Hell Above, Heaven Below: Chapter 2 – Descending Upward

Chapter 2 – Descending Upward

It takes Cupido almost half a day to recover from his injuries, but when he does, he sees that he’s in a shack laying in a bed with some bandages.

“Where am I? Am I alive?” he says to himself as he shakes his head and making sure he’s awake, “I’m alive…I’m alive!” Cupido thanks the God that his parents would pray to as he begins to seriously believe in Him. “But wait…that means that…mom and dad could be alive too.” He gets up and looks at his suit jacket that has been patched up with various different patterns and colors. The same thing has happened to his pants. “What child did this to my outfit? Whatever. It’s not like I’m going to need it. I’m never going to deal with that society ever again. I’d rather go to the under…ground.”

As Cupido exits the shack, he sees that he’s in the underground in a town full of shacks and weirdly dressed people. The lights of the city from above give the city light along with some of the lamps they have lit up. Before he can leave, the girl who saved him sees him as she is coming back home and pushes him back inside. She’s a skinny girl with a half-shaved head with her hair being colored purple and black.

“What are you doing up? You must rest,” she says.

“Who are you? I need to-”

“You need to rest,” the girl says as she forces him to lie down on the bed.

The feeling of being forced to lie down on a bed by a girl who’s dressed in raggedy clothing makes Cupido feel uncomfortable.

“Get off me! Who are you?”

“My name is Amora. I saved your life when you fell from above.”

“Thank you for that, but can you give me some space?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Why should I? I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“Do people here usually get this close to strangers and lay on top of them?”

“No, it’s something that close friends and couples do, and we’re supposed to be together.”

“What makes you think that we’re supposed to be together? I don’t even know you.”

“Because God told a priest who I talk to.”

Cupido looks at Amora as if she’s crazy and if she’d be a girl that he’d like to be with.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I trust in God.”

“How do you know that you’re not being tricked? My parents told me that one of the devil’s greatest tricks is to pretend that he is God.”

“I’m sure of it because you fell out of the sky and because you have this.”

Amora takes out Cupido’s hacking device from underneath the bed.

“My hacking device! Give it to me!” When Cupido gets his device from Amora, he checks it to see if it is critically damaged, but it seems to be in working condition. “Thank you, God, for this second miracle. What makes you think that this is part of the reason that we’re meant to be together, Amora?”

“Because the last people that lead us out of here had the same kind of device that you did.”

“The same people? What were these people like?”

“They told us the same thing about the devil pretending to be God. They also told us that they had a son on the surface. They said that he would eventually come to his senses and follow them.”

Something about what Amora says strikes Cupido and makes his eyes teary as he imagines his parent’s hope for him and how right they were.

“What happened to them? Where are they?”

“They used their device to open the way to the purifying zone. They told us they could only hold the gate open for so long, but some of us went back to get our stuff. By the time we came back, the gate was closed, so we’ve been waiting for another person with a device like yours.”

“Why didn’t your people bring your stuff with you to begin with?”

“Because they told us not to since it would make the journey harder and we doubted their ability to open the way to the purifying zone. So, will you help us?”

“I can’t go back to the surface nor do I want to so I guess I will since it’s better than staying here.”

“Yes! Thank you! I knew you were the one we were waiting for!” Amora says while hugging Cupido.

“Okay, okay! But we have to have some space before we can be in a relationship.”

“You don’t have a choice in that.”

“What?!”

“God wants us to be together so that’s how it’s going to be.”

“Wait, hold on-!” Amora gently kisses Cupido on the lips and his head becomes cloudy for a second before he says, “You can’t just kiss me like!”

“Why not? You’re mine now and I am yours.”

“Why did it feel familiar?” Cupido says to himself while touching his lips, “You weren’t kissing me while I was sleeping, were you?”

“I, um, might have been practicing with you while you were sleeping. There’s nothing wrong-”

Cupido finally pushes Amora away and walks out the door.

“Right. I need to take a walk.”

“Hold on. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Cupido walks into the town while trying to shake Amora off his arm, but since she’s so persistent, he lets her hold his arm. The people in the town are taking their stuff while some argue about staying and how much they should take. Eventually, Cupido finds a priest.

The priest says to him, “Thank God you are awake. We’ve been waiting for your arrival.”

“Amora told me everything. Your people look like they’re in a rush.”

“That’s right. Some people haven’t even taken their things and are waiting by the gate. There’s also the demons from above that take us away from our homes to enslave us.”

“I now know that they act like demons, but are they? I thought demons have horns instead of crowns.”

“Those crowns are their horns. Real angels look very different from them. Now, we must hurry to the gate to reach the purifying zone.”

Cupido walks with Amora and the people from her town through the sewers until they reach the gate. The people there thank Cupido for arriving when he did especially since some were starting to lose hope. He takes a look at the gate and activates his hacking device.

“Hmm. It doesn’t look that hard to open so far. I guess no one thought that anyone would be able to open it,” Cupido says to himself.

“Is it difficult to get a device like yours?” Amora asks.

“You have to be upper middle class or live in a family that hacks like me. The people who use stuff like this aren’t always good.”

“But you are.”

“If you say so. I screwed over many people with this thing to get my way.”

“And now you’re using it to help people. This is your redemption.”

“I hope so.” The gate opens and the people of the town cheer before they go through it. “My parents weren’t lying when they said this gate stays open for so long. It’s hard programmed to slam shut when the gate reaches the roof so we have to move.” As they go further past the gate, Cupido asks Amora, “So what’s special about this purifying zone that will lead us to a better place? I thought it was only a place where the city above reprocesses the waste and makes it into different stuff.”

“Oh no, it’s not that kind of purifying place. It’s a place we have to go through to purify our souls so that we can move on to a better place.”

“That sounds strange, but since mom and dad were right about most things, I should trust them on this too. What’s in this better place anyway?”

“Unlike the surface, the place we’re going to is ruled by God and His angels.”

“Okay, so?”

“God is goodness and truth itself so He will treat us well unlike the devil.”

“If God is goodness and truth itself, then why does He let the devil have control over the surface and underground?”

“Because we separate ourselves from Him, but since He’s merciful, He helps us get to Him.”

“I haven’t been a servant of God for my entire life and you’re trying to say that He’s using me to help you?”

“You don’t think that God helped you get here?”

“No, in fact, I can’t think of another explanation, but still. You seem like better people than I do. Why should we be on the same path together?”

“We all have our sins and weaknesses that we deal with. We’ll become stronger and better together.”

Cupido feels more comfortable being with Amora now in the sense of being friends. Before he knows it, he hears the sound of the gate slam down behind him. The sound is so loud that the angels from above come down from secret entrances.

One of them says, “Cease your useless quest, submit to us, and we will give you an honest existence above. Refuse and you will suffer in jail for all eternity. The path you walk will only lead you to more suffering and even your death.”

“I refuse,” Cupido says without really thinking leading to other people refusing as well.

“So be it then. Round them up!”

The angels try to grab who they can as the people scatter and run away. Cupido and Amora run and keep each other safe as it seems like the angels are targeting Cupido as if they know it was him who opened the gate. In the meantime, the townspeople who get caught are the ones with the most to carry while some throw away their possessions so they can run faster or use them to defend themselves. The angels keep chasing the group until they reach a place where the only way forward is to slide down into the darkness with a small light at the bottom. For some reason, it feels oddly warm in this area.

“We have to slide down!” Cupido says.

“I’m…I’m scared,” Amora says while holding tightly onto him.

Looking around, Cupido sees that no one is sliding down even though more people are getting taken away. He then looks around for any other possible way out and finds none.

Knowing but hating what he has to do, he says to Amora, “Hold on to me.”

Cupido picks her off her feet and she says, “What are you doing?”

“Just promise that you won’t hate me.”

“I won’t but-woah!”

Cupido jumps and slides down into the darkness with Amora screaming and holding onto him. The other townspeople and even the angels are astonished by his bravery and have to stop to look at each other before acting. Some of the townspeople slide down with them with either their spouses or children in their arms or run back the way they came hoping to find another way out. Meanwhile, Cupido and Amora have reached the bottom and have landed on a pile of dirty mattresses that have broken their fall. Amora kisses Cupido then slaps him.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“For saving us but also scaring me.”

“You’re welcome, but what fresh mess have we found ourselves in now.”

“This is it. The purifying zone.”

They seem to be in a factory of some kind with all kinds of machinery processing trash. Flames sprout out from underneath them as they burn the trash and are let out by the machines.

“This is the purifying zone?! This is the place where they get rid of trash!” Cupido says.

“It’s where the ‘trash’ of our souls has to be cleaned to move on to a place where sin doesn’t exist. Come on.”

“Tch. The only way is forward I guess.”

Amora and Cupido make their way through the factory on unstable platforms. The townspeople that have managed to make it down here with their possessions make the unstable platforms even more unstable as some of the platforms fall under their weight while others have their possessions burned from the flames below them and fall as they try to save their things. As this happens, Amora and Cupido continue to lead everyone forward and unknowingly act as their hope. The platforms become smaller and smaller until they become beams that lead to ladders.

“How are people supposed to move around down here?” Amora asks herself.

“No one is really meant to be down here. It’s all automated and controlled from above,” Cupido answers, “Or at least that’s what I think.”

As they continue, those who continue to have possessions on them fall more often. The intense flames and heat make it hard to continue forward and concentrate, however, the dangerous situation and close exit encourage them to keep going a little further. This, of all times, is when Amora slips and almost falls. Cupido catches her arm. He struggles to lift her up and keep his own balance on the beams. The townspeople cheer on Cupido to lift her up while some of them tell him to let her go.

“Let me go and save yourself, Cupido. You can’t save us both,” Amora says.

“Heh, what happened to being so sure that God wanted us to be together?” Cupido says with a reassuring smile as he keeps trying to lift her up.

“I…I enjoyed our time together. Maybe it was meant to be short.”

“Oh please. If your faith in God saving you is so low, then it’s no wonder why we’re here together. Let me show you how it’s supposed to be done.”

Cupido somehow lifts up Amora and puts her on his back to the amazement of all the townspeople.

He then kisses Amora before saying, “Don’t ask how I did it because I have no clue. Let’s go everyone!”

Cupido then leads everyone to the ladder and up into the light. A comforting and strange light that almost blinds him as he enters it.

Hell Above, Heaven Below: Chapter 1 – Climbing Downward

“Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate.”

- St John Climacus

Chapter 1 – Climbing Downward

Many people look to the sky and think about their dreams. Cupido looks to the sky to see the dreams of others come true while the red sky is blocked by skyscrapers made of platinum and silver. He then looks to the bottom to remember where he came from. Memories of working and living in less than comfortable conditions pushed him away from his idealistic parents who didn’t want to conform to the system. Because of this, they were forced to live in the lower poor class who aren’t treated as well as the upper poor class who receive basic living conditions and pay for their conformity to the ideals of the angels. These angels fly in the sky with everyone else in the upper classes with their wings made of gold. One of these angels flies up to Cupido and sits with him on his balcony.

The angel asks, “What troubles you, Cupido?”

“What always troubles me.”

“I see that by looking into your eyes, but you aren’t doing anything about it.”

“I’m working as hard as I can and nothing is changing. Even the people I’ve been working with have been getting little promotions to get ahead of me.”

“That’s because you have to be bold to get ahead. You got here by being bold, didn’t you?”

“I ratted out my parents to you.”

“And that was a bold move.”

“It feels cowardly.”

“No, them resisting arrest was cowardly. They would rather jump off a building and into a sinkhole than pay for their crimes of conspiracy and rebellion.”

“Did you ever find the bodies?”

“They were washed away in the sewers where they belong. Don’t worry about them. Worry about your own goals. I’m sure that’s what they would want you to do even in their rebellious minds.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s your plan anyway?” The angel says as he is looking in the direction Cupido is looking. “Ah, I see. There’s a party at that building you are looking at. They’re going to be exchanging contacts, business advice, and other pleasantries. As far as I know, you aren’t invited.”

“That doesn’t mean that I can’t get in.”

“What are you thinking then?”

“I sneak in, add my name to the list, and join the party to see if they’ll do business with me. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea assuming you can get to the floor that you need to. You are upper middle class not upper nobility like them, so they won’t accept your ID to even get to where you need to be.”

“Who says that I need to get to the floor by conventional means? How much do you want for the flight over there?”

“Nothing at all, my boy. Hearing you come up with the plan and wanting to go through with it is enough for me,” the angel says with a grin.

Cupido is then flown to the building where the party is taking place with a suit. The angel wishes him well as he drops him off before heading off back to his own business. Since Cupido needs to be on the list, he prioritizes fixing it first. Getting to a nearby console, he hacks it with his pocket hacking device that has the appearance of a phone and accesses the home network. He then finds the list and adds his name to it by replacing someone else. To make his appearance at the party look more official, he sneaks back to the entrance without people noticing, and the person who checks off the guests lets him through.

Even though Cupido isn’t as well dressed like everyone else in the room, he doesn’t let their judgmental stares stop him from confidentially approaching a group of people. These people appear to not have judgmental eyes though they do seem to want to test him.

One of them says, “What’s an upper middle class boy like you doing here?”

“I’m doing what everyone is trying to do. Just get ahead in life while enjoying myself.”

“Oh, and you think you deserve to be here with people who are a higher class than you?”

“No, I think I deserve better. Before you know it, I’ll be at the top above the red sky.”

“I like you, kid. What’s your name?”

“Cupido.”

“We’ll be in touch later.”

The group of people walks away from Cupido who is sure he left the right impression on.

A man in a silver suit then approaches Cupido and says, “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhear your conversation with those three people.”

“I don’t mind. Eavesdropping never hurt anyone.”

“Unless exposing that information from the eavesdrop lead to some unfortunate circumstances for the people spied on. I recognize your name and face. You’re the Cupido that sold his revolutionary parents out to the angels. You did the right thing doing it and I hear that you exposed their secret rebel plans by hacking through their computers?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Fine work. Would it be farfetched for me to assume that you used those same skills to get into this party meant for people above you?”

“What does it matter if I did?”

“Very fine work. A man does have to pull at the strings of the industry and politics to get ahead in life. I’ll be talking to you later.”

With two opportunities under his belt, Cupido decides to get some food and drink to relax and pick out more opportunities. While getting food, he overhears a conversation that he can’t help but listen to.

“You’re going to have to offer more than that. I’m still waiting for those workers from the underground that you promised me,” one woman says.

“My retrieval teams have yet to find them but rest assured that you will get them. For now, how about you accept the children under my care?” the man asks.

“Are you sure? The last batch didn’t fare too well especially with their more under the table duties. It’s a shame about that accident that happened to them,” the woman responds.

“I’ll offer you my own children in addition to the ones I’m sending then. They need the experience under their belt.”

“Now this is a deal. It’s always a pleasure doing business to you,” the woman says as she shakes the man’s hand.

“Upper nobility class trash always selling their children and workers to get ahead,” Cupido mutters under his voice.

It is now that Cupido remembers how his parents were offered a promotion and raise in exchange for Cupido to work in an upper class factory and how they refused. This makes Cupido sneak away to get back into the building’s network with his pocket hacking device to find the transaction of workers that he heard about. Using this network, he sends off the children to work for a company owned by the lower nobility and contracts the man to work for the woman instead along with other upper nobility.

“It may not be common for the upper nobility to sell themselves to each other, but it has happened sometimes because of me,” Cupido whispers to himself, “At least there aren’t as many scummy people in the lower nobility.”

As Cupido exits his hiding place, a group of guards with angel wings arrives at the party. Sensing that he’s been found out for his hacking, he tries to stay as far away as he can until he eventually gets caught.

“Is there something the matter, officer?” Cupido says as innocently as possible.

“Upper middle class people like you should know your place,” the officer says before smacking Cupido in the face, “The person whose name you replaced with your own is here. You will be punished for your crimes.”

Cupido is carried by his neck to the balcony where he is thrown down. The angel that was talking to Cupido passes by him as he falls.

“Hey! I need help!” Cupido calls out.

The angel stops to look down at Cupido to smile and laugh before continuing on his way. Seeing this makes Cupido lose all hope for his survival.

“What was I imagining?” he thinks to himself, “I was never going to make it in this world. My parents had the right idea and now, I’m going to suffer the same fate as them. If only I could say sorry to them.”

Cupido then falls into a sinkhole and into the sewers of the city as his body is carried away. Meanwhile, a girl from the underground sees this and wonders if this is who she’s been waiting for. She chases after him and manages to swim and put him on solid ground. Cupido is barely alive so she drags him off to get him help.

My next short story is out for free!

Download for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1063222

There are only two kinds of people, slaves and the free. The slaves work and live like slaves under so-called angels who feed them muck and pay them with golden decaying maggots. Due and Cinquo are two slaves who become free during a firestorm. Becoming free grants you and your partner the key to Heaven, but will they be able to find it when the world is against them?

The Path of Love and Suffering: Chapter 3 – Agony Until the End

Chapter 3 – Agony Until the End

Cinquo and Due exit the sewers and find themselves in a residential area of town. The sight of this calm neighborhood fills the two with a weird sense of nostalgia.

“Do you think our parents remember us?” Due says as they walk through the neighborhood while trying to avoid attention.

“I doubt it. Parents bear children and raise them at their homes while the schools taught us and send them off to the city to work then do the same exact thing over again with a new set of children. Besides, all slaves basically look the same.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Why? Did you think they would help us?”

“Maybe. I’m really hoping that anyone will help us at this point.”

“Me too, but you don’t know who will betray us just like how Tribus and Four were betrayed.”

“You think it’s true that the angels ambushed us because we were betrayed?”

“I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t believe what Tribus said. Just because a person is free, doesn’t mean that they won’t become slaves again. You were ready to give up not too long ago.”

“That’s right. I guess I can understand why something like that would happen.”

As they aimlessly continue forward, they watch as two free teenagers, two boys sneak around a house. They quickly get to them and almost scare them.

“You’re free like us?” one of the boys asks.

“We are. What are you two? Brothers? Best friends?” Cinquo asks.

“Best friends,” a different boy answers, “My name is Sei. This is Uno.”

“What are you doing here?” Due asks.

“The people at the hideout we were at was betrayed by someone. I don’t know who, but we got out just as the angels were attacking.”

“We were just there. Tribus and Four lead us to it,” Cinquo says.

“Are they okay? They brought us to the hideout and taught us a lot about the world,” Uno says.

“I think they are. We lost them as they covered our escape as the angels were attacking us.”

“Hopefully they’re okay.”

“But what are you two doing here? Is there a safe place to hide around here?” Due asks.

“We’re here to find our parents,” Sei says.

“Are they free like us?”

“No, they’re slaves but they have helped us. We were just going back home after getting whatever food we could find.”

“You didn’t steal it, did you?”

“No, we have a neighbor who is also a slave that grows food in their backyard. They give us whatever little they can spare. You should come back home with us.”

Curious about these slaves who willingly help their free children, Cinquo and Due agree to the boys’ home. Surely enough, when they enter the suburban house, they find four parents who have the appearance of slaves. They converse with them and it turns out that they have their senses relatively clear and can see the injustices done to the free while not completely understanding it. Unfortunately, the dinner they are having together is broken up by a squad of hunter angels who say that they were sold out by the neighbor who gave them their food.

The boys, their parents, and Cinquo and Due are dragged from the house to a crater that separates the city and neighborhood. Along the way, they are repeatedly told by the angels to submit to them, but none of them do. At the crater, the parents of the boys are the first to be brought near the edge.

“Show your children what a real parent is supposed to do by submitting to us!” an angel says.

“We refuse!” the parents say before they are pushed down the seemingly bottomless pit.

The boys are next and told by an angel, “Submit to us and we’ll spare you. We’ll even make you rich and let you live like kings!”

“We’d rather die with our parents!” the boys say.

“So be it,” the angel says as the boys are thrown into the crater.

Cinquo and Due are brought to the edge and look over it.

“You’ve seen what happens to everyone who fights us at that hideout of yours and what is happening here. Submit to us and you can rule the world with us,” an angel says. Both Cinquo and Due look at each other as they firmly hold each other’s hands. “What’s it going to be? Your lives? Or your souls?”

“Our lives,” Cinquo says.

“What about you?” the angel asks Due.

“What he said,” Due answers.

Cinquo and Due are then thrown into the crater as they hold onto each other and accept their fate. Before they know it, they land at the bottom of the crater alive and well enough to walk.

“We’re…we’re alive?” Cinquo asks.

“We are! But how are we going to get out of here?” Due asks before she sees a light ahead of them with six figures walking towards it.

These six figures are the parents and Sei and Uno. The parents run to Cinquo and Due and help them up and tell them that they found the gate to Heaven. As they walk closer to the light of the gate, it is revealed that the parents of the boys have been freed and now appear to look half-human with the key to Heaven in their held hands. Sei and Uno place their hands where the imprint of hands are and the gates open with a thunderous roar. This roar attracts the attention of the angels above who fly down to try to stop the eight from entering Heaven, however, the force that is exerted from the door opening is too much for the angels as they are kept at bay by it while the boys enter Heaven. The force continues even as the door closes and waits for the next couple to put their hands on the imprint.

When it’s finally Duo and Cinquo’s turn, they kiss each other as they put their hand on the imprint then smile as they enter Heaven’s light after so much struggling, pain, sacrifice, and love, which ends up being the only path to Heaven.

The End

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.

The Path of Love and Suffering: Chapter 1 – The Key to Heaven

Chapter 1 – The Key to Heaven

There are only two kinds of people in the world. Slaves and the free. The slaves are the people of the world who consume whatever the angels produce. On the other hand, the free are human-like beings who were once slaves and whose minds aren’t as easy to sway and corrupt.

“Poor and rich alike should gather around for today is the most blessed day of the week! Payday!” angels announce to all people around the city.

Slaves gather around where the angels are with some grasping at the sky as they eagerly await the fruits of their labor. One angel dispenses golden coins in the form of maggots while another throws up muck upon the slaves. The slaves take as much as they can and fight over it until a storm of flames comes into the city.

“Get to shelter! The devil is sending another firestorm!” the angels say as they scatter.

Slaves from all around the city run to cover while others take advantage of the chaos to scavenge whatever food or money they can, force other slaves to pay for shelter, and steal from other slaves or outright kill them or make sure they can’t get into a shelter. The firestorm washes over the city and burns whoever is outside. Those burned by the flames are burned to ashes along with their shelter while others suffer minor to major burns. Even some of the angels aren’t safe from the firestorm despite their strong shelters and strong skin. Two particular slaves, a man and a woman, hide in a building and get close to one another as the flames enter the building and close in on them. They look at each other and feel a strange connection that makes them hold each other’s hand. This pushes back the fire in the building and gives them both a half-human appearance with some basic raggedy clothes and a cross-like wooden stake piercing their held hands. When the firestorm is over, they smile at each other.

The man asks, “What’s your name?”

“Due. What’s your name?”

“Cinquo. It looks like…”

“We’re free. We’re human now.”

“Or at least partially. What do we do now?”

“We’re free now! We can go to Heaven!”

“But where do we find the gate to it?”

“God is supposed to show us hints to find it. The gate is always supposed to appear near the free, but not too close. We should ask the angels for help!”

“Yeah, let’s see what they can tell us.”

Since Cinquo can see clearer, he sees something wrong in the angels and pulls Due away from their sight.

“What is it?” Due asks.

“Is it me or is there something weird about the angels?”

Due takes a look then says, “There does seem to be something wrong with them. They look the same as they always do, but there’s something about them that I can’t put my finger on.”

An angel with a large eye in its head-sized mouth and a single arm surveys the area and sees Due and Cinquo and alerts the angels and slaves of their presence with a blaring alarm sound that it makes while pointing at them.

“A free duo has been spotted,” an angel with a mouth for a face announces, “The person or people who help us catch them will be rewarded with extra pay and food.”

The slaves look in the direction that the angel is pointing and look at Due and Cinquo with their dead and desiring eyes. Seeing what is about to happen, the two run as fast as they can through the building and up the stairs since the ground floor is being flooded by slaves and hunter angels that are after them. They keep running up the stairs until they reach the rooftops and realize that there’s nowhere else to run.

Looking over to the closest building, Cinquo says, “We have to jump over to it!”

“Can we make it?”

“It looks like it.”

Trusting Cinquo, Due nods her head and runs with Cinquo as they jump over to the other building. They don’t make it to the other rooftop and end up crashing through one of the windows instead. The angels and slaves that jumped with them to the other building follow while some of them crash to the ground in the mad dash to catch them. Due and Cinquo continue to jump between buildings while getting closer to the ground until they jump into a damaged shelter that begins to fall apart. Angels with functioning wings fly out of the building while the angels with non-functioning wings and other slaves continuing the chase while trying to avoid the rumble.

This chaos gets Due and Cinquo on the ground and allows them time to hide as their pursuers are trapped under the rubble and confused as to where they went. As they move away from the chaos, Due starts to limp.

“Are you okay?” Cinquo asks.

“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up,” she responds while trying to hide the real pain she is feeling.

Their bond tells Cinquo how she is really feeling so he says, “Let me carry you.”

This bond then lets Due know that Cinquo is in just as much pain as she is so she says, “No, don’t. You look just as beat up as me.”

“We’ll find a safe place and rest for a bit there. I promise I won’t push myself too hard.”

Due looks at Cinquo before nodding. Cinquo then carries her on his back as they leave the area as fast as possible as the pain in their held hand and pain from the action slows them down.

“Due and Cinquo are devil-possessed slaves,” angels announce in all sectors of the city while another angel shows them an image of them, “Various heroic servants and angels risked their lives to catch these criminals only to be injured and killed. The criminals even brought down a building on those who are trying to protect you. If you see them, hide from them, report them, catch them, or killed them if you can, but whatever you do, don’t listen to whatever they say. To be free like them is to be a slave and to be a slave to us is to be free.”

“Are they really blaming us for what happened to the people that chased us? Everyone knows people get injured or killed when they chase people who look like us,” Due says.

“I don’t know what’s happening. What the angels are saying made sense to me before, but now they make no sense at all. It’s like a cloud was preventing me from seeing the truth of what they were saying and now I can’t remember why I believed them. Ack!”

“Let me down. I feel better now.”

As Cinquo lets down Due, they see slaves around them watch them from the darkness. Some slip away when they are noticed out of fear while others watch them with hungry eyes.

“Come on,” Cinquo says as he pulls Due forward as a group of slaves chases them down an alley, “I don’t know why the angels want to capture and kill us when the free are meant to go to Heaven, but we have to hide for now.”

“Okay but slow down a bit. It feels like my hand is going to be torn apart.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose and we can’t slow down.”

Due tries to keep up while trying to ignore the pain with Cinquo. Her weariness and his begin to take their toll as they slow down and Due tries to relax her hand that is pierced together with Cinquo’s. This only causes them more pain.

“What are you doing?” Cinquo asks.

“Trying to loosen this thing on us!”

“Don’t mess with it! It’s our key to Heaven!”

Due and Cinquo keeps bearing with the pain while holding onto each other’s hand until they make a turn down an alleyway where they are caught by someone in the darkness.

“Shh,” a man says in their ears as the slaves pass them.

“Who are you?” Cinquo whispers.

“Someone free like you. When I heard about you and where that recent shelter fall, I took some people with me to take you to a place where we can hide.”

Cinquo and Due turn around to look at the man who saved them and he looks like them with a half-human appearance and raggedy clothes that look like it’s been through a war. With him, is a woman who is wearing similar rags.

“Do you know how we can get to Heaven?” Due asks.

“I know just as much as you. The gate spawns near the newly freed but not too close as it is said in the forbidden Scriptures. Your key looks a little loose. What? Do you already want to go back to being a slave again?”

“No, this key is painful to have is all.”

“Try to ignore the pain as much as you can. It took my friend and me a while to get used to it and it still feels like the same day we got it.”

“Follow us and we’ll tell you everything that you need to know,” the woman partnered with the man says. The sound of angels flying and sending their announcements can be heard close by. “We should get moving.”

“Okay,” Cinquo says.

“Thank you for your help,” Due says.

The two nod before they lead Cinquo and Due to a hatch that takes them under the city as their journey to Heaven begins.

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