Heaven and Hell (20 page)

Serena looked fearfully toward the dark demon, yet he gave her but a passing glance before returning to the sky with the prize leg in tow. The mystery of the bones in the desert had been solved, though Serena could have lived without that knowledge. It was best that she moved on, putting this place behind her as quickly as she could.

As the minutes passed, it became apparent that at least some of the skeletal beings around her sensed her presence, for they cried out to her as she passed, begging for help. But what could she do? If she managed to pull a tormented soul from their pit, one of the demons circling overhead would simply cast them back in, perhaps doing the same to her in the process. Right now, the demons seemed unconcerned by her presence, but if she interfered that might quickly change.

“Please, have mercy upon me!” cried a skeleton nearby. Only the nature of his voice told Serena that this was a human of male gender, and from his accent, she deduced he was of Spanish or Hispanic descent. “Oh please, save me!”

Serena turned to see him, and was sickened by the multitude of white worms crawling in and out of his bones, like maggots.

“Won’t you please help me?” he pleaded.

Serena gazed into his vacant bony eye sockets. The man wept in dry heaves, as he knelt in the middle of his glowing hot pit surrounded by searing waves of heat. His skeletal hands reached for the worms that infested his bones, in an attempt to dislodge them; but it was a futile effort, for they were quick to retreat into the many holes only to emerge elsewhere. It was a dreadful sight. Serena’s heart went out to this poor soul, yet she knew that she was helpless to intervene. She remembered only too well satan’s warning about the penalty for interference. “I wish that I could, believe me.”

“The pain,” he wept, “it hurts so much. Oh please, you’ve gotta help me!”

“I can’t, don’t you see?” replied Serena. “Even if I tried, those demons would only throw you back.”

“Please,” pleaded the man, all the more insistently.

“Do you not see, she can’t?” objected another, in a pained male voice. “‘Tis no hope for us—not now, not ever.”

Serena recognized the distinctly Scottish accent. She turned to see a skeletal form standing in the middle of the pit across from the one where the first man knelt.

“Young woman, I know not what fates have conspired to bring you among us, but ‘tis a place most dire that you’ve come to,” said the Scotsman in the pit.

“You can see me?” asked Serena, looking into his empty eye sockets.

“But vaguely,” he replied, pain in his voice. He moved a couple steps toward Serena. “Even without my eyes I can perceive your form. ‘Tis with the eyes of my soul that I see thee. From the way that you appear to be dressed, I suspect that you’re not here by choice.”

“No,” replied Serena. “I’m like you, condemned by God, sentenced to the sea of fire by satan.”

The living skeleton nodded. “I’ve heard tell of this sea of fire, but I can not say, with any certainty, that I know exactly what you’re in for. Certain am I that it’s nothing pleasant. ‘Tis not but an act of cruelty that has brought satan to send you upon this sojourn, to reveal to you a small bit of his realm, before he compels you to join us in our suffering.”

A look of surprise swept over Serena’s face. “How do you know all of that?”

“It’s happened before,” he replied, yet he seemed reluctant to comment further.

“How long have you been here, I mean, what year?” asked Serena.

“After 48 years of life, I came to this place in 1703,” was the reply. “My name is Kyle McCandish; in life I was a blacksmith. But here I’m just another tormented soul beyond the realm of God’s grace.”

“My name is Serena, Serena Davis”

“A pretty name,” noted Kyle, “a pretty name for a pretty girl. I’m sorry that it had to come to this, lass.”

“And you’ve been here over 300 years?” gasped Serena.

“Sure ‘tis a long time,” noted Kyle, “but there be far more years ahead than there are behind, of that I am most certain.”

Eternal torment; it was a terrible prospect. Again, Serena scanned the scene around her, witnessing the crying and moaning, the helpless writhing of so many tormented souls. Then she looked to the turbulent skies. Yes, there were demons there, but not hordes of them, not compared to the multitudes of humans in the pits. Surely, there were millions of people here, if these pits extended as far as she suspected. What would happen if there were to be a general uprising? She wasn’t thinking of just a few frightened pain-crazed souls here and there making a futile break for freedom, but a rebellion of countless thousands, even millions. Could the few hundred demons circling overhead really combat such a throng? They were large and undoubtedly strong, but were they that strong? Again she gazed at the hourglass; she figured that she had two or three hours left.

“Kyle, have you ever tried to escape?”

“Only once… ‘twas a long time ago. The pain had brought me near madness. I could feel the flames from without and the worms crawling from within. I could stand no more. I looked skyward to see that none of the black devils were nearby. Perhaps I could be free of the pit for a few minutes, just a few minutes. What a fine thing it would have been, to be a whole man once more. I gathered my strength and managed to crawl from the pit, yet it took all of my strength. You see, with no muscles, no sinew, we are so very weak. I laid at the pit’s edge and as I did, I could feel my body returning to me. Oh, that it might have continued, but one of those black devils spied me from above. He threw me back into the pit, but not before ripping me arms off, and carrying them away. Many days passed before new limbs of bone grew in their stead. Those days were my worst. I was ne’r foolish enough to try to escape again.”

“But there’s gotta be a way out of here!” objected the man who had first pleaded with Serena. His tone was becoming increasingly agitated. “I can’t stay here forever. I can’t stay here.”

“He’s tried to crawl out of that pit more oft than I care to remember,” Kyle said. “Those black devils have ripped him asunder many a time, but he’ll not give up.”

“No, they can’t keep me here, I won’t stay here!” he cried.

“You can’t escape, Luis,” objected Kyle. “This is Hell, why can you not understand that?”

Luis turned to Serena. “And you, I heard what you said. Are you going to walk into the sea of fire just because satan tells you to? That’s insane!”

That comment brought back to Serena’s remembrance the reason she was on this journey. She wasn’t like Dante, being given a tour of the infernal regions that she might warn all of humanity about what lays ahead. She was here to stay, and when this journey was over, her torments would really begin.

“Answer me! Will you go quietly into the sea of fire, like a lamb to the slaughter, or will you fight?”

By now Serena was visibly shaking. To one degree or another, she had managed to exist in a state of denial for much of the trip. There would be a last minute reprieve, Chris would come to rescue her, or she might wake up from this dreadful nightmare. But none of that was going to happen, was it?

“Look at me!” demanded Luis. “Do you want to look like this? Well, do you? Do you know how much this hurts? If I was where you are, I’d do something.”

“‘Tis pointless, Luis,” objected Kyle, “you’ll make things worse for you and Serena.”

“I’d expect as much from you, Kyle!” roared Luis. “All of these years you have simply stood there and accepted all that the demons dished out to you, but not me. Those demons had one hell of a time getting me into this pit, and even more trouble keeping me in it. I didn’t go quietly, I fought them every inch of the way, and I’ll continue to fight them, continue to be a pain in their side. But you, you’re different, aren’t you? You’ve accepted it all; you’ve given satan your consent to torture you, without objection, without even so much as a whimper. You’re gutless, Kyle. You make me sick.”

“That will be enough,” Kyle said, turning to his heckler.

“No, I’m only getting started,” cried Luis. “You have no right telling Serena what she should or should not do.” Again, Luis turned to Serena. “Now, I’m depending on you, help me out of here and we shall change the course of history, start a revolution that will topple satan himself.”

“No, Serena,” warned Kyle. “Luis is in the pit of brimstone, his bones are searing hot; his very touch would be as fire. You would be horribly burned. Even if that frightens you not, you’ve no idea what the demons charged with the task of guarding us would do to you. It matters not what we say and do now, neither he nor I merit saving. We had no time for God during our lives, now He has no time for us, ‘tis just that simple.”

“Serena, you’ve gotta help me,” insisted Luis. “You and I together, might be able to fight them off. If we stood up to them, others would join us, I know it. You could be the catalyst. We must stand together. This is your only chance! Did you ever think that you might be here for some higher purpose? You could be the start of a rebellion that would change the very face of Hell.”

Luis had given a voice to the thoughts that had tormented Serena for hours. She was tempted to go along with his plan. Perhaps Luis was right. Satan had told her that she might have made a difference on Earth had she wanted to, if she had listened to the call of God. Could she make a difference here? She looked toward Luis, then gazed skyward. Several of the black demons had taken an interest in what was transpiring below. They wouldn’t stand a chance. A moment later, Serena backed away from Luis.

“No!” screamed the skeletal form. “You can’t leave! I need your help! We all do!”

Luis threw himself at the side of his pit, crawling and scratching his way to the top, as the winged demons watched from above. Luis stumbled onto the ground beyond his pit, where he rose to his feet and moved toward Serena. Serena took yet another few steps backward as the skeleton approached.

Luis swung around screaming all the while. “Listen to me, brothers, sisters, all of you, it’s time to fight for our freedom! Death to the demons! Get out of your pits and join me now! They can’t fight us all! Our strength is our numbers.”

Again, Serena looked to the skies. The demons were still there, but for some reason, they took no action against this raving skeletal man. Serena gazed about at the others in the pits, surely some of their inhabitants would answer the call, but they didn’t. They continued to cry and moan, paying little attention to Luis and his ranting.

Again Luis turned to Serena. Serena was amazed to see a pair of eyes within the bony sockets, and there was madness within those staring globes.

“Cowards!” raved Luis, spinning around to address them. “All of you! Why don’t you do something? Fight back, this is our chance!”

Still the others did nothing. Perhaps they didn’t even hear him, or perhaps they were too beaten down, too frightened to respond.

Luis turned to Serena once more. Within his rib cage, internal organs were swiftly growing to fill the emptiness. It was a sickening sight, one worthy of the best special effects people in Hollywood. Within his mouth a tongue was growing, and upon his bones, muscle tissue. Luis clenched his fists, obviously in pain. Serena took yet another step backward.

“Why wouldn’t you help me, Serena?” he said, taking a step toward the young woman. “Getting out of there would have been so much easier, less painful, if you had only helped me.”

Serena was terrified. She felt like turning and running, yet she held her ground.

“Come here, young woman,” demanded Luis, beckoning with his right hand.

“Leave her alone!” cried Kyle.

“Stay out of this, Kyle,” shouted Luis, turning to face the skeletal Scotsman. “Or even better, climb out of that pit and make me. Come on, Kyle, make me. You want a piece of me? Well, here’s your chance!”

The Scotsman grew silent and still, his arms at his side.

“No, I didn’t think you would, not you.” Again, Luis turned to Serena.

Serena still stood motionless. It was fear, more than bravery that kept her feet planted upon the ground as if rooted.

“Do you know why I was sent here, Serena?”

Serena held her peace, not knowing how to respond to this madman.

“I was a bad boy,” he laughed. “My father was Juan Ramirez, the head of the most powerful drug cartel in all of Columbia. He was not one to be trifled with, and neither am I. After my father’s death, my older brother took over the family business, but he was weak. It was I who ruled our drug empire from behind the scenes. I have never been afraid to take chances or make decisions. I had my own fiancée executed for her unfaithfulness. I made certain that her death was slow and painful. No one crosses me, Serena, not anyone, not then, and not now. One day I will get a piece of satan himself for what he’s done to me, I swear it. But for right now, let us talk about you.”

Luis was regenerating at a fantastic rate. His skull was rapidly vanishing beneath a veneer of new flesh, and the bones of his arms and legs were already enshrouded in a layer of dark red muscle that glistened in the light of the bloated amber sun.

“We are not so different, you and I,” continued Luis. “I stood where you stand now, whole, without pain, 18 years ago. My rebellious and bold spirit, to say nothing of the fact that I wasn’t afraid of him, fascinated satan. He granted me half a day to see this operation of his, before I was to be thrown into this pit. You see, during my life, I had done a lot of horrible things to those I didn’t like for one reason or another, but hey, it was just business. Isn’t it nice when business can be mixed with pleasure? I guess the devil and I sort of dabbled in the same craft. I think satan wanted to show me that he could do me one or two better. I’ll admit that he had developed some pretty incredible ways to torture people, but hey, he had the budget for it.”