At home, I sit at the desk in my bedroom. I think. I was sure he was the spirit but I guess I was wrong. If he was the spirit then I wouldn’t be able to contact him because he’s no longer a spirit. Spirits are dead people who drift between Earth and Heaven. So I decide to try to contact the spirit that I thought Michael was. I close my eyes tight and breathe deeply in and out. I search around my mind for the spirit but can’t find him. Usually if I want to find a specific spirit again I can do it easily. Pictures of Michael appear in my mind. I try to put the thought out of my mind because the more I think about it the more I’m sure it’s him. So I decide to ignore him from now on.

Later, I start to drift off to a sleep. As I close my eyes I remember a memory:

I feel sick and I have a constant headache. I keep hearing voices in my head and I’m daydreaming a lot. The voices in my head say that they’re spirits and they want to talk to me but I try to block them out. After a while, I give in and listen to them. They explain to me that I’m the gateway between two dimensions, Earth and Heaven. Only some spirits can talk to me and I need to listen to them more.

I open the door at the entrance of the school. Olivia didn’t meet me at the usual place to walk to school. She must be sick, I think as I walk down the corridor. I turn a corner and then freeze. Olivia is talking to Michael and she’s got her flirting face on. They’re laughing and smiling. I can’t help feeling a bit left out, maybe even a bit jealous. First, he lies to me about being a spirit and then he steals my best friend. I stride past, not even looking at them.

At home, I talk to Olivia on the phone.
“I saw you talking to Michael today.” I say, wondering if she saw me or not.
“He’s so sweet and he bought me lunch.” She sounds very happy about Michael.
“He’s nothing special,” I mutter into the phone. I hear her gasp. Then the doorbell rings. “I have to go.” I hang up and put the phone on the table. I walk to the door and open it. Michael is at the door.
“What do you want?” I say rudely. He smiles.
“Nice to see you too,” He answers sarcastically. I fake laugh and start to shut the door on him. He pushes it open. “I won’t take up much of your time. Can I come in?” I reluctantly give in and he walks past me into the living room. I follow him. He sits down on the sofa and I sit on the chair facing him and cross my arms. We sit there staring at each other for a minute and then I just spit it out:
“Why are you here?” I raise my voice as I’m getting angry from being around him. He laughs and his annoyingly sweet voice echoes through my ears.
“I need your help...” Just as I’m about to say something he continues. “...and it’s something only you can do.” I look around the room, not meeting his eyes.
“Ok, what is it?” I ask.
“I need you to contact the dead.” He whispers.
“Why do you think I can contact the dead?” I try to act not interested even though I am.
“Because... because...” He struggles to speak. I knew it, he’s lying. I stand up.
“You’re trying to find a reason to know my secret. Either tell me the truth or leave!” I shout. He stands up uneasily and says:
“You were much nicer when I first met you.” He walks out. Each step after he said that hurts me. I hear the door shut and then I fall back on the chair, feeling hurt and guilty.

When Olivia and I walk to school the next day, she tells me that she’s dating Michael.
“You’re what?” I almost shout. She puts her hand over my mouth.
“I know you don’t like him but I do. Would you two please get on?” She begs and I take her hand off my mouth.
“Ok but I’m not going to like it.”

We meet Michael at the gates leading into school. He smiles and greets us:
“Hey, Olivia. Hey, Mel.” He’s happy today and even that makes me angry. He’s acting like yesterday didn’t even happen.
“Hi, Michael.” Olivia says and smiles at him. He puts his arm around her. I grab her wrist and pull her away.
“I’m positive this is a bad idea.” I whisper to her. She stares at me and then shakes her head.
“Me being happy and going out with Michael is a bad idea?” She makes me sound bad when I’m just trying to protect her.
“He’s not your type and it’s too soon.” I argue. It’s partly true, it is too soon.
“He was right, you are unreasonable.” She walks back over to Michael and they start walking away. I just catch him glance at me and I scowl.

At the end of school I decide not to go home but to go to the library. They have newspaper articles on the computers and I want to research about Michael.

There is barely anyone in the library, a few adults and a girl that looks about my age. I sit down at one of the computers and open the web page. I remember that Michael’s second name is Jones so I type his name in and press enter. Two news results turn up. I click on the first one that was one year ago. I start reading the article:
Boy dies in fire. 14 year old boy, Michael Jones, dies in a building that caught on fire. Investigators haven’t figured out the cause of the fire yet.
I nearly fall backwards on the chair when I spot his name. Then I see his picture next to the writing. He must be the spirit I talked to and he looks the same age as he was when he died. I print out the page and don’t bother looking at the second article.

By the time I’ve got to the end of the street, the wind is blowing in my face, I’m confused and I’m running. I was never like this before; I accepted that the paranormal and other dimensions exist but Michael is completely different. I don’t look where I’m going and I bump into Michael. I look around, we’re outside my house.
“What are you doing here?” I demand. He puts his hands in his pockets and mutters:
“Nothing.”
“If you don’t leave I’ll tell everyone you’re dead. I have proof.” I hand him the paper with the article on it. He looks at it and his eyes go wide.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything.” He holds his hand out to me. “Follow me.” I think about it for a minute but I give in. I take his hand and we walk down the road.

We stop in front of a door of an abandoned building. He pushes the door and it falls down and we wander inside.
“This is where I died.” He tells me. That’s when I notice the building’s half burnt. He leans against the wall and I copy him. He laughs and for a moment he’s not serious but his smile fades. “I remember dying and then I settled in Heaven. After one year I was worried that my time in Heaven was going to end so I tried to ask for advice.” He points at me.
“I remember.” I whisper. He looks down at the dirty floor and sighs.
“It turned out that you’re not meant to talk to humans so they threw me out anyway.” I put my hand on his shoulder and forget all about hating him.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize. He looks up at me and tries to smile. “Wait, I can I look at your back?” He properly smiles this time and says:
“Sure.” He turns around and takes his shirt off. I’m speechless. He’s got a mark on his back in the shape of wings. I blink and try to speak. Also, I notice that he’s quite handsome. I put that thought into the back of my head when I remember that Olivia’s dating him.
“You’re a fallen angel.” I quietly say. He turns around and put’s his shirt back on.
“Well you’re a necromancer,” I think he’s joking until I look at his face and see that he’s serious. “I’ll walk you home.” He changes the subject when he sees my shocked face.

At 9 o’clock the phone rings. I pick it up and hear Olivia’s voice.
“You don’t usually call at this time, what’s up?” I ask her. I hear her cry and then answer:
“Michael dumped me!” I feel sorry for her but I can’t admit to her that I sort of like him now.
“Why?”
“He says he’s in love with someone else.” That sentence hits me and I find it hard to think. I hang up on her without answering. He’s in love with me and I’m in love with him.

I dream. Michael has beautiful, white wings and he’s standing on clouds. The clouds disappear and he falls. His wings die and fall off.

I wake up with a jolt and nearly cry. I creep downstairs and sit on the couch. I watch TV until I fall asleep.

Olivia and I walk to school the next day. Olivia is still upset about Michael and I comfort her but I don’t tell her he might be in love with me. When we’ve walked five minutes, I see Michael crossing the road. I wave at him and he runs over to us. Olivia looks at me and then at Michael.
“Are you two friends now?” She sounds like she’s spotted something suspicious. Michael just shrugs his shoulders, looks at me and then asks:
“How are you?” I stare at him, daydreaming. He coughs and I snap out of it.
“I’m fine.” Ever since I’ve become friends with him, I’ve noticed how his eyes sparkle and how his smile lights up his face. I try not to look at him much. “So have you started on the history homework?” He shakes his head and answers:
“I’ve been busy but I’ll do it soon.”
“Do you want me to...?” I start to say but Olivia interrupts:
“If you two just want to ignore me then fine!” She starts to walk away and then looks over her shoulder. “I’m not going to talk to you anymore if you keep talking to him!” She stomps away. I stop in front of Michael.
“She said that you are in love with someone else. Is that someone me?” I have trouble saying the words so they all come out quickly. He puts a finger on my lip to stop me from talking anymore.
“No, I dumped her for a different reason.” Disappointment fills me and I wish I hadn’t asked.

In class I am bored as usual. I stare out of the window. Next to me, Michael falls off his chair and on the floor. I stand up immediately and the whole class panics when he doesn’t get up. He’s gone paler than usual and starts groaning and rolling around in pain. The teacher pushes through the crowd that has formed around us.
“We need to take him to the hospital.” The teacher says and tries to move me out of the way. He’s dead so he can’t go to the hospital, I think, they will figure out that something’s wrong.
“No! He can’t, this happens every day so he just needs to go to the nurse.” I lie. The teacher looks at me for a moment and then nods. I hold his clammy hand and pull him up (with the help of the teacher) and I help him walk to the nurse.

In the nurse’s office, he’s sitting down in a chair with his eyes closed. I can hear his shallow breathing. I still hold his hand. He starts talking calmly:
“Did I scare you? I’m sorry if I did.” He opens his eyes slowly.
“Don’t worry, but what happened?” I don’t know whether he knows or not but I still ask him.
“It’s most likely because I haven’t got long left on Earth. I’ll die soon.” He explains. I open my mouth but no words come out. He smiles, trying to reassure me.
“You know you said you wanted my help, I will help you.” I decide.

I open the front door to my house and Michael and I walk in. Mum and Dad are standing in the hallway, facing us and looking angry.
“Why are you always late home from school?” Dad raises his voice. I look at Michael and he steps forward towards Dad.
“Sorry, my fault, she was with me.” He defends me. I look past Dad and at Mum, she looks worried.
“Can I speak to my daughter on my own?” Dad rudely asks Michael.
“Of course you can.” My parents start to walk into the living room; I follow them and close the door behind me.
“What do you think you’re doing? Hanging out late and with a boy!” Dad shouts and I think I can almost hear Michael laughing. Well at least he’s finding it amusing.
“Mum, tell Dad that I can do what I want. I’m 14!” I’m getting angry now. Dad never did trust me and I hope Mum will back me up.
“I’m sorry but I agree with your father on this one.” Unfortunately she doesn’t. I turn around and walk towards the door.
“I’m going to my bedroom,” I see Michael smiling. “Why do you find this so funny?”
“Because I forgot how irritating parents could be.” He answers as we walk up the stairs to my room.

We sit on the bed and I explain to him how I contact the spirits:
“First, I let my mind go blank and I close my eyes,” He nods as I close my eyes and try to empty my mind. “I think if you hold my hand then I could make you hear them too.” I feel him hold my hand in his. I imagine pulling a spirit towards me and I hear a clicking noise as if a switch is being flicked on. A voice appears in my head:
Wow.
Michael shudders and I know he can hear the voice. I start talking:
“Hello, we want to ask for your help.”
Can’t I get some peace?
“We just want to ask you a quick question.” I say, determined to get an answer.
I know what it’s going to be about. I can sense a fallen angel in my presence.
Michael coughs and then speaks up:
“If you can hear me then I want to know how I can get back to heaven.”
Sacrifice. He needs to sacrifice...
The spirit goes so quickly that it makes my head throb. I put a hand on my head and wipe some sweat off.
“Are you ok?” He asks and I can feel him shivering. I breathe in, open my eyes and look at him.
“Yeah but you should go home. You need to rest.” I stand up and he doesn’t argue. He says goodbye and walks out. I sit down at my desk and turn on my laptop. I click on the internet icon and type ‘how an angel can get back into Heaven’. I press enter just as the door opens. I look up and see Mum leaning over my shoulder and looking at the web page. I swing the chair round to face her.
“I’m just...” I try to think of an excuse to be researching that. Mum put’s her hand up to stop me.
“You must be writing a story!” She guesses wrong. I nod and go along with that.
“So how would an angel get back into Heaven?” I try to act not suspicious.
“I guess they would have to prove that they were able to go back.” Dad calls her from downstairs so she goes away. I grab my phone and search for his number (which I put in there before). I phone him. Someone else answers. Sounds like an older boy.
“I knew you would phone soon, Mel,” His voice doesn’t sound familiar so I wonder how he knows who I am. “I’m looking after Michael at the moment so goodbye.”

I notice when I get to school that Michael’s not there. I look in every class, the cafeteria and the school office but I can’t find him. When I turn around, I see Olivia staring at me. She walks towards me.
“Hey.” I say trying to act like we’re still friends. She doesn’t seem fooled.
“I’m surprised you’re not still hanging out with him, following him,” She pauses. “More like stalking him.” I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“I thought you were my best friend! How could you accuse me of stalking him?” Before she gets a chance to speak, I walk with a quick pace down the corridor.

I remember where the building is so I wander over there. I approach the doorway and go inside. It is pitch black except for two green, glowing eyes. I close my eyes and open them again and they get used to the darkness. I see a boy maybe a few years older than Michael leaning over him. I cough to get their attention.
“Mel, you shouldn’t be here.” I hear Michael struggle to say the words. He sounds like he’s being strangled and he’s in a lot of pain. The boy looks up at me and smiles. It’s not like Michael’s warm, cute smile; it’s a cruel smile.
“You must be Mel,” He takes one step towards me and I take a step back. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That’s funny because I’ve never heard anything about you. So who are you?” I try to be brave even though I have a terrible feeling about him. He takes another step and holds his hand out for me to shake it. I shake my head and he runs the hand through his hair.
“My name is Luke. I remember this building... because I’m the one who burnt it.” He admits and I can tell that he’s trying to act cool. I knew there was something wrong about him.
“You’re sick. I bet you knew that Michael was in there.” I try to keep calm but I can hear my voice wobble and he probably would be able to hear it too. Michael tries to sit up but then groans in pain and falls back down. I try to go over to him but Luke stops me.
“Don’t you want to know why I did it?” He tempts me to ask him but I feel like if I know anymore I might try to hurt him. I don’t think that would end well.
“He did it because he thinks I stole his girlfriend.” Michael explains, weakly.
“Correction, you did steal my girlfriend,” Luke spins around and faces Michael. “So now I’ve stole yours.” He points to the dark spot in the corner of the room. Olivia emerges from the dark. I run towards Olivia. She pushes me away and hugs Luke.
“Olivia, what are you doing?” I shout. Luke confirms my fears:
“She’s my girlfriend. I heard that she was Michael’s.” Michael manages to sit up and says:
“She’s not my girlfriend, I don’t love her anymore.” Luke puts his arm around Olivia and they walk past me, out the door. I hold Michael’s hand and pull him up.
“I’m worried about what he’s going to do to Olivia.” I speak before thinking and then I put a hand over my mouth. I should have thought about what this is like for Michael.
“I’m sure she will be fine. He doesn’t harm people without a purpose,” He changes the subject. “So what did you do last night?” I almost laugh, maybe because I never thought this would be real, maybe because he’s nearly always happy. I don’t know what to believe anymore.
“I researched fallen angels.” I start explaining about him maybe having to prove himself to get back into heaven.
“You may be right.” He answers. “The spirit did also say about sacrifice.” I think about what he has to sacrifice but I can’t think of anything.
“I’m not sure.”

I look up at my house when I feel someone put an arm around my shoulders. I turn around quickly and see that it’s Luke. I push him away, he growls and his eyes glow green. I remember seeing them glow earlier. I run up the steps to my house, insert the keys in the lock and go inside.

I try to creep past the living room as it’s late but my parents catch me. Mum and Dad stand in front of me. I have a sense of déjà vu as I see their angry faces.
“You’re late. I told you that you can’t be late again.” Dad says. I nod and try to say something but Mum starts talking:
“So you’re grounded. You can’t see that boy again.” They make me so mad so I slowly walk up the stairs, making as much noise as I can. Then I slam the door.

I call Michael on my phone. He picks up after a few seconds.
“Hello?” I hear him say.
“Hi, it’s Mel. I wanted to ask you something.” I start to say.
“Sure, of course.” He answers and I take a deep breath.
“What is Luke? His eyes glowed green and he acted different.” I hear him sigh after I say that.
“Some murderers or evil humans turn into demons. He’s a demon; he’s stronger and madder than before.”
“What should I do?” I ask.
“Stay away from him.” He says.
“That shouldn’t be hard since I’m grounded. I’m not allowed to see you.”
“Ok.” Then he hangs up. He doesn’t seem bothered that I’m not going to be able to see him and that really hurts me. So I lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling. I know that he will never like me in that way so I have to get over it.
“I’m fine.” I say to myself as I fall asleep, tears streaming down my face.

I wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of my phone getting a text. I stand up and pick it up off the desk. It’s says:
Meet me at the swings at the end of the garden.
So I put on my jacket that is hanging on my chair, go downstairs and out of the door.

I walk through the wet and muddy grass until I see a black figure near the swings. It must be Michael.
“Hey.” I shout as I get closer. It’s not him, I realise. I feel pain on my face and the world goes black.

My eyes open and for a moment I expect to be back in my bedroom. I’m not. I’m in the burnt building that Michael lives in. My second guess is that Michael’s playing some sort of game with me. He’s not. I’m tied to a chair. I try to break free but I can’t. I hear screaming. I quickly look around and see Olivia tied to a chair next to me.
“What happened?” I ask her. She looks at me and I see tears but I also see blood in her light, blonde hair. I’m usually not squeamish but seeing it in her hair made me want to vomit.
“I don’t know, I was with Luke and...” She looks puzzled. “...I hit my head.” I should tell her about Luke and Michael so I explain:
“Luke’s a demon because he murdered Michael. Michael’s a fallen angel.” She looks at me as if I’m lying when I’m not. The door opens and Luke walks in, leaving the door open. He smiles at us.
“Hello, did you two have a nice sleep?” I know he’s pretending to be nice and I don’t even want to pretend I believe it.
“You’re a monster and you always will be!” I shout at him as loud as I can, hoping to attract some attention from people outside. He laughs and then falls forward, face down.

A knife is in his back. I nearly scream but then I see Michael. He starts to walk towards me when Luke jumps up. He pins Michael against the wall.
“If you try to stop me I will kill Mel.” He threatens as his eyes glow green again. I push myself onto the floor, still tied to the chair. I roll forward and bump into them. Luke lets go of Michael and looks at me. Michael quickly grabs his head and cracks his neck. He let’s go of him and Luke falls down with a thud.
“Demons can’t die easily so we have to burn him and fast.” Michael tells us and he takes a match box from out of his pocket. He lights a match and throws it into Luke’s open mouth. He grabs both of us (still tied to chairs) and helps us out of the door as quick as we can.

He unties Olivia first, who has been very quiet, and she runs away.
“Will she tell?” He asks me. I shake my head and answer:
“No, I think she’s too scared.” He unties me and when I stand up he puts his hands on my face. He makes me look him in the eyes.
“I lied. I do love you.” He kisses me and it seems like nobody else matters, everything seems so far away from me and him. He stops and pulls away from me as a ghost appears in front of us. He holds me close to him as if he wants to protect me now. The ghost speaks:
“Michael, your time as a fallen angel is up...” It is a calm, girl’s voice that’s speaking but I hate it all the same.
“You can’t take Michael away, I won’t let you!” I shout out and try to hold back my tears.
“...and his demon life begins. You murdered someone so now you pay the price.” The voice continues. He collapses in pain.