Heaven and Hell (52 page)

Serena’s face lit up with joy, as she drew her arms around the mighty angel. “I cannot think of a single angel in all of Heaven that I would rather have as a guardian. You are more than my knight in shining armor, much more.”

Abaddon smiled broadly. Before meeting Serena, he had almost forgotten how to smile. He had more than a companion to talk to, he had someone to protect, someone who was family. “Then that is how it shall be.”

Moloch walked up the shimmering obsidian stairway to confer with his master. He was nervous because he had news that would make satan unhappy. Glancing up at the prince of darkness, evaluating his demeanor, he was certain that he had chosen a particularly bad time to bring such tidings.

The master watched him from his throne, watched his lieutenant bow in humble subjection before him. “What is it that you have for me this day?”

Moloch was squirming inside of his own skin. “Lord satan, I have come to you regarding your request to bring Serena Farnsworth into your presence.”

“And?”

“We have encountered a problem.”

Satan’s impatience grew, as did his volume. “What is the nature of the problem?”

“Sir, our scouts have scanned the sea of fire for three days but have been unable to locate her.”

“Unable to locate her?!” said satan. His fist came down hard on the arm of his throne. “How could that be? How many did you send in search of her?”

“Twelve. They have searched everywhere that the currents could have taken her. She was not to be found.”

“So, she just crawled out of the sea of fire, is that what you’re telling me?” Again the master’s fist came down on the arm of his throne, more forcefully this time. “I will not tolerate this kind of incompetence. I placed you in charge of all of our human guests writhing within the sea of fire, did I not?”

“Yes, lord.”

“And those under you have patrolled it, kept a regular vigil upon it?”

“Yes, lord, but there are now so many souls to be accounted for. It is not possible to keep a record of all of them on a daily basis. We do our best.”

Satan leaned forward. “Then tell me Moloch, when was the last time Serena Farnsworth was accounted for?”

“My lord, she was last sighted fifty-eight Earth days ago, just exactly where she should have been. She was reported being carried along by a strong current, ever deeper into the realm of darkness. She was in exquisite agony. All was as it should have been.”

“Fifty-eight days!” roared satan, jumping to his feet. “Is it your policy to lose track of a damned soul for fifty-eight days at a time?”

“Well, no, that’s a bit long, but not that unusual. My sentries usually report their sightings of an individual guest every five or six days. We do keep an accurate accounting of those souls consigned to us.”

Satan paced away from his lieutenant, then turned toward him abruptly. “Then what are you telling me, Moloch? Are you saying that she is simply misplaced and that you will soon locate her—or that she is gone?”

There was a pause as Moloch searched for the words. “My lord, I’m saying that in my opinion she is no longer within the sea of fire. She has somehow escaped. This sort of thing doesn’t happen often, and we always locate them eventually.”

“Very well,” replied satan, his anger barely contained. “Then, this is what you shall do. You will conduct a search for this little wench, and you will find her. I am holding you personally responsible for the success of this mission. When you have found her, bring her into my presence at once. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Yes, Lord,” confirmed Moloch, bowing low as he walked backward from the master’s presence. He retreated from the audience chamber and into the wide corridor beyond. He was in deep trouble. How could the master possibly expect him to keep track of so many souls? Their numbers grew by the day and the resources at his disposal were actually diminishing.

He had been placed in charge of nearly a third of all of Hell. It was a vast domain to govern; encompassing some of the most grizzly torments this place had to offer, from the sea of fire, to the fire pits of the plains, to the graves of torment. It was almost too much, and now this.

How could she simply vanish? He, like any demon under his charge, could sense the presence of a human, even one hiding within the depths of the sea or within the darkest recesses of a cave. How had she eluded them? It didn’t matter; he wouldn’t rest until he found her, and when he did, she would pay dearly. He would expand his search beyond the sea if need be. He would not be denied.

It had been a long day of planting and transplanting in the green cavern. At its end, Abaddon and Serena sat across from one another in the great room, having one of their talks. The dark angel waved his hand before him, and immediately a large disk appeared before them, the image of a planet floating in midair. One side of the planet lay in perpetual daylight, the other in eternal darkness.

Abaddon smiled at the astonishment on his companion’s face. “Far superior to a common map, wouldn’t you agree? Behold the world you know as Hell, the world desecrated by satan and his angels, transformed into this abomination you see before you. Once a world rich in life, he has transformed it into a world of death. Everything he touches is destroyed. I still cannot comprehend the workings of a mind so foul.”

Serena moved closer to the barren globe. The daylight side was an endless expanse of windswept desert, no oceans of water, no green whatsoever, only vast desolation. Even the cruel sunbaked expanses of the Sahara were more gentle than the world she saw here.

“The sunlit regions of this world bake at over 250 of your degrees Fahrenheit,” said Abaddon. “Many and terrible are the torments of the souls imprisoned in the midst of its brutal midday radiance.”

Serena’s attention turned to the darkened hemisphere, a realm of glowing fire, the sea of fire. Yet there was something else, a peculiar shaped region of darkness. It was some sort of continent, a large one, surrounded by the flaming sea. Its shape reminded her of a prone human figure lying across the fiery sea. Well, maybe not a human figure, not exactly. It was more like a gingerbread man with short arms and legs. Then again, the continent of Australia had always reminded her of the head of a Scotty dog.

“The Continent of Darkness, curious, is it not? Is the shape a coincidence or is it by design?”

Serena shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

Abaddon pointed toward the short stubby arms of the continent. “This feature is formed by a long mountain range, as high and imposing as the Rocky Mountains of your Earth. The central regions of the continent are a vast windswept plateau over a mile high.”

Serena noticed a few small regions of the dark continent that glowed a dull red, like a dying ember in the coal black darkness. There was even a blotch of white luminescence not far from the glowing sea. She felt a chill, a terrible sense of dread deep within.

Abaddon allowed Serena a moment to study this gloomy land. “To this place we shall soon make a pilgrimage. It is necessary, I assure you. If you are to ever truly appreciate the mind of the greatest enemy of all humankind, we must do this thing. I want you to understand.”

Serena wasn’t all that certain that she wanted to understand the mind of satan. Right now she was only too happy to hide within this great cavern. Any curiosity about the nature of satan had been burned away amid the flames of the sea. “When?”

“Soon.”

The phantasmal globe vanished as Serena returned to her chair. The topic of their conversation shifted to lighter subjects; yet, what she had seen remained in the back of her mind, even as she retreated to her room for some well-deserved rest.

It was several days later when Abaddon and Serena climbed once more to the very highest peak of the island. It was a special day. Though Hell kept one face perpetually toward its sun, that axial lock was not absolute. Once every 71 days, the island moved closer to the daylight side than at any other time. It was a time to go up top and soak in the twilight.

Upon reaching the summit, Serena saw the band of blue across the western horizon, far brighter than she had ever seen it before. Its glow extended twice as high as it had the last time she had been up here, and the horizon itself took on an aspect of near daylight. It was an awesome sight. She might nearly have read a book by its glow. For a time they both admired its beauty, then Abaddon turned away. He walked from her, apparently in deep contemplation. Then he turned toward her.

“Serena, the time has come. I wish to broaden your horizons, to give unto you a better understanding of this place into which you have been set adrift. You should know all, know the hidden things that satan would have no humans understand. I wish, this day, to take you on that journey of discovery of which we had spoken, not so much to see the suffering of humankind in this place, but to understand all the more those who inflict it. In knowing your enemy, you can be all the better fortified against him.”

“You mean we’ll be traveling away from the island?”

“Yes,” confirmed Abaddon, motioning toward the darkened eastern sky, illuminated occasionally by the lightning flashes of a distant storm.

The thought of traveling from this sanctuary brought a momentary shudder to Serena. “Across the sea of fire?”

“Very high above it,” assured Abaddon. “From such heights you will scarcely feel its heat. I will protect you.”

Serena wasn’t so sure that she liked this idea. Right now she would have been more than satisfied to dwell in the cavern forever. The sea of fire had burned from her any curiosity she might have once had about this place. “What if we meet demons along the way?”

“They wouldn’t see you,” assured Abaddon. “The cloak you wear will obscure you from their view. Furthermore, it is within my power to cloud their minds, even as they have clouded the minds of so many of your kind. To them you would appear as I wish you to appear, as one of them if I so desired. Trust me in this; it is important.”

“We’re going to the Continent of Darkness, aren’t we?”

Abaddon nodded.

Serena hesitated, then relented. “OK, Abaddon, I’ll go with you. When do we leave?”

“Right now.” Abaddon reached out to her. “Take my hand.”

She wasn’t quite prepared for that. Nonetheless, Serena moved toward her guardian, offering him her hand. His fingers wrapped around it as he drew her close. Serena closed her eyes as he entwined his arms about her, partially covering her in his cloak.