She was silent, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh, that, that is peachy!" Tears were falling down her face again, and it was hard to tell if they were from laughter or sadness. "Here I was, thinking that maybe I'd get to turn thirty first, but no. Two days off." She grinned. "Too bad it wasn't on my birthday. Then I could be like one of those melodramatic movies you see on Lifetime." The grin fell, and the laughter stopped just as suddenly as it began. "...A car accident, huh? I'd always thought...I don't know...I'd die of natural causes, or maybe in some weird heroic way...And I bet the driver lives. They always do." Her body suddenly felt very heavy and she slumped against him. "Eight days...One week."

"It's really not that bad. I mean, what will change for the worse? You'll still be able to visit the people you care about, you'll be lot stronger and a lot less fragile, and you'll e gaining a lot of power. When a human destined to be an angel died while in a contract with a demon, they become something... a bit different. They gain the stregth of heaven and hell. You'll really be Hell's angel." He said with a small smile. "My angel." He said, letting things come into view for her. "But that's much more than you need to worry about now." He pulled a box of kleenex from the counter and pulled out the tissues. He thumbed through them, and the squares of folded tissue became bills. "Here, have some fun whil you can, huh?"

"I don't understand anything you talk about," she grumbled unhappily. "I'm your slave, not your angel." Her eyes fell to the money as if it were some foreign item. "What am I supposed to do with that?" Though not particularly a Christian ideal, she'd always stuck to a minimalistic lifestyle. She kept only what she needed, and her idea of fun was hiking in the mountains.

"What ever you want. Buy a new sports car, donated it all to your church, have some fun." He rested a hand on her head, "You can be both. After all, you'll become a source of hope for a lot of people in all three levels."

She looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean? What exactly do you have planned for me?" With her initial panic calming down, she suddenly became very aware of his bare skin beneath her hands. She pulled away just the slightest bit, her arms dropping to her sides.

"I'll explain later, it's hard to understand when you're still alive..." He said as he stretched. "I'm going to lie down a while, I feel rather ill. Mortal bodies are so weak."

Frustration and anger sprung up, but were immediately won out by her desperation. She placed her hand to his cheek, her eyes pleading. "Please? Please just try and explain?" Her voice was tired; she was clearly beyond broken and now simply trying to salvage what stability she could.

"Come on." He pulled her into the livingroom and collapsed on the couch. "I'll try to explain, but answer these questions. If you had wealth, what would you do with it? If you had power, what would you rule? And if you had to chose between someone you needed and someone that needed you, who would it be?"

Confusion passed through her eyes, but she was too mentally spent to care much about why he was asking. "I have no need for wealth or power...but I suppose if I had to take it..." She thought for a moment. "I guess I'd open an orphanage if I had money...I've always wished I could have children." She blushed slightly as she realized what she'd said, then explained, "I, uh...had an accident when I was younger that left me unable to reproduce. Probably one of the main reasons I joined the church." She smiled sadly for a moment then continued. "If I were to rule...Jeeze, I don't think I'd want to rule...Minister, even, is sometimes too much responsibility...but let's see...Maybe my own island? That way there'd be no one there to really rule over. Just me and little plot of land." A giggle escaped her, bringing back the blush. "Actually thinking about it, that'd be kinda cool..." Her mind slowly turned to his last question. "And I guess, someone who needed me or someone I needed, hm...?" She looked at him. "Aren't those generally the same people? I mean, I've never really met someone who needed me that I didn't need just as badly..."

"If you think about it enough, you'll find your answer. Now let me sleep huh?"

((Wanna fast forward a week?))

"What? No!" She was suddenly very much awake. "That wasn't any sort of explanation, you jerk!"

((Sure))

"It's plenty of explanation..." He grumbled, "Just think about it."


A week later....


Jin wandered into Carol's room early morning on the seventh of eight days. "Hey... Carol, wake up..."

Almost an automatic reaction now, she threw her pillow at him, her eyes remaining shut. "Go away....I'm still 'sleep..."

"Carol, you have less than a day left."

Several moments later, she sighed and sat up. "You know, the last decent night's sleep I got was while you were gone." Running her fingers through her hair, she glared at him, though the look held no real anger. "Did you just wake me up to remind me of my imminent doom?"

"No, to allow you time to finish up anything you need to before your imminent doom." He said Mater-o-factly.

She wondered if it would be best to just lay there for the rest of the day, not bring up anything she'd miss after. But she knew that was just the depression talking and she sighed again, pulling herself out bed. After he'd left, she'd started sleeping in her pajamas again (every time she'd fallen asleep with him there, she'd been still dressed). At first, it'd been awkward--she'd never realized how short her nightgown was until there was someone to see. Now she didn't care much. She still made a point of not bending or kneeling in the garment while he was around, but it didn't bother her to have him see her in it anymore. "I don't exactly know what there is to do anymore..."

"Do you want to die now then?" He offered, his tone soft. He couldn't prevent himself from looking her over. "Cute nightgown..." He commented, although it wasn't the nightgown he was interested in.

"Thanks," she muttered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. She bit her lower lip nervously, thinking for a moment. "Do you think I should? How would you do it?"

"How ever you want it done. I can drown, shoot, stab... there's always the kiss of death, that would be the least painful." He knew he could do it without kissing her, but he liked to mess with her in any way he could.

Her cheeks reddened. " 'The Kiss of Death'? Is that...an actual kiss?" It did sound more appealing than his other options...but not by much.

"Of course. There's always poison. Tasteless and painless in this case. It'll be like going to sleep." He offered.

"But then it really feels like I'm commiting suicide...I don't like that..." She sighed. "I guess...the Kiss of Death thing sounds best right now...I don't want you kissing me-" she cast him a glare, "again. But..."

"Are you sure? You seemed to like it last time, you lit up like a traffic light." He moved closer, "Are you ready then?"

His comment earned him another glare before she closed her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so..."