself at it. Both of them merged, twirling and stirring in what looked like a brawl.

“What are you doing!?” came the man’s panicked voice, “Hah… you’re not hurting me!”

“Fuck you!” Jaeden felt desperation kick in as his revenge was left unsatiated, his orbic body just slid through the man’s one, not even tickling him or causing any sort of visible damage.

Resentment gushed across him, even more painful than the bullet was. The man was mockingly floating afore him, yet he couldn’t do anything about it. Like a stubborn itch under his skin. Although the man had received his comeuppance, Jaeden was not in peace with himself.

Just as he was about to speak again, golden light smothered the air before a swirling portal of the likewise color sprung up to life with the blast of trumpets, announcing the advent of something otherworldly, celestial even, or so was what Jaeden reckoned in that short timeframe.

“George Millstone,” a melodious and choral voice of a woman boomed from within the portal, before a tastefully silk-clad foot elegantly jutted out of the golden boundary, “Your heinous act won’t be left undisciplined. It sickens me descrying vermins such as you. We have no place for you in Heaven.” then her body was unearthed from the blinding curtains of light, “You’ll pay your dues with imps and forks.”

Golden tresses tumbled down her shoulders over her back, like a sparkling waterfall under the glimmer of an unclouded sun. Her face was oval with flawlessly sleek features, her grass-green eyes were crowned by velvety eyelashes, accentuated by a coppery red pigment akin to eyeshadow around the edges.

Jaeden would have been left breathless if he could actually breathe, his vision was enraptured by the enhancing sight he was banqueting on, bewitched. However, he hastily rived away from her, startled. When he tried to stare at the newcomer anew he felt himself being pulled and ensnared by the halo outlining her curvaceous body, capped only by an antique Greek-style white clothing.

What truly astonished him, nonetheless, were the white feathery wings spanning out of her back, allowing the beautiful woman to flutter mid-air.

An angel…

He averted his line of sight upon the misty orb next to him, lest he’d plunge back in his previous predicament. The man, on the other hand, was frozen still, “H-how do you know my name?”

“We know everything about you.” the angel waved her wrist, “Your entire life has been recorded and processed, the crimes you’ve committed earned you a front-row seat to the most excruciating sufferings hell has to offer. Enjoy.” she clapped her hands dismissively, and as if on cue, the man, aka George, was sucked off of his position into the portal, where ghoulish skeletal arms reached out from the now blazing crimson lining of the gateway, clutching him inside.

“N-nooo!!” George’s last shrill died down with the closure of the portal that whirled out of existence with a ghastly howling sound. Jaeden was horror-struck, his mind devoid of thoughts aside a growing smudge of fear that he would have been the next one to follow the housebreaker.

“Fear not, my young soul.” the angel beamed at him, her soothing voice somehow abating his rising restlessness, “You’ve proved to be quite the pristine soul, catapulting yourself in harm’s away without a second thought to shield your mother. I applaud you for the gallantry and loyalty demonstrated.”

Jaeden stayed silent, faintly perceiving something odd occurring to him.

“I’m not going to harm you, Jaeden.” she padded her hand out to him, “Come with me. The place I’m taking you to might not be a far-fetched utopia, howbeit, I have faith that you will undoubtedly find it homely.” her smile was genuine, almost inveigling his mind into heeding her words so as not to see otherwise.

“I… I…” Jaeden felt a pressure building up within himself, “I can’t…” he stuttered out, steeling his mind to deal head-on with her allure, “I can’t leave…”

Her eyes widened, “Why not? Don’t you yearn for a blissful life amongst the undulating cushion-soft grass of knolls under wandering clouds? What about an approachable fauna with outlandish new breeds awaiting for you to uncover? The starry sky at night where rallying bright dots whisk the midnight blue canvas? You don’t want that at all?”

Jaeden’s wispy body flickered heretically, “I… my family… they… need to know… need to know I’m still here…” he croaked out, his words muddled but understandable, “George… killed me, I’m… I’m… still upset…” his quivering became more turbulent, as if about to implode at any moment, "... angry..."

“You can’t latch yourself to their grief, hoping your presence will relieve them of it. They’ll eventually move on and so should you.” the angel furrowed her brow, “And George has been dealt with, he’ll suffer the flames of Hell for longer than the oldest human alive. Of that I assure you.”

“I… I wanted to be the one to SENTENCE HIM! I needed--”

Jaeden wanted to continue, but a bubbling substance foamed out of his incorporeal anatomy, drowning him inwardly whilst wrapping and altering his structure.

“Resentment?” the winged woman whispered with a drawn-out sigh, “Yet another one… not surprising considering the circumstances of his death.” she wiggled her head plaintively as she watched Jaeden’s former pearly wispy body turn into a dark hue of purple, “With this, you’ve just condemned yourself to never see Heaven’s gates. I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to rescue you, my child.” she lowered her head before a ribbon of golden lights sloped down around her like scampering fireflies, shooting her up skywards where she ebbed away upon contact with the ceiling.

Jaeden wasn't aware of the angel's departure, his mind was vehement on warding off the seeping glacial coldness that flooded him, but his struggles weren't met with a positive result. He felt pain, and not the physical kind, but one allocated on a spiritual plane sort of.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Please!!" his senses were slowly succumbing, the corners of his vision gradually darkening as the discernible rest morphed into a blurry mess of colors, but there was one thing he could wholly see hovering afore him.

Nneeil

This first chapter was supposed to be around 1.5k words, yet it somehow became over 3k. Go figure... oh, also, tell me if you wish square brackets as the system notifications or this one.