Aria tapped into her blasted mark, trying to see if she could get it to take her back to the boy. She'd heard that some of the more experienced Bridges had been able to do it, but she'd never tried.

"No." Aria stomped her foot on the ground as the mark started to tingle. The mark wasn't going to take her where she wanted to go, but it was going to take her to the next soul in need.

She stood in a bedroom full of people. An old, frail man on the bed with his eyes closed and chest still. A family that had come to say their last goodbye. At least they had all gotten the chance.

"My son never showed," a quivering voice said, laced with a southern accent.

Aria looked to the side. The man still looked old, but he looked better than the corpse lying there surrounded by people dabbing their eyes.

"I'm sorry." Aria always said it, but this time she thought she meant it. The fact that the man was surrounded by loved ones, but not the one he helped raise.

"It is what it is. When yer a mean ol' man like me, you don' always git the people you want by yer side in the end."

"You couldn't have been that terrible. I've seen plenty with less for their last breath." Aria couldn't help but watch the scene in front of her.

"I tried what I could ta be better near the end. Sometimes it's just too late ta make amends."

Aria pulled her eyes away. "Are you ready to move on?"

"I believe I am." There was a quiver of unease.

Aria finally turned to give the old man her full attention and held her hand out. He placed his palm in hers, and the skin felt like smooth paper.

The blankness surrounded them both, the only thing breaking the void of whit was a weathered, old farm door painted blue.

"Well, Franklin, here we are," Aria said, holding an arm out toward the door.

"That's gunna take me where I need ta go?" The old man asked.

"Yes it will."

"Do ya reckon I'm goin ta Hell?" It was the second time the man had paused.

"I don't know. I have no idea what's beyond those doors. I just know it takes you wherever you're supposed to go."

"Well. I just wanna thank you for bein the one ta come fer me. I coulda had some nasty collector."

Aria smiled at that. She never thought of herself as a particularly nice Bridge, and she'd never heard the term collector before. But he had been the first soul in a long time that had been willing to move on of his own accord.

"I'm glad you've been so cooperative, Franklin."

"Please, call me Frank. Not that it matters anymore." The man looked to the door before back at Aria. He shuffled forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank ya, darlin."

Aria's throat closed. She'd never been touched by one of the souls. Not like that at least. They'd wanted to throttle her, that much she knew, but none had ever given her a hug before. Her arms slowly went around him, not sure if that's what she was supposed to do. She'd seen people hug of course, but she hadn't ever seen hugs that had only been one sided. They had always been mutual hugs, the people going in at the same time.

The man pulled back, a smile lighting his entire face. He tipped his head and opened the door, shuffling through. With a flash of light, he was gone and Aria was standing alone.

She focused on her mark again, hoping she could still go back to the boy even though another Bridging had taken place.

"What do you think you're doing?" It was Marcell.

"So what? I'm left to commune only with other Bridges, but when I slip up only once, I'm graced with your presence twice within the same day phase?"

"It could be night for all you know, Bridge Aria. Now answer the question; what do you think you're doing?"

Aria crossed her arms and looked Marcell over. His hands were clasped behind his back, dark sunglasses on even though the place wasn't bright at all, just white.

"I'm trying to look after the boy. That's what...Death said to do." She found it hard to admit that little girl had actually been Death. There was no possible way she could have been. Death had to be old, older than time. How was it possible she had been Death?

"I believe Lady Death had given that order to me directly. Why would we want you tainting a possible Bridge when it's your fault in the first place?"

"Tainting? That's hardly fair! It was just something in me that called to me. It wanted me to do something."

"That is our fault at Headquarters."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means something of your old self was left when it shouldn't have been."

"My old self? Excuse me?"

"You are excused."

Aria rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant. It's...it's a human expression."

"And that is precisely what is wrong, Bridge Aria. You are not human. You are Bridge. You are soul, and you are part of Death's army."

"Whoa there, cowboy. I am not part of an army."

"It is a figure of speech."

"Now who's getting into human expressions?" Aria smiled triumphantly.

Even through the dark sunglasses, Aria could tell Marcell was glaring.

"Just let me watch over the kid. I can make sure whatever needs to happen does happen."

"Then you will teach him the way of the Bridge?" Marcell asked, moving his hands to his pockets.

"Are you assuming I'm going to fail in proving my place?" Aria cocked her head to the side.

"You proved very little in your latest reaction with a soul."

"It wasn't like I wasted time. He was an easy one; he went right to his door."

"And you embraced him."

"No. He hugged me. That was not my doing."

"Bridge Aria, you must end all this human interaction. Your job is to meet the soul after Death has done her job, remove it from the human world, and take it to its door. It's not complicated. If you can't do this, then there is no way you could ever be a Guide."

"I've given my soul to this-"

"You've barely served for the blink of an eye. You still don't know how to hold your tongue in front of your leader. She spared you today. You're soul could have been shredded, but she felt mercy to give you a chance. She doesn't bestow that gift lightly. You best prove you deserve it, and if she chooses to keep you in your ranks, then you best be grateful."

"Can I still watch over the boy? It's my fault I dragged him into this mess. It should be me who makes sure he stays okay."

"Very well, but at the first sign of you messing up in the slightest, I will take your place. This means if you say one wrong thing, if you do one wrong thing, if become too attached, you're gone. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Aria bowed her head to the Guide.

"I expect you to learn as well. You should be able to call upon your mark. If you don't learn yourself, then you will never be able to teach."

"Yes, sir."

"The child has moved. Remember, time passes differently in here. It has already been two weeks time." Marcell rubbed his palms together before spreading them out.

Aria fell into the void, coming out at the other end, which happened to be in a small, blue room. Toys were strewn about, and a small child was talking to himself.

Aria walked around to the other side of the bed and saw the little boy sitting on the ground. His head still bald, but everything else about him looked ten times stronger.

His little head tilted up and his mouth dropped into an O.

"Yur...yur that lady from the hospital. I thought that was a dream."

He could actually see her. He was alive, very alive, and he could see her. If Aria had a heart, she was sure it would be pounding like crazy.

"I'm Aria," she said, unable to think of anything else.

"I know y'are. You saw me in the hospital. Did you save me?"

"Save you?"

"My cancer's gone. My momma's happy again. Happier than I've seen her in a long time."

"I suppose that would be my doing." Though Aria had a sinking feeling that what she'd done to him could be far worse.

"Yur like my guardian angel. That's what momma calls 'em."

"And what do they do?" Aria asked as she crouched down.

"They watch over people."

"Then I guess I am your guardian angel. I'll be watching over you from now on."

"Chance, who are you talking to?" The woman who'd been sleeping in the chair opened the door.

"I'm talking to Aria, she's the one who saved me, Momma!"

The woman truly did look much better than when Aria had seen her in the hospital.

She frowned slightly before smiling again. "God saved you, darling. It was your guardian angel who watched over you until He was able to help you." The woman paused for a moment before stepping into the room. "You aren't ready to go at all yet. You need to get changed so we can go to church. The congregation will be happy to see you back."

His mother pulled clothes out of drawers and set them on the bed. "Now please get read to go."

"Yes, Momma."

She left the room, shutting the door behind her.

The boy stood from the ground and went to the bed. His mark glowed as he passed Aria, hers lighting up as well.

"What was that?" he asked looking at the small crescent moon on his forearm.

"I'm not entirely sure." Aria's brows scrunched together. Her mark had never done that. She wondered if they were connected in some way.

"Will you go to church with me?" He asked, already moving on.

The prickling had already started in her mark. "I can't go with right now, but I maybe I'll come back in time. I have to go somewhere right now."

"Do you need to watch over someone else?"

"Yes, that's it. I have to go watch over someone else, make sure they don't get hurt."

"Okay. But you will be back, right?"

"Of course I'll be back." Aria couldn't wait anylonger, she gave in to the pull and let it take her to the next soul she neededto help.

**********

This is the first half of chapter three. Chapters from now on will be split in half.

Let me know what you think so far by leaving your comments below. And if you liked the chapter at all, please press that little star to give it your vote. Thank you very much :)

Red Assassin