Authors note: This chapter has some rather extensive detail in the torturing field and also has some religious themes that some might find offensive. If this offends you I am dearly sorry and if it does I'll try and not repeat a chapter similar to this. As always, review and enjoy.
-7RON
Chapter 19
Believing
Adam and Gavin traveled out of the junkyard, which was made up of crumbled buildings and crashed jets. The large chunks of concrete and metal all appeared to be the same color with shadows as the only differentiations in the tall spires that twisted upward. The landscape was rich and lustrous compared to the rest of the land, with green grass and tall, prosperous pines. Small, glistening rivers, appearing as clear ribbons that flowed from the mountains that surrounded them, snaked the land with lines of liquid, eventually emptying into rounded lakes.
From their current ascendancy in the valley, it looked as if the mountains completely filled the horizon. They didn't have any sharp hollows in the land or pointed peaks, which were more rounded, giving evidence of their age. The rocks appeared to be a bluish-green color due to the forests and snow-capped summits that reflected the crisp sky. One alp was strawberry shaped, while another had an exposed rock outcropping and looked like a bald dome, however, most were cone shaped. Several glaciers sat like guardians atop the crags, slowly eating away at the topography of the mountains.
A plunge waterfall thundered off in the distance, it started at the peak of a mountain some, hundred feet in the air, and cascaded down, without touching the underlying cliff, and tumbled onto a steep cliff in a large cloud of mist, which covered a small river that flowed out of the mist and curved along the foothills until spilling into a lake.
After a descent amount of time they spotted large columns of a grayish stone topped with platforms that extended across each column, overlapping and under lapping layers of stone that formed a tangled mess in the uneventful valley.
Gavin soon pointed out that these streams of stone were in fact highways and allowed people to travel along easy routes. The highways often tunneled underground and others went straight through the mountain sides. But what caught Adam's, as well as Gavin's, eye was the large clump of soldiers and metal machines of war that occupied the elevated roads. He was extremely curious about the metal machines and asked Gavin about them.
He laughed at Adam's lack of knowledge about technology. "Those are heavily armored tanks and transport vehicles. The tanks form the backdrop of our army, mainly being our most valued units other than our Air Force. The transport vehicles are used to carry soldiers from one point to another."
But the distance between them and the highway was still long, so to make the time pass they exchanged stories of their life. Adam had a hard time wording his words in order to convince Gavin that he was, in fact, from the past, apparently. His armor and sword were evidence of that, some of which Gavin couldn't explain. Adam even told of his profession as an assassin, that Gavin found to be very interesting.
But when Adam mentioned his death and resurrection Gavin seemed to slow down as if a part of him was missing.
"I had a similar experience with death… w-what did you see?" Asked Gavin.
Adam shook his head then spoke, "Darkness. Nothing else." He told the truth, but before he could speak up again, Gavin interrupted.
"Be glad that's all you saw, when I died, well it wasn't something I want to relive. It's also the reason why I switched my life around in hopes that I wouldn't experience it again. But it's quite a long story." Then Gavin seemed to notice the distance to and from the highway.
He took a minute then continued, "My point of arrival was a cell that was some feet wide and at least a foot below the surrounding floor. With its walls of rough stone and rigid bars on the door, I felt as though I was in a temporary holding area, a place where a prisoner would await his final hours before meeting a far more terrifying destiny.
"As I lay there on the floor of that cell, I felt extremely weak. I noticed that I had a body, one that appeared just as it is now. Lifting my head, I began to look around. Immediately I realized that I was not alone in this cell. I saw two enormous beasts, unlike anything I've ever seen before. These creatures were approximately ten to thirteen feet tall. These towering beasts were far, far from intimidating. It is one thing to be threatened by someone taller than you. But these creatures were not of the natural world.
"I recognized that they were entirely evil, and they were gazing at me with pure, unrestrained hatred, which paralyzed me with fear." At this point he stopped and stared ahead with saddened eyes. Adam could see that tears started to fill his eyes. "Evil" and "Terror", these creatures were an intensely concentrated manifestation of these two forces. I still had no idea where I was, and I felt, utterly panicked. Although I had no point of reference, no familiarity with anything I was experiencing, and no understanding of how I got there. Still I was faced with the unimaginable reality that a tortuous death seemed certain.
"The creatures weren't animals but they weren't human, either. Each giant beast resembled a reptile appearance, but took on human form. Their arms and legs were unequal in length, out of proportion. The first one had bumps and scales all over its grotesque body. It had a huge protruding jaw, gigantic teeth, and large sunken in eyes. This creature was stout and powerful, with thick legs and abnormally large feet. It was pacing violently around the cell like a caged bull, and its demeanor was intensely ferocious.
"The second beast was taller and thinner, with long arms and razor-sharp fins that covered its body. Protruding from its hands were claws that were nearly a foot long and seemed to be made of a rough type of material. Its personality seemed different from the first being, for it was certainly no less evil, but remained still. I could hear the creatures conversing to one another, though their language was one I could not identify, but somehow I could understand their words. They were awful words-terrible, blasphemous language that spewed from their mouths expressing extreme hatred for a being they called God.
"Up until this point I never believed in any spiritual force. But these vile creatures, despite their evil and hatred, believed in this God. But suddenly they turned their attention to me. They looked like predators staring hungrily at their prey, I was terrified. Like an insect in a deadly spider's web, I felt helpless, trapped, and frozen with fear. I knew that I had become the object of their hostility, and I felt such a violent raging presence fall upon me such as I have never felt before and greater than anything I could have ever imagined. They possessed a hatred that far surpassed any hatred a person could have, for I could feel as well as see it, and now it was directed at me. I couldn't identify what these beasts were yet, but I knew they meant me harm.
"I wanted desperately to get up and run. But as I lay on that cell floor, I noticed that I absolutely had no strength in my body, I could barely move. I knew it was much more than physical weakness I was feeling. Indeed, it was weakness of every form. I was mentally and emotionally drained, even though I had been there for only a brief amount of time. Two more creatures came into the cell, and I had the odd feeling that these creatures had been "assigned" to me. I felt as though I was being sized up and that my torment would be their amusement. As they entered the light suddenly vanished.
"It became absolutely pitch black; I had no idea why the sudden and intense darkness had begun. But I sensed that the light that had been present had been an intrusion and that the atmosphere had now returned to its normal state of darkness. One creature picked me up. The strength of the beast was amazing. I was comparable to a water glass in its hands. Instinctively, I knew that the creature holding me had strength approximately one thousand times greater than a man. I cannot explain how I perceived that bit of information. Then the beast threw me against the wall. I crumpled to the ground; it felt as though every bone in my body had been broken at once.
"The second beast with the razor-like claws and sharp fins, then grabbed me from behind in a bear hug. As it pressed me into its chest, its sharp fins stabbing my back, I felt like a rag doll in its clutches. He then reached around and plunged his claws deep into my chest and ripped them outward." Then he stopped, now on the brink of tears, he continued, sniffing, "My flesh hung from my body like ribbons as I fell again to the cell floor. I remember screaming so loud that my throat cracked and blood filled my mouth. The creatures had no respect for the human body, I have always kept it in shape by eating right and exercising, but none of that mattered as my body was being destroyed right before me.
"I knew that I could not escape this torture via death, for not even that option was available. Death penetrated me, and yet eluded me. The creatures seemed to derive pleasure in the pain and terror they inflicted upon me. I pleaded for mercy, but they had none-absolutely no mercy. They seemed to be incapable of it. The mental anguish I felt was indescribable, asking…or better yet, begging for mercy only seemed to heighten their desire to torture me more. I was conscious of the fact that there was no fluid coming from my wounds. No blood at all. I did not stop to wonder why because I was extremely nauseous from the stench these foul creatures gave off. It was absolutely disgusting, foul, and rotten. It was, by far, the worst most putrid smell I have ever encountered, it was unbelievably toxic and the smell alone should have killed me.
He coughed as if he could still smell the foul vapor. "But I found that I could crawl and was able to make it to the barred door that, as I recalled, was left open. The creatures allowed me to crawl out of the cell, and once I was out I was finally able to stand and was instantly horrified as I heard the screams of an untold multitude of people crying out in torment. It was absolutely deafening. The terror-filled screams seemed to go right through me, penetrating my very being.
"I soon saw in the darkness a reddish light up ahead that seemed to have a presence of its own and, as I walked closer I saw that the light originated from an almost fictionally large lake of magma and fire. Millions of people occupied the lake, but by their screams I could tell that no one wanted to be there. Their bodies were in constant torture as they experience melting without the true dissolving of their body. Creatures similar to the ones with me in the cage ran around ripping the limbs off of the people, but those limbs grew back only to be ripped off again, adding to the eternal torment that they were condemned with, stabbing them and gnawing on their flesh.
"I immediately felt pity for those people, some of who have most likely been there forever. And I soon realized that I was one of them, that I would eventually join them in the lake of fire. But before I could I heard a loud voice, one that stood out from the screams I could hear. It seemed to bring light into the hellhole as the voice echoed through the cavern. And all of a sudden the world seemed to shift and glow with radiance that I will remember forever." He smiled, and Adam could tell that Gavin was trying to stop smiling but couldn't. "I woke up in the infirmary attached with various wires and such.
"I wepped like a baby, glad that I was finally out of that place and back in the real world. I felt a sensation that is almost indescribable." Finished Gavin, wiping some tears from his cheeks.
Adam walked beside him, completely speechless. That story was simply horrifying. "How do you live your normal life anymore? Those creatures must return to you in your dreams or you see ghosts of that experience?"
Gavin nodded, "For a time they did, and I got extremely depressed. It was only when I went into therapy that I gained a little of my humanity, but not for long. The creatures always seemed to stay with me. But I was determined to get rid of them. So I went into surgery and got a chip planted in the back of my brain that controls the fear I have. Yes I still see them, but I'm less afraid, that's why when I go into battle I hardly ever cower or retreat." As they quieted Adam and Gavin soon arrived at the base of the main highway, as the clump of soldiers, tanks, and transport vehicles receded in the distance