Page 15 of An Unexpected Ascension
Needless to say, we get on just fine.
“No way. I’m not getting in that thing.” Marty backs away, tripping over sand and falling to his ass.
“You have two choices, stay here with the condemned or get on the boat to Hell.” I point behind him to the opening of the canyon we came through. Limbs, now mostly bone, but some still speckled withflesh and sinew, hang limply from the rocky walls. Groans from the mouths melted shut with skin sing, echoing my warning.
“So, if I don’t go?” He presses.
“Then you’ll be making friends with the likes of them.”
“Hell ain’t so bad.” Charon shrugs.
Marty’s face screws in disbelief as if he didn’t have a clue the demon could talk.
If only he knew!
“Yeah, you might actually like it.” I goad.
“No. I could never like Hell.”
“Okay, well the boat is leaving, and I won’t be caught dead around these parts,” I warn, but he doesn’t budge. “Whatever. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If insanity doesn’t get you, the Hell Hounds will.”
“Hell Hounds?”
I climb into the ferry, perching myself on the back bench.
“Yep. Gnarly beasts. You remember dogs from your Earth days, yeah? Well, these creatures can’t compare. Never seen so many teeth. Kind of like a shark’s with rows upon rows of razor blades. Tell me if you see a single body up in those walls fully intact.”
He looks back as he pushes to his feet, realizing that what I’ve said could be true. The hounds really love the femur bones, thickest in the body.
I give Charon a smug look and he chuckles.
“You’re lying!” Marty growls and yet still climbs into the boat.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. Who’s to tell.” I shrug. “Charon, please lead the way to Hell’s gates.”
Chapter 5
The Angel
The crowd around the stage in the center of the market starts to disperse. Everyone scurrying off to continue their shopping or mingling with friends as if my literal neighbor wasn’t just set on fire and damned to Hell.
“So, if I don’t finish the penance on my list by the deadline they gave me, that happens?” I gesture to the now empty dais.
He nods just as Sarah May excuses herself to mourn with a few of her friends over a man they hardly knew.
“There are no second chances? No negotiations here? Just poof, you’re gone forever?”
“Basically. I mean if you think about it, Heaven is your second chance. Why should you get any more?”
“I just… I don’t know? I mean, isn’t God forgiving and all that sh—crap? Why didn’t he come when Marty prayed? Does he ever show?”
Will gnaws on his lower lip,. “He hasn’t. None of them usually do. Not since I’ve been here anyway.”
“So, they just let a demon pop in, drag you in front of the entirepopulation of Heaven, and execute you?!” The pitch in my voice jumps.
“I mean, technically you’re already dead.”
Will shrugs before he shuffles towards the edge of the market. I follow in shock, completely overwhelmed by how little he’s disturbed by the whole thing. It makes me wonder how often this happens.
