Heaven and Hell (17 page)

She pondered the possibility of hiding out, trying to evade satan and his minions. There were so many souls here; despite satan’s boasts, he and his legions couldn’t possibly watch everyone all the time. She recalled the haste with which the demons had restrained poor Karen to the altar. They had been eager to depart. Had they said something about being in a hurry to move on to others, about not having the time to mess around with her too long? She wasn’t sure. From what Serena had seen, they kept most of their human victims restrained by one means or another. Perhaps it was to keep them from resisting their tormentors, but perhaps it was something else. Perhaps it was to keep them in one place and accounted for.

There had been no demons watching over the valley of altars, at least Serena hadn’t noticed any. Perhaps she should have paid closer attention. They probably weren’t needed. After all, the victims of the altars weren’t going anywhere, were they? But maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe satan couldn’t spare the manpower, or in this case, the demonpower, to patrol it. Sure, there had been quite a hoard of demons at the cliff of falling souls, but perhaps that was an exception.

It seemed like a slim hope, but volcanic areas often held caves, lava tubes, that ran for miles underground. Perhaps she could find a place and hide out there. Perhaps satan would get sloppy, assume that Serena had leapt into the sea of fire and turn his attention elsewhere. Sure, spending a good part of eternity in a dark musty cave would be no picnic, but it would be better than spending eternity in the sea of fire.

Then again, satan had found her once, hadn’t he? He’d spent quite a bit of time showing her around. He had a special interest in her, of that much she was certain. In fact, he might be observing her at this very moment. Would he eventually lose interest in her? Probably, but by then she would be in the sea of fire. The devil would have her exactly where he wanted her, in a place from which there was no escape.

In the midst of her contemplation, Serena walked into an open area, free of large boulders. It was a bowl-shaped expanse of sand and small rocks, perhaps 100 feet wide, and at its center was a roughly circular pool of crystal clear liquid. Water? Oh, could she be so fortunate? Her ordeal of the past hours had taken her mind off her thirst, but it was there nevertheless. She cautiously ventured toward the pool, being vigilant of her surroundings, yet no dangers met her eyes.

She knelt down by the pool’s edge and slowly extended her hand into the liquid. Was it really water? Perhaps. The area around the pool had that special odor and feeling of moisture. Her hand penetrated the surface. It was warm but offered no burning sensation. She withdrew her hand and rubbed her fingers together. The liquid wasn’t slimy. She touched it to her tongue; it didn’t burn. She took a deep breath and cupped her hand to take a sip. The water had a slight taste of sulfur, but it wasn’t bad, after the long walk it was wonderful. She drank handful after handful until she had her fill. She had convinced herself that she would never again savor the wonderful taste of this nectar of life.

She undid her sandals and waded barefoot into the pool. It was a fantastic feeling. At the pool’s center, was a narrow tunnel that led into the depths. It confirmed Serena’s cave hypothesis. Too bad this one was underwater. She sat down on the sand in the knee-deep water, allowing the refreshing liquid to wash over her. It was like a warm bath. Perhaps she would manage to clean the putrid rags that clothed her.

Almost as an afterthought, she noticed that a froth of small bubbles was rising from the small dark cave at the bottom of the pool. “A hot spring,” she said while splashing herself with warm water. “I could open a resort here—a five star hotel, the best accommodations. The marketing brochure would read: Serena’s Hot Spring. Get away from the cold winters, right here in the heart of Hell. That has a nice ring to it. But, the trouble is—everyone here is shackled or otherwise restrained, and the demons are too busy tormenting them to take a vacation. Too bad.”

It was several minutes before Serena again glanced over at the bubbles rising from the cave below the pool. There were more of them now, and they were bigger. The water was becoming warmer, and that warmth was coming from the cave. She rose to her feet to take a better look. The water above the cave was becoming frothy with effervescence. Serena sensed danger and backed away. She reached the shoreline, and was in the process of putting on her sandals when the real eruption began. Water burst from the depths, spouting a dozen feet in the air for the better part of a minute. Serena stepped back as the pool grew to nearly twice its volume. Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the eruption ceased, and an uneasy calm returned to the now steamy pool.

Serena cautiously dipped her hand into the now turbid water, to discover that it was indeed very hot, much hotter than before. Had she not escaped the pool when she did, she might well have been severely scalded.

She figured that, like the geysers of Yellowstone, this one probably erupted on a regular schedule. Another useless scientific observation to the credit of the explorer who would never return to the world of the living to recap the wonders and horrors she had beheld in this strange world.

Serena left the misty pool behind, continuing her trek down the dismal valley. Here the terrain seemed less rugged. There were fewer large boulders, so she made better time, and she had a more unobstructed view of any dangers ahead of her. In the distance, she saw vast clouds of vapor rising from the valley floor, probably steam from other geysers. A large portion of the valley floor seemed to abruptly drop off as if a section of the valley had collapsed. As Serena drew closer she could hear the now all too familiar sounds of a multitude of tormented waling souls.

“What now?” she said, walking cautiously toward the source of the commotion.

Before her was a great pit. It was several miles in diameter, and perhaps 50 feet deep, surrounded on all sides by shimmering, slimy, nearly vertical walls of rock and mud. The bottom of the pit was covered with a roiling, turbulent lake of brown mud, whose heat and stench was so great that Serena was overwhelmed, even from where she stood. It was like a mammoth cesspool. Within this horrible pit was a great multitude of men and women, reeling, swimming, and splashing about, their flesh as red as fire. The scene reminded Serena of lobsters boiling in a pot. Serena had always hated that because it seemed so cruel; but to see it happening to human beings was unimaginable.

As Serena watched, she noticed that some regions of the pit were deeper than others, for the victims in those regions were compelled to swim through the viscous boiling mire; while in other places, the mud was scarcely ankle deep. Realizing this, the great throng of rag-clad humans struggled to reach the shallows, battling each other savagely, striving to occupy the most prime locations of the great pit. It was a constant struggle for those fortunate few to maintain their stations of least agony, for always there were those within the surging crowd who sought to take it from them.

Still others clawed at the sides of the pit with bloody, lacerated fingers, searching for any handhold that might allow them, if not to escape the pit, to at least pull them up and out of the boiling mire. All were futile attempts. Though some managed to climb some distance above the roiling filth, the slopes were too steep and slippery. Inevitably they too were pulled back into the foul cauldron by others seeking escape. And so it continued—an eternity of struggling and pain.

Even as Serena watched, a dark figure swooped out of the sky. In his arms he held a squirming, screaming man. He descended over the great pit like a mighty bird of prey, then cast the poor soul into the boiling lake of squalor below. With his burden shed, the dark figure soared into the misty sky and out of sight.

“Do you wish to know what their sin was?”

Serena turned abruptly to see an angelic being, very handsome, robed totally in black. His deep blue eyes looked into Serena’s with such intensity. His dark wings were folded tightly to his back. Were it not for the darkness of his apparel and the circumstances of their meeting, Serena might have mistaken him for one of the angels who allied themselves with God, the Creator.

A look of concern appeared on his face. “I hope that I have not startled you, for that was not my intent.”

He had startled her, quite thoroughly, but Serena was not about to admit to it. “It’s OK,” she said, quickly regaining her composure.

“Lord satan has commanded that you be treated as an honored guest until such time as the sand within your hourglass runs its course.” The dark angel motioned to the great pit. “This is a place for those who took advantage of the less fortunate, the poor, the downtrodden. It is a realm of those unethical individuals who advanced themselves at the cost of others, who forgot kindness and mercy, and thought only of their own gain. Now and forever, they struggle to escape the boiling foulness that is the scourge of their world. They pull, push, claw, shove, and strike one another in an attempt to escape the scalding caustic slime, if only for a moment. Sadly, all of their victories are temporary…and in the end, meaningless.”

“Ghastly,” gasped Serena.

“But so was the way in which they lived their lives,” retorted the dark angel. “Cruel were their methods and cruel are their rewards. You humans like to think in such complex terms; but in the end, it is just that simple.”

“But the tortures here are so extreme,” objected Serena. “I mean, these people committed these sins for, what, 60 or 70 years? But you torture them for eternity. How is that fair?”

“It is the nature of things,” explained the dark angel. “Your few years on Earth are the most important ones of your eternity. They determine your path forever, your destiny.” The dark angel motioned to the right. Here the great pit seemed to meet the high cliff wall that formed the edge of the valley.

“That is the best route around the pit. Stay to that side of the valley, the south side, on your way to the sea of fire, it is the safest way.”

Serena nodded. “Thank you.”

The dark angel smiled a devious smile as he bowed before the young woman in a mendacious courtesy. Then he turned, spread his dark wings, and leapt into the sky. His great wings created a virtual whirlwind as he climbed swiftly away. Serena was knocked to the ground by the blast. For a moment she feared that the blast might actually cast her into the terrible pit behind her, yet the powerful gale was short-lived. She turned to see the demonic form decrease in size as it climbed into the mists. She suspected that the entire incident was not a careless oversight, but a very deliberate act.

Serena continued on her journey. Making certain to leave a safe distance between her and the edge of the pit, she was forced to take a significant detour. Occasionally she glanced into the huge stinking caldera to see the eternal struggling within. What a terrible fate—perhaps worse than the black altars. The constant cries depressed her, reminding her of where she was and her eternal future.

The great chasm spanned the entire width of the valley, leaving only about 20 yards of level terrain between the yawning precipice of the pit and towering mountain cliffs at the narrowest point. It was well over an hour before she finally left the terrible chasm behind.

Before her was a great field of mighty geysers that were scattered across the entire width of the valley. Towering plumes of water thundered up from a valley floor encrusted with salts of white and yellow. This place made Yellowstone pale by comparison. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of geysers.

At any given time several of them roared with activity, thrusting water high above the steamy plain. Some took the form of narrow pillars of vapor and liquid, while others threw a wide fan of water across the barren landscape. There were plumes that possessed a trace of blue, green, or brown, bearing witness to the presence of local minerals. One geyser would erupt, then another, some distance away. There seemed to be no discernable pattern to the eruptions.

Traveling through this geothermal field might be a trick akin to traversing an earthly minefield. If Serena was near one of the vents when a geyser erupted, thousands of gallons of boiling hot water would engulf her. The receding flood might even sweep her into the vent as the eruption subsided and the geyser reclaimed its boiling hoard. It was a frightening prospect, but there seemed little choice; she was off.

She moved quickly, keeping a close eye on her surroundings. She had never been to Yellowstone and wondered if there was any warning before a geyser blew its top. She might just find out the hard way.

The ground shook frequently as she continued, and the air was full of the rumble of water and steam thundering up from the depths. Here and there, she spotted dark forms in the sky, flying in apparently random patterns above the valley floor. Occasionally they seemed to dive at the ground and then pull up before hitting the surface. At first she figured them to be large birds, like the ones she had seen around the black altars, but as one flew almost directly overhead, she realized that they were large-winged demons. What were they up to? She couldn’t say; but whatever it was, it consumed their interest. Serena disregarded the demons, focusing her full concentration on the path ahead of her.

During the next half-hour, Serena’s route did not carry her particularly close to any of the geysers, for which she was most grateful. The most active region of the field seemed to be along the far side of the valley. That was fine by her. She preferred to view these geothermal wonders from a respectable distance. Perhaps that was why the demon she had encountered at the edge of the pit had steered her in this direction, out of concern. Sure it was; these demons were deeply concerned for the humans under their charge. It was all the more reason to be suspicious of their advice.