Ceremony

The vision passed over me, still that incarnation of evil and his laughter would not leave my mind. (Demons name) looked down at me with a knowing gaze, one that spoke of experience with this particular subject, knowledge of what I was thinking and the futility that resided in my heart.
God had rejected me, earth had given me up, and it seemed hell was the only place that wanted me.
Pain no longer seemed to affect my being, it was as if I had acclimated to it, the way someone acclimates to climate, or heat, or cold. This cleared my mind and allowed me time to see exactly where I was and exactly what was going on.
I was in a circular room; there were lines of white above me, deeply traced into the pinnacle of this immense cavern. They formed a circular shape, one that seemed to create a place where a door or portal should have been, but no longer seemed to be open. This I knew was where I had fallen through, yet somehow I had ended up somewhere else in this hell, this place of pain, and suffering. This place that had the smell of a hospital, and a tomb, the stench of rotting flesh invaded my nose, and the feeling of death crept into my being. This feeling made a chill shoot down my spine, and my heart to race, my vision blurred, and I turned my head in time to see that all of hells creatures were staring at me.
Sitting atop his throne, one that seemed to follow him wherever he went, the beautiful man cast his regal stare on me and I knew that my time had come. Whatever they had planned on from the beginning it was about to culminate to fruition.
He smiled knowing my every thought, and with that I visualized the hand I had seen in heaven. The beautiful majestic hand that had reached out to me to deliver me from all of life’s sins, that hand had promised nothing but good things, and yet I could not release the hate I felt for that man that had murdered me. I concentrated on that hand and the whiteness around it and for the moment, the demons and their masters seemed to melt away, leaving me in tranquility.
Peace passed through my body and mind, I felt all of my injured body heal, and then the monstrous fist of (demons name) smashed in between my shoulder blades. It seemed to explode on impact and I thought my body had been split apart. Yet the hand I was visualizing seemed to absorb the pain and even though the shock of the blow made me lose my concentration and I was catapulted back into the hell I had momentarily escaped, I knew I was not damned.
Hands grabbed at me from all directions, I stared at the beautiful man and his evil eyes, and smiling I accepted whatever fate my true God had set forth for me.
The smile of the beautiful man turned into an inhuman snarl, and his transformation took place not within a blink, but before my very eyes, even the thought of the hand could not block all the fear that came into me. The body of the beautiful man just exploded, blood and gore went everywhere and emerging from within the shell that once had the look of a man was the monster, its twenty foot frame dominated the room and his evil hands waved forth his minions and he spoke, “Begin the ceremony, (demons name) the time has come, and the portal will soon open.”
(Demons name) turned and looked into me, he had a pious aura about him, and one that promised to deliver what had been asked of him.
Quicker then I imagined something of his size and girth could move, he produced the reverse looking cross from out of nowhere and his bulging muscles sent it down towards my midsection. A piercing feeling erupted into my stomach and the flow of blood was partially stemmed from the huge object that was protruding out of me. The end of the cross that had just passed through my stomach, struck the ground with a crash, and I found myself pinned, a crack began to open a hole through which an altar moved upwards. It was the altar from my premonition, and I knew that all that I had imagined was going to come to pass.
Screeches and roars, cheers, and hoops, all manner of noises animal, guttural and unimaginable roared to life. I felt like I was in some sort of macabre zoo, the noises were matched by creatures straight out of a nightmare. Large and small, doglike, apelike, serpent like, they each emanated evil, and each had their devilish eyes trained on me.
Looking around the room some more, I viewed the great spectacle of (demons name) doing what could only be described as performing the ceremony. He had stripped all of his armor, and items on his belt. He stood impressively naked, corded muscles flexing with strain, his apelike face looking extremely more human. He had a dark aura floating about his body; it made him hard to see, yet outlined him in a way that made him look as if he was in this crowded room all alone.
From above us, the white lines begin to swirl, and become a corporeal gate, one that looked like a maelstrom in the middle of the ocean.
Somehow I knew that, that gate was the way out of this hellish place. My hand raised in the air, reaching for something that was impossibly out of my reach. If only…..
(Demons name) reached out and touched the upside down cross that was impaling my stomach, more pain erupted in my stomach and I knew that this wound was not healing. That familiar itch was not present, and I knew that for the first time, I could be completely destroyed.
Holding tightly to the cross (demons name) used both hands to steady himself; I could tell through gritted teeth that this was putting great strain on him. His stomach opened up with a grotesque wound, one that resembled the one I knew was in my own stomach. I could feel superhuman strength flowing into me, and I realized that we were sharing each other’s energies. This cross was transmitting part of each of us back and forth, it felt like I was being ripped into pieces then formed back together again all at the same time. I could not stand it, my mind began to rip, I knew that much more of this would result in my insanity. My God! I thought to myself, this apelike creature was doing this same thing to himself, his piety for his false god must be immense.
Clarity was restored to me, and I saw (demons name) collapse onto the floor, I felt my hands wrap about the impaled cross and yank it out of the ground and out of my stomach. The wound immediately closed the blood flowed back inside, and no trace that I had ever been wounded could be detected. I looked around first checking to see that (demons name) had not recovered yet from his weakened condition. Then I looked to the portal, its swirling was slowing, and I knew my time was short. This was my one and only chance to escape this place and I knew somehow that I had the newfound abilities to escape.
My muscles felt more corded then they had been in life, I felt as if I had grown and somehow the ceiling seemed that much closer to me. Fear hit me in waves, and I knew I was being compelled to kneel. This could only mean one thing, the monster/beautiful man was looking at me. My extra sensory reflexes seemed honed to a fine edge, and from the feel of the stare I knew exactly where the beautiful man was. I wheeled on my pivot foot, turning my hips and conjuring my ancient ancestors I threw the cross like a javelin at the monster that had once been the beautiful man. From the moment it left my hands I knew that it was going to strike true. My mouth curled into a smile that was defeated as my projectile weapon was turned aside by some sort of shield that I could just make out in an outline of lavender.
Something inside of me told me to run, yet I felt like I should kneel before the power that was this thing. Deliberating this, a huge familiar apelike creature crashed into me, knocking the air from my lungs, I instinctually wrapped my hands around (demons name) hips and threw him as hard as I could. Not really expecting anything, I felt him fly over my head and heard him crash into the wall behind me.
Stunned, I knew the other demons in this pit of hell would be on me in moments. And I knew that somehow I had to get through the dissipating portal above me. Concentrating somehow I knew that I could make it. Running, I leaped into the wall, using my newfound strength I pressed my feet down hard as I could into the cavernous wall and leaped again. Even with the two massive leaps I knew I was going to come up short, but the maelstrom seemed to be creating suction, and I became caught in it. It pulled me upwards and I knew that I was going to escape.
Hell had never heard joyful laughter before. It had heard cruel laughter, and revengeful laughter, but hell had never heard the laugh of a child, or the laugh of a loving family. For a brief moment the flames seemed a little less hot, the air seemed a little sweeter, and hell was for that brief moment in time a place filled with hope. This moment passed like so many others throughout history as a single human man escaped from the place that was inescapable. This event would not be remembered or spoken of as (demons name) and the beautiful man systematically destroyed all of the lesser demons that had seen these events unfold. Yet just for that brief time, good had triumphed in a place that evil ruled completely.
The maelstrom felt like water, but I could not be certain that it was not just my imagination. So many things in this place seemed to be created from my mind, and not real. The water passed over my over heated body, and steam began to rise all around me, creating a grayish fog that blocked my view.
Gone was the sound of the screeching demons, gone was the telepathic roars that were constantly in my mind, gone were the rapists who took all my thoughts and used them against me. The silence reminded me of the time when I was floating in the white, and the feeling that I was being transported from one place to another hit me stronger than either of the past times.
The reality that I was actually escaping took hold, and I began to question my escape, was it really happening or just an illusion created in my mind by (demons name). He had done similar feats to me before, and letting me believe I was escaping definitely would be the cruelest thing that he could possibly do to me.
The fog started to disappear and the steam against my eyes made it difficult to see, but I thought I felt something warm in a pleasant way passing through. My feet hit something substantial, and I knew my transport had come to an end. Whether I had actually escaped from one hell, and ended up in another was being blocked by the fog of the steam from my body and the maelstrom.
A sound broke through the barrier that was the grayness, it was a chirping sound that resembled that of one of the demons, and the feeling of hopelessness returned. My shoulders slumped and I believed that my earlier worries of being teased by (demons name) were coming true.
Then the sound seemed to force the grayness away, and sunlight shone through, hitting my face causing my sensitive eyes to close, and immediately I could feel the life force that had caused the chirping sound. It was a few hundred feet away now, flapping its small wings and gaining altitude. Standing there squinting my eyes into the setting sun watching the bird fly, I was reminded of my wings, and the angel I should have become. And I finally knew I had escaped, for no demon could have created something of this magnificent beauty. No demon no matter the greatness could ever imagine a sight of this purity. The way the slight breeze was blowing the great trees and the greenness of the grass that seemed to go on and on as far as I could see. With this realization, I knew I was back on earth.
The tree I had appeared underneath cast a slight shade on my body, and with escape becoming a reality, all that I had been through assaulted me at once. The torture, the pain, the loss of grace, the eyes of a killer, it all came tumbling down and coupled with exhaustion I felt myself become weightless. I struck the ground, and blackness overtook me.