Wicked Payback

by Daisy Dexter Dobbs

  “Go ahead and keep your precious bleeding heart and your hopelessly good soul with its oozing feelings of love and forgiveness crippling your existence,” Dev spat. “But when you’re stuck sitting on a lump of cloud mindlessly strumming a harp for infinity, remember that it was your gross stupidity that put you there.” Dev lifted Meredith higher and her mouth opened wider.

  “Oh my God…please don’t hurt me,” Meredith begged.

  And then Dev bellowed. An unholy desolate sounding wail. “God, God, you and your God! You dim-witted, sniveling, sympathetic, empathetic humans disgust me. So you want God, do you? You want Heaven, hmm? Well, too bad because they don’t want you.”

  Meredith was bawling like a baby now. “But I don’t want to stay here,” she choked out. “You said I could leave. Please, let me go. Oh God, please help me. Please, God, get me out of here!”

  Just as Dev began to mimic Meredith’s whining pleas, a profusion of pale golden light permeated the room, cloaking Meredith with a profound sense of peace.

  “Shame on you, Dev,” a calming, echoing voice said. “You know better than to ignore the rules.”

  Spittle flew out of its mouth while the thing that used to look like Dev cackled. With the passing of each second, the demon grew more grotesque and frightening. “Interfering sons of bitches,” Dev barked while shielding her eyes from the light with one hand as she continued to hold Meredith aloft with the other. She focused her attention back on Meredith. “Just remember, darling,” she warned with demonic intonation, “one false move on your part and I’ll haul your ass back down here so fast that it will make your head spin—literally. And next time there won’t be any fun and games. It’ll be straight to the tar pits for you where you’ll bubble and boil and writhe in agony forever. Instead of quivernation you’ll be in a constant state of suffocation.” With that, Dev drew her arm back and threw Meredith so hard and fast that she spun like a top.

  Just when Meredith was certain that she’d hit the wall and burst into bloody smithereens, the same soothing voice she’d heard a moment before said, Don’t worry, I’ve got you.

  And then she felt herself enveloped by strong, masculine arms—and a pair of wings.

  Chapter Twelve

  Floating in the midst of the comforting glow, Meredith felt safe and secure for the first time in so very long. The stench of sulfur had finally vanished from her nostrils and she knew she was free of Dev’s clutches—hopefully forever. In Hell she felt as if she’d been in a drugged stupor, shrouded in temptation and nearly incapable of logical thought. Now, wrapped in the firm grasp of her winged rescuer, she breathed an enormous sigh of relief. She felt so free and happy that she almost burst into song. She glimpsed up into the face of the being that held her as they flew. As he looked down at Meredith and smiled, she saw that he was more than handsome, he was beautiful. Nutmeg-brown eyes, long black hair, a grin that warmed her heart and a superbly muscled body. And he was black.

  “I always thought angels were pale, delicate, fair-haired creatures,” she noted, immediately sorry for thinking out loud and making an ass of herself. It was such a ridiculous sounding observation. The last thing she wanted to do was insult this glorious being who’d whisked her out of Hell. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to say.” Meredith squeezed his forearms gently. Wonderfully firm and beefy, her robust angel was far from frail. “It’s just that with all those muscles you look more like a warrior than any angel painting I’ve ever seen.”

  “We come in all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and colors.” He chuckled. “Male and female. And there’s no need to feel bad, Meredith. I know what you meant. We’re usually portrayed as willowy blond Caucasians in artwork so it’s a natural assumption.”

  Meredith could listen to his voice forever. It was strong yet lyrical and quite compelling. “Thanks for understanding. Do you have a name? What should I call you?”

  “Lysander.”

  Meredith repeated the name and smiled. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s Greek for liberator.”

  “How appropriate.” Meredith laughed softly. “Lysander, are you taking me to Heaven?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Oh…”

  Lysander chuckled. “Don’t worry, little one. There’s nothing to fear. We’re going to the Corridor of Souls. It’s a place of decision and preparation just inside the Gates of Heaven.”

  “Decision…you mean as in judgment?” Meredith really didn’t think she could handle any more stress today. And having a panel of heavenly beings decide her fate ranked right up at the top of her Things That Make Me Really Panicky list. “They…they won’t send me back down to Hell, will they?”

  “I already told you that you have nothing to worry about, Meredith. Just try to relax. We’re almost there.” Lysander’s voice was so hypnotic that Meredith immediately felt the tension leave her body.

  A short while later, Lysander’s great wings flapped gently as they descended. Once they’d floated down through the last cloud, Meredith caught a glimpse of the gates. Pearly was actually a fairly good description of the massive structure. The vertical rods appeared almost translucent at some angles, with a look of rich, creamy mother of pearl. The depth and luster of the material was magnificent, unlike anything Meredith had ever seen. Ornate horizontal supports of gold and silver made up the lush scrolled framework. Standing within arm’s reach of the gates, Meredith looked up. The gates rose so high she couldn’t see the top.

  The entire area was bathed in soothing lavender light and when Meredith looked down at her feet she saw that, rather than standing on a cloud, she was standing on luminous rays of lavender.

  “Lysander Triple Eight Seven,” the angel said to the gates, “with Meredith Annie Collins McKenna McKenna, case file eight zanillion thirty.”

  The colossal gates opened inward gracefully and Meredith’s gaze flitted from one captivating element to another. An infinite city of light had materialized before her, with even the roads, walkways and buildings constructed of colorful translucent rays. There was radiance above, below and to the sides—never blinding, but soothing, joyful and inviting. Engaging sounds of love, laughter and happiness permeated Meredith’s senses. And she longed to be a part of it all. As if she were an impatient child on Christmas morning, Meredith fidgeted, yearning to skip into the city and explore its many wonders. Lysander’s hand resting gently on her shoulder captured her attention.

  “Patience. Your time will come, Meredith. Follow me.”

  Just inside the gates, Lysander stepped to the right, entering what appeared to be a long hall of pale blue light. The light swirled in a clockwise direction as they walked but there was no sensation of dizziness. The end of the hall opened into a large area filled with compartments, almost like a series of small offices, but they were composed of blue light. It fascinated Meredith how the light could be translucent and yet it was impossible to see into each private cubicle—a seeming impossibility. As she took in one extraordinary feature after another, she almost felt as if she’d stepped right into the pages of a magical storybook.

  The door to one of the rooms opened and Lysander led Meredith inside. The walls of light were adorned with picture frames that glowed with a sort of fluorescent radiance—like neon signs, only softer. Meredith gasped when she saw that each frame displayed moving pictures, like those from a video camera only more real and three-dimensional. They were all favorite scenes from Meredith’s life, from her earliest memories onward.

  “Oh, this is phenomenal,” she whispered with reverence. “Awesome in the truest sense of the word.”

  “I’ll return when it’s time to escort you again, Meredith,” Lysander said, lifting Meredith’s hand to his lips and brushing a tender kiss across her knuckles.

  A salient rush of joyous contentment saturated her spirit at the touch of the angel’s lips. “Thank you so much, Lysander…for everything.”

  And then Lysander was no longer in the room.

  “Yo
u’ve had quite a difficult time of it, my dear, haven’t you?”

  Startled, Meredith turned toward the voice and saw that it emanated from a crinkly-eyed, pink-cheeked older woman sitting behind a pearly desk. She was attired in a flowing garment of pastel blue from head to toe. Even her magnificent wings were a subtle shade of blue.

  “My, my,” the old woman’s eyes sparkled as she smiled, “you’re the spitting image of Katie when she was your age.” Meredith cocked her head in confusion. “Oh forgive me, dear. I’m referring to your grandmother. I was her guardian angel, just as I am yours. My name is—”

  “Annie,” Meredith breathed with awe. “Just like my middle name.”

  “Indeed.” The old woman nodded and smiled.

  “Oh my God…” Meredith just stared silently for a moment. “Grandma Kate used to tell me about her guardian angel when I was little. She’s the one who gave me my middle name—after you. But I thought it was just one of those elaborate yarns she was always weaving. At least, that’s what my mom said.” A maze of happy recollections whooshed through Meredith’s mind. The wondrous tales of Annie the Angel that her grandmother had spun were the highlight of their visits together. She remembered the special glint in her grandma’s eye whenever she regaled Meredith with a story. And now Meredith was actually standing before the lead player in Grandma Kate’s heavenly tales. “How…how did my grandmother know about you?”

  “Some people are more attuned to the spirit world than others and your grandmother was one of them,” Annie said. “Katie could sense my presence from the time she was a small child and we’d spend hours chatting together. The family was concerned about her insistence that she and her guardian angel were conversing. They worried that perhaps Katie was a bit batty or that she’d conjured up some demon,” Annie paused to laugh, “but she and I knew better. After a time Katie learned it was best to keep quiet about our chats and then the hubbub died down. It’s much the same for many children who have what’s referred to nowadays as an invisible friend. It’s usually their guardian angels they’re connecting with.”

  Squinting as she struggled to evoke a distant memory, Meredith said, “I had an invisible friend for awhile when I was little but I can’t really remember much about it now. Was…was that you?”

  “None other.” Annie winked. “My but we did have fun.” She extended her hand, gesturing to the gilded chair that appeared in front of the desk. “Do sit down and make yourself comfortable, Meredith, while we sort through things together.”

  “Is Grandma Kate here too? Can I see her?”

  “Yes, she’s here and she sends you her love, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to see her until you come back to stay.”

  “Come back?” Meredith cocked her head. “I don’t understand. Where am I going?”

  “Back to your life on Earth,” Annie said and Meredith’s eyes widened in surprise. “Well, after all, that’s been your heart’s greatest desire, hasn’t it? To go back and make amends to Jack…to try to patch things up between you. Right?”

  Meredith nodded slowly. “Yes…well, until I caught my first glimpse of Heaven, that is. Now I want to stay here, Annie. Can I?”

  “No, dear. Not yet.” A knowing smile in place, Annie shook her head from side to side. “Naturally every soul feels that way after their first glimpse of Paradise. That’s why you’ll forget most of what you’ve seen once you go back—so you can fully concentrate on living, on fulfilling your destiny. Believe me, Heaven will be here for you when the time is right and, Meredith, it’s even more magnificent than you can begin to imagine. But now it’s time to focus our attention on getting you back to your earthly existence.”

  Stiffening with apprehension, Meredith gripped the arms of her chair. “When you say back to Earth, do you mean as myself? As a woman? In my own body?”

  “Absolutely.” Annie laughed and nodded. “While there are occasions where we need to send a soul back to Earth in an alternate guise, this isn’t one of them.”

  “Whew!” An audible gust of breath escaped Meredith’s lips as she wiped her brow. “That’s a giant relief. What about Jack and Karyn—will I get to see them again?”

  Annie’s eyebrow shot up. “Indeed. And I’m afraid you’ll have to work quite hard to rectify that wicked little bit of payback that you exacted on your ex-husband.”

  Meredith felt her cheeks flush at the memory. “But I thought his future was no longer in jeopardy because the photos won’t be published—and Ricky’s dead and Alicia’s in prison.”

  “All true,” Annie said. “And don’t think we didn’t notice that you worked diligently to set things right. Sacrificing yourself to save Jack while you were in Ricky’s body was selfless and brave—and that earned you some big points. But it’s not Jack or Karyn’s lives we’re concerned with at the moment, dear. It’s yours.”

  “I see,” Meredith said, although she didn’t. Swallowing hard, she slumped down in her chair and worried her bottom lip. Life and death and Hell and Heaven…it was all so complex, so complicated. “So what am I going to be facing? Are you sending me back before or after I left Jack tied up? Will he remember what I did or not? Am I going to remember any of the stuff I went through in Hell or up here? What will—”

  “Whoa!” Annie held up her hand and laughed. “Slow down. All of your questions will be answered. But there are no absolutes. What eventually happens will happen naturally of your free will, without any interference from me or from that devious creature who’s so eager to make you a part of her dark domain.” Sporting a sour expression, Annie pointed downward. “From this point on circumstances are entirely up to you and Jack and Karyn.”

  “That’s good. I promise I’ll work very hard to make amends.”

  “There’s one thing you should keep in mind.” Annie wagged a finger at Meredith. “Granted, Jack has an exasperating weakness for the ladies, but he’s inherently a fine man, a good soul, Meredith. And he loves you deeply. In fact, he’d readily give up his life for you, just as you did for him. You and he are true soulmates.” Annie’s hand moved in a broad, sweeping gesture as she motioned to the frames on the walls. Each frame was alive with happy scenes of Meredith and Jack together. And the sensations of love, joy and romance were palpable. “Remember?”

  Meredith bubbled with merriment as she scanned each frame. “Oh yes. Yes, Annie, I remember. And I want all of that with Jack again.”

  Resting her elbows on the desk, Annie leaned forward and shoved her fingers together so they were intertwined. “Of course, there are certain particulars, some difficulties that you’ll need to overcome.” She gazed at Meredith silently for a moment. “The passage of time in Heaven and Hell is unlike that on Earth. After you died the second time—in Ricky’s body—you were supposed to be sent here directly. But according to the rules between the dominions, Dev retained the right to do her best to tempt you to remain with her. When she decided to exercise her option, we had no choice but to let her snatch you away. We were unable to interfere until you called upon us to save you or until your prearranged time there had lapsed—whichever came first. Fortunately, you finally called out to God before the allotted six-month enticement period passed.”

  “Oh boy.” Meredith took a deep breath and smiled. “You scared me for a minute there, Annie. I’m glad I called for help when I did, because it’s still the same day everything happened. Or no…I think it’s the day after.” Meredith shrugged. “In either case I can easily deal with a missing day.”

  “In Earth time, Meredith, more than four months have passed since the morning you were shot and died while in Ricky’s body.”

  “What?” Meredith bolted from her chair. “But that’s not possible. It seemed like I was only down there a matter of hours.”

  “The devil’s greatest tool is temptation. It’s alluring…intoxicating…fascinating. And you were tempted mightily with the most potent of her carnal offerings. You were steeped in her persuasive command for quite a long while before you call
ed out to us, my dear.”

  Remembering the bounty of sexual enticements that Dev had conjured up for her, Meredith growled in frustration. “Sex…all because of sex…” She sank back down in her chair, dropping her head into her hands and recalling the tantalizing fantasy lovers, the outstanding sex, the astounding orgasms. And she remembered feeling drugged. Yes, somehow that demon trickster had managed to put her into a senseless stupor all the while she worked her evil ways.

  “Oh good grief, what have I done?” Meredith groaned. She felt as if she’d slipped down a greased ladder almost overnight, from the dull-and-boring-goody-two-shoes rung to the depraved-and sinful-sex-fanatic rung. “I’ll make up for it, I swear. I’ll never allow myself to have sex again for as long as I live. I’ll become a nun.”

  She whipped her head up when she heard peals of laughter coming from Annie. Her sweet old guardian angel had tears streaming down her face she was laughing so hard—and she was slapping the desk to boot!

  “Annie!” Meredith’s voice was indignant. “How can you sit there and laugh about the horrendous mess I’ve made of my life? I honestly don’t see anything funny about it whatsoever!” Her chin quivered and one fat tear trailed down her cheek.

  Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Annie got up and came around to the front of the desk, perching her ample butt on the corner. She took Meredith’s hands in her own, smoothing her thumbs over the knuckles. “Oh, I’m truly sorry, dear. But I overheard your thought about sliding down the greased ladder and it just cracked me up.”

  Meredith slipped her hands from Annie’s grasp and folded her arms across her chest. “And here I thought angels were supposed to be kind and compassionate.”

  “Oh, we are, we are…but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a delicious sense of humor.” She winked. “You see, dear, you have it all wrong. There’s nothing at all wrong with sex. After all, who do you think created it, hmm? Contrary to what Dev would have you believe there’s much more going on up here than harp playing. Why, just this afternoon I—” Annie cleared her throat. “Well, we won’t go into that now. But I can assure you, Meredith, that God created sexual union as a beautiful, mystical experience. While the passage of semen into the vagina is clinically necessary for conception, the joy of foreplay and intercourse, followed by the blissful rapture of orgasm, is most definitely not. It’s the icing on the cake so to speak. Along with love, sexual pleasure is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind—and womankind.” Annie drew Meredith up from her chair and into a reassuring hug.