Faye, in Hell.

[7twistedwishes]

[[ From here. ]]



On the other side of the door...

Hell...

No, no fire and brimstone. A large room, half living room, half office, tastefully decorated and furnished. Thick carpet, a big couch, several recliners, an old-style desk, bookshelves, filing cabinets... and a computer too.

Classical music plays in the background and the delicate scent of incense hangs in the air.

"Welcome dear, welcome to my house. Enter freely and of your own free will! Go safely when you must, and leave something of the happiness you bring!"

The Devil steps aside to let Faye enter.

Comments

[7twistedwishes]

"Dear, you are just human." They walk along a path... a cliff trail, a low wall separating them from the drop From below comes the endless wailing of the damned.

"The lake of fire is around and inside the pits of hell. There I keep the petty wretched, the malicious nobodies who do not even deserve personalized punishment." The sound is quite unnerving; if she happens to look down, the sight of people burning, diving, surfaving trashing, clawing at each other trying to rise above the torture... is very unsettling.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

She shudders and, without realizing it, pulls herself closer to the Morning Star.

"These are just the people who were horrible in life? Not murderers, but just generally terrible people?" Faye's voice trembles as she looks down.

[7twistedwishes]

"Oh, some were murderers, but their reasons were petty and small." The Devil slips an arm around Faye. "That one, Genevieve I think. She beat a maid to death with a brass candlestick in 1718, because the girl was late bringing the tea. She lived to age 98, all the time thinking the murder was plenty justified." She indicates a burning form, clawing at the walls of the cliff.

"Now, that other, Roger if I remember right, was just a nasty man who loved to make people feel bad. He insulted servers, demanded privileges, had employees of several business fired because they did not cater to his wishes... absolutely self-centered nastyness, that never gave him any advantage. Schadenfraude, I think the germans call it."

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

"I'm well aware of schadenfreude," she murmurs. Perhaps the Devil could feel her trembling. She was suddenly afraid for her mortal soul.

"Are--are there--are there caveats? Like--if--if it's a defense mechanism--if something bad happened, and that's why you're mean?"

[7twistedwishes]

The Devil strokes her hair. "You wwnt to know how you can not end down there, dear?"

The tone is lightly humored.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

She swallows hard. "Yes."

And she hates herself for it, the good little southern belle, but she can't say no, because ending up in Hell is the worst thing she can think of, even worse than watching her father die, worse than losing her mind, worse than Dora and Marty being together...

[7twistedwishes]

The Devil stops and turns to Faye, looking into her eyes. "I did not bring you here to scare you into doing this or that. Just, look inside yourself and ask yourself, why you do what you do?"

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

"It's a defense mechanism," she says quietly. "After my dad died, I--"

She pauses, swallows, looks away for a moment before turning to look at the Devil once more.

"After my father killed himself in front of me, I kind of shut down. I'm getting better, slowly, but interactions with everyday people still scares the hell out of me. No pun intended."

[7twistedwishes]

"So you have your answer, dear." The Devil pulls her close and unfurls large dark-feathered wings. "I think you saw enough of the punishment. Hold on."

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

Faye kind of clings to the Devil, feeling emotionally drained. Hah, emotionally drained already and it's just the beginning of the trip!

"Ready when you are."

[7twistedwishes]

Up, up they go, above the fire and brimstone, towards a flat ahea wrapped in gentle darkness. The field is covered in spheres of blue light, each one maybe three feet across and hovering a foot off the ground.

"I think you will find this more interesting." The Devil lands at the edge of the field of lights.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

Faye lets go and steps away, looking around. She's still shaking, but--hey, she'll get better.

[7twistedwishes]

The gestures at the lights. "Each one of those is a small world... where one of my favorites, those humans who impressed me for some reason, live. Some I rescued from Limbo, even. Touch one and take a look."

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

She looks at the Devil for a moment, and then walks to the nearest sphere and touches it hesitantly.

[7twistedwishes]

A half dozen people in an oversized bed doind the horizontal mambo vigorously, and very, very much enjoying themselves!

Well, the sphere gives a nice 3/4 overhead view, and if Faye moves head, the point of view changes too.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

She withdraws her hand, startled, and looks back at the Devil.

"You're certainly good to the people you take a shine to."

[7twistedwishes]

"Oh, that must be Gino... he was dedicated to the arts of physical pleasure, seduced many people away from their significant others... but he never promised anything more than a night or several of physical enjoyment. Much the opposite, he made sire to mention it was just sex." The devil points under the sphere, from where silverly strands hang, almost invisible. "His pocket world connects to the worlds of other people with similar or just compatible temperaments. Over half the people in that bed are real human souls, not constructs of my doing."

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps I should look elsewhere to get a better look at your work?" She moves toward another nearby sphere.

[7twistedwishes]

The next one shows a casino, people gambling, drinking and having a good time... next one shows a totally different scenario, a group of warriors fighting mosntrous hordes... and obviously enjoying victory...

Checking spheres shows all kinds of people, artists, fighters, hermits, nerds and jocks... each of them doing what they like the most, facing just enough challenge to keep their eternal lives interesting.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

She nods a bit, walking back to the Devil.

"You do a lot of work to keep them happy," she says. "But why? Why them?"

[7twistedwishes]

"Each of them did something that impressed me... that raised them from the seas of humanity. A good mix of pride, will, common sense and a special sine qua non."

She gestures around. "So, I bring them here and give them this. When I am feeling much like releasing a plague to wipe humanity, I come here and remind myself that once in a while someone interesting pops up among the herd."

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

"I don't know why I'm surprised that there are so relatively few of them compared to the billions who have lived and died since humanity began," she says. "But I am."

She shrugs.

[7twistedwishes]

"Oh, but most people would not like to catch my attention." She smirks. "And really, most of those who to try to get it, fail."

She tugs Faye into a hug. Just a hug.

The Devil gives nice, warm and comforting hugs.

[burbonmilkshake.livejournal.com]

Faye, despite her mind screaming that this was wrong, hugs back.

"I kind of get the feeling that I've got your attention somehow."

[7twistedwishes]

"Milliways rarely picks the mediocre ones, dear. And you are almost as lonely as I am." The Devil lets out a small sigh.