(First part taken from TikTok POV)

Angel (you, Joe) decides who goes to heaven and who goes to h!ll

Brother, 75%

“Joe! I missed you so much! I know that I was mean to you when we were younger but I love you!”

“I missed you too, Jake. It’s okay, I knew you would be able to get above 50%! To heaven you go!”

Many other people go by,

Your killer (Kevin), 23%

“I know I did wrong! I’m so so so so sorry, it was a joke, I didn’t know that the knife Dave gave me was real. Really, please, I’ve changed!”

“I- I believe you, you get a second chance.”

“Thank you so much! I won’t fail you, I promise!”

Dave, 50%

“Joe! He’s lying! He used a real knife on purpose. He only wanted to trick you!”

“I-I who is the- what?! I guess I will have to consult the 13 Guardians then.”

The next morning,

“Oh Guardians of heaven and hell. We have Kevin and Dave just outside the gates. To you we ask for advice.”

Suddenly the doors burst open and the guard came running in.

“Oh Guardians! Dave is escaping, the gate of hell has been broken, desperate souls are roaming the earth for revenge, a lot of them are coming towards us, and-”

Suddenly, the guard went rigid, and fell to the ground. Where he had been, there stood Kevin, one hand wide open and tendrils of steam coming off it.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! That fool had to come and ruin everything, but now I will get my revenge!”

And with that, everything went dark.

I fell, spinning uncontrollably in the darkness, all I could hear was Kevin’s evil laughter, echoing louder and louder. I covered my ears and screamed, trying to block out the noise but I made no sound.

Out of nowhere, as if I broke through a wall, I fell onto a medical bed. Kevin’s voice dissipated, and I could see again. I was in a hospital, with all sorts of random people looking at me. I looked down and saw tubes, large and small all coming out of me. I sat up, and with a voice that wasn’t mine, I asked, who are you? The woman next to me stoked my hair and said,

“It’s me, mom,”

“Mom? Did she think that I wouldn’t recognize my own mother? My mother isn’t you, it’s-its-”

That’s when it hit me, I searched my brain for my mother and came up blank.

“So anyway, that’s our house, this is your room, you have 2 sisters…”

as mom tried to fill 14 years of memories into 5 minutes, Kevin’s voice spoke inside me.

“You have got away this time, but not for long. Ha ha ha ha ha…”

“Alright Joe,”

Mom's voice pulled me back to reality.

“You will be repeating 9th grade starting tomorrow. Your father will have to pick you up.”

School went along nicely, though I knew nobody and I was ignored, which was fine by me. At the pickup circle, a man dressed like my father, as mother had described to me walked out and said

“Joe let’s go home”

I was about to follow him into his car but a another man got out and said,

“Joe, I’m your father not him”

Bewildered, I looked around, who was my actual father? Why was the other one trying to kidnap me? So many questions swirled around my head.

The second man pulled out a gun and said

“Listen man, this is my son, I’m willing to die for him.”

The other man put up his hands and backed up. After getting a safe distance away, he turned and ran, disappearing in the distance.

My “father-in-maybe” walked me to a car and got in, as he motioned for me to follow, a squad of police cars drove up, their sirens blaring. As if nothing had happened, my “father-in-maybe” got out of the car calmly, his eyes turning from dark brown, to spiraled purple and white.

With his voice deeper then before, his spiraled eyes started spinning, faster and faster, until his eyes were a blur of color.

“You have seen NOTHING. You were here on a FALSE claim.”

My “father-in-maybe” then snapped his fingers and the police men blinked, looking down at their hands holding the guns, as if wondering what they were doing.

“Like I said officers,”

My “father-in-maybe” continued,

“I am his real father.”

The officers nodded and drove off without another word.

“How-what-who-wa?”

“I’ll explain later there is no time, they are coming.”

At that, he throws me into the car and we drive off. I felt my eyelids growing heavy, and my “father-in-maybe” say soothingly, that’s right Joe, go to sleep. I fought to keep consciousness, but I was too tired and somehow drifted off to sleep.

I woke up in a comfortable bed, thankfully not a medical one. I got out of bed and opened the door, sitting outside in a kitchen, sat my “father-in-maybe” eating a breakfast burrito, completely relaxed as if he had no care in the world. I stomped over

“This isn’t my house, you're not my father, who are you, why did you kidnap me?”

I fired question after question, hardly having any breathing room in between.

“Whoa! Slow your horses! Let me explain!”

I started to protest but he said

“I used to be an angel too.”

I froze.

“Who are you?” I asked. “How do you know that I was an angel too?”

He looked down.

“I-” his voice cracked.

“I was Zenit.”

“ZENIT? Like in the most powerful of the 13 guardians of heaven and h!ll?”

He sighed.

“Yes, I used to be the most powerful of them all. But as the gates of h!ll broke, the world above became unbalanced. There was kindness up there, but far too little down here.”

“But how did you do that to the police?”

“That,”

He bowed his head,

“Was forbidden dark magic.”

“But what! I thought you enforced that rule the most!”

“I did but there was no other way to get you here safely.”

That reminded me.

“Where are we anyways?”

“We are in Maine.”

“Maine!? But I was in London just-”

I looked at my watch,

“20 minutes ago!”

“Yes, that, that was with the help of Spindle, my pet dragon.”

“You have a pet dragon!? Wait nevermind, I need more answers. So, your not my real dad?”

“I- son, I am your biological father, your godfather. Your dad is your real father.”

“What? That makes no sense.”

“So anyway, here’s what I have gathered so far. Ether Kevin is evil, or Dave is evil. We need to find out who and restore balance to the world. The other people are waiting outside, now come on!”

The other people? I thought to myself. Just then, we rounded a corner and majestic silver doors opened, to the biggest room I had ever seen. It was round, stretching so far in every direction, there was no end in sight. The ceiling, a huge dome, with pictures of the guardians and angel printed on it, loomed over me. Around me, tables filled with people which I assumed were other guardians and angels. There was lots of food, and everyone was eating solemnly. Zenit started to introduce me when a voice started in my head. It was Kevin. As the voice grew louder, the people around me covered their ears and screamed like I had before. Quite similarly, no sound came out.

Kevin laughed his evil laugh,

“I know where you are.”

He spoke in our minds.

“Don’t think that puny hideout is going to stop me. Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“What, was-”

Zenit faltered, suddenly the doors behind us burst open and there stood Dave, red in the face and breathing hard.

“They-”

He gasped.

“They are coming, we must leave.”

No one moved, as if they were frozen in shock. Dave turned and looked behind his shoulder. I could sense something was wrong.

“We must leave NOW!” Dave shouted.

Zenit took the lead, running towards a small gap in the wall which expanded in front of him.

“Go! Go! Go!” He shouted.

I squeezed through the opening and came to a huge maze, the walls of the maze moved up and down silently. I looked back, just as Zenit leaped in and the portal closed behind him.

“These,”

He shouted so everyone could hear.

“Are the walls of truth. Everybody will go under a raised wall if you are crushed, then you were not one of us.”

As he talked, the wall behind him was forced open and Zenit was grabbed and pulled out.

“Run! The eb sko dk!”

The what? Nonetheless, I ran under a raised wall and didn’t die. The maze was confusing, with mirrors and invisible walls. In my head I memorized Zenti’s last words.

“eb sko dk. eb sko dk. eb sko dk.” What does that mean?

My brain filled with questions, I kept running, until I was so tired, I just collapsed. My vision dimmed and I fell into a world of dreams.