Afterlife: A Fall of Angels Novelette Read Online Free PDF

him.  Jessica… believed in him almost.  But Cole was in his position for a reason.  He wanted people to suffer generally.  He enjoyed giving people what was coming to them.
    But why did he want to help her?  And help her to be with another man?
    He resented her for making him question himself.
    He hardly knew who he was anymore.

 
     
     
    But here await me,
    and comfort thy dejected spirit and feed on good hope,
    for I will not leave thee in the nether world.
    - Canto VIII, Inferno, Dante
     
    Talk flew around the afterlife like gnats in the air.  You couldn’t move around without walking into some of it and breathing it in, causing you to choke.
    Already a new exalted leader was being talked about.  And Cole had heard the whispers about another.
    Things were going to get complicated, very fast.
    Cole was relieved when he felt the pull for a trial.  He needed a distraction.  He didn’t want to be thinking about helping Jessica anymore right then.
    Cole settled into his seat, only feeling slightly tense as Jeremiah settled into his.  They hadn’t uttered a single word to each other since Jeremiah found out Cole had eliminated much of his family from the world of the living.
    “Sally Thomas,” Cole’s head jerked up as the trial started.  “The deeds of your life have been accounted for and judgment will be passed.  Your actions must be made known.”
    Had he been paying attention, Cole might have recognized the tiny frame, the tense shoulders.  Even though her face was covered, he should have known her.  He had tried to convince her to kill herself once.  And then tried to return and finish the job when she failed.
    Sal stood there, her hands trembling where they were bound before her.  She whimpered quietly, words sounding like “what’s happening” stumbling out of her mouth.
    Jessica was going to be devastated.
    She didn’t need one more horrible thing going on right now.  She was already going to be losing the person who meant the most to her.  She didn’t need to be losing the person who meant second most.
    Cole shook his head in frustration.
    Why did he care ?
    Thousands of his brethren flooded the cylinder and Sal’s cries increased.
    “Sally Thomas, your deeds will now be revealed,” Richard continued.  Unraveling the scrolls of Sal’s life, it was immediately obvious where she was going.
    Mixes of boredom and interest piqued as the acts of her life were read.  Every one of the condemned started zoning everything out, nothing of interest having taken place in her life.  The list they got excited by was very short. 
    All the more whispers started going around the cylinder as Sal’s good deeds were read.  People who lead lives as good as Sal’s didn’t come around very often.  Even if she hadn’t really had any other choice when she was alive.
    Judgment started being passed.
    “Up,” started the blue-eyed leader.
    “Up,” sentenced the next.
    “Up,” agreed the rest of their kind.
    So did every one of the rest of them.
    Richard smiled as he moved on.  “Sally Thomas, judgment has been placed.”
    A scream ripped from her throat as a set of wings sprung from her back.  She collapsed onto her hands and knees, the white sack sliding from her head as it hung between her shoulders.
    A few exalted fluttered down to the walkway, lifting underneath Sal’s arms, helping the woman to her feet.  Their whispers of calm and assurance were enough to make Cole’s stomach churn.
    How could they stand being so… pure?
    The cylinder started to buzz with talk again, excitement building in the tone of the masses.
    “Sally Thomas,” the exalted leader began again.  “It seems you are being put up for election.  The masses are being heard.  Do you understand what has happened to you?”
    Sal finally looked up again.  Her eyes hesitated on Cole’s face for a brief moment, her face blanching.  But then her eyes slid to meet her leader.  “I’ve died,” she said, her voice