Thread: land of the damned ||  bear & reydan

He enjoyed these moments. The ones where souls popped into existence in the terrifying recesses of Hell. Hed once heard, from a frightened child, that in recent years the prevailing belief was that you fell to Hell. Plummeting down from Heaven, denied at the Pearly Gates and sent packing, arms flailing and mouth screaming into you smashed into the red-brown earth of the subterranean realms. He wondered when that had started that idea of falling. He supposed, with an idle shrug, that none of the agonized souls that were thrust into the heated darkness had anything to base their expectations on. In reality they just appeared, along a long outcrop of rock and sand that overlooked a wide valley floor below. Although it probably looked terrifying to them, a world of torture and pain stretched out as far as the eye could see, they were only in the very top circle of the Underworld. It twisted down, as some would find out, like a corkscrew. Burrowing deeper and deeper, the atmosphere getting more foetid and the visions more sickening, as you went. Obviously, most of the souls appearing with little yellow-white flashes were never going to progress much deeper. The majority of humans, especially in this more enlightened age, were minor sinners. Oh of course you got the delightfully evil ones. Those who had killed and betrayed, taken what they wanted by force and neglected, or even delighted in, the consequences. But they were few and far between. Most were just those who had sought a leg-up over their fellow humans. Cheaters, liars, frauds, swindlers, etc etc etc. Boring. Everything about them was boring. As he watched, though, the steady popping and flashing of humans appearing along the ridgeline was not boring. No matter how long he had done it for, walking among the new arrivals was one of his major pleasures, even if they hadnt really accepted the realities of their situation. Then again, who would have done any differently if he hadnt been so awfully familiar with what the blasted landscape before them held in store? She wasinteresting. He watched her blue-white flash of arrival, the small young woman barely more than a girl as she stood, quaking, on the cliff. He grinned. She would be able to see a great lake of fire, its ash and soot stinging her eyes and filling her lungs, but also would be able to hear the sounds of the damned. They always underestimated the screams and wails, the new arrivals, perhaps so shocked by the sights before them and so intent on covering their eyes, that they failed to account for the terrible chorus of agonized voices. As he watched those who arrived around her were drawn, as if my invisible fishing lines hooked into their very souls, towards their appropriate punishment. But she remained, standing still if shaky, and it intrigued him. He stalked closer, nostrils flaring. His close cropped beard framed a sly yet interested smile, his dark eyes flashing as he approached her from behind. She was naked, as was he, their bodies streaked with the dirt and debris of Hell. Chance was that she hadnt noticed yet, but he, of course, had. More experienced in what to expect here. He let his eyes drift over her pert little bottom and slender, yet gently curved, feminine hips. He licked his lips. His own frame was well built, dark hair on a broad yet not too muscular chest. He was easily taller than the young woman and, as he stepped up behind her, he drank in her scent. So alive with fear and desperation. So perfect. Lost? he intoned with a deep voice, waiting for her to spin around and see him standing there, a playful smile on his lips, as he watched her terror up close.