Epilogue: Heaven

Dante stirs, his eyes squinting in the strong sunlight. He looks around himself and stops, confused at the boxes and bin bags surrounding him. In his hands he cradles a crisp, fresh, white rose.

Bringing himself to his feet Dante looks back into the high street doorway he's woken up in, the shop's effluent piled into every corner of the trades entrance, oozing out into the pavement in anticipation of the weekly binmen.

It's a bright sunny day on Upper Street and people buzz past him jostling one another in their familiar London pace. As he looks around, still gathering his bearings, he realises he's back on the same strecth of shops where he spent his last afternoon with Bea. He looks down at the rose remembering the broken, bloodied rose lying by her side in his gathering memory.

And then he looks across the high street.

Standing on the opposite kerb, emerging from between the passing traffic, Bea and Virigl stand together waving back at him, their radiant white bodies almost glowing, everyone else, it seems, oblivious to their presence except for him.

Dante rubs his eyes, convinced this is just a dream, and looks again. Bea, waving, blows him a kiss, and mouths "I love you" before a passing bus frustratingly obscures his view.  He steps from the kerb to cross to her but stops himself suddenly....the bus passes and they're gone, leaving only the steady pulse of the public pacing the pavement where they appeared.

Standing for some time, Dante relaxes and takes stock of what he's seen - and what it means. A slow, cheeky smile creeps across his face as he brings the beautiful white rose to his face, inhaling the sweet bouquet of the flower's full bloom.

Pulling his hoodie up, Dante turns into the human thoroughfare and disappears into the warm belly of London...