Gates Ferry

Hell (Chapters 7-11)

Chapter 7- Money Cannot Buy an Exit


    As Ryan looked around him the sight he viewed made his stomach churn and his throat tighten. He wanted to vomit, but was so cold that he could not muster up the strength to do much of anything except process the disgusting and nightmarish sight that engulfed him. Ahead of him stretched rivers of what seemed to be filled with boiling blood carrying bodies of thousands, all naked and screaming violently. A giant bridge lied ahead of him, a bridge that seemed to be made completely out of thorns and barbed wire. Fire shot up through the cracks from time to time, and thousands of naked, hopeless bodies marched across. From above Ryan made out what seemed to be body after body falling out of a giant bleeding orifice, all landing in contorted positions close by. Ryan was finally able to stand, having trouble getting up from the hard impact on the cold, dead surface. The ground around him began to vomit, and smelled worse than anything Ryan had ever encountered. This motivated Ryan to move away from where he had fallen, and he began to travel towards the bridge, hoping that this led towards an exit. As Ryan approached the bridge, he saw two giant figures lashing the individuals who passed through. Their whips seemed to be made out of giant two pronged tongues covered in what looked like nails or barbs. These whips ripped the clothing off of the people who would pass, and taking some skin off occasionally as well. Ryan was terrified, and stood frozen. He knew that he had no other option but to move forward, and with that he began to try and slip into the crowd of countless souls who had fallen from the dark curtain of a sky. Ryan tried to pass through without being seen, but to his misfortune and flashy new garments, he was noticed immediately. One of the demons opened his mouth, blowing a foul breath of odor in Ryan’s direction, knocking all of the bodies surrounding him into the river. The demon grabbed Ryan by the waste and held him above the ground, scanning him from head to toe. The demon began to laugh in a high pitched ear piercing tone, and cast Ryan back to the ground. The imp wound back with his giant whip dipping it into the puss filled river, and struck Ryan violently ripping his clothes off, leaving him only in a very tattered pair of undergarments and a pair of shoes which held his mobile phone. The demon then grabbed Ryan and tossed him onto the middle of the bridge, right on top of a twisted bed of tangled thorns. Ryan let out a scream, and then began to cry like an infant. He wept until the demons both turned, letting out terrifying screams that began to burn Ryan’s skin. He tried to roll out of the thorns, but it ripped his skin as he pulled. Finally, Ryan pulled hard enough and pried himself from the unnatural foe.  He limped upwards and began to cautiously tread towards the other side of the bridge. As Ryan entered the other side, he noticed what seemed to be large unordinary ships that were ported on the nauseating river. The souls of thousands were filing onto these ships, once again managed by large, daunting fiends. Ryan hesitated to enter, but the crowds of tattered bodied coming from behind him forced him towards the ships, and he had no other choice but to enter one of the terrifying vessels. As Ryan funneled a large ship, he immediately tried to find a place to hide in order to formulate some sort of escape plan. He made his way through the compacted bodies and found a small cabin in the rear of the deck. He slipped in and closed the door behind him, and fumbled around to find his cell phone lodged inside of his shoe. As he reached down he noticed it began to ring furiously, and he answered it as quickly as he could before anyone could hear. Ric appeared on the screen once again, and quickly explained to him that he was crossing the River Styx, which transported all hell sent individuals to the place of their demise. He was as comforting as he could be, and let Ryan know that as long as he kept his head up he would make it through alive, and not to give up hope. The phone shut off and immediately there were loud bangs at the door. Ryan tried to hide, but there was nothing that could physically conceal him. Unaware at the moment, Ryan was inside of the captain’s cabin, and the door furiously burst open hitting Ryan in the face busting his mouth open. Appearing before Ryan was a Malacoda demon. The ghastly creature had a tail that curled around his legs and stomach and wings that were so large he couldn’t see where they ended. The creature began to pummel Ryan unmercifully until Ryan was lying in a pile of his own blood face down. The Malacoda then tossed Ryan out of the cabin causing Ryan to crash into a large pile of hopeless corpses. They moaned and began to grab Ryan all over his body. Ryan, bloodied and beaten, managed to bat away the mindless flesh and limped to a corner of the ship. As Ryan curled up by himself he began to weep hysterically, and for the first time in his life he missed the people whom he had treated so poorly, the people who were there for him even though he had no intention of ever being there for them. He thought about his mother, and how even though he abused her mentally and physically, she still loved him and treated him like he was the best thing that had ever come into her life. He remembered his father, and all of the chances and opportunities that he had continued to give Ryan despite the fact that he always let him down. Then he remembered Julie, and the unmistakable love she blanketed him with, and the trust that she handed Ryan without knowing his utterly disgusting intentions. Ryan began to regret the things he had done, and wanted to return back to where he had came, where he thought he deserved to be. He knew that the only way out of this was to stay brave and push through, as Ric had explained. The ship began to embark across the boiling river, and Ryan’s journey would soon commence with his series of trials, redeeming him for all of the evils he had cast upon the ones who had loved him no matter what he had done. This was simply the beginning, and it would only decline from there.


Chapter 8- Can I Help You?


    As Ryan lied in the corner of the ship, broken and beaten, he continued to build remorse for his previous actions. He wept until his eyes dried and he was no longer able. His throat was dry and he could barely breathe from the thick, musty air that surrounded him. It was as if the thick wind was reaching into his esophagus and choking him slowly. All Ryan could barely make out the dark sky above him due to the ash and fire that spat up from around him. He didn’t know where he was headed, but he knew deep down that it was about to get devastatingly worse. As the ship plunged forward, Ryan’s stomach did the same. After what seemed like two eternities, the ship came to a violent halt against what felt like a hard rock barrier. It clashed against the unknown shore causing bodies to violently scatter across the ship, some landing on top of Ryan. As Ryan pushed his way out of the mangled mess he managed to see what was ahead. Ryan could only make it out to be a fiery mess from where he stood, but there was more to it. Ryan pushed his way through the ship violently trying to find an exit, and as he made his way down he noticed the extinguished souls fleeing in every direction. It was as if they were running from someone or something, but there was no way Ryan wanted to stick around and find out. As Ryan stealthily crept through the outskirts of what could be described as a burning city, he noticed the ground on which he stood was very stick and wet, like that of a thick swamp. As he trudged through the utterly repulsive scene and stench, he neared a burning building. The environment seemed to be a vast array of buildings and shops, all burning terribly. People were scattering and Ryan was finally able to tell why. Demonic creatures of all different sizes and proportions were chasing these helpless individuals, whether it was on two feet, all fours, or through the air. Ryan knew that he couldn’t be seen. As he tried to sneak around the town, he noticed a person standing close by. They appeared normal, or as normal as one would seem in this situation. Ryan knew that two heads were better than one, and if he was able to team up with another victim like himself they would be able to accomplish much more. As Ryan approached the still man slowly he noticed that he was stood frozen as if someone had planted a statue as a rigged trap. Ryan was cautious, but had no other option. He tapped the frozen creature on the shoulder, and the stranger jumped, causing Ryan to jump back as well. The man laughed in a frightened tone, and told Ryan he was hiding and waiting in order to make a run for it. Ryan agreed to keep watch on one side while the man watched the other. Ryan breathed a huge sigh of relief, finally being able to speak to someone and have assistance with his escape. As Ryan watched the corner of the hot, fiery structure, he saw the sight of thousands running, looting, and violently attacking one another in order to take whatever they had with them. This brought back a memory to Ryan. His mind traveled back to the time where he was a young teenager and was out with his mom Christmas shopping. Ryan was picking out anything and everything, but when he came across the new sixty four inch flat panel TV in the department store he began to immediately jump up and down telling his mom he wanted it. This was not in her budget, nor did she have any intention on purchasing the luxury item. This did not sit well with Ryan, and he immediately began to have violent verbal outbursts towards his mother in front of everyone. She begged and pleaded that he calm down, and that he could have a smaller TV that the family could afford. Ryan grabbed the TV off of the wall and it crashed onto the floor, shattering into thousands of pieces. Ryan’s mom began to tear, but Ryan was not finished. He grabbed the DVD rack that sat adjacent to the TV stand, and hit his mother in the face with it so hard that she was swept off of her feet. He then began to pummel her with the cold steel until she was unconscious. People around watched, but nobody assisted in defense of the poor, helpless woman. Ryan left her there, and had his friend pick him up. He departed with no remorse, and later on the mother acted as if it was ok because she loved her child so dearly. She truly thought he would change. As Ryan came back to his current reality, he realized that his materialism had led him to lose a piece of his soul, and he finally understood he had to get through the destructive trials in order to achieve redemption not only for the one’s he wronged, but to clear his soul. As Ryan snapped back to watch around him, he noticed that the man was gone. He crept around the side of the building and to his disgust saw a beast that looked like an enormous bull with human appendages ripping the stranger to shreds. Ryan felt remorse for this poor individual, but knew he had to press on. As Ryan moved forward there seemed to be a cliff approaching, but Ryan could see nothing but blackness past what seemed to be a large drop off. After finally approaching the dark abyssal like nothingness, Ryan knew there was only way to go, and that way was down. Ryan felt the cliff below him with his leg, and could tell that it dropped off at a slight angle giving him a chance to tread down if he was careful. As Ryan brushed his leg against the bumpy surface, he felt a vibration. This at first came as a surprise to Ryan, but he then remembered his cell phone lodged inside of his shoe. He immediately grabbed it and Ric appeared on the screen again. Ric spoke about the previous trial, which was full of sinners whose hearts were filled with materialism and greed. Those who would forever want more, without any consideration for the people they hurt of which were dearest to them. Ryan began to understand the purpose of his trials, and he shut off the phone before Ric had a chance to finish. Ryan wanted to push through as fast as possible without wasting an extra second of time in the decrepit underworld that lied beneath the people who still cared about him. As Ryan began to feel his way down the cliff, he began to step on what seemed to be large mounds that felt scaly and wet to the touch. As Ryan clumsily rolled over them the giant heaps of thick fleshy material he noticed that one began to move. Before Ryan could react to the unknown predicament the movement was followed by a loud sequences of hisses, and his worst fear became a reality. The cliff from which he was climbing was completely made out of giant black snakes with bodies thicker than tree trunks, and they began to twist and turn around Ryan’s body.  He kicked and punched and gave all of the effort he had left. As the large creatures began to wrap around him Ryan saw his life coming to an end. Before Ryan was submerged, he heard what seemed to be the sound of wings flapping heavily far above him. He knew a demon that could fly was no better than giant mindless snakes, but what other choice did he have? Ryan began to reach down for his shoe with all of the strength that remained in his feeble body. After the last effort, he was able to grab his cell phone and immediately turned the screen on. As Ryan waved the cell phone above his head, he hoped it would attract whatever was flying above enough to come down and distract the creature that would soon cause his demise. After what felt like days, he began to hear the beat of the wings grow closer, close enough that he could smell the foul breath on the beast. Ryan closed his eyes and used his ears as a guide, waiting until the flying abomination was close enough to make his move. As soon as the demon let out a roar, Ryan tossed the device upon the top of the snake’s back, and the demon immediately attached itself to the top of the snake, gashing and ripping repetitively. Ryan could hear the demon’s fierce pummeling, and immediately the giant creature’s muscles began to let loose as Ryan felt it try to escape. The cell phone began to roll down the hill, Ryan following after. Ryan could make out the flicker of the dim light as it tumbled down the bed of invertebrates. After rolling for a few minutes, the cell phone now far ahead of him, Ryan heard a splash. This was not good news at all because Ryan was a horrible swimmer. Ryan tried to skid to a stop, but gravity wouldn’t allow it. Ryan flew off the bottom of the steep hill and unlike water, landed in a thick oily substance that seemed to put a detriment on anyone who would try to swim through it. The surroundings were completely blacked out and there was almost no hope of survival. To add insult to injury, something below began to wrap around Ryan’s foot.  As the tentacle coiled around Ryan’s leg, it began ripping into his flesh. Ryan knew for certain there was no hope of his survival this time. Ryan began to slowly submerge as the limb below him began to pull slowly, and the look on Ryan’s face was pathetic and futile. As Ryan began to accept the inevitability of his death, his head half submerged with tears in his eyes, he heard the voice sweeter than nectar that called to him from above. The sound of what Ryan thought to be an angel. The voice called out to Ryan telling him to grab her arm, and Ryan reached up with all of his remaining strength feeling nothing but the empty air. All of a sudden Ryan’s fingers brushed against another pair, and he locked hands with the faceless hero. Whoever it was pulled and pulled, Ryan being pulled back and forth, over and over, as if he was a popular toy being fought over by two children. Ryan began to kick desperately trying to free his leg from the unforgiving sea creature, and to his surprise was able to finally free himself from the end of his existence.














Chapter 9- Stay With Us





      As Ryan was hoisted up by the faceless stranger he only had one thought on his mind, more danger. Upon being on dry land, Ryan began to try and wipe the sludge from off of his body. It was hot and felt as if it was piercing into his skin. Ryan attempted to stand, but crumpled up like a puppet with a pull string. His leg had fallen asleep due to the strangulation of the creature below the hellish sea. The soothing voice called to Ryan and he began to crawl towards it slowly. Out of nowhere a flame ignited, and what appeared to be a small torch was held by the most beautiful woman Ryan had ever laid eyes upon. She was dressed in a white garment that appeared to be made out of the thinnest silk. She was so beautiful that Ryan had to stop crawling in order to process what was in front of him. The woman began to laugh gently under her breath, and it was the most comforting sound Ryan had heard in what seemed to be ages. She reached down to Ryan and helped him to his feet. Forgetting about his lack of circulation, Ryan immediately began to stumble, but collected himself to save embarrassment. The woman assured Ryan that he was in a safe place, and insisted that he return with her back to her home. Ryan was blinded by her appearance and accepted her offer with excitement. Ryan had always been lustful and never hesitated when given the opportunity to have his way with a pretty young lady. The woman led Ryan with the only illumination surrounding them. He trudged behind her pulling out every last ounce of strength left within his body. At last a small structure came into eyeshot, and Ryan was ecstatic. Finally a place where he could sit down and take his mind off of all that had happened, a place where he could get his head together and think about what he could do next to solve his problem. The two entered the front door of what appeared to be a very nice home although the location seemed very peculiar to Ryan. The inside of the building was immaculate. A fire place burned peacefully and the aroma of fresh picked flowers filled the air. A large bed sat in the middle of the room with columns that looked as if they had been sculpted by the Greeks themselves. The woman insisted that Ryan make himself at home and as she commanded he sat on the edge of the bed. Soon after, two more beautiful women entered the room from either side, and Ryan had completely forgotten that he was still in the depths of hell. The first woman approached him once more and started to crawl on top of him slowly. As her lips neared his Ryan’s mind raced back to the past where he was in a very similar situation. He was with his best friend at a large party and everyone was harshly intoxicated. Ryan’s friend, David, was with his girlfriend Kayla. David and Kayla had been dating seriously for over a year, and David had planned on asking Kayla to marry him that week. David had consumed a large quantity of alcohol at the party, and he became nauseous. He immediately ran away from the table where everyone was playing a drinking game and locked himself in the bathroom. As Kayla began to get up to go help David, Ryan grabbed her by the arm and assured her that everything was ok. His manipulation had worked, and Ryan immediately began to feed Kayla drink after drink. Soon after, Kayla was inebriated. Ryan insisted that she head upstairs to get some rest. As she stumbled towards the stairs, she grabbed Ryan’s arm and began to pull him towards her. They embraced each other and he began to kiss her. He told her to go find a room upstairs, and that he would be right there. As Kayla made her way up the stairs, Ryan went back to check on David. Ryan opened the door with the key above the door trim, and David was curled up on the floor asleep covered in his own vomit. Ryan closed the door and headed back up the stairs. Ryan looked around the room for Kayla, but she was nowhere. As he turned to leave, she walked out from behind the door and began to kiss him furiously. She pushed Ryan onto the bed and immediately began taking hers and his clothes off, ripping them in the process. Ryan and Kayla had sex that night, and afterwards Kayla fell asleep due to her overconsumption of alcohol. Her memory was impaired, and her judgment was long gone. Ryan slipped out unnoticed, and the next day acted as if nothing had happened. David and Ryan continued to be best friends and with Kayla not being able to remember there was no way anyone would ever find out. Ryan began to snap back to his current reality, kissing the beautiful woman that was lying on top of him. He grew disgusted by his prior actions and immediately began to push her off. As the woman tumbled off the bed, Ryan jumped up to apologize thinking that she had been hurt from the fall. The woman rose up as if attached to a pull string, and fear filled Ryan’s heart. Her face had become black and blistered, her body filled with gaping, puss filled holes. The other two women in the room had changed in appearance as well, and were upside down on all fours as if they lacked a spine in order to contort into that position. The horrid siren that faced Ryan immediately began to vomit and let out a violent scream. The three creatures began to chase Ryan on all fours, and Ryan limped as fast as he could towards the door, but it was gone. He ran through the giant home and tried to find any exit he could. The house was very modern as if a movie star in the 21st century was residing inside. Ryan made his way up the enormous stair case and passed the main hallway that contained room after room. Ryan picked a room near the end of the hall and entered quickly, quietly closing the door behind him. As Ryan lie listening, he could hear the creatures beating their bodies against the different doors, knocking each one down as they passed through. As Ryan looked around, he noticed in the corner of the room his cell phone that he thought had fallen to the depths was laying on top of a dresser drawer. He had no idea how it had gotten there, but immediately grabbed it and turned it on. Ric appeared once more, this time explaining to Ryan that he was trapped in the level of hell where luster’s remained trapped. Ric could not offer any kind of assistance with Ryan’s escape. Ryan, being furious and terrified, hung-up on Ric and began to think. Out of nowhere he formulated a plan, and as the sirens drew closer he turned the ringer on full volume, cracked the door, and activated the sound sliding the phone down towards the opposite end. This threw off the attention of the three and they immediately chased towards it. This was Ryan’s chance to escape, and he made his way down the stairs and threw his body through the pane glass of one of the giant windows. As Ryan lied on the ground, shards of glass impaled into his body, he shook himself back to reality and began to sprint into the blackness. He could hear the sound of impaling screams and he knew that the demons would close in on him shortly. The barren yard was filled with the bodies of naked men and women all piled on top of each other. Ryan noticed that on each body there were no mouths and no sexual genitalia of any kind. It was as if they were human dolls, stripped of any kind of sexual pleasure. All the helpless people were able to do was blink furiously, for they could not move any other part of their bodies. After viewing this horrible sight Ryan saw the sirens exit out of the window and approach his location. Ryan immediately stripped off his underwear and laid face down underneath of a piled of lustful heathens. Ryan could hear the quick patter of the siren’s footsteps, racing around the yard violently to find the escapee. After quite some time Ryan heard what seemed to be the sound of the three retreating back into the home. Ryan waited a little bit longer, and then slowly rose from the heap of filthy flesh. As Ryan stood up, he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck and immediately began to sprint forward. One of the vile creatures had not drawn back to the home and laid waiting for Ryan to appear. As Ryan looked back he saw the creature bent over with its’ back exposed. The flesh on the back of the demon began to rip, and tattered wings sprouted out. The wings began to beat and the creature elevated up into the sky. Ryan turned back and began to run again, this time not looking back. He could hear the creature above him, and knew he had to find an escape immediately. The creature dove down repetitively trying to pull Ryan with it, but only being able to claw into his back gashing through his skin. Despite the pain, Ryan pushed forward. After running over hundreds of bodies, Ryan tripped over something very large sticking out of the ground. He landed on his face with his cheek and lip being torn as he slid against the surface of the unforgiving ground. Ryan could hear the creature swooping down fast, and Ryan flipped over onto his back in order to see his foe before it took his life. As the siren drew close enough to make out the detailed imperfections on its’ mangled body it suddenly cringed back as If it slammed into an invisible force field. The winged creature began to fly back towards the house quickly, and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. Ryan lied on his back and tried to rest. He was bloodied and bruised, and he began to pull the glass shards out from his skin slowly, blood gushing from the open wounds after each piece had been removed. From out of nowhere Ryan’s body lifted off the ground and then returned back down with a thud. It was as if he was lying on a trampoline and someone had jumped down next to him causing his body to catch air. It happened again, and then another time. Ryan could hear what seemed to be the sound of a repetitive loud thud, but with him lying on his back he could not make out what was causing this sound. Ryan forced his body to flip over, and while he lied on the cold ground stomach down, he saw something that turned his blood cold. A giant behemoth with four mouths was stomping towards him. The mouths had teeth made out of jagged blades, and the monster carried a massive club that had the screaming bodies of hundreds nailed to it. The behemoth began to jog quickly towards Ryan. With this sight Ryan shot up and began to flee away from the monster, not knowing where to run or how to evade the enormous mammoth. The beast began to smash his club to the ground as he ran, causing bodies to fly up all around him, Ryan’s as well. As Ryan looked back he noticed that bodies were tumbling downwards near a part of the ground that the behemoth had smashed. Ryan knew that the golem must have smashed a hole down to a lower level, and he began to run towards the goliath. The two sprinting at each other confused the behemoth, and he began to skid to a halt. Before he could stop, Ryan was already underneath his legs and heading towards the hole quickly. The beast swung violently towards Ryan, but it was too late. Ryan dove towards the hole and began to slide. As he neared the opening he could hear the mammoth running quickly towards him. Ryan tumbled down the surfaces orifice and began to free fall through the air. As Ryan flew down helplessly he saw the behemoth jump towards the hole, but it was too large to fit. It was lodged in the opening, and Ryan turned his body downwards as he fell to see what he was to land on. Ryan free fell for quite a while until something caught his leg. It felt like a rope, but it stuck around Ryan’s ankle. What Ryan was stuck to was a web. As Ryan dangled in the air he heard the approaching of something that had no intention of assisting him, and he had to solve his predicament quickly. Ryan reached up towards his leg and began to try and unravel the substance that was wrapped around him, and right before the being had a chance to pull him up Ryan freed himself and landed below.











Chapter 10- Violence in Depth


      Ryan came to a very abrupt halt as he landed on his side below the mangled web which had almost not let him depart. As he tried to lift himself up he began, for the first time in his life, to realize why he was in his current predicament. All throughout Ryan’s life he had never been punished for the disgusting sins he had executed towards society, and now it was catching up with him. Never once had Ryan felt remorse, anguish, or slight discomfort from the selfish and cruel acts he had committed. As Ryan trudged forward on the leathery thick surface a memory shot through his mind. Although there were many instances in his past of perfect example, the most recent had protruded from his thought. Ryan saw his mother and father’s face as he beat them mercilessly in their home. He struck them repetitively with a bat for no reason. This was the last memory he had of his parents and as Ryan pulled himself forward and envisioned this one horrific memory in particular, something inside of him snapped. Even though Ryan had wept uncontrollably and there was not a tear left to release, his soul was crying worse than he had ever erupted emotionally in the physical sense. Ryan lied face down on the unforgiving surface and wept internally. He knew this is where he belonged. No longer did Ryan want anything for himself, but he wanted to make all of his wrongs right. Ryan knew he deserved to forever be locked in his damned prison, but he also understood if he did not make an effort to pass through then he would never be able to go back and fix his significant err. All of a sudden a new sense of motivation coursed through Ryan’s veins, a motivating factor that had never existed within Ryan’s mentality. The drive came from the need to help others besides him, and Ryan had strength that he had never felt before. Ryan crawled forward slowly, and then rose to his knees. Despite his horrific injuries, Ryan pulled to his feet, and his knees buckled slightly. He limped forward, tripping over his own feet every few steps as he made his way over the patches of sewn together skin from a vast ocean of bodies. Up ahead there seemed to be a large curtain, but it seemed to be very odd in shape, and it was vast in color and dimension. The curtain stretched horizontally as far as the eye could see with no view of the passing side. Ryan thought to himself that there could be nothing worse than what he had already experienced in the previous layers of his hell, but that seemed to be a common misconception occurring throughout his journey. Ryan ventured forward and to his horror he began to accurately analyze the mystery of the ominous drape. The curtain was constructed of what seemed to be millions of children’s bodies’ mangled and sewn together to block out any vision from the other side. The sight was utterly dreadful, and this was something Ryan never expected to encounter. As Ryan began to process the unexpected occurrence he grew weary and became nauseous. He began to vomit at the foot of this demonic construction, but immediately came to terms with his circumstances and closed his eyes to try and push through to the other side. As soon as Ryan pressed his palm against the wall of shredded innocence it became unbearably audible. Although in an Earthly sense these children would not have been alive by any chance, this was a very different reality. Some children began to cry hysterically, some asked why they were being punished. Ryan knew it was all part of the evil aura of hell and its’ theatrics, but it still haunted him tremendously. As Ryan tried to push through to exit, the children only grew louder and the wall was as sturdy as concrete. After many attempts Ryan began to realize that there was no hope in penetrating through to the next trial, and with this his fear became a reality. He would have to climb over all of these mutilated children in order to reach his next goal, and just the thought had Ryan on his knees vomiting once more. After wiping the spit and remains of malnourished throw up from his chin Ryan began to make his way over the wall. He could not see the top, but that was mainly because he was trying not to open his eyes. Ryan climbed and climbed and climbed more, until it seemed as if he had gone high enough to exit his prison. It had been a long while and there was still no ledge, so Ryan stopped to rest. It was extremely cold as if it was a high altitude on an Earthly scale. Although Ryan was motivated to finish his task, he began to have a different idea.  If he couldn’t fix his issues, then killing himself would eliminate all of his problems. Ryan’s selfishness arose once more, and the thought of jumping from his high up position would surely end his life. Ryan thought of his family once more, and then pushed off the wall. Ryan calculated that the fall would last quite a while from all the climbing, but he was wrong. Ryan’s fall lasted all of a second, as if he hadn’t even begun to climb more than a few feet. Ryan’s hell was playing games, and there was not much more he could take. He landed on his back, the ground knocking the wind out of him completely. The wall began to shake, the children still crying out and moaning, and it fell forward towards Ryan. The wall collapsed on top of Ryan, with the bodies coming apart and scattering from around him. Ryan began to squirm as he was engulfed in a sea of helpless and innocent tortured children, and he finally scrambled out of the gruesome mess. Without even looking back Ryan fell to his knees once more and began to yell towards the sky that if there was a God above, he wouldn’t allow this to happen. He screamed about how they were just children, and how they didn’t deserve it. As he was yelling he had to stop because he heard loud noises coming from the distance that made his skin crawl. From far away Ryan heard what sounded like screams, cries, and yells, coming from what seemed to be both genders and all ages. Ryan searched around for a place to evade these horrible obstacles or possibly a place to hide, but his efforts were completely futile. Ryan tried to make out what was going on in the distance, but the air was so thick and muggy that it was impossible to see far in front of his own hand. All of a sudden his hair stood on end as Ryan heard movement from behind him. He turned around slowly and the sight displayed was one of repulsion. The innocent children that had fallen to the ground had now morphed into what could only be described as demonic minions. Some had multiple horned appendages protruding from their bodies, some with triangular mouths with teeth made of jagged blades on their stomachs spewing blood and vomit all the while lashing snake like tongues towards their nearing nemesis. Ryan was frozen until he realized what would happen if he remained this way. He shook it off and began to flee in the opposite direction. He could hear the miniscule creatures gaining on him, but he continued to press forward as fast as his weary existence would carry him. As Ryan began to evade the followers he came upon large clusters of rock formations. He placed his foot on one and it immediately burned his skin. The rocks were so hot that there was nothing of the physical world that could explain what he had felt. Ryan carefully walked through the rock formations slowly, but quickly passing in between them so they wouldn’t burn his body. Although he was successful for the most part, there were still some that were impossible to evade, and he was now covered in scattered burns. As Ryan surpassed the rocky obstacle he now was standing on sand that was hotter than the stones, and as he jumped back in between two large rocks a sight came into view that brought a new understanding as to what hell could really be defined as. On the sand stood thousands of creatures and tattered, mangled humans. Each creature seemed more appalling than the next, and the humans stood naked being attacked and tortured by the lot of them. Ryan remembered previously when he was stuck within the death grip of the large reptile on the hill, and could now make out the physical appearance of the creature that swooped down saving his life, recognizing it right away from the sounds of its’ shriek. This must have been the lake of fire that Ryan had remembered hell being referred to time to time throughout his life, but this appeared to resemble more of an ocean. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan saw what appeared to be a bottle, wash up on the shore of the fiery lake. The bottle was clear, and Ryan could tell something was inside. Could it be his cell phone, Ryan thought? Although the shore was filled with many humans fleeing and being tortured by monsters and demons, some with unfathomable tools, and some with their bare appendages, Ryan also viewed the thousands of lifeless corpses that had been scattered on the shore after they had been completely mutilated. Ryan could make out what seemed to be a designated imp patrolling the shores as if it were marching around the gates of a castle, and it was collecting the remains of humans in order to deposit them in a pile. The winged creature also seemed to be making rounds, but instead of collecting the bodies it would hover down as if it was a helicopter slowly landing, latching its claws inside of the helpless humans like a crane game that children play, and transported them from one side of the oceanic inferno to the other. This seemed to be the only way Ryan could formulate a proper transition to his next trial, so he knew he would have to collect the bottle in hopes of finding his cell phone so he would be able to confirm his thought out strategy. Ryan began to prepare himself mentally for the pain he was about to physically endure. He began to perform a “military like” low crawl across the sand. He crawled, and as a creature approached he would play dead, hoping it wouldn’t carry him away before he had the bottle in his possession. He continued to perform this daring venture, all the while demons and humans were fleeing around him, destroying one another and constantly trampling over Ryan’s body in the process. Ryan had almost reached the bottle when a creature trampled over top of it, smashing the glass and revealing the contents. Ryan was correct, for it was the phone that he had hoped was enclosed, but to his dismay the phone had been crushed into two pieces. He could make out the cracked screen from the distance, and he could view that the phone was on. A picture of his girlfriend Julie was displayed on the wallpaper. This image covered Ryan in a blanket of sorrow, but before he could react mentally to the events occurring he saw the patrol demon approaching. Ryan was picked up by the foul imp, and he could smell the malicious odor coming from its’ skin. The odor was so dreadful that it began to physically burn the inside of Ryan’s nose, thus making him begin to sneeze uncontrollably. The imp threw Ryan down and immediately began to kick and claw at his body. It started to rip Ryan’s back to shreds, and Ryan could not fake his death any longer. Ryan’s adrenaline was pumping so hard from the situation that he erected to his feet and began to flee towards the pile of bodies that the winged creature was transporting. As Ryan ran, the imp following behind, he maneuvered through the crowds of thousands, varying in size, shape, and horrific abnormality. Ryan dodged various weapons, claws, and ballistics all coming within inches to his person. As Ryan grew closer to the extraction zone he could hear the shriek of the bird like demon closing in, and felt the hot wind of its’ wings beating against his cold skin. With one last stride and by using the back of a tortured human on all fours as a springboard, Ryan leapt forward towards the pile. What Ryan was unaware of was the lack of bodies that added volume to the pile because of the last enormous pickup from the damned winged creature, and Ryan fell flat on his face on top of the fiery hot sand.  Ryan performing this unusual stunt from the humans back naturally drew a lot of attention towards him due to the unusual acrobatics and intrusion. Ryan flipped over and saw the various demons drop what they were doing and begin moving towards him. At first they were walking, but then they began to dash unathletically towards him resembling one of the old zombie films Ryan had seen on television. Ryan’s fear grew and his heart dropped into his stomach. The demons were so close that if they were to trip and fall they would have landed right on top of Ryan, crushing his pathetic frame. Out of nowhere the wind began to blow harshly in all directions. The gusts were so ferocious that Ryan was pressed against the sand unable to lift his body or even open his eyelids, but the strong winds also prevented the creatures from passing through to Ryan because of the unusual barrier. A shriek erupted, and Ryan immediately knew the source of the ridiculous winds. The winged creature was closing in above Ryan, hovering down slowly and beating its’ wings faster and faster as it drew closer. All the demons could do was stand back and view as the pterodactyl like beast pierced its’ large claws into Ryan’s sides, penetrating the skin and digging into his ribs like hooks. Ryan began to let out a cry, but was unable to because of the fierce winds blowing against his face similar to a child sticking their head out of a vehicle traveling on the highway and trying to breathe into the strong oncoming gusts. The demonic bird hoisted Ryan into the air and carried him over the inferno. The sea was spewing and spitting up hot fire in the air and every so often it would fire a projectile of lava into Ryan’s back, singeing his already tattered and torn skin. Ryan could only make out the underbelly of the vicious creature and the surrounding black and red sky, but he was hoping the journey would soon be over. Ryan could feel the bird slowing, and eventually it stopped in the air, still quickly beating its’ wings. Ryan could tell that he had passed over the sea of fire entirely because he could no longer feel the heat on his back, and with this the bird began to pull its claws out of Ryan’s skin, this being as painful as it was when the claws were inserted. Ryan dropped down and landed in a tangled mess of thorn and barbed wire. He fought ferociously to become untangled, but the more he tried the more complicated the tangled mess became. Ryan slowly began to maneuver his limbs out of the painful trap, and eventually managed to break free. As he tried to process the environment in its entirety piece by piece, it suddenly became clear to him what he was stuck inside of. All around Ryan laid black, deformed egg shells much larger than him. The shapes were distorted in nature, but through the external appearance Ryan could tell that whatever was underneath was not something he wanted to wait around for to hatch. Ryan also heard painful screams from underneath him, and as he looked down he saw tons of bodies, mostly lifeless, but some faintly squirming for freedom. These bodies had been tangled and submerged in the wired trap scheme, and had no hope of escape. They were flies cocooned in a barbed wire web. Ryan thought immediately that these bodies were obviously a source of nutrition for these soon to be demon infants, and he had no intention of sticking around to be a main course. Ryan began to climb the barbed wire and mesh upwards to jump out, not thinking about what was underneath or what he would do when he arrived there. Although there was not much of the bible that Ryan was familiar with, he had seen the cover of the bible Julie had kept in her room, and on the front Jesus Christ was displayed in an artists’ rendering with a crown of thorns placed atop his head. Ryan immediately correlated the two situations together, and realized how evil the place he was caged in truly was. With each step and grip the thorns pierced into Ryan’s skin. Blood began to leak down his arms, down his shins, and soaking his feet as if he was standing in the shallowest area of a recreational swimming pool. Ryan pushed up until he reached the climax of the nest wall, and began to take in the view from beneath him. A burst of freezing cold air smacked him in the face, the way he was never smacked or disciplined in his past. The air was so frigid and harsh that he could barely breathe, and the condensation protruded from his mouth as if a block of dry ice was wedged inside of his throat. He couldn’t see the ground below, but he knew that he had only two options, and one was a bit more promising than the other. Just as everything else had gone wrong prior in Ryan’s hell, the next thing that was getting ready to occur wasn’t going to be any less of a detriment to Ryan’s current predicament. Ryan could hear the slight cracking of the shells behind him. At first it sounded as if some of the humans below were rattling around, but the crack of an egg is unmistakable in hell or on Earth. Ryan turned his head and below him he saw a giant horned claw exposed from the shell, and that was enough to motivate Ryan to throw his body from the nest and down to the ice cold layer of hell, the bottom of hell, the last frontier.











Chapter 11- Cold Shoulders





          As Ryan drifted through the air, he thought of how it was becoming a familiar trait of the damned city, but then again, the only way to go is down. The deeper Ryan fell the colder the air became. Ryan’s skin began to burn from the violent temperature decrease. As Ryan sunk into the lowest depths of hell a memory erupted into his skull and out of nowhere the air from which he was following morphed into a very horrific scene from his past. Ryan was a junior in high school and a very important English test was approaching. Since Ryan never had to put effort into anything in order to legitimately succeed he knew he would have to find a way to cheat his way out of taking the test. If Ryan didn’t receive an A on the test he would fail English, and if he failed English he would be held back. Ryan approached the teacher, Mrs. Brooks, after school one day. She was walking to her vehicle after hours and no one was around. Mrs. Brooks was an elderly lady with a soft voice and an even softer heart. She treated every student fairly and was a very merciful instructor when it came to giving breaks and extending deadlines. Ryan had always been a disobedient and disrespectful student, and with this Mrs. Brooks opinion towards Ryan was poor, to say the least. Mrs. Brooks was making an attempt to find the right key for her vehicle, but because of her mild Parkinson’s Disease she lost grip and they fell to the ground. She bent down to grab them, and when she rose back up Ryan was standing directly in front of her. Mrs. Brooks, frozen in fear, asked Ryan what he was doing. The school did not have video surveillance in the parking lot, so Ryan took advantage of it. He pulled out a small blade and put it up to Mrs. Brooks throat. He commanded that she give him a perfect grade on his exam or he would slit her throat. Despite the utter trauma that Mrs. Brooks was experiencing she was a woman of moral code and belief, so she would not falter under any circumstances. She declined without hesitation, and this enraged Ryan. Although Ryan was very evil, he did not possess the courage to follow through with a majority of his threats, so with a hellish smile drawn upon his face he put the blade back in his pocket. He then looked up at Mrs. Brooks and told her he would be sorry to see her go. He disappeared into the woods and Mrs. Brooks quickly got into her car and sped home. The police were called and when they arrived at Ryan’s home he and his parents were both home. He had previously bullied his parents into playing along with his alibi story, and they convinced the police that they had picked Ryan up from school as soon as it let out, and that Mrs. Brooks must had been confusing him with a similar looking student, after all she was very old. No charges were filed and the case was dropped. Ever since that day Ryan would come into class and taunt Mrs. Brooks throughout the time allotment. She was terrified and distraught over the mental terrorism she had to endure. Before the day of the test Ryan decided that he had to get rid of Mrs. Brooks altogether, so he hatched a plan that would get her fired from the school. Before class on the day of the exam Ryan paid one of his demented acquaintances a sum of money he had stolen from his parents earlier to pull the fire alarm. As everyone was evacuating the premises Ryan snuck into Mrs. Brooks classroom and planted images of naked children inside of her purse, some of them doctored to include herself present in order to display clear evidence that they were hers. Ryan then slipped out with the students so he would not miss a head count. In the meantime one of Ryan’s delinquent friends who did not attend school made an anonymous call to the school alerting them that Mrs. Brooks had assaulted their child and she should be investigated immediately. The authorities were informed and the pictures were discovered shortly after. Mrs. Brooks was removed of her position and charges were filed against her immediately by the state. The class was excused from the exam and Ryan’s efforts paid off for him. Mrs. Brooks was so depressed due to the false allegations, and she soon hung herself in her home, the home that she had lived in since she was a child. She was a widower, so no one ever noticed, especially Ryan. Before Ryan could process this rude awakening he broke through a large shelf of ice resembling a pane of glass, and landed flat on the arctic surface of hell’s basement.  Initially, the blow from the ice knocked Ryan unconscious, so he had been lying on the surface for quite some time. Out of nowhere a trembling roar erupted and the ground began to shake. Ryan woke up from this disturbance and couldn’t move. He had been stuck to the ice and was unable to pry himself from the surface. The ice burned Ryan’s skin tremendously, and with injuries and lack of energy it was a very difficult task at hand. Ryan began put forth the last ounce of strength he had in order to remove himself from the prison of ice, but before he could attempt the escape he heard the sounds of what seemed to be his parents calling his name, soon followed by Julie. This filled Ryan with hope and he immediately developed an unnatural strength, similar to temporary strength a mother might have if her child was trapped underneath a vehicle. The skin from Ryan’s back and hamstrings began to tear as Ryan pulled his body from the surface. After finally separating his body from the rough glacier Ryan scanned the environment frantically for any sign of his family and girlfriend. The temperatures were so low that the air a smoky dry ice condensation. As Ryan began to pace around, his feet sticking to the ground as he walked, he could feel that his body temperature was dramatically decreasing and his skin was turning even paler than it already was. Again Ryan heard a voice call out to him, this time he was certain it was Julie’s. He rushed across the frigid surface as quickly as his legs would carry him until the fog had finally cleared. In front of Ryan lied a large gaping hole that emerged out of the surface. He peered down and nothing could be seen except for an eternal blackness, but out of nowhere he heard his mother’s voice spew from the hole begging Ryan to help her out. Ryan, being terrified of the unknown, hesitated at first. After realizing that his selfishness had led him to this hole in the first place, he then decided to venture down. There were large jagged spikes spread down sides of the hole walls, so if one were to fall it would surely lead to their demise. The hole stunk like dead bodies, but at this point it was a miniscule detail that was mentally deterred. Ryan began to grip the cold spikes one by one as he made his way down the enormous gaping opening. From time to time Ryan would slip and catch hold of a large spike preventing his fall, but as his body dangled his torso would crash into the side of the violent wall causing his skin and ribs to gash. Eventually Ryan was deep enough to no longer have any visibility and as he felt around with his feet he felt something dangling through the air. A thick rope was suspended in mid air with no anchor to support it. This was physically impossible, but so was hell Ryan thought to himself. Ryan kicked the rope a few times to ensure stability, and then jumped for it barely catching on at the last minute. Ryan began to climb down the rope slowly. His muscle had become so fatigued that he was barely able to clench the rope tight enough to hold on. He decided to try and slide down despite the fact that this would surely leave vicious rope burn behind on his skin. He began to slide down with the immense friction tearing as his palms. After a few hundred feet Ryan’s body came to an abrupt halt. His feet hit something at the end of the rope. It seemed to be the size of a basketball or a cantaloupe, but Ryan was unable to tell due to the lack of visibility. Once more Ryan heard his name being called, this time it was so close it seemed to be right underneath him. This motivated Ryan to believe that the ground was within jumping distance, so he took the daring plunge. The fall was only a couple of feet, but once again Ryan landed on a very cold surface. The temperature was well below freezing, and Ryan knew that he had to keep moving around or else he would freeze to death. As Ryan tried to paint a visual picture of his surroundings he saw a figure in front of him that appeared to be moving. Ryan’s name was called out again, and it sounded just like his mother’s soft, nurturing voice. Ryan approached the figure slowly and reached out to touch the face of the stranger. Ryan placed his fingers on the ice cold skin, and with that the entire room became unbearably illuminated. The figure Ryan had placed his hand against was the body of Mrs. Brooks, and she was dangling at the end of the noose, her hollow stare gazing directly through Ryan’s horror struck face. Ryan jumped back immediately and Mrs. Brooks began to untie the noose that was tightly wrapped around her neck. Ryan was so shocked that he could barely move, and Mrs. Brooks was smiling as if she enjoyed his reaction. Her hair was matted, her skin rotten, and her stench foul. Her skin was frosted from the freezing cold temperatures, and as she stepped down from her instrument of death her legs emitted crunching noises. She began to shuffle towards Ryan as fast as she could, continually asking him why he betrayed her. He tripped over his own feet as he spun around and began to try and run in the opposite direction. The icy floor was extremely slippery and caused Ryan to trip and have to continually catch his balance. Mrs. Brooks was right behind Ryan and as she neared him she reached out. Ryan turned around to try and fend off the old woman, but she slipped and fell towards the ground. As her body came into contact with the surface it shattered into a million pieces, some being projected towards Ryan and piercing his skin like tiny shards of glass. Ryan began to swat the glass out of his skin, but it only dug in deeper until it was completely inside of his body. Ryan was terrified by this and had no idea what to do in order to mend the situation. His only conceived plan was that he must finish going through his trials and everything would eventually return to normal. Ryan heard his name called out again. This time he turned around and a gigantic open room lied in front of him. The walls were covered in ice from top to bottom. From the distance Ryan could see a huge pit like structure. Above the pit a creature was suspended. It was so terrifying that Ryan lost his train of thought the moment he locked a visual embrace towards the beast. The beast was erected mid air by large chains and hooks lodged deep into its body locking it into place. The flame was blazing underneath of the creature engulfing its entire lower body horrendously. The creature had two large horns protruding from the forehead and extending back behind him, and then winding around in front of him. As the beast roared expressing its torture large tongues that seemed to resemble serpents lashed out flailing through the air, trying to escape the mouth of the beast. The monster’s body was very large, and appeared to be extremely malnourished. Its ribs were exposed and its bone structure could be viewed underneath the frame of deteriorating skin. Ryan began to comprehend that this beast was indeed Satan, and this was the end of the line. Ryan began to near the beast, his eyes locked on the behemoth and not on his steps. He began to step on top of countless treacherous sinners, all engulfed in the ice and stuck in unbearable contorted positions. Ryan made his way across the obstacles and came across a terrible sight as he neared Satan. There were three very large orifices lodged in the monster’s body. Each one seemed to be a large grinder of some sort that resembled a garbage disposal. There were two  of these grinders on either side of Satan’s torso, and one on his upper chest . Ryan could make out that an individual was halfway inside of the grinders on the sides of Satan’ torso.  Only their shoulders and heads were exposed from the opening, the rest of their bodies constantly being mangled by the blades furiously spinning inside. The bodies were those of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, two men who had betrayed their countries, took millions of lives, and led their countrymen to their utter downfall. The third grinder housed an individual who, unlike the other two, was stuck inside of the contraption head first, his feet kicking out of the hole in a fit of torment. This was the body of Judas Iscariot, a man who performed the ultimate treachery in all of history after he betrayed Jesus Christ. Aside from the fact that these three treacherous men were being grinded for all of eternity, there exposed parts were also being burned by the flames that shot up around them. Satan’s wings beat around him as he tried to escape, but the more he tried the deeper the hooks tore into his flesh. Ryan neared the edge of the pit and stood frozen as he took in the ghastly image in front of him. The sight was horrific enough to send the bravest of men fleeing away with their tails between their legs. Although Ryan was terrified, he was so spiritually exhausted from the journey through hell that he had ultimately lost all sense of emotion, including fear. He stood at the edge of the pit and looked up at Satan, who caught Ryan’s glance in return. The beast let out a demonic roar burning the tattered flesh that remained intact on Ryan’s beaten body. The heads of Stalin and Hitler constantly cried out to Ryan begging for help, but all of this was transparent as Ryan stared into the eyes of Satan. Ryan began to yell towards Satan, telling Satan to take him, for he did not care any longer. The beast began to flap its wings ferociously trying to escape the clutches of the prison and get a hold of Ryan’s measly body. Ryan stood firm, smirking at the foul beast. As Ryan peered down towards the harsh blue fire he saw the images of his family, his girlfriend, and all the others that he had hurt. He smiled, and knew what he had to do. He had to jump down into the fire and end it all. He peered up at the fallen angel once more, sent his regards with a middle finger, and dove down into the pit of cold fire. As Ryan flew through the air his head was filled with all of the memories of sinful life, and he finally felt at peace knowing he was able to sacrifice himself in order to redeem his unforgivable past. Ryan shot into the flames and disappeared into the nothingness.