Hell and Back

Judgment Day

At the top of the staircase was a gate. It was made of pure gold that shone like the sun on the brightest summer day. It reached higher than the twinkling stars that covered the sky like a blanket of perfection. Beyond the gate were my passed family members and friends and their families. Perfection was awaiting me. You could see the colors of the sunrise gathering like a sherbet resting upon the horizon of the cotton clouds.

I approached the flawless gates, my heart was beating at over one hundred beats per minute. I was five feet away from the gates as they spread open like the wings of an angel. I walked towards the inviting warmth of Heaven and loved ones. Each step I took the more happy I felt. My feet touched the border between my destination and where I once was.

My entire body froze in its place. Panic was now taking over. I couldn't pass into Heaven. I took a step back and walked forward again. I froze in the exact same place. I stepped back further this time and ran. I still froze on the exact same spot. Those that were awaiting me to join them had disappeared and a voice unrecognizable yet familiar flooded into my head.

Thou hath sinned, my son, The voice said, And for these sins, thou hath not begged forgiveness. Thy does not believe thou hath done anything wrong and for that thee is wrong. With a conscience as clouded as thou's I must sentence thee to Hell where thou shall suffer for eternity.

The voice left my head. Happiness and peace were now replaced with fear and dread. The clouds beneath my feet parted and I fell hundreds of thousands of miles below into the scorching pits of Hell. On immediate impact in the lake of fire my skin bubbled and blistered. My eyes melted from their sockets. Hot air filled my lungs which seemed to melt within my body. My blood was boiling throughout my body burning every vein, artery, and organ in which my blood flooded through. I then realized this would become the norm of every second of my afterlife. I began to cry and scream a suffering scream even I could barely stand to hear. As each tear left the socket in which my eyes once were, it immediately evaporated into nothingness. Every bad feeling possible weighed down on my mind and heart. Morbid images and thoughts soared through my suffering head and the word of sin echoed throughout my body.

After what felt like hours, the burning of the fire ceased. Just as I thought the torture might be at an end, I felt my ankles grabbed by hot, rough hands and I was dragged away upon hot rugged ground that tore open every blister on my body and instantly replaced it with another. My screaming never stopped, not even at the slightest. I felt my body thrown against yet another boiling wall that scorched even further the burns. I cried begging for it all to stop when I felt my hands being chained upon a wall which forced me to stand upon my weak legs. The bottoms of my feet fest as if they were melting away.

Sinner. A voice of dread filled my head and the word echoed about as if it were reverberating off of the sides of my inner-skull.

The word was followed by a whip of nails and glass was lashed upon my back. My legs gave way beneath me and I began handing from the chains. Tears fled down my face and I screamed louder than I ever had. Another whip. This was repeated by another, and another, and another. I had already lost count. The skin upon my back was torn until I could feel my spine jabbing through meeting the hot air outside of my body.

Immense amounts of flogging followed and the word "sinner" still hadn't come to an end from echoing about my head.

After an unbearable amount of torture had passed, I was thrown back into the pit of fire.

No screaming fled from my mouth. This time, it was a prayer. A prayer of forgiveness. Though it may had been far too late to ask, I thought I might still have a chance.

Thou now begs forgiveness? It was the voice that served my sentenced to me before I was thrown down to the pits of Hell.

"Yes, father!" I screamed at the top of my nearly melted lungs.

Does thee now know thy's sins?

"Yes, I do! I swear it! I will do anything to end this suffering. Anything!" I screamed even louder than before.

It shall be done, my son. Thy shall over go a test. A test of the Seven Deadly Sins.

"Thank you! Thank you!" The two words were shouted endlessly until my wounds recovered and I appeared in a pitch black room. This was the beginning of my test.