The Path of Love and Suffering: Chapter 2 – Freedom and Slavery

Chapter 2 – Freedom and Slavery

While Due and Cinquo make their way through the tight sewers of the city lead by the two strangers, Cinquo says, “Oh, we never got your names. What are they?”

“It doesn’t matter,” the man says.

“Why doesn’t it?”

“Because we’re all just numbers to the angels. Our names don’t matter and they’re meaningless.”

“They matter to me,” Due says, “What are they?”

“Tribus,” the man says.

“Four,” the woman says.

Due and Cinquo tell them their names then Cinquo asks, “How long have you been free?”

“I don’t know. A while by now,” Tribus answers.

“How did you become free and why didn’t you get to the gates of Heaven yet?”

“We became free after working with each other for a while. One day we decided to hold hands and accept God’s plan for us and we became free. From there, we tried to find help in getting to the gates of Heaven. So far, it doesn’t seem like anyone knows where to find it. Instead, it seems like God wants us to help people get to the gate.”

“I’m sure that there have to be people like you around otherwise there wouldn’t be anyone to help guide the free to Heaven,” Due says.

“I think so too,” Four says, “Do you think that our meeting along with you becoming free was a coincidence? It was Divine Providence that this all happened as far as I’m concerned.”

“I believe it.”

The four peek out of the sewers and see the busy street in front of them with cars driven by the poor and rich going to and from their destinations. Cars driven by the poor are skeletal with everything in it being visible while cars driven by the rich are black and have a smooth exterior.

“We’ll cross the roads by going under the trucks,” Tribus says.

“Are you sure this’ll work?” Cinquo asks.

“I’m sure. I’ve done this dozens of times. It takes a little while for business to go back to normal after a firestorm even when the free are discovered and hunted after. Just be sure to move fast and not draw any attention to us.”

“Okay.”

When a truck comes around, the four of them quickly exit the sewer and get under the large truck they can crouch under. While they walk along with the truck, both Cinquo and Due hear grumbling and noises coming from the truck. They look at each other and don’t say anything as Tribus said. Tribus and Four then lead Cinquo and Due down a set of stairs to a dilapidated building. They go in it to find many of the poor slaves resting.

Seeing their unrest at looking at the slaves, Tribus says, “They won’t rat us out. They’re taking their hour break before they go back to work.”

“I remember working those long hours with only a few hours to rest in between days of work. It’s enough to make me never want to go back to the way I was before,” Cinquo says.

“What was your job?” Due asks.

“Processing the food the angels gave us.”

“I thought that stuff expired quickly.”

“That’s what the processing was for. There was also the food that the angels gave us during non-paydays.”

“Do you know what that non-payday food was made out of?” Tribus asks.

“No, what was it made out of?”

“Did you hear noises coming from those trucks we were under?”

“Yes.”

“Those were slaves in there. Do you know what happens when a slave dies?”

“Don’t the angels bring them to Heaven?”

“No. They bring them to their temples to eat them and give what remains to you to process and eat. Four and I figured this out when we were helping out two free people who were captured. They were going to eat them and regurgitate their remains.”

“What about the people we heard in there that sounded like they were alive?” Due asks.

“You don’t want to know. It’s worse than what happens to the dead,” Four says.

“Humor me. Nothing could be worse than my work as a slave living in an office with endless gossip and backstabbing,” Due slightly jokes.

“Nothing about it is funny or to be compared to. The wounded slaves are either finished off or forced to work the worst kind of jobs. It’s even worse for the free who are beaten and abused every day in the angels’ attempts to re-enslave them. I remember the screams, oh God, the screams…”

Four begins to sob as Tribus tries to comfort her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was that bad.”

“It’s…it’s fine.”

As the four continue on, the smell of something dead gets Tribus and Four to stop Cinquo and Due in their tracks as they tell and show them where to hide. They watch as a hunter angel with six legs and a large mouth covering its entire torso crawling around looking for bodies.

“In my charity and pity, you will receive your afternoon pay early,” the angel says as it vomits golden maggot coins on the floor and muck for slaves to eat.

Many slaves from the above floors and floors below come to take what the angel gives only to be eaten while the slaves struggle to take what they can. Four motions Cinquo and Due to follow them as Tribus leads them around the angel and its companions that show up to pick off the escaping slaves stopping only for a second when it seems like an angel noticed them. Instead, the angel goes after a slave before it takes in what it puked out.

Once they’re in the clear, Cinquo asks, “Why are the angels like this?”

“Can you even call them angels after what you’ve seen them do?” Four answers.

“They’re more like demons. God has opened our eyes to see them for what they truly are. They enslave our bodies and wealth by having our food and money go bad within hours and enslave our souls with their lies and having us work too much and make us partake in whatever sinful acts they pay us to do,” Tribus says.

“Then why does God allow this?”

“To test the slaves from the free. I’ve heard that all slaves are given the opportunity to become free but don’t always accept it or they go back to being a slave because of the discrimination that goes along with being free in this world. If you truly love God and the person you’re partnered with, then you have to prove it.”

Understanding this, Cinquo and Due look at each other and hold on a little tighter to each other’s hand. They finally make it to the hideout Tribus and Four have been leading them to, however, they find that the place is empty with signs of struggle and drops of blood on the floor. The four of them stay close to each other and try to figure out what happened before angels suddenly leap down from the ceiling and out from the walls.

“We’ve been betrayed,” Tribus says before he and Four push Cinquo and Due away into a hidden escape hole just as the angels leap at them.

The four of them fall down a large hole and onto a pile of dirty mattresses. Both pairs of partners feel the most amount of pain in their held hands though not as much as one might expect as the fall somehow didn’t tear their held hands apart.

“Are you two okay?” Four asks.

“Kind of,” Due says.

“I’m okay if you are,” Cinquo says with trying to hide his pain.

Above, the angels start to crawl and fly down. Tribus and Four grab and light torches and start lighting up explosives while Cinquo and Due get on their feet.

“Get out of here, you two!” Four says.

“We’ll make sure they won’t follow us and catch up to you later. If we don’t see each other, keep up the search for the gates of Heaven and save yourselves,” Tribus adds.

Seeing them already enacting their plan, Cinquo and Due run away down a dug out tunnel while Tribus and Four run down another. As the angels descend, they are caught in the explosion that starts a cave in. Cinquo and Due race through the tunnels lit up by miniature torches until they barely make it out and end up in the sewers. They catch their breath as well as they can and shake off the dirt and filth off themselves while leaning up against a wall.

Looking at Due, Cinquo asks, “Are you alright?”

“No, I’m not,” Due says, “We became free and we’ve gone through all this because of it.”

“You know what the cost is by now and you know what happens if we go back to being slaves.”

“Aren’t you bothered by this at all?”

“I am and you know it, but what else should we do because keep moving forward?”

“I don’t know. I’m tired and sore from all this action and pressure. I want to rest for once and be at peace rather than being constantly hunted and hated for who I am.”

“I’m with you on that. It’s why we’re together because together we can make it through this. We literally have the key to Heaven in our hands. We can do this. Trust me.”

Seeing the conviction in Cinquo’s eyes fills Due with the light of hope and lightens the pain she is feeling.

“Okay. I trust you. Let’s get to Heaven. Together.”

Hearing Due’s trust in him also fills Cinquo with hope and lightens his pain as well. When they stand up together, Cinquo kisses Due on the cheek, and Due kisses him on the cheek as well. They smile at each other before continuing their journey to Heaven strengthened by each other’s love.