"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY WOULD do such a thing," Michael said. He sat looking at his feet, not sure where else to look; at the scenery or The Devil? Melanie was still sobbing in the corner of the town hall, and the two males were giving her some space by staying outside on the stone steps.

"Yeah, I know," Louis commented, his tone flat. "Dicks."

Michael looked up at The Devil, curiosity in his face. "I heard that Satan was an angel once. Is that true?"

Louis slowly looked down at the human boy, his eyes narrowed. "It is. Why do you care?"

Michael rolled his eyes and stood up. "Look, just because I died and ended up here, doesn't mean you have to be rude to me all the time. I'm like Melanie - I want this to be over with so I can go home and pretend it never happened. What have I done to make you hate me so much?"

"You tried to hit me," Louis said flatly. "If that's not reason enough for you then what is?"

Michael let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, OK? It's just ... I see Melanie as a sister and I love her to bits. She's a great girl, and to see her scared and crying just set me off. I hate seeing my friends hurting, Louis. I was only trying to protect her."

"From what?" Louis said. "All I was doing was standing beside her. It wasn't as if I was fucking her right in front of you."

Michael stood back as if someone had hit him. "Don't be a prick, alright? She's had a harder life than you think. Money doesn't make up for a broken heart, you know? She doesn't need you making jokes about her behind her back."

"It was hardly a joke. It was simply me telling you something that is worse than harmlessly standing beside her. Use your ears, damn it."

"If you two are fighting again, I'm going to kill you!" Melanie suddenly shouted from inside the hall. Michael and Louis turned to look through the open doors. She was still sitting with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

"Already dead," Michael said.

"Immortal," Louis said at the same time. The two of them looked at each other and glared before looked back out across the town.

"So how long do you reckon it'll be until my memories come back?" Michael asked.

"Soon, hopefully," Louis said, his eyes on the building in front of him. Michael rolled his eyes at The Devil's rudeness and turned to walk back into the town hall. Melanie gave him a small smile as he neared, reaching out for a hug as he sat down beside her.

"Hey," he said softly against her neck. "You OK now?"

Melanie shrugged, "I don't know if I'll ever be OK again. I just found out that two of my so-called friends plotted to kill me. For fucking money." Melanie squeezed her eyes shut and dipped her head so Michael couldn't see her. She hated when people saw her crying, it was rare that she ever did let a tear escape.

"I'll help kill them when we get back to earth, if you wish?" Michael said, nudging her gently. She gave him a small smile before letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

"You get the shovel and I'll get the knife," she laughed.

Louis watched the two of them from the doors, admiring how much they cared for each other. Louis knew that he'd be grateful to have even an ounce of the admiration they had for one another. He'd maybe be happy? Ruling Hell was a tiring job, especially if you were immortal like he was.

Suddenly, a pained yell came from inside the hall, and Louis saw Michael topple over to lie on his side, hands clutching at his stomach. Louis rolled his eyes. Be a man, he thought as he neared the two dead humans. Even though he wasn't the one going through the pain, he knew it was torturous to endure. 

"Is he ready to remember?" Melanie asked Louis, looking up at him with wide, red eyes. She'd cried to herself for so long, that her vision was blurry, her eyes stinging. Louis nodded slowly to her before he knelt down beside Michael who was writhing in pain in front of them. Melanie reached out and held his hand in comfort.

Louis watched as she interlocked her fingers with Michael's and he frowned. He'd never known kindness, admiration, compassion or even love for so long and it made watching two friends caring for each other ,hurt. Almost as if they made him long for a little acknowledgement. 

"Michael," Melanie whispered as her friend's face contorted in pain. He groaned on the floor, his eyes squeezed shut as he endured the stabbing pain in his stomach.

Louis looked up at Melanie and spoke quietly. "Melanie, do you want to wait until Michael has remembered so I can send you back together?"

Melanie looked up at Louis with hopeful eyes. "You can do that?"

Louis shrugged. "I could."

Melanie nodded enthusiastically just as Michael became motionless before her. She helped him to her feet and Louis took the opportunity to look into his wide eyes.

"You're ready to remember," Louis said stiffly to Michael. Melanie watched as Louis stood to his feet and turned around, giving Michael a second to recover from his sudden attack. Melanie helped him straighten up and then Louis turned around and placed his hands on Michael's shoulders. Melanie rolled her eyes as they both glared at one another. "Close 'em."

Michael rolled his eyes before obeying, and suddenly he was spinning in mid air.

Melanie watched as the two of them disappeared before her, and as soon as she was sure no one else was around, she hugged her legs into her chest and sat in deep thought. Louis was willing to wait until Michael remembered his own death before sending the two of them back together, and Melanie was thankful that she wouldn't be making the journey home alone.

Slowly, she picked herself up from the ground and left the building, heading straight forward towards her home. It was still hard for her to accept what her so-called friend had done to her, and Melanie could clearly see herself strangling Rachel from her hospital bed.

"Bitch," Melanie spat, kicking a stone with the toe of her shoe. "Stupid, dick bitch whore."

As Melanie climbed the stairs to her house, she thought of all the different ways her future with Rachel would go. There was the pretending as if she didn't know about the plan to kill her or the way she'd kill Rachel as soon as she laid eyes on her. 

Melanie pushed open the door and stepped inside before robotically moving up the stairs towards her bedroom. She looked around her room and glared at the photo of her and Rachel at the beach a few years ago. Melanie looked away and at her large double bed, a small smile coming to her face. Oh, she would enjoy relaxing on the mattress once again. That's when she remembered: her diary. She knelt down beside the pillows and stuck her hand into the pillowcases until she touched a small book within. She tugged out her diary and began flipping through the pages.

Her eyes scanned over the words she and Rachel had wrote together not too long ago and the urge to rip out the page was almost too tempting. She refrained and threw the book back down against the floor. It didn't matter anymore - her friend hadn't been a real one. Not in the end.

Slowly, she left the building and made her way back to the town hall, frantic voices calling her name from inside.

"Melanie?!" she heard Michael yell from inside. She rolled her eyes at his constant worrying and stepped inside the building - straight into someone's arms. "Thank God! I wondered where you had gone!"

"It's not like I had anywhere to go," Melanie mumbled, pushing Michael off of her. She saw Louis standing by the far end of the hall, his hands clasped behind his back. He was looking out of the window, and Melanie slowly walked towards him.

"Hey," she said. Louis slowly turned and looked her in the eye. "I didn't get to hear what you had to say before."

"I'm sorry?" The Devil said, a brow raised in confusion.

"I asked you what you do with the souls after you make the deal with someone," she started. "You didn't answer."

"If you must know," Louis started, turning his body around. "I gather them and take them to Hell. They keep me company when I feel alone."

"You feel alone?" Melanie asked.

Louis nodded. "More than you'd think."

"Do you always take them to Hell?" Melanie questioned. "What do you do with them then?"

Louis chuckled quietly. "I see you're still as curious as you were when you first arrived. Some of them come with me, some of them I allow to go to The Other Side. The ones that stay with me stay in an abyss-like place. They just ... float."

"What makes you decide if they stay or go?" Melanie asked.

"If they can convince me they're worth more than I," Louis said, his expression blank. "If they've done more with their lives than I or they've led a meaningful life... It's hardly fair to keep such great people trapped with me." Louis looked down from the window at his feet, a small smile on his face. "Why were you wondering?"

Melanie shrugged. "Because I can't pass on. Not yet."

Louis looked at her and smiled. "I thought you would say that."

"Michael will too." Melanie's voice was firm, as if she were trying to prove a point to him and Louis just rolled his eyes.

"I'll make sure he stays in Hell," Louis muttered as Melanie walked over to where Michael was. He smiled slowly as she approached and he gave her another small hug.

"I'm sorry," Melanie said. "I was a bitch just now. I'm just upset still."

"You and me both," Michael laughed quietly. "Kaleb killed me. He found me staggering out from the trees after witnessing the car crash and he stabbed me. Little git had a knife in his pocket. Rachel was screaming at him to stop. She was in hysterics."

"Really?" Melanie questioned, frowning. "She seemed pretty determined to make sure I died in that car." 

Michael shrugged. "Maybe killing one person was enough for her?" 

Michael and Melanie looked over to where Louis was standing, and Melanie let out a sigh. "We have to go back, you know?"

"Yeah," Michael said. "I'm just scared that Satan will curse me with bad luck so he can make sure I die early again."

"How did you know?" Louis said and Michael jumped. "You forget - I have excellent hearing."

Melanie laughed quietly, forgetting how scared she was to go back to earth. It frightened her that all of her friends might be liars, like Rachel and Kaleb. What would that mean? She'd have no one left to trust except Michael.

"When do we get to go back, Louis?" Melanie questioned and Louis turned to face the two humans.

"Whenever you're ready," he said, shrugging. "I personally think you should rest for a little while before being whizzed back down to earth."

Melanie saw Michael's head bow out of the corner of her eye and she looked round at him questioningly. "What is it?" she asked quietly.

"I ... I want to go back now, so I can make sure you're OK. I'll probably wake up before you - I wasn't killed as brutally," he admitted and Melanie nodded.

"Louis?" she asked. "If Michael were to go back now, what would that mean?"

"He'd wake up in a hospital, because your bodies will have been found by now, I believe. You'd still be injured, with a knife wound."

"But we're dead... They'd have told our families by now," Melanie said sadly.

"Now that you've remembered your deaths, you're hanging in the balance. Only if you decide to pass on will your bodies stop working, and you'd be permanently dead. Because you have the choice to live, you're in a coma like state."

"I want to go back now, then," Michael said, stepping towards Louis bravely. Louis raised a brow and stepped forward, a smile on his face.

"I have no problem with that," The Devil said, smirking. Melanie just rolled her eyes and took a small step back as Louis approached Michael.

"Be nice," Melanie warned Louis as he stopped in front of Michael.

"I can't promise nothing," Louis said. "Listen to me closely. As soon as you enter your body again, you will be in a lot of pain. Don't panic if you're in a hospital, you'll be fine," Louis finished before he placed his hands on Michael's shoulders. "Good bye."

Melanie watched as her friend slowly, as if by magic, started to fade before her eyes.

"Bye, Mike," she whispered and he gave her a small smile before he vanished completely. Louis lowered his hands to his sides and turned to face Melanie.

"Thank God!" Louis said, grinning. "Ew, no. I take that back. Thank Hell, he's gone."

Melanie glared at him. 

"I mean ... thank Hell he's safe and sound," Louis corrected, a wicked grin on his face. "I was joking, Mel."

Melanie gave him a small smile. "Sure you were, Satan."