Hell's Gate

Untitled Part 1

"Wake up..."

Darkness is all that can be seen.

"Wake up..."

Light is splitting the blackness.

"For the last time Mr. Patsy, would you please get up?!"

Light rushes through in swathes now. Jaden Patsy's eyes slowly flutter open, such as the way of hoisting the heavy, dusty top off of a treasure chest. At his three o'clock, there was a blonde college age nurse. This must have been the person who so rudely woke me up, was the first thought that popped up in Jaden's head.

Suddenly, Jaden is confused. Why is there a nurse at my side? And how in the hell did I get here? Almost as soon as he asked himself those questions, the realization came that he has been hospitalized once the pain of his cast-covered leg and his gauze-wrapped torso strikes him. For some odd reason, Jaden seems to have no memory of the previous night. "Excuse me ma'am, but how did I get here?"

As the woman was about to answer, there was a flash of light. Hot rage overflowed within Jaden as the attractive nurse becomes a large man garbed in a red hood. In the hand of the ominous man is an unusual yet familiar jagged blade with an ivory hilt. Almost instinctively, Jaden grasps the wrist of the man brandishing the blade and yanked. As the blade falls to the floor, his right hand goes to the throat of the hooded figure.

"WHO ARE YOU?!?"

There is no answer. Similar to the changing of channels on an old television, the man became the nurse once more, with eyes widened by terror, then back to the man, now unhooded with a smile widened by Jaden's outburst.

As a tear rolls down his cheek, Jaden blurts out, "Why did you do this to me?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the assailant coolly responds before letting out a bone chilling cackle.

"You call that an answer, tell me why, damn it!"

Following a sharp feeling in his thigh, Jaden witnesses the man dissipate into the nearly unconscious nurse. Slowly, Jaden's consciousness is fading as he feels four hands compressing his shaking shoulders down onto the hospital bed. As the darkness gradually takes over, he softly inquires, "Where did the man go?"

The world seems to be a forest rendered in black and white.

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

A train is coming.

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

The locomotive is closer.

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

A tunnel can be seen now, breaking the imagery of the forest.

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA

From within the tunnel, a devilish figure rises.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Screams fill the air as a grey inferno surrounds Jaden. The screams shake Jaden to his core, paralyzing his legs. From the flames a multitude of figures, all clad in red, breaking the black and white barrier, frolic like animals. The congregation of cultists stop dancing and face Jaden. Suddenly, all Jaden could hear was laughter. The screams were gone somehow. Fear, like a low hanging noxious smog, chokes Jaden, forcing him to collapse into the fetal position. Barely breathing and looking through tear filled eyes, Jaden could only watch as the horde in red slowly saunters towards him.

"Why," Jaden hoarsely croaks, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Almost like a haunting chorus, the cultists repeated the haunting words he had just heard from the man in red.