Kelly's Inferno
The year was 2021. After being trapped in a small recording studio almost all week, I was finally able to emerge into the outside world. The last time I came out was at a convention, where I occasionally attend in order to meet fans of my singing and voice acting work. An agent from Blazing Studios offered me a contract, promising me that I will become an international pop sensation. Blazing Studios is a major producing studio and those that enter soon gain millions of fans and almost drown in their own wealth. Since my current occupations barely paid me enough for necessities, I decided to accept the offer. In the ear-splitting shouting and honking of the traffic, I imagined how much my life would change. I envisioned album signings, awards, and screaming fans. While in my fantasy, I heard a strange, yet familiar, voice ask me, "Where are you going?" I glanced at the once empty seat next to mine and saw Vic Mignogna, my favorite singer and voice actor from my childhood. Assuming it was an illusion, I ignored him, but again he asked, "Where are you going?" I muttered, "I am on my way to a famous studio. An agent told me that I have potential for becoming the next big thing." He responded, "Will that make you happy?" I explained that soon, my name would appear everywhere, I would have screaming fans, and I would become rich. "That is not what I asked you," he interrupted me. "I asked you if that would make you happy." Confused, I focused back onto the road. When I realized that I couldn't move any further, I looked back at the seat. He was still there. Those light eyes and brownish blonde hair I remembered all too well. After ten minutes of silence, Vic told me to take the next exit on the left. As I slowly drove in the traffic, I saw a narrow road that separated from the highway and was swallowed by the forest. I pointed to it asking if that was the right road, and Vic nodded his head. Maybe I was crazy and had a hunger for adventure, or maybe it was because my trust in Vic, but for a reason that confuses me even today, I took that empty road, and that one decision changed my perspective on life forever.
After we broke free from the chaos of traffic and into the peacefulness of the forest, Vic explained, "There is need to float in that river along with the majority. Sometimes, the path that people fail to see yields the most benefits." We continued on the road until there was a dead end. Vic stepped out of the car and motioned me to follow. Hesitantly, I followed him into the woods. We approached a dark tunnel with a message above it that said, "Those that never achieve a true happiness in their lives shall suffer in misery and agony."
Upon our entry, we walking on a small narrow pathway made out of stone. Surrounding us was a desert of sand. The walls were solid rock with holes that acted as fountains, pouring more sand into the desert. I suddenly heard what sounded like something moving in the sand. As I looked closely, I could make out hands, heads, and faces buried into the sand. Some tried to escape while others suffered in silence. Gnats and vultures were slowly eating the bodies. The smell of the desert sand mixed with death filled the air. "What is this place?" I asked. Vic told me, "This place is the Inferno, where people who have done wrong in their lives spend eternity paying for their crimes. These souls that you see here were capable of fulfilling their goals in life, but they have given up. Fears and negative thoughts have weighed them down from reaching the stars to fulfill their dreams. This sand now weighs them down from freedom as it slowly sinks them lower." One little girl stood out to me among the rest. She was chubby with short, ash black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tan skin. Only her hands and head could be seen. When Vic saw me staring at her, he summoned the section of stone I was standing on to part from the rest and floated me along the sand to the child. I asked her to tell me her name and what happened to her. She told me that her name was Faith. She wanted to be a cheerleader and attended practices weekly. However, the other girls made fun of her because of her weight. Feeling that there was no hope for her, she grabbed a kitchen knife and took her own life at the age of eight. Upon returning to where Vic was waiting for me, I felt warm tears run down my cheeks. At the end of the walkway, there was an elevator. As we descended, the gasps for breath transformed into the screams for death.
The doors opened to reveal what appeared to be an underground version of New York City, but every building and every road was coated in spikes. I heard the yells, shouts, and begging to end the unbearable pain. The residents of this city were all barefoot and bleeding from the spikes. We stepped onto a glass platform the guided us through the city. As we floated, people started shouting at me, wanting me to kill them. Two brothers, whom I was told later were named Edward and Allen, kept trying to kill each other. "Brother," one spoke. "I cannot bear to see you in so much pain. I am trying to save you from this suffering, but I am having no luck." The other replied, "No brother, you were always the one to look after me. It is my fault for thinking that drugs would make people like us. Let me repay you by ending this enduring pain." As I watched, Vic whispered, "This level is for those who choose their actions based on how they will be viewed in society. Because they lived their lives supported by the opinions of others, now they will be supported by spikes and suffer the same pain as they would in their hearts from keeping their thoughts locked up and allowing other to guide their voyage." As we approached the next elevator, I watched with sorrowful eyes as Edward and Allen continued fighting while covered in blood and tears. When the doors closed, the smell of the bleeding finally diminished.
We finally entered the last room. A moving cage appeared before us. According to Vic, this was for my safety. The stench of rotting bodies soon flowed around me. The cage door closed, and we moved throughout the room. Some people were walking skeletons while others still had some skin left. It was difficult to imagine that these were once human beings. They behaved like wild beasts fighting for survival in a way that made wolverines seem civilized. I gazed in horror as I would see packs of people fighting over a little apple. Vic pointed one particular brawling group composed of two skeleton-like creatures, one bigger than the other. "A mother and daughter," he told me. I could tell there was much pity in his voice. "She was an actress. Her daughter was a child star. As long as money was the reward, they would do any movie, any sketch, or any show. Someone promised them thousands of dollars if they jump off a t skyscraper and live. Unfortunately, their greed brought them here, where their hunger for wealth has been replaced with a hunger for food. No matter what they eat, nothing can satisfy them." The cage landed on an isolated platform away from the souls.
"Are you ready to leave?" Vic asked me. The sight was so unbearable that all I could do was nod my head. "Allow me to offer some words of wisdom before we part," he spoke. "When I was a voice actor, I did not get paid enough to support myself. Even though I was a singer, I was rarely recognized, but the fact that I loved my career gave me no regrets. Looking back at my life, I feel that I accomplished something few people achieve. That something is happiness. People are blinded by negativity and greed, so they are misguided away from true happiness. When one is laying on a death bed and feels that there is something left to do, that is not happiness. We are put on this planet for a limited time. It is our destiny to make the most out of it. Life is too short to waste." After these words, Vic took my hands, grew ivory, angelic wings, and flew us out of the Inferno. When we returned, Vic and I stood at an empty road that divided into two different paths. At the end of one road was a convention where a small group of my fans were waiting for me. At the end of the other road was Blazing Studios. Vic suddenly started to fade away. He smiled and waved at me. As he disappeared, he whispered, "Where are you going?"