Angel's Mercy

 it is said that angels of death are the most merciful after God himself. They won't take your soul brutally, but they will seduce you towards the end gently with a path filled with roses.

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The 15th October

It was a cold day of autumn. I reached home exhausted after another day of bombing and bullets raining. I work in an office in a nearby town that takes 1 hour of walking since cars aren't available during this war.

Sometimes I gladly thank god that I survived, and other I deep inside hope to rest free from thinking about how I am going to feed myself tomorrow...

But If I was to die, I want it to be a peaceful death.

The network here is bad but it still works from time to another, even the electricity stops working very often.

I took a bath to freshen up and clear my exhaustion, I had a lot to deal with to have a warm bath but the fresh feeling it gave was worth it.

Once done, I looked outside the window at the destroyed city.

That made me think of her, my girlfriend. She lives a few blocks away and works as an artist. I think she is much luckier than me since her atelier was shot while she was there yet she survived unscathed.

I picked up my broken phone trying to deal her number to check on her when a message from her popped up

"It's done. Goodbye."

I froze in my place at the few words she sent and realisation of the meaning behind them hit me hard.

She is leaving.

I wasted no more second before changing and rushing to her atelier.

*Bang*

I heard the bullets shots of the resistance and army and cursed underneath my breath.

I have to reach her immediately.

Praying that I can survive like I always did, my prayers were answered and I reached the old building in the northeast of the city.

It was in horrible state, some corpses are stil left in there, most of the stairs are broken, the corridors and apartments turned into debris...

It's just like how any building would become once it's shot by the war missiles.

I did all I could so I can reach the highest floor where the destroyed atelier was.

It always made me wonder, it's not the first time this happened anyway, but how could a fragile girl like her climb all the way up to attempt suicide then stop when I come to her?

Since the destruction of her atelier she used to always come here to paint and once her work is done, she message me and wait until I'm there before attempting to jump from above the building.

Is she desperate to die but also doesn't want to die?

I couldn't guess much to what's inside her mind but I know right now that I need to stop her.

It took so much efforts for me to reach the highest floor where she was standing.

If I didn't know her well, I would have thought she was an angel.

Just like the first time I saw her, she bore that lonely expression of someone who lost everything. She was so beautiful even with those lonely hazel eyes as the breeze slowly played with her silky black hair.

Like a fallen angel, she raised her little feet and let go of the broken fence as the gravity summoned her body.

I run and made it in time somehow like always.

"Wait!"

I jumped as fast as possible, one hand on the broken fence and another holding her hand.

"Let go"

Those words was as cold as her hands, yet the sweetness of her voice made me neglect the chill i felt.

"Why are you doing this? Haven't you just finished a painting and should be happy about it? Why would you kill yourself?"

"I have to go"

"Where"

"I'm being called, heavens are calling me and I should go."

For a moment I was about to let go of her hands as her words echoed in my mind.

Since the day we met, we talked about several topics and every time she had to bring the heavens topic and how beautiful and peaceful it's in there and describe it as if she was there once before.

She seized the chance to free herself from me but I only held her tighter.

"Let go!"

"Never! There isn't somewhere called heavens! How can you know that your imagination is real!"

"That's why you don't understand! If you don't have faith then how can you understand! I want to be there, my place is there, not in this frustrating world!"

What about me then?

Am I a part of this frustrating world?

Aren't you the one who gives me more frustration than what this world and war already gave?

You always talk about heavens as if it was a human you are in love with, you always had those lonely eyes except when you mention heavens you have a lovely facsinated expression of someone in love... Why can't you look at me with those same eyes even tho I love you too much and you mean the world to me?

"I'm tired of all of this... Please."

"I'm also exhausted of fighting."

"I want to die."

"I wanna die too, I always wanted to!"

The moment she lift her head to look at me, I realised everything.

I expected her to look shocked but instead, she was smiling gently... Just like an angel.

"Finally you understand"

"Yes... If there's a chance to go somewhere better with someone you love, then why not risk everything for it?"

"Lift me up."

I wondered for a moment why would she ask such a thing when she was screaming at me moments ago to let go, but I didn't hesitate to lift her.

She walked to the painting she finished before contacting me, which was facing the horizon and as I was rushing I didn't see it.

After seeing the painting, I've understood more than I already did moments ago. Tears started welling in my eyes and she wiped them with her small pale hands.

"So... Shall we go?"

"Yeah... Let's go together."

We held eachothers hand as our eyes fixed in each other.

The dark sky illuminated red and the cold breeze brushed against us as we leapt together towards our destiny.

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TV NEWS: A missile shot in the northeast of the city led to more than 60 victims.

In that area, only a painting of a man and woman walking towards heaven in the sunset was left.