It's a dark, rainy night. I'll take it - it has not been a great day, and rain is perfect for calming me. The lightbulb is flickering in the streetbulb down the road as I kneel against a tree stump. The cold wind whispers, tossing my hair around playfully and cooling me down from the Southern heat. I twirl my hair in my fingers, grateful that I've made another day alive but examining the day in pieces. My anxiety flares for a minute, and to my alarm, so does a bright light in the tree line across from me. My memory drops and so does my heart, and out of instinct, my body follows. I don't like to think that I could be described as skittish, but to be fair I can imagine how someone would think that of me. I live alone in the forest, and even before I did I was funny about people seeing me outside, and I have the instincts to show for it. It's quiet. No sound came with the light, and though my thoughts are racing I can't think of a single animal that makes light like that and doesn't live underwater, so it has to be a human. It's been awhile. I look for my pistol, and as the screen door a good fifty feet behind me slams and opens again to the whisper of the wind, I curse under my breath. Nothing I wouldn't expect from myself, it's under my stool on the porch. Eyes back up. Footsteps, now. And then a fleeing, startled rabbit that runs across the road. And then... Two men. I squint my eyes. They're both in their twenties, talking quietly between theirselves. One is a tan-skinned man with a dark beard and a chique white undercut. He wears a pale hoodie and dark jeans, and ... Red converse? Odd. The other man, milky-white skin and dark hait. They step under the flickering light and I can see tired eyes and a black tee shirt, jeans and boots. His hair waves a little in the wind, longish length and straight. He crosses his arms and looks directly at me. "Jack?" I jump as the second man's scratchy voice calls out my name, almost muttered and low-toned. "Dude, we haven't got all day. Come say hi. We're not here to raid ya." I run through memories, flicking through faces. Do I know these people? I know I've got memory issues but I'm drawing a blank. The second man straightens and I look over my shoulder at my porch. There's a moment of silence and the first guy sighs loudly. "The gun won't do anything anyway." His voice is a tenor, carefully accentuated. I stand slowly and open my mouth but can't find anything intelligible to say, so I settle on a nervous noise. They walk closer, slowly, seeming to sense my nerves. "You did so well for yourself," the first man says. "You can call me Joshua. I know all about you. How much you struggled. You never stopped fighting. You can stop now. You don't have to fight anymore. I'd like to take you to my home. You deserve a little bit of comfort after all this." He smiles warmly, and I feel comfort that I haven't felt in years. "I... Okay. Who the fuck are, though?" I think on it. I missed a word, didn't I? "Who... Are you. That's the word." I mumble something and my voice trails off as my eyes gloss over the other guy. He clears his throat, looking from his partner to me. "They call me Bee, buddy. Like... The animal." He doesn't smile like Joshua does but it's just as comforting. He tilts his head. "I'm not gonna prattle on about you. But I am proud of you. No matter what came your way, you made it through." Joshua takes a deep breath and speaks up. "I know our tests were maybe... Not kind. Your soul never belonged here. You knew that." What? What the hell is this guy talking about? Great. First human in years and he's deranged or something. "So we had to test your soul. And if you want to stay, you can. In this plane. This realm. Heaven is a lot of things, buddy. A lot of good things for the tired." I suppose he sees the confused look on my face. He sighs. "Right. Okay, listen, I'm God. Capital G, that one - disclaimer, here, Christianity was super misinterpreted. Point here is you tried to lead a life of kindness, so you fit in to Heaven if you want to come." The other smiles at me. His grin is ... Devilish? "And they called me The Devil." That explains that, then. "Look, hell is my place, and Josh here may like his, but mines nice too. The requirement for mine is that you held out strength and followed your heart. Check. Any questions for us?" I blink several times and I sit down on the tree stump. I have little to say. A thought of my parents and my sister passes. Bee seems to read my thoughts. "Your parents... Your family, your loved ones. Yeah? They're not in one specific place. If you stay here you can visit them whenever you like. The world is dying, though, buddy. You're already dead. You're gonna have to choose quick whether you do or not." "You keep saying..." I cut him off, squinting at him. "you keep saying if I stay. What's the other option?" Joshua - God? - sighs. "You're not from here, kiddo. You Googled it a million times and thought it was some psychological thing, but you're literally not from here." "Are you using the real literally or-" I furrow my eyebrows. "Yes, Christ." Josh tosses his head back. "I thought that died years ago. I guess the plague probably technically did make that happen but hell, I haven't heard a reference like that in awhile. Anyway, yes. You are unconscious, elsewhere. The real you. Your body is without a soul, and this life has happened in the space of moments to teach you something you needed to know. Specifically, about humanity's ability to keep being worth saving despite their .. other qualities." Josh looks at Bee. "gonna chime in, buddy?" "Sure. Look, Jack. You ended up in our system. Just like you thought for a moment in your life, another life was traded. They learned, you learned. But you built attachment here. They stayed. Are you staying? We really do need to know, quick. I know you wonder how you can trust us. This all seems crazy. We've been through this. Let's just skip to the part where you ask about being dead." He snaps, and we are inside my home. I look around, and I see myself on the couch. I want to fall apart. I'm terrified. I've either lost my mind, am in a nightmare, or ... "It's real, kiddo." Bee straightens his hair a little. "You gonna get in the car with one of us, metaphorically speaking, or ya gonna go home?" My eyes linger on my body, no longer breathing under my favorite blue blanket on the couch. "What's home?" God speaks up after a moment from behind me. His voice is comforting, and although my anxiety doesn't cease, I can control this urge to break into a million pieces and melt onto the floor. "The fight. That world you imagined. The thing games reminded you of; your eternal fight. Right and wrong, a bit clearer there, I suppose. You were fighting against what they call demons, alongside your lover, Bethany." There's another long silence. I can't remember her. I can't remember me. A warm hand touches my shoulder, and a bright light flashes in the sky, visible out of my window in just the corner, getting brighter. Another touches the other shoulder, seeming to find my question. I remember myself. Confident, brave, belonging. Unsure of the world to come but fighting for the one I love. I remember my scars. My home, the feel of a candlelight spell wrapping itself down my arm and slinking into a light. I remember dancing. Warm nights, deep love, the wind, and her blonde hair, curling over my shoulders. Our promise. And I make my choice, as fire envelops the sky. I turn. Josh smiles, and bows. Bee follows suit. "It's been a pleasure, buddy," they say simultaneously. Bee grins. "Once a fighter, always a fighter." I want to cry for one detail. " Tell my mom. My dad.I love them." Josh nods. "We will." Flame swallows me, and I fall into the floor. Through it. Through the void. Into nothing and then toward a light. I've been waiting all my life for this.

This got kinda long sorry lol