hell

Part VI: The final entry.

Fifth Chapter

Mike’s face swam into my tired vision. “You OK, man?” he asked me, his voice echoing through my ringing ears. I tried to respond but all that came out was an exhausted groan. “Dude, you look hideous,” he said again, as if assessing my situation would make me able to talk. As if I didn’t already know. Yet again, I groaned in response.

“You think he’ll be alright?” Mike asked someone I couldn’t quite see.

“Eventually,” said Sopenix’ low growl.

“Does he know what we’re saying?” Mike asked Sopenix.

“Yes,” Sopenix replied. “I can tell by his eyes.”

Part IV

Third Chapter

After lunch I had a few minutes to look over where I would be sleeping. It was, of course, another painful reminder that I was in Hell. The room was about fifty feet across and extended out of sight. Each wall was lined with bunk beds that were only spaced a couple feet apart. Another depressing detail was that there were no mattresses on the bed boards and the pillows were blocks of wood. I also noted that there were doors spaced every few hundred feet down the dorm. I groaned. I’d never sleep at all in conditions like this.

Second Chapter

The door from Sopenix’ office opened to a long hallway with glass walls. On either side of me were small, hewn stone chambers. Each chamber had a person and a demon in it, and each chamber seemed to exhibit a different method of torture. One chamber had a man who was completely sheathed in flames writhing on the floor. Another room was so full of what appeared to be killer bees that it was hard to tell what else was going onside. Yet another chamber exhibited a man being lashed with a whip of chain links, and heated to the point that it glowed orange.

I was horrified. People were being raped, beaten and tortured in ways I had never imagined before my eyes by demons that seemed to be enjoying themselves and all I could do is stand and watch. I broke into a run.

Part II. I warn you that from there on out there is some graphic violence.

First Chapter

I slowly opened my eyes. Well, actually, one eye, my right eye wouldn’t open. The first thing I noticed was that it was very, very warm. Warm to the point that sweat poured from your skin so fast that your body ran out of fluid to put out in mere seconds. Then I looked around to get a sense of my surroundings. I seemed to be a waiting room of sorts. Dozens of other people sat around me in comfortable red chairs. I also sat a similar chair. There was single door with no handle down the room to my left, and to my right was small desk. Behind the desk sat a woman who was clearly bent over some paperwork so I all I could make out was hair the color of steel that was pulled up into a bun. What kind of place was this? I thought I was dead. Maybe I am. No I’m not dead. There’s no such thing as Hell or Heaven. They’re just figment of weak peoples’ imagination. I was going to find out what was going on.

I wrote this story a bit over a year ago, and it is one of my favorites. It's the longest piece I've ever completed. There are five chapters, a prologue and a short epilogue. I have now posted the entire story. (GG added: To reach each of the parts in order, open the story and click on the links on the bottom right of each piece.)

Prologue

I woke up to my alarm clock screaming at me. I knocked it off the small table next to my bed, which did little to shut it up. I slowly sat up, grabbed the clock off the floor and punched the “snooze” button. I stood up, brushed my brown hair out of my eyes and stumbled down the hall to the shower.