"Excuse me—Miss Amachi. May I interrupt you there for a moment?" said the tinny voice.

Jubilee went silent, knowing what was coming next.

"Did you just say you were pronounced dead at the scene?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"And yet, here you are."

"Here I am," she agreed tiredly.

She had skipped most of the beginning of the story, particularly the part about stealing—she didn't need the cops of Japan on her case about that as well—and had cut right to the part regarding the accident.

There was another pause of inevitable scrutiny.

"If I may backtrack for a moment, Miss Amachi. Why did you bother to finish college after the death of both your parents? You said that after graduation you were working in…"

"Selling things online." She felt self-conscious in the brief silence that ensued, then added, somewhat defensively, "It's a thing."

"Hardly a 'thing' you need a degree for." Was that a tinge of contempt in the tinny voice, or just the cold effect of the artificial voice filter? Jubilee couldn't be sure. "So why bother getting one?"

Part of the answer to that question was that attending college gave her an "in" to certain demographics, and frat boys and drunken college students were some of the easiest people to steal from. Loans had already been taken out to pay for her third and final year, so she figured she might as well take advantage of them and bite the bullet when it came to scrounging up enough to pay off the debt. Jubilee decided to tell the other half of the answer though.

"It's what would've made my parents happy."

"I see." It was difficult to tell whether the voice sounded void of feeling because of the robotic voice filter, or because of the man behind it. "Why not at least take a leave of absence while you were grieving?"

She shrugged. The action made her shoulders ache. "Where would I have gone? My parents were both only children. My grandparents had passed away when I was still a kid. I had no family to stay with. No money to travel. Not to be melodramatic or anything, but I probably would have killed myself if I didn't have school to distract me and keep me busy." That and being a klepto.

There was a long silence. Jubilee imagined that the person at the other end of the line was mulling over her story and measuring out which parts were believable.

"Please," resumed the voice after a full minute, "Continue where you left off."

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"Dear God," breathed the civilian who was gaping at Jubilee's lifeless body. "She was so young."

The other paramedics began to lift the stretcher into the ambulance.

"Wait!" called the man. "May I pray for her?"

The first paramedic eyed him incredulously. "She's dead, man. Ain't nothing left to pray for."

"I'm a pastor," the man explained. "Please. I'd like to pray for…for her family. For her passing on."

The paramedic looked at the man skeptically for a moment longer, then shrugged and waved for his colleagues to wait. "If you insist," he said. "Can't see how it'll help, but don't s'pose it'll hurt, either."

"Thank you," said the pastor.

He made his way over to the stretcher. The other medics had set it back down on the ground. Kneeling, he took in the body that was before him. The girl's face was streaked with blood which oozed from a large head wound on the forehead, and her neck lolled at an awkward angle. She must have died on impact. Her cheeks had already taken on a deathly pallor. He felt a stab of compassion pierce his heart. Did she have a family? Surely, if this was his own daughter, such an event would have utterly broken him. Bowing his head, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

Ignoring the strange looks that he was getting, he began, "Father in heaven—into your hands I commend this spirit, which came from you…and now to you, I pray, will return…"

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Jubilee was hurtling through many realms. Except she wasn't Jubilee anymore; she wasn't anybody, for she had no body. All she had was a cold, distant sort of awareness.

Past her field of consciousness flew streaks of light and color, and the sense of vast, infinite space. The colors grew dim and darker as they flew past her.

Where am I? she thought, and then was surprised that she could think. What's happening?

Up ahead sprawled a black, gaping void. It stretched across an endless expanse. Jubilee could feel a sense of infinite, immeasurable coldness coming forth from it. It wasn't the kind of cold that was physically felt, for she was bodiless now—but it was a sense of cold that pierced right to the soul and snuffed out any remembrance of warmth or light.

Panic crawled through her being. The void was coming rapidly closer. Or was she the one who was coming towards it?

What IS that? her thoughts screamed.

Memories of her life suddenly sped through her mind. Screaming, sobbing at her parents' graves. Watching Alyssa cry over her lost engagement ring, which she had stolen. Crying with her, and not knowing if it was out of shame and empathy or if she had just gotten that good at pretending. Crawling out of the bed of a man who had told her he loved her just the night before—who she had taken two weeks to get to know and gain his trust—and watching his sleeping form, wondering if she could just love him back and settle down and have a normal life. But, in the end, taking his credit card and disappearing. And then, for the next three days, crying every time she saw a couple in the street or heard a romantic song play.

So much crying. So much shame. So much pain.

The faint, eerie sound of crying echoed from the void. Distant anguished screams reverberated through her consciousness. The voices all sounded like her, and yet didn't sound like her at all. They shrieked in hatred of their fate and of themselves, in resentment of life and all its misspent moments, in fear of eternal pain without any hope of redemption or salvation. They sobbed with the sorrow of inerasable, irreversible shame. The sound was getting louder and louder, stifling her soul, suffocating her with an incurable dread.

The blackness yawned before her. Fear, like a sharp claw, sliced through her as a sudden realization hit her.

I'm going to hell.

She tried to fight the tide of gravity that was sucking her towards this black hole. But there was no way to fight. No arms to flail with. No feet to kick. No mouth with which to scream. There was only an utter, desperate helplessness as her soul was sucked towards its eternal fate.

Please,she pleaded, though she didn't know to whom she was pleading. Please no. No. Help me. Help me! Don't let me die…

Distantly she was aware of the fact that she was already dead, but she knew somehow that the destination she was hurtling towards was a place of death that went beyond what she had ever known of the word. It was a place that was utterly void of life, the depths of which were infinite and unfathomable. It was a death not only of body but of soul and of spirit. It was a place in which she would never again see or even remember what life or light or joy was, a place in which every moment would be spent reliving everything on earth that had been killing her from the inside out. It was a death that had no end, a death that was eternal.

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This knowledge made itself plain and settled within her more and more the closer she got to the blackness. It was almost as if the void was laughing at her, opening its jaws wide to swallow her up as she came hurtling towards it. In a final, desperate plea to the universe, her mind screamed out for some source of salvation.

SAVE ME.

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"And in all things, and in all ways, Father…let your will be done," the pastor finished. "Amen."

Around him a few of the medics, and even some passing civilians, stopped and bowed their heads. Some simply stood staring in curiosity and morbid fascination. A beat of reverent silence passed.

And may God have mercy on her soul, the man thought to himself sadly.

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In the midst of her suffocating fear, Jubilee thought she could hear a still, small voice.

"Into your hands I commend this spirit…"

Her fear dissipated for a second, replaced by confusion. What was that?

"Father…let your will be done."

Time seemed to slow all of a sudden. The speed of her trajectory towards the void crawled to a standstill. For a few moments, there was only the large, overwhelming sensation of still nothingness. The blackness loomed angrily before her, waiting.

Then, suddenly, she was hurtling in the opposite direction.

Backwards she was flung, her consciousness only barely aware of lights whizzing by, colors brightening, and the sense of swift yet windless motion. In the distance, the void became rapidly smaller and smaller until it was nothing but a black speck, and at last winked out completely. Then there was a sensation of going up…up…up…

The faint sound of high pitched ringing filled her awareness. It got louder and louder the higher she went. It had the sound of tinkling crystals, resonant church bells, and many rushing waters, all at once. It was a sound, it was a voice, it was everything. It was the song of the universe.

Bright, blinding light suddenly filled her vision. She stumbled forward, much to her astonishment, and found that she had a pair of legs again. Holding out a hand before her face, she stared at it. She had a body again. But it was…different. She felt…less dense. Weightless. Like she was an image projected from a movie theater film projector. Looking around, she tried to take in her surroundings, but everything was still too bright.

"Jubilee?"A gentle, familiar voice drifted over to her.

She looked up, and her voice caught in her throat. "Papa—?"

The man, tall and bright and with a serene wonder shining softly through his eyes, beamed at her. "Yes, sweetheart. It's me."

Jubilee choked back a sob, yet found that, somehow, she could not cry in this place. Her deceased father, looking brighter and better and healthier and happier than he had ever looked on earth, walked towards her.

"It's okay, sweetie. Everything's okay now. You're safe."

Jubilee stuttered and tripped over her words. She didn't know where to start. "What—how—where's Mom?" was all she finally managed to get out.

His smile grew bigger. "She's here. She's happy."

Relief flooded through her along with a sudden, all encompassing sense of peace. "Papa, I—I—don't know what's going on, but I'm…so happy to see you." Joy filled her to the brim and overflowed. Around her, shapes and colors slowly started to come into focus. "And I—I'm so sorry—for everything. For everything that I did wrong. For giving up. For trying to forget you and mom and everything that you guys had stood for. I—"

In the distance, lush greenery with a rainbow of vibrant colors started to form in her vision, though they were still a soft blur. In front of it, a little ways behind her father, stood something brighter than everything else, though she couldn't quite make it out yet. Her father smiled again, as if aware of the presence behind him. He held up a hand.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Jubilee. He'll tell you."

Jubilee stopped. "…Who?"

"Jubilee, listen to me. I was your father on earth, and I still am. But remember what your mother and I used to tell you? There is One who is Father to us all. And He holds no record of your wrongs."

She tilted her head, not understanding, yet somehow not worried either. The bright and shining light was coming closer. She felt intoxicated with a sense of euphoria.

"Just remember, Jubilee…you'll see me again."

She snapped out of her reverie for a moment. "Again? But wait—you're not—"

And then suddenly the blinding presence was before her, and whatever anxiety or perplexity had begun to creep in quickly melted away of their own accord.

Hello, Jubilee.

The voice was loud and soft all at once, powerful yet gentle at the same time. Its sound made Jubilee feel as though she were drawing breath through her lungs for the first time; as though she had been blind but now could finally see. She looked up into a face that gazed upon her with perfect, shining love…so much so that it literally glowed and radiated with a warmth that rolled off of her in waves, and so that she couldn't quite make out its features.

Her mouth opened but she could say nothing.

You are very special to me, Jubilee. The figure—it looked somewhat like a man, yet she knew it was so much more—smiled at her, and the love and the warmth that were in that smile completely undid her. She suddenly realized that everything she had ever been looking for and longing for was now standing right here in front of her. I have great plans for you, dear one. And I have a very important work for you to do.

"Anything," she heard herself say. She suddenly understood that she would do anything for this being, because He had done and would do anything, and everything, for her. Insight and understanding flashed through her head in spurts—images of a presence watching over her as a child, a protector guarding her from a belligerent crook in an alleyway, a comforter standing by her side as she mourned over her parents' graves…and a man nailed to a cross two thousand years ago, bleeding out for her.

Your sins are forgiven, my daughter. The words were spoken with a perfect finality that dissolved away any doubt. And you can do no wrong in my eyes, because I have made it so. The figure stretched forth a hand and laid it across Jubilee's eyes. She felt a tingle of energy pulse beneath the fingertips, waiting. Then the voice drew in a deep breath, and intoned, Receive your sight: your faith has saved you.

Instantly bright light exploded behind her retinas, and a swirl of power surged from the fingertips over her eyes straight through her head and into her brain. In the ensuing flood of sights and sounds that suddenly burst through her consciousness in greater acuity, she vaguely sensed the voice saying more to her.

Show them my…Back home…

You…Going back…

Jubilee felt something tugging at her, pulling her away. Slowly, vaguely, a memory of earthly emotion and worry entered her consciousness again. She suddenly started to realize what was happening.

"Wait—" she began, still dazed. "I don't want to leave. Don't make me go back. Don't—"

And then she was hurtling back downwards.

The last sensations she could hold onto were the feeling of a warm hand cupping her face, her own hands reaching back up towards heaven, and of two desperate, yearning thoughts.

This is my home.

You are my home.

Then, it was all gone.

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The silence at the scene of the car wreck stretched on for a moment.

Then, without warning, the body on the stretcher drew in a gasping breath.

"Holy—!" exclaimed the paramedic.

And with that, everyone else gasped too. The cops blurted out stunned profanities. One woman screamed. The pastor just sat on his heels and stared at the girl in shock.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Pain shot through her expression. She stared at him for a moment, then looked wildly around herself. Her eyes widened for a moment in disbelief, then she squeezed them shut again with a grimace.

"Get her in the ambulance!" shouted the first paramedic. "Move, move!"

Instantly there was a flurry of motion as she was lifted up into the ambulance. The doors of the vehicle closed behind her. The pastor scrambled up to his feet and opened his mouth in protest, but the paramedic held up a hand.

"You," he said, pointing straight at him. "You can follow us to the hospital. We have to check her vitals and make sure they're stable. I have a feeling you're gonna want to be there."

The pastor shut his mouth, nodded, and ran back to his car.

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The moment that Jubilee had opened her eyes again, pain shot through her brain.

It wasn't just the pain of her physical injuries, though those did hurt like the devil. It was the fact that something was different—no, something was wrong—with her eyes.

Everything that filtered through her vision was sharper, clearer. And beyond that, there was something…beyond. Bright flashes of color, colors she never knew existed, colors she would never be able to describe in words, flitted through the air above her head. She turned her head to the side—to the protest of her sprained neck—and almost cried out in pain from the acute sensitivity that was hitting both her body and her brain. Some of the colors were darker, a description which did them pathetic justice—it was a darkness that had a smell to it, a rottenness that made her feel sick to her stomach. Her mind reeled.

A man's face came into view. He looked middle-aged, the age her father would have been if he were still alive. He was staring at her, his expression a mixture of concern, shock, and relief. Around him radiated a soft, gentle glow.

She glanced around him at their surroundings. Different colors emanated from different people. Tall figures of light and ambiguous columns of shadow flitted across the spaces between them. Beside her stood at least one very tall, very bright figure. Its brightness made her squint in discomfort. It looked like it had wings, folded down along its back with its tips resting right above the ground. Pain seared through her brain the more she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She tried to look somewhere else, but then her eyes landed on something that made her want to scream in terror.

A large, hunched figure clothed in black stood not six feet away from her. It was at least twice as tall as the tallest human standing in the crowd. Its skin was a sickly gray pallor, its eyes an eerie yellow that gazed at her hungrily and with malice. In its hands—long, sharp things with black claws at the end—lay an open black notebook. It was holding a writing tool, poised right above the page. And it was glaring at her with a look of hatred. No, not at her…at the space above her head.

Jubilee felt panic rise up in her throat like bile. She didn't know which was worse—this being of darkness that oozed all the dread and fear of the void which she had so narrowly escaped, or the being of light that was too much for her broken mind to handle. So her brain did the only logical thing to do under the circumstances.

It shut down, and she passed out.

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