DEATHLESS

Meeting Death

          Let me tell you about something that never happened. Something that shook the heavens and laid low the hells. The world will never know, but the ones that saw could never forget. It all started with an accident.

The good thing was, the crash was fast. An 18-wheeler t-boning you isn't a fun experience. Aaron was heading to work, taking his usual route. The light was green, the intersection was empty, but the sun in his eyes stopped him from seeing the truck. Everything was fine until the window shattered, the tires screeched and his car rolled twice. The glass didn't cut Aaron, but he felt it cling to his skin. It felt wrong. He wished he could just force himself to die but his body had other plans.

The truck driver ran up to him. He had tears in his eyes. Aaron wasn't angry, his mind kept saying, "It's OK, it's OK." But only garbled blood and spit-filled groans came out. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," the driver said over and over. A small crowd of people gathered and pushed the man away. Memories slipped in and out of his mind. Nothing seemed to stick, he couldn't focus on any thought or sensation. Consciousness flashed for a moment as he was wheeled into an operating room. "I'm so sorry," he could still hear the driver's voice ringing through his ears. Aaron blacked out.

A bright light, then nothing. It lasted forever then not. A low pool of water lay at the base of an infinite plane. Before Aaron stood an 8-foot-tall angel looking down at a book. Somehow Aaron still felt like he was standing in front of a crowd. His wings were folded, they were a beautiful dark onyx. A ball of fire floating beside the angel allowed Aaron's eyes to finally adjust to the low flickering light. Red slits covered the black wings, they seemed to widen and shorten. As he approached he could tell, they were eyes each trained on him.

"You will be judged for your premeditation."

Aaron trembled, "With what?"

"Hell," the angel said and unfurled his wings. He lifted a quill and dabbed it in a ball of ink that appeared from thin air. He turned towards the large book open before him. He struck in the book, and after two scratches Aaron's surroundings disappeared. He found himself there...hell.

Mountains of clay stood ominously in the distance. Demons the same size as the angel flew through the orange-hued sky, and screams filled the air. If you could touch your whole body to a lit stove then you would know what this layer of hell feels like. He screamed in pain.

An old man hiding behind a nearby rock heard him and scrambled up to Aaron. "Be glad you're not in the river of blood," he pointed to a man being held under a river of boiling blood by 2 bored demons. Aaron screamed again, and tears streamed down his face.

"Take this, it helps." He held up a bluish stone. Aaron took it quickly and it cooled his skin as he held it tightly. The old man's expression suddenly turned to fear and he took off down towards the canyon. A demon hovered in the distance above. He had a crimson stocky body, tattered wings the same color, and clawed feet. He turned to watch the man as he disappeared into the canyon. His eyes traced the old man's trajectory back to Aaron, simply glancing at him before leaving.

Aaron's eyes began to sting with tears, he looked out to a realm of blood, pain, and no death. Premeditation, the word rang in his head with the angel's tone of justice. None of it made sense, the pain was tolerable now, but the feelings of betrayal sent him into an all-new state of confusion. This went on for a few minutes till only numbness remained. He fell to his knees, curled into a ball, and felt 2 streams fall down his cheeks. He began racking his mind for where or how things went wrong. A sound of fluttering in the distance began to buzz in his ears.

The flapping of wings got closer and closer. Aaron hoped if he kept his eyes closed they would fade away. The flapping only became louder to the point where it could no longer be ignored. As he looked up he saw 3 people bundled into the flying demon's arms. He hovered above for a moment before dropping the three on the thick cracked surface. They flopped onto the ground, their bodies thudding on impact before standing up groaning and writhing from the short fall. One was a young man no older than 30, an old woman with a wild glint in her eyes and the last was none other than the same old man that gave Aaron the stone.