Heaven and Hell (9 page)

Even as Jesus descended the stairs, a twinkling sphere of starlight appeared before Him. He stepped into the midst of it and quickly vanished.

“Wow,” was all Chris could say.

The remainder of the day was spent in touring the house and the grounds and talking. The house was truly enormous, with a formal dining room, five huge bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen, and, of course, a sewing room. The house had the heavenly equivalent of electric lights and appliances, although there were no cords. Apparently, each had its own internal power supply.

“They were all here when I arrived,” explained Jennifer. “They have never failed, and the bulbs in the light fixtures have never burned out, not a single one of them. I suppose that’s a good thing, since I haven’t located any replacements if they did. Please, don’t ask me exactly how they work, I don’t know. I just accept it as a gift from God, and leave it at that. He has gone to great lengths to make me feel at home and comfortable.”

“But where is the TV?” joked Chris. “There are a lot of good programs on Saturday. I think the Trailblazers are playing at home tonight.”

“Sorry, Chris, didn’t I tell you that the tube wasn’t all that good for you. You need to get out more instead.”

Chris smiled. “Actually it isn’t really a tube anymore, Mom. I have a 40-inch plasma HD TV at home.”

“Oh,” Jennifer said, pondering what her son had just told her. “You have a plasma HD what?”

Chris laughed. “I guess I’ll have to bring you up to speed on what is going on back home.”

Chris and his mother had so much to tell each other. There were a lot of holes in Chris’s recollection of his life on Earth, especially during the last five years. That was indeed odd, but he tried not to allow it to trouble him. After all, Jesus Himself had said that such things were to be expected. The important thing was that he was here, he was thinking more clearly than at any other time in his life, and he had been reunited with his mother.

As day slowly faded, the fireflies lit up the lawn and the forest beyond. Chris and his mother watched it all from the porch swing, chit chatting the way they used to so long ago. How he had missed her since then.

“I wasn’t sure that there would be a night in Heaven,” said Chris, gazing out into the fading twilight.

“It all depends where in Heaven you are,” replied Jennifer. “We have day and night here, but they don’t in the City of Zion. There it is forever day. It always feels like early afternoon there, at least to me.”

“Zion?” asked Chris.

“Yes, I guess you could call it the capital city of Heaven, the dwelling place of God. It is really amazing, you’ll see. I’ll take you there in a few days, but I wanted you to get acclimated to your new home first.”

“OK, Mom,” said Chris, placing his head on her shoulder the way he used to as a young boy. “Whatever you say. Right now, I just want to stay home with you.”

Chris was greeted by a sky full of the brightest stars he had ever seen. It was several hours later when a feeling akin to tiredness began to overtake him. “It would seem that our bodies still need sleep,” he said, stretching out his arms wide.

“You think you do,” Jennifer said, “and sleep is a good thing, even here. You’re used to the cycle of sleep, so am I, even after all of these years. But, believe it or not, you could go on without it. Your glorified body really doesn’t need to sleep. There are people here who have matured completely past the need for sleep. Maybe we all will, with time. But for now, I still sleep, but not as much as I used to. I’ll take you to your room.”

Chris’s bedroom was on the first floor of the great mansion, a huge room that seemed immediately familiar. Within the walk-in closet, Chris found a complete wardrobe of clothes, everything he would need.

Following a good night kiss from his mother, he was ready for bed. He truly felt like a kid again, and he loved it. As he sat there alone on his grand bed, he took a moment to offer his thanks to God. So far, Heaven had met or exceeded all of his expectations. He could hardly wait to explore it in greater detail; and explore it he would, for he had all of the time in the universe.

S
ERENA tried her best to get some sleep. For a time, she dreamt of Chris, and the rock house in Oregon. In her dreams, she was lying in bed by his side, his arm wrapped around her. She could hear his gentle breathing, hear him call her name in the night, feel him gently caress her. Sadly, it was an illusion, a phantasm, a ghost of a time that would never be again. Her dreams were all too frequently interrupted by a commotion in the hallway, as yet another damned soul was ushered through to await their fate. The pattern of sleep and rude awakenings was repeated at least half a dozen times, before a different sort of disturbance caught Serena’s attention.

She rose to her feet to hear screams from somewhere far down the corridor. It was not just the screams of one or two individuals, but those of a great multitude. She stumbled to the bars of her cell to find out what was happening. The commotion had attracted Benny’s attention as well, for he already stood by the bars of his cell, doing his best to peer into the corridor beyond.

“Something’s happening,” he confirmed, turning to Serena. “This might be it.”

“Oh God!” gasped Serena, taking a step back. She knew this moment was coming. She had tried to prepare herself for it, but she realized now that she wasn’t ready for the reality. It was now. It was time.

If only she could get out of her damnable cell, run, hide, do something, anything but wait helplessly. She wrapped her hands around the cold metal bars in frustration, testing them a final time, with all too predictable results.

Serena turned away from the bars and paced back and forth several times. She wanted to pray, but God wasn’t listening, was He? Prayers were for Earth and Heaven, not this place. Nonetheless, she found herself on her knees.

“Lord, God, I know it’s too late for prayers, too late to plead for your mercy. If you’re listening, all I ask is that you give me the strength to face what is to come.” Serena hesitated before continuing. “Lord, look after my husband, Chris. I know that now he’s only my husband in my own mind, but please watch over him. Shower him with your love, even though I can’t. In Jesus’ name…”

“Amen,” came the response from across the hallway.

Serena looked up to see Benny, his hands folded, his head bowed. He looked up, their eyes met.

“I know, it’s pointless,” he said. “But doesn’t it say somewhere, the day will come when every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord?”

“Yes, it does,” Serena said. “A strange time for us to realize it, isn’t it?”

Benny nodded.

Serena turned toward the source of the commotion. “Do you think it’s getting closer?”

“Yes,” confirmed Benny. “But it might be some time before it gets here, whatever it is.”

“I hope I get to see you again,” said Serena. “You’ve made my time here more bearable. Thank you.”

“The honor has been all mine. It has been a privilege, and a pleasure, to be in your company.”

For a time, the two stood there in silence. Yes, the commotion was drawing nearer, and at a faster pace than either of them wanted. Whatever it was, its presence was beginning to permeate the cell block. The large glowing crystal protruding from the ceiling in the corridor just beyond Serena’s cell seemed to be changing. It was fading. Its previously blue white glow was acquiring a more somber amber hue. The stage was being set for them. Soon, very soon, the curtain would rise on the next act of tragedy. There was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it.

Minutes ticked by, measured only by Serena’s rapidly pounding heart and heightening fear. Again she peered into the hallway from her cell. Though nothing out of the ordinary met her eyes, a sudden terrible wailing from a nearby cell drove her back against the wall. She was shivering as she looked at Benny. He stood there stoically, facing the bars, arms at his side. He looked toward the source of the cries, then back to Serena; his eyes were kind and understanding. He whispered something, though Serena couldn’t hear it above the loud lamentations that apparently arose from the man in the cell next to hers.

Quite abruptly the cries died away to a soft pitiful whimpering. Serena heard the poor man muttering something in an undecipherable tongue. She wasn’t sure what language it was, but the tone was unmistakable—indescribable terror.

The awful thing creeping down the hallway toward them had grown frighteningly close. Serena listened more carefully. There was another sound, though she couldn’t quite make it out. Perhaps it was the result of shifting winds sweeping through the corridors? No, it wasn’t that. It was a sort of screeching sound, like nothing she had ever heard. It reverberated from every wall, emanated from every quarter of the subterranean hallway. It authored even greater fear within Serena as it grew closer and louder.

Amidst the fading amber light, perhaps 20 feet down the corridor, she saw the swift movement of a nebulous dark form. No, not one, but many forms, swirling like black ragged cloth caught in an ethereal whirlwind, yet there was not the slightest breeze. In the midst of it, Serena was certain that she saw at least one pair of glowing orange eyes. She quickly retreated back to the wall, her heart pounding loudly. She wasn’t ready for this. She was frightened, nearly to the point of hysteria, yet she held her peace.

“Be brave, Serena,” Benny said, standing at the bars of his cell, gazing at her. It was becoming difficult to see him in the fading light. Even his voice seemed strangely distant. “You’re going to get through this. You’re a woman of courage, whether you realize it or not. I know you have it in you to face whatever is ahead.”

The whimpering from the next cell grew momentarily in volume, then faded completely.

In the corridor, black vapors swept past the bars obscuring the far wall from view, and then the entire hall vanished into the mists.

“Benny?”

No answer.

“Benny?” she repeated loudly.

Still no response. But wait, she heard voices, deep and guttural. They seemed to be coming from everywhere and yet nowhere. They were too deep to be those of a human. Serena felt a chill as she realized that she had been somehow separated from all of the others in this place; left alone to face the unknown. Never in her life had she experienced such fear.

Again she heard a deep guttural voice. This time it was a single voice, one very close.

“Serena Farnsworth.”

Serena turned to see the dark hooded figure step toward the bars, materializing out of the mists. The being was tall, every bit as tall as the angel was. His body was cloaked in a jet black robe, his face veiled in shadows. Only his glowing amber eyes and the gaunt bony hands beyond the long, loose sleeves of his robe were visible.

He was the substance of a thousand nightmares. Serena felt the strong desire to scream, to release a portion of the terror penned up within her, but she managed to stifle it. She thought back once more to the Scriptures. The devil had the ability to appear as an angel of light. That might be convenient, in the event that he wished to beguile some foolish mortal with his beauty. But if that were the case, might he, or his minions, also appear as anything they wished? Might they take a more sinister form with the intent to invoke fear? Perhaps, but she wouldn’t yield to fear. If fear is what he wanted, it would be the last thing he would get. She did not back away from the thing; she stared it in the face, what little she could see of it.

“Yes, you are a pretty thing,” it continued, “in your own human sort of way. It would seem that God has discarded you, thrown you into the cold darkness, what a shame. But be not concerned, I have come to bring you to your new master. Yes, you should feel honored, for satan himself has summoned you. It is he who shall hear your case. This is a rare privilege. He shall not abandon you as God has; no, he will keep you throughout all eternity as one of his own. It is he who shall decide your fate, the precise nature of your punishment.”

“But first, you must be appropriately dressed for your meeting with your new master,” continued the dark being. A gray pile of cloth was pitched into Serena’s cell, catching her by surprise. “Remove the clothing you are wearing, and put those on. They are far more appropriate for what is to come, for your new station in existence. This garment is quite utilitarian.”

Serena hesitated; then cautiously reached out to examine the filthy garb that had been tossed at her. Its fabric was as coarse as burlap. There were two parts to her infernal wardrobe. One was a short, dirty skirt. The other was a halter top, tattered and roughly cut. They were disgusting. Serena considered refusing, resisting the demands of this demon, or whatever it was. Would that be an act of courage, defiance, or simple stupidity? Did courage or cowardice matter in this place?

The demon noted Serena’s hesitation. The tone of his response spoke of his amusement. “I see that I will have to encourage you to obey. So be it.”

Quite suddenly, Serena’s dress began to yellow and disintegrate. Within seconds it had decomposed to decaying rags that fell from her body and became a pile of swirling ashes scattering across the floor. Even her shoes decomposed into dust at her feet. Serena turned from the dark being, trying to cover her nakedness.