Into The Storm

Into The Storm

It was a dark and stormy night. No, not really, I’m just kidding around. It was actually mid-day, but you would think it was midnight. That’s just about how dark the clouds are; how deceitful they are. I pray to God for a second chance.

            This storm is strange and it’s not because of the seemingly endless rain and black clouds. It’s because of this strange gut feeling I have. Where is Noah when we need him? The rain pours down on the world like unrelenting gunfire and I think God might be the one shooting at us. But he would never do that, right?

            It’s not like we’re God’s forsaken children, not all of us at least; I’d say we’re Satan’s favorite children. I look at the world around me and see hate, ignorance and greed. Men rape, steal and murder everyday; they embrace sin. Selfishness and greed are the only ‘values’ that still exist; the lessons our savior tried to teach us are forgotten. But I haven’t forgotten.

            “Laura, dear, is something the matter?” My dear friend Anne asks me. I look at her and wonder if her famous ancestor had a world like this, but I don’t think Nazi Germany was this bad. I think this is as bad as it gets.

“The clouds… there’s something wrong.” I try to tell her, but my message is drowned by the hard heavy rain. I look back at the endless dark sprawled out in front of us. Something is wrong, but what is it?

            “Huh, well they’ll be off soon honey. They’re gonna cry themselves dry soon enough.” Cry themselves dry like everyone who cared about the world did. I hope she’s right, but know she isn’t. There’s no lightning in this storm, just endless rolling thunder. Am I really the only one who sees this? No one pays much attention to it; nobody seems to feel it. Has God forsaken them?

            I sigh. “”I’m going for a walk.” I get up and grab my coat. Anne grabs my arm and shakes her head.

            “You will do no such thing! It’s insanity out there!” She doesn’t understand the pull I’m feeling; I have to go. I shake my arm free and walk towards the door. The storm rages on.

            “I’ll call you later. Bye Anne.” I say, emotionless as I walk out the door. I won’t be calling her later, I’ll be busy. The rain drops strike me like a thousand lightning bolts as I walk to the woods I used to call home. It’s amazing I can even see where I’m going in this storm. It’s amazing I’m not lost, like everyone else.

            The woods are dark, but still have leaves of grass green shining in no light. I used to perform rituals here, before I found the lord. There’s a flash of white light, followed by a flash of crimson red. I close my eyes in shock and panic, knowing that when I open my eyes both dreams and nightmares will be standing in front of me.

            I open my eyes and surely enough, a creature of some sort is battling an angel. The creature has red skin, like dried blood and red eyes, red like fresh blood. It has large claws and demonic horns; I don’t want to see its teeth. The angel of course has white wings on its back and is a man with white battle armor. They’re locked in combat.

            I start cheering for the angel; no creation of Satan could ever defeat a creation of God. Yet they seem evenly matched, as if the battle would go on forever if I let it. I have to tip the balance if the angel is going to win!

            I pick up a stick on the ground and just stand there, doing nothing. What can I do? What if the demon turns and attacks me instead? I don’t want to die. I have two kids at home; they need me. I can’t sacrifice myself here just for some angel. Besides I’m sure he’ll be fine without me.

I throw the stick back to the ground with a thump. “I’m sorry, I won’t help you.” I begin to walk away, never looking back. You think God will be angry for this? I didn’t do anything so I think I should be fine.

            I cross over a stream that I don’t remember being there. Am I going the right way? I’ve got to be, the stream was probably made by all of the rain. Nothing looks familiar, am I lost? There’s no way I am, I went back the same way that I came in from.

            “You shouldn’t have left home.” A dark voice says, coming from everywhere at once.

            “Who are you?” I yell into the endless darkness. “Hello?”

            There’s no response, no sign of anyone. The smell of burning sulfur poisons my lungs and my eyes spot fire up ahead. “Hello? Is anybody there?” I yell out to nobody.

            “Come closer Laura.” He knows my name! How does he know my name?

            “How do you know who I am?” I yell back at him, wherever he is. I start to run towards the fire, which must be him. You know something’s wrong when it actually is.

“I have been watching you for quite a while. I applaud you for your good behavior.” Good behavior? Is he talking about how I don’t rape, steal or murder?

            I get to the fire. There’s nobody here. I hear a demon cry out in defeat in the distance, I guess the angel won. I knew he would prevail. “No you didn’t. You didn’t believe he would for a second.” The fire tells me, the voice emerging from it. “You left him there to die.”

            “Who are you?” He was right; I did leave him there to die. The flame flickers wildly, slowly taking a shape. It almost looks like a regular man, but has small demon horns and a demonic tail to match. He doesn’t need to say anything, I already know.

            “I’m your new landlord.” Before I can ask him what he means the ground shakes beneath me. There’s a flash of red. No, not another one! He’s going to kill me! God save me!

            The demon watches me, like he’s waiting for something before tearing me apart. There’s not going to be a hero. Then there’s a flash of white, the angel is back! He appears beside me. I turn to him and hug him. “Thank God you’re here! Save me from that beast!”

The angel pushes me to the side and steps away. “I’m sorry, I won’t help you.” He says to me, and then flies away. Satan starts laughing at me. Then the demon attacks.

            “You forgot the Golden Rule, human. I’ll see you later.” The flame vanishes but the laughter remains, echoing through the empty woods. The demon’s claws slice my chest, but all I can think about is how I forgot the most important rule.

            It carves a smile into me then, slices my neck in two.

            “Welcome to Hell, Laura. We’ve been waiting.” 

 -Zero

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This is actually a story I wrote last year for a competition, which I did not end up winning (there were quite a few silly mistakes that I made). Still, I'm surprised that I haven't posted it on here already. I figured that I ought to do that. Anyways, back to working on "The Beginning of The End!"
-Kuna Zero