novel

Plummeted through the abyss, my soul seemed to flatten through the sheer force of my fall.  Then blackness, as I came to a direct halt, enveloped my essence.  I came to and looked around at my surroundings.  There were high, jagged peaks with smoke and lava propelling towards the sky.  The sky was not really a sky, but more of a canopy.  This canopy had rifts in it of red, purple, and blue shooting in all directions.  But the overall color of it was black.  Oh!  But the smell was rank.  I never smelled anything like it.  I suppose it could have been the smell of decaying flesh or the smell of plastic burning...or maybe a combination of the two.  And the ground was made up of slowly shifting plates of black granite that showed instances of magma underneath.  I figured that I’d better be careful as not to fall into one of these gaps.
         I spied around in a circle to try to get a bearing on things.  There was nothing but this bleak scenery, and the light was really low.  I figured that the rifts in the sky and the lava were the only sources of light that emanated here.  Then, I saw something.  There were some figures in the distance slowly dredging their way towards a cliff.  I couldn’t make out who or what they were for they were cast in dark shadows.  But the one figure in the front was two times bulkier than the others trailing behind.  I wanted to see who these figures were, maybe find out why I’m here.  I had to move across the shifting plates to get to them.
         So, I slowly stepped onto a plate and it moved towards my foot.  I shot my appendage back to where I was standing, aghast.  The plate started to move away, and when I placed my foot back onto it, it started to move back.  The plate seemed to know that I needed to walk on it.  And when I was securely on this plate, another moved and connected to this plate forming a path towards my desired goal of catching up with the shadowy entourage.  After getting a foothold on this plate, still another connected to form even more of a path.  I then looked back, and the former plate was moving away, I couldn’t go back it seemed.
         Slowly, then faster as I built up my courage to walk, the plates connected.  I was gaining ground on the group and eventually started running according to my hastiness.  I was almost upon them when they became clear to me through the smoke drifting around...and I stopped dead.  Then, the leader of the party turned in my direction as if alarmed, its eyes almost bursting out of their sockets.  It started to sniff the air as if it was a wild animal...but this thing was worse.  A low growling voice emerged from its maw, “Hold!”  The procession stopped without a sound, listening.  I stopped breathing in shock.
         To my horror, what turned towards me was not from my world.  It had a hunched back on an incredibly muscular body, with long dragging arms that ended in two inch talons.  It’s face was a contortion of rage, or looked like rage.  It’s eyes were huge and bulging, a nose that looked as though a baseball bat had been taken to it, lips of black that swelled in some places, saliva of purplish color oozed from these lips, and it’s bald cranium ended into a toe-head of a sorts...but no ears were seen.  Its overall color was that of dried blood with a lighter red painted on its undersides.
         But, what then took my attention was the three foot long, soft penis that it had protruding between its legs.  There was no sign of testicles, just a prick that would cripple a person if used on such an unfortunate victim.  Then, my eyes followed this form down its long spiked tail.  And trailing behind this monster was a procession of little monsters with something agonizingly tied (to the point of the flesh actually bursting open) to a stake, jerking to break free of its bonds.  But not a sound was coming from the prisoner, even though its mouth was flapping like a neglected four year old.
         A follower then bashed the prisoner’s face and it’s jaw fell off.  Another follower quickly picked up the jawbone and sucked the juice off of it.  “Order!” bellowed the leader.  The underlings then crouched down and put their heads between their legs, dropping the prisoner.  The prisoner tried to drag itself away as best it could, until the leader stamped it’s foot upon it, obviously crushing its back.  The prisoner stopped moving.  A cloud of purplish gas escaped its torn maw.  “Hellfire!” said the leader, and flame spewed out from the morbid company of jailers in all directions.  I covered my face with my hands and fell to the ground.  It felt as though my skin had been flayed off, then I recovered.  I looked at my body and there wasn’t a mark on it.  I then turned my gaze back on the procession.  The creature looked around defiantly on guard.  Then it relaxed and took a last look around before returning its attention to the other figures.
         “Stay that lump somewhere, we have to report to my master.  Fly, you fops!”  The littler demons jumped up and hauled the limp prisoner onto their combined backs and scurried towards the cliff, swaying under the weight.  The hulking figure followed behind them.  I hurried to keep up with their pace, all the while, the leader was looking uneasily behind him over his shoulder.  But, his bulbous eyes never once met with my gaze.  I was puzzled.  Then, upon reaching the cliff edge, they jumped.
         I ran up to the edge to see what had happened.  Below, barely visible through the mists, I could see the procession walk towards a hole and then were swallowed up.  I felt curiosity shake me to the core.  I yearned to follow, but how...but how?  I jumped into the chasm with my eyes closed, and opened them to find myself crouching on the ground as if I had caught myself.  I figured that I was dreaming since the fire couldn’t touch me, and the demon couldn’t see me.  And I was right.  I landed on all fours just like the procession probably did.
         After scurrying to the hole they descended, I found a ladder that trailed off into darkness below.  I thought, “What the hell? “  and climbed down the rungs.  The ladder went on for miles it seemed, and I was about to turn back when my foot touched solid ground...but it was squishy.  I looked down with repugnance to find the arm of the prisoner.  It was smashed to a bloody, oozy mass as if it had been crushed underfoot by an army.  But, I figured that it fell off when the procession descended the miles of rungs to get here, then was trampled on by the demons.  They were a bulky lot.
Just then, a flash came out from the corner of my eye to stop at my feet.  I looked down and saw a little hairless thing with glowing eyes pull the arm off a little slower than when it came.  The creature was jabbering as if it was happy about something, then was gone.  My nerves were a little shaken at this moment.  Then I heard a booming bass sound coming from off in the distance.
         I ran my hands along the wet, rough cave wall.  It wasn’t a usual wet, though.  It felt oily.  Anyway, I proceeded down the cave corridor.  Then, I started to see more light in the distance.  The corridor opened up into a huge cavern, stalagmites and all.  And when the initial mist cleared, a gathering could be seen.  A gathering of evil it was.  There were human like shapes of ghastly appearance milling around larger shapes that seemed to be demons.  The demons would sometimes kick away a human shape with disgust, then turn their attention back on the center of attention.  It was Satan...I could sense it.
         He was huge with a body of a human, but with foot long brown hair coming out from all sides, even his palms.  His head was the darkest purple I had ever seen, and looked as if it was made out of an insect’s exoskeleton.  Malicious eyes blazed green out of his horned bald head.  His feet were hoofed and resting on two struggling demons that were chained to the ground.  And he sat in a throne that looked like it was made up of a knot of little demons all struggling to keep their shape together.  They were fastened together by anyway they could:  hands, feet, arms, legs, maws.  But, their holds would rip out from the body part they were holding, and they would struggle to find another hold.  So, the effect was of a rippling, bubbling writhing that barely shook Beelzebub.  I could imagine that he was receiving a massage from this activity.  Then, I saw the procession slowly make its way to the throne.
         Upon arrival, the lump of flesh that was the prisoner was thrown at Satan’s feet by the lead demon of this procession.  Then, the demons, even the leader groveled at Satan’s hooves.  He smiled for a second, but this was replaced with anger.  The demons were kicked back by some unseen force to hand on their backs, their fronts smoking from the energy released upon them.  Only the leader stirred and painfully crouched into a submissive posture.  The others were now only lifeless husks.  “What did I command you to do, Belphegor?”  It was a booming bass voice that evinced power.  Belphegor cringed.  “Answer!”
         “Master, I was to uncover the traitor and bring his body to you.”
         “You were to bring his living body to me!”
         “I was...until I detected a presence not of our aura--”
         “What presence!?”  Satan leaned closer towards Belphegor, his eyes widening.
         “I couldn’t ascertain my lord.”
         Satan then grabbed the demon by its neck and squeezed.  Ooze flew out of his victim’s mouth covering his hand.  “You are my discoverer, you discover things for me.  But you couldn’t discover what aura was intruding in my domain?”
         “Master, I-I only--”  With this, Satan snapped Belphegor’s neck and discarded his carcass to the right side of his throne...obviously saving the body for something.  He then licked the ooze off his hand delicately.
         “Belial!  Come forward!”  Out of the crowd of demons stood a demon almost as big in stature as Satan.  Belial stood tall and proud until he prostrated himself before Satan.  His eyes never left the form of the Prince of Darkness, though.
         “I bow to your supremacy, lord.”
         “And I see that you are still proud, eh?  Arise.”  Belial stood then.  He was almost as dark as Satan, with bright red color on his underbelly.  He had on a sword and a shield strapped to his back.  His glowing red eyes reminded me of stoplights on high beams.  “Is readiness achieved, general?”
         “The pieces are almost in place, my lord.”  He then went down on one knee, prostrated.
         Satan then flung his head back and let out a blood curdling roar.  The assembly fell back in pain.  “I tire of this waiting.  I tire of my imprisonment....  Soon, soon I will take my revenge!”  He then grabs the body of the prisoner from before at his feet.  “Live!”  The mass starts to life and squirms to get away to no avail.  Satan holds it over his head.  “Traitors to my domain will be punished.  Let all who see...take heed.”  The prisoner shakes rapidly and then dissolves into a puddle at Satan’s feet and oozes between the cracks.  Then, he takes up the body of Belphegor.  “Live!”  Belphegor comes to life and grabs his head as if in immense pain, shaking all over.  He lets out a low groan of anguish.
         “Please, master.  I beg of you--”
         “Silence!  Uncover the rest of the traitors who want to frolic in Heaven...then return them to me...alive.  If you fail, pain will be the least of your worries.”  Belphegor was then flung into the rabble and beaten by the crowd until he managed to crawl out and away from his tormentors.  He then dragged his frame past me and back into the corridor.  He was whining to himself pitifully as he left.
         Satan then rose from his throne and proclaimed, “Loyalty is a delicacy served cold.  Whoever breaks it...dies in hellfire!”  The rabble bursted into a cacophony of shrieks and obscene dancing at this.  Satan looked pleased and surveyed the cavern.  Until his gaze stopped dead on me, we were eye to eye it felt like.  A deep freeze stole over my essence then and I reeled back from the power.  I felt extreme pain...like my heart froze over.  Then blackness enveloped me, and I awoke in my bed pouring with sweat.

         “Shit!  You’re asfixiated with the dark side aren’t you!”  Fanny was smiling, but she said this quote too many times in the past for me to just let it go.  Sometimes when people act like they’re joking, they’re really being serious.
         “Fuck that!  It was just a dream.  I can’t control my dreams, can I?”  I waited for her response, and she eventually gave it to me after a moment of thought.
         “Now you know what I told you about dreams.”  I shook my head “no” as she grabbed my hands lovingly.  “You just don’t listen, do you?”  I grimaced at this.  “Dreams can be controlled.  All you have to do is realize that it’s just a dream, then snap yourself out of it through sheer will.  You probably went exploring, didn’t you?”
         I retorted, “I refuse to answer on the grounds that it could incriminate me.” 
         Fanny then sat back and looked at me.  “Damn those sexy Cherokee eyes!  I couldn’t resist you anything...if you just asked.”
         I laughed and said, “I’m part Irish, too.  Doesn’t that count for anything?”
         “Yes.  Counting all of those whiskey bottles...you drunk.”  She looked so cute when she was trying to be funny.  I had to give her a hug, and she hugged back.
         “Indians and Irishmen always had trouble with the booze, huh?  I’m doubly cursed...or blessed.”
         Fanny seemed puzzled over this statement and asked, “Blessed?  How?”
         I leaned back and rolled my head around as if in a trance and said, “With all of the evil in this world, it’s no wonder that I’d want to escape into a blackout.  If I had a choice, I’d sleep till the Day of Judgment, and then be received into the host of Heaven.  Hell, this world is turning into another Sodom and Gomorra.  Pretty soon, it will be legal to have sex in public, or do drugs in public, or kill in public--”
         “You’re the silliest, David Wilnot.”
         “But is that a bad thing?”
         She smirked at this and replied, “Not yet.”  I sobered at this and frowned.  “Just kidding.  Do I have to laugh after every joke so you’ll know when I’m kidding?”
         “It would help.”  She then grabbed me and had her way with me.  I won’t discuss the details since it was of a private nature.  But, her beautiful blue eyes beckoned me, as well as her generous, curved figure.  And I couldn’t resist touching her dark tight curls.  I loved her, and showed it.  So what if she couldn’t say the same to me.  I figured as long as she loved me the best she could, that was enough.  Besides, who could have resisted my pumped up muscles and handsome face.  Oh!  I’m not allowed to exaggerate at times?
         Anyway, after she left my spare apartment and promised to call, I laid down on the couch and stretched out smiling. After a few minutes, I felt a chill go down my spine.  I looked around, but there weren’t any windows open.  Could I of had ghosts?  I’d have to had seen a ghost to believed it.  I needed proof on everything before I was duped into believing it.  So, I went to the bedroom, which was across the room, and bundled up under my covers to watch Comedy Central on cable.  Soon, my paranoid mind was placated and I drifted off to sleep.
         I awoke with a fright.  Satan had visited me this time.  He was in my very room towering over me.  I felt utter fear take over my body, so I made myself wake up.  The dream seemed so real...I could smell brimstone, I thought.  He told me that he knew who I was, that I wouldn’t succeed.  Succeed at what?  I’m a lowly factory worker living in a beat up apartment.  I just wanted to survive.  I had no goals.  Maybe he meant that I wouldn’t go to Heaven since I was always giving in to temptation.
         Maybe my mind was telling me to straighten up, and to quit abusing my body.  I had said many times in the past that I was going to quit, but would give in if some vice was convenient.  I had no willpower...except to get out of that dream.  Maybe I had to try harder for my own sake.  I had to look out for number one, right?     

         The factory buzzed and whirled oblivious to my attention.  I was thinking of Fanny.  I couldn’t wait to see her tonight.  Then a hand grabbed mine and pulled me away from my machine.  It was Larry, the foreman.  He seemed a little irate and was shaking a little.  “Goddamn it, Wilnot!  Pay attention to your work!  Do you want to end up like Sanchez?  He only has three fingers on his left hand now.  And I’ll be damned if I have to hire another temp to replace some goofy daydreaming bastard who wants workman’s comp.  It’s your machine.  Act like you know how to use it.”  He then stormed off, leaving me looking helpless to my fellow workers. 
         Joe then piped in, “If you don’t watch it...you might not be so pretty tomorrow.  He he.”  Joe was a funny guy...not really.  He just thought that he was funny.  He really was a no good piece of shit who brown-nosed to try to get a promotion.  But I think that the management knew what he was up to.  I was a real worker who filled quotas... unlike Joe.  I guess Joe thought that the management was blind to his laxity.  I knew the rest of the workers knew about him.  He was always sitting by himself at lunch, mumbling to himself.  A weird one, he was.
         And when I went to lunch that day, he was in the same place, doing the same things...mumbling.  I then turned my attention to the TV playing on the cafeteria wall.  The news was on and the issue of the computers shutting down in the year 2000 was being addressed by the newsman.  A dark brown haired, straight-teethed, middle aged gentleman said, “The experts are working industriously to make sure our way of living will be maintained.  But, if the computers go off-line, the records of the world will be lost...unless some soluble answer can be found.  But, we do have two years to get prepared.  I’m Greg Marshall and this was the news.”  A commercial came on and my interest was drawn away by a commotion behind me.
         Two men were grappling, tumbling, punching, and kicking each other with a crowd of spectators providing a ring for their activity.  And I recognized one of them to be a friend of mine named Bob.  The other was Joe, and he was getting his in as well as taking it.  I would never had figured that Joe was capable of defending himself, but he was.  They were rolling when Bob managed to get on top and constrict Joe’s motion with a collegiate wrestling hold.  Bob somehow got Joe’s arms behind his back and was holding both of these arms with only one of his own.  I’d accredit this to Bob’s superior strength.  Then, when Bob saw that Joe couldn’t move, he started to punch Joe dead in the forehead and ear.  It was a pitiful sight at this time.  After a couple of jabs to the head, Joe’s eyebrow was cut wide open.  Blood started pouring from Joe’s head, but Bob kept on whacking him.  About seven punches landed when my supervisor stepped in.
         Larry was not a little man himself.  He went up and pulled Bob off of Joe like he was a nine year old, Bob still trying to kick Joe as he was being pulled off.  But, when Bob saw who was pulling him off, he relaxed.  “Get over there and cool off, ya freak!”  Then, he shoved Bob towards a table and Bob sat down glaring at Joe’s huddled carcass.  Joe wasn’t moving.  His blood was gathering a pool around his head.  The crowd became hushed when they saw the aftermath of the fight.
         Paramedics were called, and Joe was fitted for a neckbrace and strapped onto a stretcher, unconscious.  “I want to see you in my office, Bob, now.”  Larry didn’t look happy at all.  So, Bob slowly rose and walked out of the cafeteria, his eyes still bulged from the adrenaline.  Then, after glaring at everybody in the cafeteria, Larry walked out. 
         “What the hell happened?” I said to someone still gawking at the blood on the floor.  I then had to nudge him to get his attention.
         “I ain’t never seen that much blood in my life.  It looks like a Goddamn horror movie.”  He had a slight smile on his lips at this point.
         I said louder and slower, “What the hell happened to start the fight?”
         “Shit.  You should of seen Joe.  Bob came up behind him and flicked his ear hard.  Joe just freaked out then.  Before Bob knew what was up, Joe had punched him in the jaw, and tried to grab him in a headlock.  It didn’t work, though.”  This guy was excited, and kept rambling on.  “They rassled  for a bit before Bob could get his bearings, then Bob put him out of his misery.  Wham, wham, wham--”
         “I saw that part.  Who would had known Joe wouldn’t take no shit, eh?”
         “Sure not me.  I always seen Joe as a pussy...you know, if he was in prison, he’d be somebody’s bitch I’d guess.  But, he ain’t no pussy, huh?  Bob’s a good forty pounds heavier than Joe--”
         I had to interupt at this point, or he would had went on forever.  “And he’s about a foot taller, yeh, yeh, yeh.”  I turned away and walked towards the door.  I heard a whispered “dickhead” over my shoulder, but I didn’t care.  I just kept walking.  That guy Phil that I just turned away from wasn’t worth my attention anyway.  Then, a janitor came through the door right before I reached it.  He had a not too glad expression on his face, wearing rubber gloves, and had a bucket with a mop in it.  I was glad that I didn’t have a job like his.  But my job was pretty lame, too.  I was a factory worker with no goals...except to pay the bills.

         I saw Bob after work that day.  He stopped by my crib to pick up some smoke.  I know, it was bad to do something like that.  But, I was addicted to weed, and I wasn’t going to pay for it.  What kind of smoke is the best smoke?  Free smoke--  Anyway, I razzed Bob a little about the fight.  “Damn, Joe almost took your ass, man!  I thought he was going to end you for a second there.”
         “You sure are a funny motherfucker, you know that?  He’s lucky Larry was there, or I would have had to hurt the punk.”  Bob’s face grew angry at my remark, and his face turned red.  What with his expression and the knappy fly away hair he had, I couldn’t help but giggle.  “You gonna sell some weed or not?  I got things to do...responsibilities.”
         “I was just fuckin’ with ya.  The pool of blood was enough proof for me.  You’re a bad motherfucker.”  I tried not to smile and be dramatic, but it didn’t work.  Bob saw my struggle and gave me a jab in the ribs playfully.
         “Watch it or you might get the dum dums like Joe.”  He feigned two punches at me and said according to the punch, “Dum, dum.”  I put up my arms to deflect the punches, laughing.
         “Hold up, Ali.  I’m a good little boy.  I not hurt nobody.”
         “Just hand over the weed, will ya?  I’m tired of playing with ya.”
         I held my hand to my ear as if listening and said, “I think I hear your momma calling, or...no...it’s your ball and chain I hear rattling.  Ha ha ha....”
         Bob retorted, “It’s better than being alone, ain’t it?”  He had a grin on his face of satisfaction.
         “I’m not alone.  What do you think Fanny is.  She likes me, and hugs me, and kisses--”
         “And she’s married.”  He had a smug look on his face that I wanted to wipe off.  He always managed to get right back at me when he wanted.  “