JUDAS...Part 2.

The fall was long and rough. In pitch darkness, I heard millions of voices crying and screaming. They were also falling. Suddenly, the atmosphere became very hot. My clothes burned up, the charred remains clinging to my reddened flesh. I screamed in horror. I was burning and the anguish was indescribable. Some other falling persons bumped into me, and looking into the orange skies, I could see millions of bodies raining down.

I felt a pain tear through my stomach. I let out a blood-curdling howl. Looking at my abdomen, I could see the blades of a giant three-pronged fork emerging, with strands of flesh. I looked below in horror. A creature was holding the giant fork, grinning wickedly and in an instant flung me towards a cauldron of boiling oil. I closed my eyes in anticipated anguish and screamed. A strong hand caught my waist mid-air and with a dark, commanding voice uttered, "He is mine."

He smashed me onto the ground. Pain engulfed me. I looked up at him. He was a sight to behold. Handsome and imposing, he was the tallest creature I have seen. He was surrounded by countless demons, bowing to him and paying him homage.

"Judas, welcome to my kingdom, the hell of the damned."

I was shaking terribly as I slowly arose. "I don't belong here."

He gave a prolonged laughter. The whole place reverberated with his voice.

"He doesn't belong here?" He laughed again. "You passed Limbo and Purgatory on your way as you fell. If you were one of the Patriachs of the faith or died an unbaptized infant, you would have been in Limbo. If you were His friend, He would have at least kept you in purgatory for purification by fire! But you fell straight to me. To me!" He laughed again, his legions of demons laughing with him.

"I like you Judas. A lot. You helped me accomplish what I have been planning to do since the beginning of time."

I looked at him in horror. "How?"

"Do you know we used to be in Heaven, with The Creator?" he pointed at his legions of demons.

"Really? Why did you leave?"

"I am Lucifer. The former Prince of Heaven and Light-bearer, now the King of the Underworld. The Creator did something abominable. He showed us a vision of He who you betrayed, as a small baby and commanded us to worship Him. Imagine, me, Lucifer worship a human baby? It was the last straw. My mind was made up permanently. I will not and I will never!" His voice thundered in anger. The demons gave a piercing cry and raised their three-pronged forks in unison.

"Michael, my best friend, and his group worshipped the baby. We have had enough. I commanded my Legions and we fought them. We left heaven for them. Why live perpetually like a slave when you can be a king elsewhere and be worshipped? Now, we have men worshipping us!" He roared in laughter and his demons joined him.

"I have been trying to kill Him since He was born. But He escaped, even to Egypt. I got Him in the wilderness, but He was a fool, blinded by loyalty to The Creator. I never relented. And then you came along and handed Him on a platter!" He laughed again. "Now that He is dead, mankind is doomed forever! Michael and his cohorts will regret their decision not to join my army."

I was petrified. I looked around. The whole place reeked of evil. Millions of demons were everywhere tormenting damned souls. There were shreiks and cries especially from the cauldron of boiling oil. The smell of sulphur hung heavily in the air. The worst evil on earth is nothing compared to what happened here.

"I don't belong here," I shouted, again. "Whatever I did, I did in error. Christ..." There was a sudden earthquake that threw everyone on the ground, lying on their faces. Lucifer was the first to rise, after the quake, and gave me a blow that sent me flying into the shadows. Thousand of demons descended on me, biting, clawing, piercing me with prongs. I wished for death to come but it did not. My whole body was on fire and the pain, mind-numbing.

"Why did you mention that name?" Lucifer bellowed. He was incensed.

He came to the shadows and picked what remained of me and flung me to a demon who used a giant mallet to shatter my bones and skull. I felt my body break into a million pieces and dissolve in a sea of agony. Lucifer picked me up and threw me towards his throne.

"Don't you ever dare mention His name again!"

I nodded. I was damned to inhabit this zone of the dead with these evil creatures for eternity. I wept in agony.

"Whatever I did, I did unknowingly. He gave me a piece of bread and you possessed me."

He laughed long and hard. "Yes, I did. It is one of the means through which I operate. Diabolical possesion. I can torment you from the outside though. Judas, you were set up to be the scape-goat. Your act had been prophesied about and you merely fulfilled the scriptures."

His statement shocked me."Where is the justice in that? What happened to my free-will?"

"Don't ask me. Ask The Creator. Maybe He gave you an option to change your mind and you did not take it. Maybe."

Just then there was pandemonium. A female demon ran into the space, shaking.

"He is here. He-who-shall-not-be-named. He has set the souls in Limbo free."

Lucifer sprang to his feet. "What?! Soldiers! Prepare for attack. We have an intruder in my kingdom. Our kingdom. Let us finish Him now and for all eternity!"

The demons gave a heart-rending battle cry and chants of 'We will not serve' rented the air.

Then the earthquake started. Everyone fled to the shadows in panic, falling on their faces and screaming. Lucifer laid powerless on the ground. 

I raised my head and saw Him. The Messias. He was looking at me with love in His eyes. His hands and feet had holes and His side was pierced. He raised His hand in my direction. Streams of bright light engulfed me. And then there was darkness.

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015. 

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