Heaven and Hell (16 page)

“We are only a few miles from where you began your journey,” satan said. “Your route to the sea of fire would not have taken you by this place, but I wanted you to see it, nonetheless. Let us take a closer look.” Satan roughly pulled Serena toward the impact point at the bottom of the cliff, even as a third and fourth victim were cast down from above.

Before them a great gathering of rag-clad bodies crushed and mutilated by the long fall, crawled and dragged themselves away upon shattered and twisted limbs. The presence of heavy shackles about their wrists and ankles made their journey all the more difficult.

They were urged along by the prods and whips of a multitude of devilish taskmasters. The horned demons who ruled over them were large and covered in coarse brown fur. They had sharp claw like hands and feet, and large black eyes. To Serena, their glistening eyes appeared almost insect-like. Their large mouths were filled with black, razor-sharp teeth, and their ears were exceptionally large and pointed. They were truly like something out of a nightmare.

The pathetic mounds of flesh before them moved as best they could amidst the clanking and rattling of their ponderous chains. They moved in a great barefoot procession along a treacherous yet heavily traveled pathway that led from the base of the cliff into the hills beyond.

“After their unfortunate fall from that cliff, these poor souls are urged by my minions to climb back up to the high precipice,” satan said while watching yet another victim of his wrath plunge from the heights. “It’s a difficult journey at first, with so many broken and shattered bones, ripped and bruised muscles, and severed tendons to contend with. But along the way, they heal, reconstruct themselves. Yet, that process of reconstruction is agonizing in itself, especially when the victim must use those bones and muscles quite vigorously in order to escape the whips and prods of the taskmasters. It takes nearly two hours to traverse the trail to the top. By the time they arrive, they are whole once more and ready to take the plunge again. Each one repeats the process without rest, throughout eternity.”

“It’s inhuman,” gasped Serena. “What did these people do to deserve such a horrible fate?”

“I wondered when you were going to ask,” laughed the devil. “They committed unnatural sexual acts. Men lusted after other men and women after other women. It is a futile pursuit, unable to bring about the miracle of procreation. Therefore, they who have committed it will spend the rest of eternity in this futile gesture of plummeting from the cliff, only to climb to the top once more and plummet from its heights again.”

Satan looked carefully into Serena’s eyes, then smiled. “You had perpetrated such an act as they, if only once. Perhaps you would like to join them, give this thing a try, just one or two rounds to get a feel for the routine. After all, the best way to understand a thing is to experience it first hand. Who knows, perhaps I could even be persuaded to adjust your sentence, condemn you to this place for all eternity rather than the sea of fire. You might prefer this. What do you say? Want to give it a try?”

Serena heard footsteps behind her. She turned to find one of the large hairy demons towering over her, a pair of open ankle and wrist shackles in his claw-like hands. Apparently, satan’s terrible offer hadn’t been a spur of the moment proposal—it had been well-planned.

Satan’s smile grew even wider. “See, all is in readiness, you just give the word and we can have you on the trail in no time.”

Serena struggled to remain in control. Yet, despite the intense heat of this place, a chill as cold as ice, swept through her body. Satan made it sound like an invitation, but would she be afforded the right of refusal? “Thank you, sir, but I think I’d rather not.”

Satan shrugged. “You might have found it an interesting experience, but as you wish, little one.” He motioned to the demon before them to go back to his assigned task. “You know, do you not, that you are only delaying the inevitable. The 12 hours of grace I have afforded you are as a flickering candle amidst the great darkness of eternity that lies ahead. When those fleeting hours have passed, you will be compelled to face your inevitable future. That future holds in store for you pain, an eternity of unimaginable agony. Pain will become your reality. It doesn’t really matter if it begins now or nine hours from now.”

Satan paused for another moment to watch two more poor souls fall to what would certainly have been their deaths anywhere else; but not here. “I never grow weary of the parade. Sadly time grows short, but there is one more thing I want you to see. I have saved the best for last. I suspect that you might appreciate what you shall witness next.”

Again a portal opened up before them, and a moment later the two vanished beyond it.

Serena felt the pleasantly cool air the instant she passed through the portal. A brisk wind was blowing at her back, while before her was a fantastic panorama of jagged mountains and valleys. Beyond the mountains was a level plain that ended in what appeared to be a great glowing sea of red that stretched to the distant horizon. The view was partially obscured by clouds of dust and smoke sweeping across the landscape below. She turned around to see still more mountains and the great red sun low in the sky.

They stood on the summit of what appeared to be the highest peak around. Overhead the sky was violet. For an instant, the memory of the horrors she had seen during the past hours faded, replaced by a sense of awe.

“Incredible!” gasped Serena.

“See, I told you that you would like it,” replied satan. “We are over a mile above the valley floor. From here you gain an entirely different perspective of my creation, a perspective that few of my guests ever experience.” Satan watched in amusement as the young woman scanned the horizon of the starkly beautiful environment.

“From here, who would possibly suspect what horrors lay below? From time to time, I come to this place, and other places like it, to get a breath of fresh air, to behold the world my hands have made.” There was a momentary pause. “What do you see, little one?”

Serena turned to look at the bloated red luminary hanging in the sky; then she turned to satan. “Sir, I see a barren dry planet circling a small red star, maybe the only planet and only star in all of outer darkness. It is its own small universe.”

Satan was rarely surprised, especially by a human, but this was one of those rare moments. “You see all of that from the top of this mountain?”

“Yes, sir,” Serena said, “You see, I studied a little astronomy in my time on Earth.”

“Speaking of time, my time is so very precious,” interrupted satan. “I have enjoyed your presence. I would like nothing better than to spend the entire day with you, and at its end, escort you to the sea of fire myself, where I might bid you a final farewell. It would be a date, as you humans call it, an opportunity for you to get to know me a little better. However, that is not to be.” There was a momentary pause.

“I have personally revealed to you the realm I have created. Who else could have done such a thing as this?” Satan raised his arms and turned slowly about to view the work of his own hand. “Surely, Serena, I am worthy of your worship; for truly, if I am not now your god, who is? Fall to your knees, little one, and do me homage—worship me.”

Well, there it was. Serena had feared that this moment was coming. Since the experience at the crosses on the hill she knew this time of decision was inevitable. This megalomaniac thrived upon worship, whether he was deserving of it or not. What was she to do now? Perhaps diplomacy?

“Sir, please understand, I’m very impressed with your accomplishments here; they are stunning. I respect your abilities.”

Satan shook his head in disapproval. “Here, all beings refer to me as lord satan or just lord; for in this place, I am lord. Only you persist in calling me sir.”

“I call you sir out of respect,” countered Serena.

“But that is not sufficient,” replied satan with a trace of growing anger. “I require your worship. Kneel before me.”

Serena’s knees were shaking; she had run out of options. “Sir, throughout my entire life, I failed to worship God, the Creator of a hundred billion times a hundred billion stars, the Creator of the entire universe. I should have, but I didn’t. Now you ask me to worship you.” Again there was a pause. “Sir, if I failed to worship God, the true god, I cannot worship you.”

“Ah, but you worshiped a pagan goddess,” retorted satan. Then his anger ebbed once more and his expression softened. “Oh yes, I see that I have been going about this thing in the wrong way. How forgetful of me. Let me make this easier for you.”

Suddenly, satan’s form was in a state of metamorphosis. His skin color faded, his raiment became as white as snow. In a few seconds he had been transfigured into the form of a stunningly beautiful woman with long golden hair. This was the form that Serena had always associated with the goddess; the long flowing gown, the glowing countenance, it was all there.

“Now, you may worship me, Serena,” said the goddess, her voice soft and feminine. “I am here before you, the author of spring, the bringer of the harvest, the creator of all nature. Fall to your knees, and yield to me the honor that I am due.”

Serena was awestruck by the beauty, the majesty, of the goddess. For years she had been at the center of her life; yet now, for the first time, she understood the futility of such worship. She wasn’t real; she was a lie, a fabrication of the prince of lies. She had always been so. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

“I could force you to worship me,” retorted the goddess, her voice suddenly angry. “I could cause you such agony, that you would do anything to bring it to an end.”

“I know you could,” replied Serena.

“And you still won’t worship me?”

Serena hesitated. Wasn’t the object here to reduce the pain as much as possible? “No, sir, I can’t.”

The imposing form of satan swiftly replaced the image of the goddess. Serena was surprised to find him smiling. “I believe you would resist me, for a while at least. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to put you to the test, at least not right now. But answer me this; did you really believe in this goddess of yours? Answer me truly.”

Serena hesitated. In her youth she had performed rituals in the name of the goddess, burned incense to her, but had she truly believed? Did she have the same faith in the goddess that Chris had in his God, the true God, or was she just playing games? In more recent days, she had abandoned the rituals, beyond the occasional burning of incense. She looked toward satan who was still patiently awaiting her reply. “No, I don’t think I did.”

“So you surrendered your eternity for a thing you knew to be an illusion? You humans never cease to amuse me.” Satan once more extended his hand. “Come, little one.” Serena took his hand, as yet another portal materialized before them.

The trip through the portal brought Serena back to the very spot where her journey with the prince of darkness had begun.

“Here our paths shall part,” announced satan, releasing his companion’s hand. “You are indeed a strong-willed woman. I am relieved that you failed to respond to God’s calling. In His service, your courage and determination might have hindered some of my enterprises, but here, your courage means nothing. For now, you are brave and defiant, but I wonder how brave and defiant you will be a year from now, or ten years, or a hundred. Time is a thing we have in abundance. Will the agony that awaits you in the sea of fire make you more pliable? I think so.”

Satan turned to depart, then hesitated. “Oh, there is one final thing. We had a deal, you were not to interfere with the torments of any of my guests, remember? You have already violated that agreement once. I do not wish to see a repeat of that violation, least you suffer the consequences. Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes sir, I’m sorry,” Serena said, quivering in fear.

“Very well, then. Enjoy what remains of your precious freedom, little one.”

A portal of shimmering light appeared before the dark lord. He stepped through it, vanishing from sight. Shivering, Serena looked once more at the hourglass. Her time was running out with the sands. She had to continue the journey.

Serena was on the move once again. If she had ever held any hope in the depth of her heart, it was utterly gone now. How pliable would a year, or ten, or ten thousand in the sea leave her? Satan was right; in the end, she would probably do anything to be free of just a portion of the pain she would soon experience. How long would her ethical and moral fiber last? She feared that she would inevitably learn the answer.

F
OR over an hour, the journey through the boulder-strewn valley was uneventful. No large birds of prey, no cries of pain, and no sign of a living thing met Serena’s senses. Yet things around her were changing nonetheless. The rocks and boulders had taken on a darker more porous nature, and the odor of sulfur had become perceptibly stronger. Here and there, traces of yellow elemental sulfur could be seen adhering to the dark rocks.

Serena claimed no expertise in geology, but it seemed all too obvious that she was approaching a volcanically active region. She thought back to her panoramic view from the lofty mountaintop. She had attempted to put what she had seen there to memory. There had been signs of smoke, perhaps some sort of volcanic venting in this area. It might well extend all the way to the sea of fire. It was, no doubt, a dangerous region to travel.