"Hello, Mr. Chamblee. We've been expecting you."

My eyes opened slowly as I was soon being greeted by a fresh-faced young man who was wearing an all-white semi-formal outfit, his angel wings on full display. I blinked twice, letting my eyes adjust to the slightly-bright all-white room that resembled the waiting area from South Station in downtown Boston. I looked around, sensing that this was definitely not the afterlife that I once expected. "Where am I?" I asked, looking down and seeing that I too was dressed in all-white. "What kind of afterlife is this?"

"Oh, this isn't the real version of the afterlife," the male angel replied as he helped me stand to my feet. "This is known as the Afterlife Station, the gap between the land of the living and the afterlife. Some people like to refer this place as the Void, but that's mainly a dark description where everything is all black and gloomy. No, Mr. Chamblee. This is a simple layover area where you learn where you're heading."

"And I assume that either above..." I began, pointing to the sky before pointing down at my feet "and below, am I right?"

"That's about it, but things have been on the modern and high-tech side of how things run," the angel commented. "We have various cherubims and seraphims alongside other saints who check to see if you're heading for heaven or hell."

I turned my attention towards a separate waiting booth where a young woman dressed in all-white was all smiles as a female seraphim handed her a ticket to heaven before a male angel led her to a golden door. The next booth featured a Black man also dressed in white, he looking as if he belonged in a gang back when he was alive as he talked with the male seraphim. "Sir, you've been changing your life around for the better, but now's not your time to go home just yet," the seraphim explained. "God has a plan for you, and it's clear that your loved ones miss you. Don't waste this second chance."

"I don't plan to, man," the man said in a Southern accent before he slowly faded away. "To be real, I wished I followed my grandma's path instead of joining the gang. I'm not going to go back to the drugs and stuff. I gotta change."

"Safe travels, Mr. Cambridge."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I'M HEADING FOR HELL?!"

That voice came from a well-dressed man who was furious at a meek female cherub as black-suited men with blood-red wings came to him. "We're sorry, sir, but you've failed to meet the requirements for living by God's design," the cherub explained, her voice quivering with fear. "And with your colorful past, you do not meet the standards for a second chance."

"You can't do this to me," the man screamed, thrashing around in the arms of the winged men as flames circled around him before he disappeared. His screams soon faded away as the next person (a Hindi elderly man dressed in an all-white sari) came forward.

At another booth, two more red-winged men were comforting a young mother and her child (The latter dressed in all white while she was dressed in a blue pantsuit. "We're sorry, ma'am, but your second chance on Earth will not guarantee that your child will be with you," one of them said gently. "This is your chance to start fresh and stay clean from drugs, maybe get your life right and be reunited with your son."

The woman only nodded as an angel came to take the child away. "I'll do whatever it takes," she replied sadly as she faded away, my heart softening a bit as no fire circled around her to take her to hell as she's been given a second chance to live.

The male angel who acted as my guide turned to me. "You can tell how things work around here already, right?" he asked. "Once you approach one of the gatekeepers, you'll be asked to place your hand on the sensor as you look at the screen. If the screen shows heaven's gates, you're automatically heading for heaven. If it shows flames of hell, then it's off to the lake of fire and brimstone. But if it shows a green screen with the words "second chance," then you might have a chance to live another life on Earth no matter if you're wearing white or not."

"Well, I'm wearing all-white like you, so there's no telling what might happen next," I commented, taking another look at my all-white version of my graduation outfit as the angel led me to a seat. "What happens now?"

"You wait until you're called up," the angel replied. "Name's Salgiel, by the way. And I think that you're going to have a good shot, kid. I'm new on the job, so I'm pulling for you. Get comfortable because there's no telling how long you'll be here."

I looked around at the numerous people who were waiting to get registered. And boy, there were LOTS of people- young, old, men, women, children (the younger ones all dressed in white), Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Arabics, Pacific-Islanders, and everyone in between. "I'll bet," I hummed, noticing a fresh copy of Southern Living magazine at a coffee table before picking it up and starting to read so I could pass the time.

**************

"Hezekiah?"

My eyes flew open, taking in Salgiel's smiling face as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. "Oh, is it time already?" I asked as I stifled a yawn. "Must've dozed off. It felt like days since coming here."

Salgiel chuckled softly. "It's been only four hours," he said as I stood to my feet and stretched my limbs. "And you've been called up, man. Ready to learn of your fate?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I let Salgiel lead me to the western end of the Afterlife Station where a grandfatherly and portly man who reminded me of my maternal grandfather was at the next-to-last booth.

"He's all yours, Louis," the angel said. To me, "Good luck, kid. I'm pullin' for you."

I nodded, turning to the older man named Louis. "I'm a bit nervous, sir. Me being killed by my parents wasn't something that I expected after my high-school graduation."

"That's for sure, son," Louis noted, his voice rough with age yet gentle as he gave me a wan smile. "I take it that Salgiel told you the basics of registration?"

I nodded. "If the screen shows heaven's gates, then I'm off to meet God. If it shows flames, then I'm condemned to hell. But if it shows a green screen with the words 'Second Chance,' then I got another chance on Earth."

"Then I believe it's time for you to know where you're headin', son." Louis brandished a black sensor that looked like a closed laptop. "Place your right hand on the screen and we'll know the answer."

I took a deep breath and placed my right hand on the sensor while focusing my attention on the screen.

Five seconds passed, and the screen remained dark until I heard a computerized female voice intone, "Sorry, there seems to be an error. Please try again."

"That's odd," Louis frowned. "Try it again."

I shrugged my shoulders and did so.

"Sorry, there seems to be an error. Please try again," the computerized voice said again.

"Try your left hand," Louis suggested.

I huffed a deep breath before doing what was told. "Sorry, there seems to be an error. Please try again."

"What's going on?" I asked, eyes lit in confusion.

Louis sighed heavily. "This hasn't happened before with me," he replied as he turned to his computer on the other side of the booth, "and I'm St. Peter's brother."

"What's going on, Louis," I heard Salgiel ask as he joined us.

"There's seems to be an error reading this kid's fate," Louis explained. "I'm going to have to type it in and get a snapshot of his picture."

To me, "What's your full name, son?"

"Hezekiah Oshea Chamblee."

I let the man take a picture that was done by a special camera as the gatekeeper took down my name and began a search. No sooner than he finished, his eyes went wide as he motioned for the angel to join him from inside his area. "Can you head back to the waiting area, Hezekiah?" Louis asked me politely. "There's been some...special circumstances going on for your case."

Special circumstances? I thought. "Sure," I said out loud as I made my way back to the waiting area and took my seat.

Two hours later, I saw Louis and Salgiel come back to me. "Hezekiah Chamblee, we apologize for making you wait and feel anxious about your case," the former said just as two all-white angels came to join us with two red-winged workers (both of them being African-American twins). "Salgiel and I've been consulting with both God and Lucifer about this, both of them expecting you for quite some time and have heard of your situation regarding how you came here. Needless to say, neither of them are amused to hear how you were killed."

One of the angels, a dead ringer for Chris Evans' version of Captain America, stepped forward as he introduced himself as Gabriel while the other one (a preppy redhead) was another archangel named Michael. "Mr. Chamblee, there's been word of your arrival that's been around for quite a while," he said in a firm New England accent. "And while you have done no crimes that earn you a place in hell, you do not qualify for heaven or a second chance of life on Earth."

My eyes went wide. "What?"

One of the arch-demon twins (him introducing himself and his brother respectively as Abaddon and Azrael) stepped forward. "In short, kid, you're one of the many special cases that hasn't come up for the past five decades," he clarified. "In your case, you qualify for a special afterlife that's  simply known as the Nexus."

I blinked twice. I had a strong feeling that my afterlife was going to be full of surprises.

Ain't that the truth, folks!

Coming up next, we head back to Earth as Adelle and Jeffrey tell the other Chamblee children of Hezekiah's "suicide" as three of the four believe that he wasn't meant to be a part of the family while Cameron is heartbroken. Stay tuned!

Dedication: BrianMullin0 and rhymeswithfry.

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