CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell

“What will you do now, Zoe? Will you kill me?” Lucifer asked sarcastically, knowing she wasn’t going to use the sign against him for as long as he was in control of his title.

The fresh demon walked down, every step of hers sending bad energies swirling around the floor, making it impossible for anyone to come closer to them. She seemed relaxed from what Mehrdir could see, not even twitching or having any kind of spontaneous movement.

“Killing you won’t bring the dead back to life,” She commented, most probably referring to Ezekiel.

“You knew the rules, Zoe. They were not written or spoken but you were aware of them. The most important one was not to interfere and you did,” He stated calmly, standing there like a model on the runway, waiting to be applauded.

“I could never understand what Mehrdir meant by advising me to make friends in high places; why bother with humans when I always had ghosts and familiars around me. But humans are what keep the hope alive and hope is the one difference between a monster and a person,”

Lucifer chuckled and took one step towards her, making them face each other right in the middle of the room.

The hole in the ground made around the center when the leftover attacked her was creating the illusion of a battle ring where the loser was most probably going to fall.

“Whoever falls gets straight into The Abyss,” Eneizar muttered, scaring Mehrdir for the millionth time in a day.

But Zoe wasn’t stupid since she was the one to create such a back door to the Abyss; she just wasn’t aware of where it actually led to and what Abyss really was.

“You let go of hope a long time ago. You have always been surrounded by regret and sorrow; the only hope you ever got was not from a human but from a demon,” Lucifer sneered.

By reflex she turned towards Mehrdir who seemed to listen closely to Lucifer. He couldn’t deny the truth; Mehrdir used to get her in different troubles and see her pray or hope that someone will help her. He only intensified and hardened that by actually coming to rescue.

“Mehrdir gave you false hope just so he would keep you human for a few more years. No one ever helped you or intended to. You have always been alone.” The demon prince spat, taking a few steps towards her.

Her eyes were icy cold and if seen from afar, she looked possessed by Hell itself.

Zoe only blinked once and Lucifer disappeared from her sight. She felt a chill down her spine and realized he was behind her or at least he was creating that illusion. Someone hit her hard on the back of her neck before kicking her in the back, throwing her on the floor. Sudden mist came all around her and engulfed the place she was in making it impossible for the rest to see.

But she could.

Zoe could actually feel Lucifer’s prominent energy and he wasn’t hiding anything from her, trying to intimidate her and subdue.

With one sway of his hand, she felt her body contract in itself and she coughed blood. He pointed his hand at her grasped his fist, making her eyes widen at the pain, causing her to spit blood only to be able to clean her throat.

Unlike before, the sign on her back was making her body impossible to resist its master. Lucifer was aware of that and was using his dark energy instead of hovering with direct attacks and body to body fights.

“Remember who you are fighting against, Zoe! It’s me! The king of Hell! His favorite! His enemy! The threat He sent into a pit just because He could!” The monster started to scream, the building falling silent at the sound of his voice.

Everyone residing inside could hear his voice, every corner and cell below. A ferocious growl invaded the mansion, the guttural noise coming from deep inside the pride demon.

“I am God down here, Zoe,” He hissed, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling on it harshly.

“You made me your inheritor,” She whispered through gritted teeth.

The malice in Lucifer’s eyes died slightly, her statement being true. He clicked his tongue and bent on the ground beside her, staring at her with a playful expression that seemed to mock her.

“Zoe, Zoe, Zoe. Have you not learned anything these past few torturous days?” He started rhetorically, “All these painful meetings of ours have only led to the moment you killed what was a pretext for me to rise and shine. I was planning on killing Jasper anyway, you just did it more magnificently,”

He pulled on her hair a bit, bringing her closer to him, almost getting her to stay on his lap. She tried to pull back but his claws scratched her scalp.

“There was always one commander and one inheritor but then, I wondered what if they were one and the same, connecting the stories together into one sparkly fairy tale? I’ve been waiting for more than you can imagine and the wait ended when you were born,” He whispered, leaning uncomfortably closer to her. She could smell his breathe and it was putrid.

“Is your speech over? I didn’t catch the point through that rubbish ramble,” She hissed angrily.

He chuckled and suddenly pushed her head against the floor, pretty hard because the noise of breaking a skull echoed through the whole room.

“You are dimwitted and have no control over your emotions; there is nothing impressive about you as a human and your skills are useless if you don’t have a good mind. Without this gift, you would have rotten in that rich house. Your greed of being superior to everyone else has always been there, Zoe. That is the sole reason you refused to help anyone; you were too unique for such commoners,”

Zoe froze, mainly because he was talking from an outsider point of view and he was brutally right. Maybe she never thought about her actions as being selfish and superior but that greed has always been there; her desire was to be someone who could surpass the common.

“You have been moaning about Mehrdir but you fell in love with him, am I right?” Lucifer taunted, his red eyes not once shifting from her, “If you really wanted to, you could have truly ignored everything but you didn’t. You kept them there to keep you company, to remind you that you are different. You have always been my inheritor, the inheritor because you always had vanity at the core of your soul,”

“I beg to differ,” The slightly high pitched voice of the redhead spread through the hall, drawing attention.

He barged in, giving a glimpse of the war outside. It was awful and the sound of clenched weapons was dominant over the screams of terror and pain.

Beelzebub glanced at Mehrdir and nodded, telling him to leave with Eneizar. The lower demon looked at Zoe for one last time before helping Eneizar through the doors that he has been thrown through. Thankfully Abaddon was done.

“If it isn’t Eneizar,” Abigor started, seeing the two demons walking towards them, “Have you liked being human?” He asked, aware that he was the one who changed him in the first place so he could help Ezekiel sacrifice himself.

The vanity demon narrowed his eyes at the rebel even if he knew he couldn’t dare touch him with so many deep wounds, “You were intending on sacrificing Ezekiel from the beginning you scum,” The blond spat with hatred before literally spitting at the feet of someone who could easily kill him.

Mehrdir rolled his eyes, already used to Eneizar’s antics but still, he couldn’t help but think of what he said.

“So Ezekiel was the sacrifice? Never imagined him as a representative figure; especially for Heaven,” Gakhas muttered, rubbing his sore neck; he punched Abaddon a bit too much before literally cutting his head off.

Mehrdir glanced at the headless body against the wall before he turned to glance at the black doors leading to Zoe and Lucifer.

“The day has come for the two sides to meet. Zoe’s choice has always been Beelzebub and she always fought for him. It’s finally time for the master to show his greatness,” It sounded like a storyteller reading from a fairytale book. But Abigor’s words were far above that; reality was far above fiction.

Ever since Beelzebub entered the final stage, the play became tense and the ending was very vague. The redhead demon was suspiciously relaxed and even if he had blood on his hands and dirt on his clothes, he still looked impeccable. Watching him walk so leisurely was giving the impression that he was the main guest to a fancy party and he was giving the other guests enough time to bath in his grandeur presence. Zoe tried to get up by leaning on her elbows and finding some kind of balance to get on her feet; as soon as Lucifer saw her, he grabbed her by her hair and brought her in front of him, tugging on her hair harshly for Beelzebub to understand she was still in his grasp.

“It’s been so long since our first battle, hasn’t it? When was it?” Beelzebub slurred, his tone not once indicating what he was thinking or feeling at the moment.

Lucifer snarled, his eyes darkening considerably, “Maybe when you betrayed your kind and helped raise Adam and Eve from our grounds; or maybe when you decided to take Satan’s side when he rebelled. You kept me in a cell for long enough to learn how to use pride in your advantage!” The vanity prince screamed, visibly growing angrier with everything.

Beelzebub shrugged, “That may be true but what you plan to do right now is above yourself. We don’t need a war with the angels, not when they are so strong in humans’ hearts,”

“Who are you kidding?!” Lucifer scoffed, quite loudly and with consequences on Zoe’s grasp that became even worse, feeling her scalp sting, “He’s weak in their hearts! The weakest in centuries and not even His so called messengers on earth believe in his lectures! Have you seen how many have become victims of greed and lust?!”

“Those are individual cases. You’re letting subjectivity cloud your vision and can’t see the truth. Humans pray and hope and that is enough of a reason to back off,” Beelzebub lowered his tone as he touched a more important matter.

Zoe always heard Beelzebub talk in such a manner that it gave her the impression he was always content with his position and the whole rebellion but now that the mask was slowly breaking, she could see his hair loosing that bright red color and his face getting even paler. Being drawn by her father and having the endless knot bleed in her palm, she didn’t feel the threatening claw that got closer to her neck. As soon a she felt it point at her skin, even drawing a bit of blood which caused Beelzebub’s yellow orbs to grow into the big wide eyes of a bee.

“It doesn’t matter how close you get or how far you hide her because my sign will always be here,” The claw retreated somewhere behind him and he turned her around, tearing her leftover shirt completely, caressing her back softly as the serpent moved under his master’s touch.

Beelzebub’s red hair lost all his color and became completely white as his fingers merged together and his hands and feet became spades. Lucifer caressed her spine slowly, on his head rising two pointy horns as his eyes became completely black. He smirked smugly, showing the fangs of what Zoe remembered were met in vampire stories and others alike.

Supernatural in itself is uglier than the human notion of supernatural and all those creatures that have no flaw but have unimaginable powers with no constraints except the sun or the moon. Well, those creatures don’t exist but Hell does; at least the concept of Hell and sin exist and people believe in it, even if they want to admit it or not. Believe it or not, that belief is what keeps demons afloat; giving humans the chance to choose between good and bad is enough for humans to understand they can live like two different persons and most of them choose to take a glimpse of each side thus sinning by thought from the beginning of their existence until the end.

With those thoughts in mind and the sight of Lucifer’s demonic appearance up front, she closed her eyes tightly and sighed heavily. Sensing that she was drowning into her own nasty existence, Beelzebub ran at Lucifer with incredible speed, throwing his inheritor aside, scratching her quite badly on the side with his sharp right spade. Zoe fell on the ground feeling like the serpent was going to split her in half. With the power she had left, Zoe moved against the nearest object and leaned against it, forcing herself to remain focused and control the shifting sign and Lucifer’s influence over it.

That left the two princes to face each other with no disturbances. Beelzebub was making sounds like a whale was asking for help in the ocean while Lucifer was silent, even when he was swaying from side to side to block Beelzebub’s attacks. They were very fast and their eyes were in a constant glare, scoffing and scowling at each other when one of them would slightly scratch the other; overall, they were both very good fighters and Beelzebub had to trick Lucifer in order to send him into the Abyss or at least in a cell in Neverland.

The other demons were fighting outside, waiting for Beelzebub to walk out of the mansion with that annoying smirk of his, Zoe following her father closely but once the gluttony demon entered, he didn’t get out.

“Do you think he’s alright? Should we interfere?” Leviathan asked, or more like shouted at Belphegor.

As soon as Mepalham and Gakhas entered the mansion, Mammon decided he could take care of the behemoths on the domain and shooed Belphegor when he got the opportunity. No matter how powerful were Leviathan’s and Belphegor’s legions and how smart they were fighting, it still wasn’t enough for the ever growing pride legions.

Mammon was insane and that was probably what was draining him and his demons while Belphegor knew exactly where to hit in order to decrease the collateral deaths. It still wasn’t enough.

Belphegor defended himself when a large mound crawled into one immense creature: a snake. It was so big and it was made out of the majority of fallen pride demons, eating everything in its way. Leviathan licked his lips and used his trident as a way to conjure substance and annihilate the mound but it wasn’t working.

“This can’t end well,” Belphegor muttered with a monstrous face yet his tone was his characteristically lazy.

It was coming closer and eating everything in its way, grabbing gluttony demons with its slick tongue. Belphegor was feeling sick, not being the one of greasy dead demons getting too close to him and his precious monster body.

A sudden noise grabbed Leviathan’s attention and the dragon turned Belphegor around to see as well. There, flying in the sky with excitement was Satan on a fly followed by his own legions of fighters, their faces mirroring their master’s.

“I thought you won’t show your face!” Belphegor screamed as soon as the angst demon landed. Satan chuckled and walked closer, only flicking his fingers before his whole army screamed and ran head first into the war.

“You know I can’t stay away from a bloodbath,” The cocky demon answered in that hissing voice, sounding like he was breathing his words not using his chest to articulate.

Satan didn’t even need to change his appearance because he never covered his real face; he wasn’t ugly at all but his features were mirroring his sin; his eyebrows were in a constant frown and his whole face was a scowl but everything else was pretty normal next to the other demons.

“Beelzebub is inside!” Leviathan screamed from the other side, slicing a pride demon before throwing him into another, “Someone should-“

Satan shook his head and looked at the entrance of the mansion, “No. Leave him give Lucifer a taste of his own poison,”

And that was exactly what Beelzebub was intending to do if he could send Lucifer into the Abyss. The proud prince snarled at the commander and used his claws and his sharp tail to slice important part of his body, or at least a spade. It wasn’t working well because Beelzebub could read his intentions in those black eyes. The desire to see Beelzebub kneel in front of him was bigger than destroying God’s creation, sincerely.

“You can’t defeat me,” Lucifer hissed once he grabbed Beelzebub’s head and threw him to the side, using his speed to kick him hard in the middle of his back, knowing there was bound to damage something.

It was like smoke fighting mist and none had chances to win against the other because they weren’t real bodies, they were only images of what they actually were or could be. It wasn’t like two men fighting against each other, inflicting terrible pain by kicking and hitting and smashing; it was something above understanding, even for Zoe. She had to narrow her eyes in order to see their forms and sometimes they would be fighting so closely that it was hard to figure who was who.

At some point, Zoe noticed that Beelzebub was not aiming at hurting Lucifer but he was trying to move Lucifer as close as possible to the hole in the ground. It was working well if Lucifer didn’t just grab Beelzebub and threw him straight in the center of the whole, where was a small portion of ground still standing.

“I know what you are trying to do and it’s not going to work,” Lucifer was so sure of himself and the energies he was emitting were swirling around the room crazily.

It was uncontrollable; their energies were strong and would kill any demon that would dare to move a hand inside. It was overwhelming, especially for someone who had both marks printed on her soul.

Zoe noticed Beelzebub struggling with maintaining his balance when his feet were not exactly easy to stay on. He plunged the spades in the ground and tried to use his upper part in order to push Lucifer off; actually they were pulling and pushing onto each other, scoffing and glaring with nothing but hatred.

“It’s time for you to understand that being the Loved One has no meaning among us,” Beelzebub spoke through gritted teeth, his voice lowering greatly even if it still sounded like a buzz; that was mainly because his supposedly vocal chords were vibrating.

“I don’t think so. The power is in my hands and I decide when it’s over,” Saying that, Lucifer took a step back and used his tail to cut Beelzebub’s leg spades, the gluttony prince falling half on the edge. Lucifer chuckled and let his eyes come back to normal as he hovered over the bee demon, “It seems like the ground is slipping from under your feet, Bee,” He emphasized that annoying nickname before leaning really close to his face, his snake tongue licking Beelzebub’s face.

“Outside are millions if not billions of demons fighting for me,” Beelzebub stated before spitting at Lucifer’s face.

The pride prince started to laugh, enjoying the sight of Beelzebub under him, ready to go down with one light push on his head.

“You always knew how to humor me; you and your little pet are just so alike, aren’t you?” Lucifer continued, wiping the spit off his face, “But here you are, under me where your place is, after all. It’s always been like this and it will never change,”

Beelzebub looked up at the ceiling, the mirror helping him see what was going around the room. He noticed Zoe’s form and got an idea. He did his best at keeping a straight face and concentrated all his power into the endless knot. Zoe’s eyes widened when she felt her entire being getting numb. She glanced at the knot on her palm and saw it spread up her arm, even up her neck and one side of her face. Once the sign touched the side of her right eye, she felt it; it was as if he was sending her a piece of himself, taking control of half of her brain while leaving the other side intact. Beelzebub was Zoe and Zoe was literally a part of him so it wasn’t a surprise when she raised her head and moved closer, lurking like a snake in silence towards her prey.

Beelzebub smirked and looked into those black eyes of death and torture, “You should have seen it coming, oh Great Loved One,” The bee demon begun, leaning up so he could kiss Lucifer on the mouth before he laid his head back laughing, “What we believe is a weakness can quickly become our biggest strength and salvation!” He shouted, his voice resonating through the whole domain.

Even outside, demons heard him and turned towards the mansion yet not Satan. With a murderous glint in his eyes, he slid through the millions of demons and cut the snake’s tongue. It was only matter of time until the mound will crash and the domain will be finished.

“Hope does not exist in those who dwell in Hell nor Heaven; it is in humans and human souls are what keep us alive!”

Down in Neverland, Asmodeus ordered his demons to get back to work and search for more hunters. After they scattered around the domain, the lust prince sat on his couch and sighed, rubbing his forehead in disappointment. He was done.

Inside the mansion, Abigor opened the doors towards the Upworld and left as quick as he came, leaving the rest to Beelzebub. Eneizar looked at his sign and realized he had probably took the best decision in his whole existence as a demon while Gakhas’ respect for the commander was increasing gradually.

“Do you want to know why I don’t want to kill them yet? Because the wrath of humans against their own kind is far greater than Hell’s manipulation. The World is a constant reminder that God’s mercy only leads to human mistakes and thus Hell will never be empty and Heaven will never be full,”

Lucifer chuckled, not seeing the point of saying such strong statements when he was going to disappear for a long period of time. As Beelzebub finished his pompous speech, Zoe jumped over the hole and with a blank expression, pushed Lucifer forward, the demon’s eyes widening when he realized he was falling into darkness. Because he still had the sharp tail, he got the chance to plunge it into the walls but Beelzebub wasn’t stupid and grabbed Zoe off the ground before breaking it with one hard jump.

As Lucifer was falling into nothingness, the mound shattered, just as Satan foresaw. The vanity domain became empty of any vanity energy and everyone knew it was over.

Zoe woke up at the sound of buzzing lights and it was so annoying that she opened her eyes; it was so bright and her head was pounding. She looked down at her body and realized she had an IV stuck into her hand, connecting her to a machine while her other hand was wrapped in bandages. Her back hurt like nothing else and she was in a hospital bed, covered in uncomfortable sheets and the light was right above her bed.

She got up and checked for visitors; her eyes scanned the room for the familiar face of Ezekiel. He wasn’t there and memories flooded her mind, or at least fragments of memories. Zoe could see the blood and the markings of a seal; she could hear the words of an exorcism and then nothing.

There was one person inside, sleeping comfortably on a chair with their head on her bed and from what she could see, it looked like Chen. She moved her hand and ruffled his hair, waking him up immediately. Chen’s eyes widened and quickly called for the doctor.

“You’re awake; you’re alive!” The human seemed very surprised of the latter fact.

“I-“ The doctor walked in only a moment later and told her to shut up; not that she could speak anyway.

“You need to rest and I will inform your cousin that you are fine,” The doctor said softly, taking Zoe’s paper sheet before writing something on it, “You have been brought in a vegetable state. I am a skeptic but you, Miss Lestrade, just came back to life. It is a miracle,” The doctor continued, smiling at her patient.

Zoe looked down at her hands and felt like crying. That wasn’t a miracle it was a nightmare and it ended with her best friend dead.

It took a few more hours until everyone she knew got informed that she came back. The so called cousin proved to be Iaosur who looked different. Andrew brought Jake in and Jake gave her information she didn’t want to know.

“Your house has been robbed and it looks like a mess. Oh and it seems Mark and Luke left for a trip,” The innocent human mumbled, watching over her with the same eyes as Mark used to.

“What happened to Ezekiel?” She asked, Chen and Iaosur glancing sadly at each other.

Jake sighed before he responded, “He died. He was found dead in your apartment and you were in a vegetative state. They brought you in and Chen insisted that you will wake up and they should get you attached to machines,” Jake continued.

But as soon as he left, Iaosur told her the truth, “Abaddon killed Mark and Luke and left a trail of bodies from Essex to your apartment,”

She couldn’t help but feel horrible. One woman brought so much death in the lives of people and they only tried to help her; they did nothing wrong yet they died.

“Um-“ Iaosur glance at Chen and nudged him forward, “Ezekiel’s funeral is today,” He didn’t even finish when she disconnected the IV and moved in order to get off the bed. Iaosur’s eyes widened and quickly went to her aid.

“Even if you are able to walk, I’m sure his mother won’t let you see him. You are alive and he is dead; that’s the cruel reality and his mother won’t accept it,” Iaosur reasoned yet she was stubborn and eventually got on her feet.

“I’m perfectly fine. Once sent back, the wounds became part of my soul not of my body,” She assured them yet she didn’t look well at all.

Iaosur glanced at Chen and both gave in, especially since they still had her sign on their wrists; be them demons or humans, it was still working.

Unfortunately, the doctor wasn’t keen on signing Zoe’s discharge papers and Zoe wasn’t taking no as an answer; the commander had to be retained by Iaosur because she was ready to cut that doctor’s hand and sign the papers by herself. Of course nothing happened even if the nurse was one step from calling the police and making Zoe’s life even worse. Thanks to Chen’s nice attitude and assurance that she will be well tended now that she woke up they let her go. She wasn’t exaggerating when she said her body was fine; except a few minor scratches, it looked like she wasn’t even on the brink of dying two days ago.

At the funeral, she couldn’t approach the ceremony and it wasn’t entirely because she couldn’t accept the priest. Mrs. Addams was emotionally destroyed and Ezekiel’s older brother wasn’t enough to mend her heart; burying your child so early in life was heartbreaking for everyone, especially for Zoe. Ezekiel has been literally part of her soul and when he died, that part died as well. Zoe was incomplete now that her legacy, her anchor, her best friend, her brother, her son, her whole world has died.

“At least he is in Heaven,” Chen mumbled, holding himself well for someone whose best friend since childhood died right under his eyes.

Zoe sighed and leaned against the tree, watching from distance as the ceremony ended and they started to lower the coffin into the ground, saying their farewells to Ezekiel Deron Addams.

Zoe waited for everyone to pay their respects before they finally left and she could go apologize to the first person who ever accepted her truly and wholly.

“Ezekiel Addams, a small but great man who did the unimaginable by the age of 26, shielding a coward from her purpose and killing villains with his beliefs. A courageous, handsome, lively young man whose joy was in helping lonely and sad people; their lives changed once he shined their way. My puppy human, my-“ She was broken and seeing her cry over one’s grave wasn’t exactly the position Iaosur ever imagined he will see. Ezekiel’s picture was lying there, his eyes sparkling with life and that loose smile that would make Zoe think that everything will eventually be alright.

She touched the picture, the tears falling uncontrollably and she remembered. Images of his smile when they met or his remarks were flashing before her eyes; the way he couldn’t understand how relationship work since he’s always been interested in occultism; the way he always tagged along and he never pushed her away when demons were getting dangerous; the way he looked at her on the day they promised each other, that was such a promise…

“I promise I will always be your best friend, even if you become a demon and go to Hell. Commander or not, I will be your best friend.”

Ezekiel Addams gave his life away for her and she couldn’t thank him enough or apologize enough for the hardships he encountered both emotionally and physically because of her. He was a hero and she never got the chance to tell him how much he meant for her and for the world.

“I loved you and I will never stop loving you, my family,” She barely whispered through the sobs.

With one last soft caress of his gravestone, Zoe Lestrade let Ezekiel rest in peace.

Once they got home, Zoe went straight into her room and packed. Her bed still had blood from the time Jasper spent inside doing something they preferred to leave as a mystery. She only grabbed a few clothes and a sweater that she recognized as being Ezekiel’s before she sat at her working desk, her laptop turned off. In a moment of anger, she screamed and threw everything aside. Chen was standing in the door when he got surprised by her sudden anger; not that it wasn’t understandable.

“It’s not your fault. Abaddon killed everyone, including Ezekiel. Besides, it was his choice,” Chen tried to mend the situation but he knew she wasn’t going to listen to him.

“Everyone around me suffered, even Mark and Luke. Belial chose Ezekiel’s girlfriend to be his little informant and it wasn’t a coincidence; everything was a chain that would lead to me.” She stated coldly, her eyes falling on her right hand, “This endless knot provoked only misery but at the same time, without it I would have never met you; it’s such an irony. This, what I have, is not a gift but not a curse either; it just is,”

“You’re thinking too much,” Chen interfered.

She laughed, “Look at you, puppy number two. You used to be a carefree singer, doing what you always loved and then, I appeared and saved your life. I shouldn’t have come to your aid and I knew I shouldn’t break the rules,”

“But you did,” Iaosur interfered, coming next to Chen, “You did and you saved the world, Zoe. You saved from an unnecessary war,”

“But the cost was too big,” She mumbled, grabbing a hand through her long dark hair, “Too big, Iaosur. I will never involve myself into anything related to the dark side. Never.”

She made a vow that day and for the safety of humanity, she bandaged her back and her hand, hiding her true meaning in the world.

That night, Zoe left a message for her parents, telling them that she found a job and she will be fine by herself; her imaginary friends weren’t a problem anymore and she found a reason to leave. She placed a letter with the house keys and her credit card, signing Iaosur’s name on it. Zoe grabbed her bag and the cash money she had in the house before she left.

As she made her way past the wall, Daniel’s pastry shop, the park and all the other iconic places, Zoe couldn’t help but smile. Not every day had been painful and she met incredible people along the way.

Every ghost, familiar and ounce of darkness appeared that night, watching as the woman who suffered so much for them was giving up on everything.

She was ready to grab a cab and leave for the airport when she noticed the full moon shining beautifully on the sky. There was one star shining brighter than any – even brighter than the Polar Star- and she knew that up there, she had one angel watching over her.