Chapter Four

“HER name is Caren Marcelo. A seventeen-year-old senior high school student.” 

Kairos was talking beside me while we were watching the high school girl in front of us. According to my death angel, this girl was my mission. 

The girl, fine, I'd call her Caren, was eating alone on the six seater dining table. She was scrolling through her phone while eating. 

I surveyed her. She was wearing a school uniform right now: a white blouse and red checkered skirt. She’s tall and pretty. Heart shaped face, almond shaped eyes, small nose and red lips. I bet that even without make-up, her face was still beautiful. I smirked when I saw that her nails were painted black. And she partnered her uniform with a black combat boots. Nice. I liked her style. 

“Her parents separated when she was young," I heard Kairos say to me. "Her mother left them and already has a family of her own. Her father was working abroad. She was under the care of an old lady whom she called Aunt Feling. She doesn't have any relatives aside from that old woman."

Now I understood why the whole house was silent. Aside from Caren, I haven't seen anyone yet. I looked around. The house looked nice from the inside, although traditional. Maybe because it was maintained by an old woman. The color palette of the whole interior was in neutral color. The furniture and cabinets were mostly made from wood. Ugh. It was too boring for my taste. The only thing I liked is the wine collection displayed on the corner of the dining area. 

Just as Caren finished everything on her plate, an old woman emerged from the kitchen. She was wearing an apron over her floral duster dress. Her hair, some of it already gray, was neatly ponytailed. I presumed it was the Aunt Feling Kairos was talking about. 

The old lady went to Caren and gave her the lunch box she was holding. 

“Here's your lunch, hija.”

“Thanks, Auntie,” Caren gave a small smile to the old woman as she put the lunch box on her bag. 

“That girl, she is just like you.”

I looked at Kairos and smiled. "I know. We're both beautiful. I like her style."

Kairos turned to me with a smirk on his face. “That's not what I meant when I said you too are alike."

I gave him a stern look. That smirk on his face tells me he is insulting me?  "Wait, you don't find me attractive?" 

He gave me a look. "Fine. You look decent enough."

How dare this death angel? Decent enough, huh? 

"Are you really my death angel?" I sneered at him. "Angels are supposed to be kind, right? That's why you're angels. You shouldn't be insulting people!" 

"I'm not insulting you."

"You are."

To my astonishment, he just chuckled at me. I stared at him. It was the first time I witnessed him laughing. He was always serious when talking to me. 

"You're funny. You really remind me of her." 

"Who?" 

He just shook his head. “Nevermind. Let’s go. She's leaving.”

That's when I noticed that Caren was already out of the house. We followed her as she walked to the streets of the subdivision. 

It seemed like Caren's house belonged to a private subdivision. The whole street was quiet; I only noticed a few cars passing by. 

I brought back my gaze to Caren. I saw her take out something from her bag. A box of cigarettes and a lighter. She took one stick of cigar in the box before she put it back again in her bag. 

“She smokes and drinks,” Kairos said beside me. 

Caren put the stick between her lips and lit it up with a lighter. She continued to walk until she reached a bus stop. Caren stood there as she finished her stick on her mouth. I looked at her. She seemed like she's used to smoking. She made one last puff before she tossed the cigarette butt on the ground. She stepped on it just as a bus stopped in front of her. 

"Let's go." Kairos said to me as Caren entered the bus. 

Kairos and I followed Caren on the bus. I waited for the driver to look at me but it didn't happen. I couldn't believe I'm already a soul.  

"Are we gonna follow her to school?" I looked at Kairos as we settled on the vacant seat across Caren. 

He was sitting comfortably beside me. I still didn't get how a random high school girl suddenly became my 'mission'. 

“Sorry, I woke up late. But I'm on my way, babe.”

I glanced at Caren when I heard her speak. She was looking at the window while talking to someone on the phone. 

"Who is she talking to?” I asked Kairos. 

“Her boyfriend.”

Oh. She has a boyfriend. I smirked. Well, when I was her age, I already had three boyfriends. I looked out the bus window. I can't remember the last time I rode a bus. 

I looked back at Kairos. "You still haven't told me what I'm gonna do with that girl. Do we really have to follow her—" 

"Shh. Later." He whispered as he closed his eyes and leaned his head on the bus seat. 

I looked at my death angel. I still couldn't understand how fast he could change his emotion. Most of the time, he's so serious it scares me. But earlier, I saw him laugh. 

I couldn't deny that he and Thanos are both handsome. I wonder if all death angels are good looking like this one beside me. If Kairos was a human being, maybe I'd be attracted to him. 

"Quit looking at me, human." He suddenly opened his eyes and I was greeted by those pair of dark orbs of his. "And stop with your thoughts."

Tsk. I forgot this angel could read my mind. My annoyance came back when I remembered how he insulted my looks earlier.

I gave him a sharp look before I looked away. I realized that the bus stopped in front of a familiar school. St. Claire Academy.

“This is where I study,” I absentmindedly mumbled. I noticed Caren got off the bus. Don't tell me this is where she's studying? 

“Really? What a coincidence.” I heard Kairos. 

I turned to him. His face was void of emotion. But there was something in his dark eyes. I just couldn't pinpoint what it is. “Come on, human.” He snapped his fingers at my face. 

We got off the bus and followed Caren. I watched her walk her way to the guy leaning against a motorbike just outside the school gate. 

“That boy was her boyfriend, Jake," Kairos said to me. 

I stared at the guy. So, this was her boyfriend. He looked like a leader of a gang or something. He was wearing a t-shirt and maong pants. He was tall and good looking in a way. His left arm was full of tattoos. 

I remembered my ex-boyfriend Gray while looking at him. Gray was my boyfriend when I was in high school. But of course, Gray was way better looking than this guy. 

The guy threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. He smiled at Caren as he placed his arm on her waist. 

“Babe, I miss you.” Caren said as his boyfriend reached for her lips. Caren and her boyfriend kiss in broad daylight. It was a torrid one. 

I noticed how Kairos turned his head away. “My eyes.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a virgin?” I grinned at my death angel. 

“You and your foul mouth.” He looked at me sharply.

I continued to mock him. "So, angels don't have sex life? That's sad."

"Shut your mouth if you still want to enter heaven."

"Fine." He looked annoyed so I forced myself to stop. 

Caren bid her boyfriend goodbye, then she finally entered the campus. I couldn't help but look around as I entered my old school. Many things have changed. There were lots of new buildings but some of the old ones were still standing. 

The old mahogany tree standing near the main gate was still there. Ten years had passed since I last stepped my feet on St. Claire. I was hit by a sudden rush of nostalgia. Most of them are bad memories I didn't want to remember anymore. 

"Are we just going to follow her all day?" I asked Kairos. I don't like this place. This school was associated with so many bad memories. 

"She's your mission. You should familiarize yourself with her life."

"I know, but I hate this place," I complained. 

"Sure." He shrugged his shoulders. "I gave you a choice, right? You can just choose to go straight to hell."

Ugh. Damn it. As if I'd choose hell. I didn't answer him back. I just continued to follow Caren. 

I saw her stop in front of a trash bin. She opened her bag and took out something. It was the lunchbox her Yaya Feling gave her earlier. She opened it and to my astonishment, she discarded all of its contents in the bin.  

"Ungrateful, right?" I heard Kairos. 

After putting back the box on her bag, she continued walking. She entered the High school department building. She was walking in the hallway of the second floor when she bumped with someone. 

“I’m sorry, Caren.”  said the guy who accidentally bumped her. "I-I didn't notice you."

I surveyed him. The boy looked like a typical high school nerd. He was wearing thick eyeglasses with a black frame. I saw how the color of his face turned white when he looked at Caren. 

“Tss...you're already wearing glasses yet you still act like you're blind,” she spat at the guy in front of her. “You’re ruining my day!”

She rolled her eyes as she walked past him.

I smirked. I was starting to like this girl. 

Caren entered the classroom and settled herself on the vacant chair at the back. 

A moment later, an old lady who seemed to be a teacher entered the classroom. 

"Fuck, I can't believe I'm going to attend a high school class." I told Kairos. On normal days, I should be at work right now. But here I was, leaning on the wall and watching Caren together with my death angel. I couldn't help but sigh. 

The class started but Caren wasn't even paying any attention. She was just busy with her phone. 

"Look, she's not even listening." I smirked when I saw how she hid her phone under her book. 

"Yeah," Kairos agreed. "She also sneaks out of class." He crossed his arms over his chest while watching her. 

I couldn't believe how we stayed here for hours just watching her. 

After her class finished, she stood on the gate of the campus. A moment later, her boyfriend picked her up. 

“How are we going to follow her now?” I asked Kairos. Caren was now out of our sight.

Kairos just turned to me and smirked. He then snapped his fingers. Suddenly, we are inside a bar. I looked around. It seemed like we were in an underground bar. It was packed with teenagers the same age as Caren. 

“What are we doing—” My words got stopped mid-air when I saw Caren and her boyfriend at the entrance of the bar. 

I tried to hide my amazement as I turned to Kairos beside me. I wonder what other things he was capable of doing. 

A man holding a bucket of beer walked in front of us.

“God! I missed the taste of alcohol." I mumbled. 

Kairos sternly looked at me. His eyes turned a shade darker. 

"What?"  He was looking as if I did something horrible. This death angel can really be intimidating sometimes. 

“Do not use His name on blasphemy.”

Fuck. I remembered what I just said. 

“Okay, fine.” I sat down on the couch and surveyed my surroundings. I could see alcohol everywhere. 

I looked at Kairos who was beside me. "I was wondering, do you have wings?" 

"Why are you curious?" 

"Because this is the first time I've seen an angel," I answered sarcastically. "I want to know if you have wings just like what I've seen in movies."

"We don't."

"Really?" Well, that made sense. If he could already go anywhere through teleportation, wings would be useless. 

"Shh. We're not here to chitchat. Focus on your mission."

I searched for Caren. I spotted her on the dance floor. She was partying and dancing with her boyfriend. I saw her do some body shots with that guy. That's wild. Damn. I suddenly missed my youth. I used to party this hard back then. 

"She’s just like you when you are her age,” Kairos said.

As I continued to look at Caren, I realized that I was just like her when I was her age. A mess. Wild. Black sheep.

"Yeah." I finally agreed with him. He was right.

"Now I hope you understand why she's the mission assigned to you."

I still don't understand. So what if she's like me when I was young? 

“And your mission is to change her," he continued. 

I dumbfoundedly stared at him. "Change her?"

"Make her a good person. A better version of herself. You have sixty days to do that.”

I couldn't believe what he just said. "What am I? A juvenile center? A rehabilitation facility?" 

"I thought you wanted to enter heaven?" he answered back. "You know what? You're such a whiner. Are you going to accept your mission or you'll just go straight to hell?" 

"I can't do that mission! I couldn't even change myself, and now you're expecting me to change that girl? How can you expect me to do that in sixty days?" 

He raised his brows at me. "Don't you trust yourself?" 

"Of course, I do!" mabilis na sagot ko. "But this isn't about that! Imagine, how could I teach her something I couldn't even do to myself?" I don't even know how to be a good person. 

"Then, learn." He said those words as if  what he's asking me is just a piece of cake. The corner of his mouth rose up. "It's all up to you, human. If you really don't want to accept it, you can just ask me to throw you straight to hell." 

I gasped.  "Fine. Fine," I surrendered. "But how will I do it? That girl can't even see me." 

“Don’t worry about that." He grinned at me. 

"Once your mission starts, she’ll be able to see you.”

"Really?" I asked in amazement. "People would be able to see me? I mean, normal people like Caren?"

"All is possible in this world, Cresia."

I remembered something. "You know, there was an old woman in the place where I live. She can see me!"

He shrugged his shoulders. "There are humans who are capable of seeing souls."

"You mean, they have third eyes?" 

He shrugged his shoulders. "You can call it like that."

Well, if angels are indeed true, I shouldn't be surprised anymore if there are people who could see souls. 

"Well, enough on the chitchat." Kairos' face turned serious again. “If you fail your mission, she will die,” he warned me. “When she dies, her soul will end up in hell. Just like yours.”

“What? But she’s not that bad!” I argued. Was it really this strict in heaven? "And why are you talking about her death? She's too young!" 

“She'll die early. You know why? Because Caren will commit suicide. And suicide is the biggest form of sin a human can commit.” 

"So it's true? All those who committed suicide were thrown in hell?" 

"Because only The Creator has the power to take back a human life," sagot ni Kairos. 

I looked back at Caren. She was still on the dance floor with her boyfriend. I saw the big smile on her face as she took a shot of tequila while dancing. She will commit suicide? I couldn't imagine her doing that. 

"W-why would she kill herself?" I silently mumbled. "She doesn't look like someone who would commit suicide..." 

"I'm sorry but that, I couldn't tell." He sighed. "That girl's life depends on you, Cresia."

She looked at the dance floor where Caren was located, then he turned to me and sighed. “The only thing I can tell you is that part of your mission is to get her away from that guy.”