Epic violence + Rampant man-love

Greetings friends, inspired by Lusted's recent bout at writing i decided to write the second installment of the short story i posted here a while back.

Now im posting the old part in as well because most of you probably forgot it. Either way enjoy-

“Declan was a good man.” That’s what they said at his funeral, and it was true. His friends mourned Declan with grave and passionate anguish, Declan’s wife cried in lament for true love lost.

“The world is a worse place for losing him.” The priest had also said this, again he spoke the truth. Declan had touched the hearts of almost everyone he met, his sense of self sacrifice was surpassed only by his repeated self-depreciation. Depression aside, Declan had made every attempt to be a selfless man and he was loved for it.

“He is with God now.” The oration had finished with these five simple words. They were however, entirely incorrect. Declan was an Atheist.


The room was circular, with no windows and no apparent light source. Yet Declan could see, uncurling from the foetal position and picking himself up he felt eerily free. In life a great weight was always on his shoulders, his mind his very existence had been akin to forcing yourself forward against the will of some invisible entity. Here, for the first time he truly felt like he could move without restriction or fear. In this small, grey and overbearingly dull room, Declan experienced the greatest joy he had ever known. As if he were awake for the first time and suddenly realised he was in control of a wondrous existence. He felt alive! This last feeling snapped Declan back to reality like a bungee cord. Most likely due to the fact that the last thing he saw was a bus, the last thing he felt was that bus on his face and then for a few brief seconds a very hard pavement.
“I'm dead…”
The pain of realisation seared through Declan's already fragile mind, his previous elation collapsing around him and dragging him ever further downwards. Collapsing back into the foetal position he had recently rejected, he spent several hours mourning his lost life. In the many years of self-deprecating depression Declan had learned to lament like no other, yet for all his mild attention seeking tendencies this time his emotion was geared towards his real love for those lost. His wife, his friends, even the degradation of his monotonous job seemed homely and somehow comfortable in its familiarity. No longer did he care if people pitied his sorrow, for the first time in his existence Declan escaped his lust for self-gratification and merely grieved for the sake of grief.

After picking himself up for the second time Declan remembered he was in fact an atheist. So what was this place that could fill him with such indescribable joy? Albeit after the acceptance of his end. Walking slowly towards the oddly familiar door he noticed a barely legible placard above the doorframe: “Welcome”
“To where… Surely I couldn’t have been… but that’s insane… this place doesn’t even exist.”
Turning away he faced the numbing blankness of the wall. The very existence of his body and mind shook the foundations of his belief system. For the second time in what seemed like countless hours Declan was forced to confront a horrible truth. His entire belief system, his morals and his shaken sanity had all been utterly wrong. He had lived his life in utter opposition to the truth, falling to his knees the sombre individual took his head in his hands and wept. However Declan soon sprang up to his feet in urgent calculation. If he was wrong then he must be in the afterlife, if he is in the afterlife and he is not in a lake of fire then he was not a bad person! Breathing a huge sigh of long awaited relief Declan had finally attained the validation he had tried so hard to find in his life. He was not a terrible excuse for a man! He was chosen for a pure heart even though he didn’t believe it possible! Turning around and striding to the door he reached out for the handle and prepared himself to meet the almighty.

The door creaked with an eerie imperfection as Declan struggled embarrassingly with what seemed like an easy task. When he looked up from his labour he realised he was in another dingy room not much larger than the previous one. A man in a strangely makeshift suit was staring at him intently as if he wanted to say something but was gauging his behaviour. Declan met his gaze and straightened up as he realised the man was standing in front of a locked door.
“You're not gonna freak out are ya?”
“I'm sorry what? Who are you?”
“Ya seem normal enough, some of the guys get a little shaky when they pass over, get a little messed up in the head, you know what I mean buddy?”
“Umm, no actually I have no idea where the hell I am or who in God’s name you are!”
“Ha! God? I thought you were an Atheist buddy, the names Abaddon, and the boss has been expecting you”
“Abaddon? An Angel? … Am I important enough that God sends an angel to greet me in heaven?”
The man laughed and it seemed his mouth could barely contain his movements. His mouth stretching inhumanly and his face contorting as if his skin did not quite fit.
“You're definitely the guy buddy! The boss said you’d be naïve! Whew! Heaven… boy I haven’t laughed like that in a while”
Declan felt a stab of panic and confusion attack his wonderfully crafted fantasy of cosmic importance and eternity of bliss.
“Wh...what are you saying? This isn’t heaven? Then what is this?”
“Buddy… You're in Hell”
Staggering and stumbling to escape from what could only be a demon Declan tripped and realised for the third time today a terrifying notion. Hearing footsteps he faced the floor and attempted to repent for his misdeeds in life.
“Relax buddy, don’t believe everything you hear”
Offering his hand to Declan the creature didn’t appear at all demonic. In fact he saw surprisingly nothing threatening in Abaddon.

With a sense of utter abandon, Declan joined hands with a demon

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abaddon lifted the cowering man to his shaky feet with little effort. Wincing, Declan grabbed his arm to nurse the pain and an odd burning from contact with the demon.
“Ok there’s a few things you need to know my main man”
“…Yes?”
The quivering man presented a most pathetic sight squared off against the beautifully self-assured contrast of Abaddon.
“First things first you gotta stop acting like a coward and get a hold of yourself, you're very important to the boys in there, if they see me drag your sorry ass in there blubbering and wailing for ya mummy they’ll laugh us both into limbo!”
The tough love manoeuvre only served to frighten the poor man even more. The sight of a demonic entity in apparent disgust and anger at him was more than Declan could bear and he slumped into unconsciousness and onto the floor.

“Ok ok kid im sorry”
Declan awoke to see the fearsome creature squatting over him and grinning fiendishly and the bathetic mess below him
“Look you have to realise that were not here to torture ya, were sharing the pain my friend. There’s no lake of fire or pitchforks waiting for you, only the agonising sorrow… but you’ll get used to that”
Declan’s eyes were now wider than golf balls.
“Pain? Agony? What are you talking about!? What are you going to do with me?”
“Jesus ****ing weak willed Christ kid I just told you its not me that’s gonna hurt ya!”
“Then who is? What is going to happen to me?”
“Look when we get to the real part of Hell you're gonna realise where you are… then you're gonna realise that your separated from God for all eternity… theeeeen, you might start to feel a little headache”
“That’s all?”
“Not exactly, you see its… well its not important now first thing is to getcha on ya feet and to the boss. Like I said he wants to see you. I mean just look around, you think everyone gets this luxury entrance to hell?”
“Luxury!?”
The memory of the past few hours of insurmountable depression still lingered in Declan’s head. Moreover the dank and equally morose surroundings had not left the impression of a grand entrance.
“You think everyone enters by themselves in their own room? You think they get time to mourn their beloved before they realise where they are? Boy this is really something!”
Declan merely stared in guilty contemplation at the floor whilst Abaddon strode over to the door and proceeded to unlock it.
“Ok my man this is your last chance to savour what little ignorance you have left of your situation… it’s a little much at first but just be glad you’ve got a great guy like me to watch your back!”

Declan’s eyebrows rose at the first inclination of safety around this monstrosity. The giddy feeling of importance he had felt earlier on had mutated into a malignant dread of why exactly he was to meet the devil himself. How should he behave? Prostrate and begging for mercy? Or perhaps a cool boredom like the heroes of Hollywood would pull off? Unfortunately Declan conceded that every time he had fantasised about a slick demeanour under pressure it had been almost universally demolished with seconds of a practical encounter. Somehow Declan could never escape the cold, tight and altogether piercing adrenaline that struck his chest in the moment of action. His smooth sidle would be punctuated with quivering legs and a faltering voice before the face of pertinent conflict. As such Declan’s wild plan of facing off with the devil was utterly eradicated before he even decided which eyebrow to raise in bemused disappointment at Satan’s quarters. Cowardly prostration it is…
“Ok I think im ready…”

With a low groan the door swung inwards, Abaddon stepped out of Declan’s sight and the unnervingly charismatic voice beckoned him onwards. At first Declan considered shutting the door and hiding in the apparent cell, but the disturbing ease with which he had been manhandled earlier on deflated his master plan. Stepping out and over the threshold he was in a poorly lit corridor leading to an open portico where Abaddon was standing expectantly. The heavy air, drab colours and overall gloomy appearance of the place made Declan feel as though he was being led through a worryingly dirty hospital. As he approached the portico more of the impending environment became apparent, the height at which he realised this entrance was situated hit Declan like the bus that killed him.

A vast cavern awaited with gaping hunger as Declan stepped onto the red rock of the descending slope. The vast hollow was illuminated in the same mysterious fashion as Declan’s entry point, but the clear air only served to make the crimson stone of the walls seem all the more bloody and terrifying. The slope hugged the cave wall to Declan’s left and skirted around an unbelievably huge herd of shambolic figures moving towards a smaller and more reassuringly constructed set of doors near the end of Declan’s path. Looking to his right he witnessed the crushing multitude of souls entering hell from a seemingly shifting portal. An exact entry point was not visible but the air was hazier and darker around the hypnotic mess. However the vision of that brutally endless and malformed river was not nearly the most horrifying part of the experience. The searing cacophony of wailing souls being packed together and pushed ever onwards was terrifying beyond belief, the higher pitched shrieks of women and children gasping and crying for help pierced Declan’s ears and punctuated the low and monotonously eternal wail of the men. The full force of that gruesome sight had Declan on his knees in tearful fright; Abaddon’s bemused expression did nothing to sooth his gibbering breakdown.
“Th… This Place! Why is this happen… Ahhh! Christ My head!”
“I see you're finally realising where you are then!” Chuckling to himself Abaddon’s taunts seemed worse than the lake of fire Declan expected.
“How can you laugh at this?! You monster!”
“Ha ha! Monster! You got me there buddy im a ****ing demon for Chrissake! Look I’ve been watching this scene for the better part of eternity, eventually you’ll get used to it as well. Just like the pain…”
“This pain is permanent!?”
“So to speak my man, you see the notion of being entirely separated from our creator is all fine an dandy to talk about right? But now it’s actually happened and now, heres the clincher, you know it’s happened. Your head is filled with the rejection of our “divine father”, wracked with guilt, tormented by the agony of your complete failure.”
Abaddon began pacing back and forth whilst Declan writhed around clutching his temples. Apparently completely oblivious to his companion’s utter torture Abaddon further propounded his wisdom on the notion of hell’s torturous existence.
“See this is what intrigues me, its pathetic self depreciating humans such as your charming self that suffer all the more. The cocky self-assured bastards seem to get used to the idea of the pain far quicker. Of course they still feel the pain like you, but we think that the depressive losers amplify their own pain because they add to God’s rejection with their own.”
“…Help me…”
“Now now my delectable Declan, do you think im in any less pain than you”
“How can…you…aargh…stand this?”
“Practice buddy, an eternity of mind numbing practice”

thoughts anyone?

Bueno!

Nice, maybe a little more of a discussion between the self stled Abbadon and Declan would be in order...

Thanks guys!

The discussions are on their way, but i wanted to save the real descriptions and explanations for the journey to, and the conversation with lucifer.

right now i like the sense of bewilderment given to both declan and the reader

Intresting, though midly depressing story

Thanks Kscott! Heres another segment of the story for anyone interested.

Rolling rather closely to the precipice of the pathway Declan continued to scream for longer than he could possibly measure in his present state. Abaddon however was merely sitting on the edge of the slope and musing on the river of souls that was violently passing by. After some time, Abaddon merely stood up and grabbed Declan to stop him convulsing.
“Alright you little bastard get a grip! Once the boss sees ya we might be able to sort you out a little remedy”
Picking him up Declan was far too preoccupied with the symphony of fire exploding in his head to hear clearly what Abaddon was muttering about getting his hopes up again. Unfortunately Declan’s anguish was inextinguishable and even before Abaddon had reached the bottom of the sloping pathway he had become fed up with Declan’s incessant sobbing. He swung the mess of a man off his shoulder like a rag doll and onto the dusty trail; engulfed in his misery Declan barely even registered the transition.
“Ok this is getting ridiculous my friend, you’re not even gonna make it past the second checkpoint like this…” sighing heavily he rolled up his sleeves, “I'm not even supposed to be doing this you know…”
Picking his charge up he propped him up against the cave wall, he then realised he had literally aimed the hysterical man at the most traumatic scene in existence. Promptly spinning him around Abaddon crouched in front of Declan and held his head up.
“Look at me buddy, look at me! Now listen up ok? You’re in excruciating agony because you feel you deserve it. We can lower that down to tolerable anguish and mild hysterics if you just realise something. You are a good man.”
Through the babbling gibberish Abaddon was able to make out the weak protestations of the man at such an apparently ridiculous notion.
“You think that no one knows the terrible things you have thought and done? Oooh I get it you’re the big bad human with a heart of pure evil right? Sure buddy, tell that to the boss. The truth is we’ve been watching you for a long time, especially the boss, and coz we’ve been watching what you do and how you feel we know if your good or not. Even more important amigo, is that you understand we are of a different plane to your ex-material existence. You know what that means? That means I can see the heart of your soul and I can see if it’s pure or not. How do you think we separate all these morons behind ya?”
Declan’s shivering body began to slow down with every word of the demon’s speech. Soon he was merely sprawled on the floor clutching his head in only moderate torment.
“Well it shouldn’t have been that easy… I had a great speech prepared to ya lousy son of a *****!”
“Leave me alone”
The pathetic mewing did nothing to stop Abaddon from hauling him up to his feet and expecting him to stand by himself. Swaying heavily and still avoiding looking anywhere above his clammy palms Declan was still a laughable sight.
“This will have to do friend, lets haul ass somewhere a little quieter.”
Taking Declan by the hand he dragged him towards the building ahead. As they neared the construct it became increasingly apparent that a clear majority of the herd was being sent in one eerily foreboding direction away from the two travellers whilst a sizeable portion of the river was being diverted into a noticeably cleaner environment nearer to them. The closer they got, the more visible the dark opening became and the figures of taller creatures stood out forcing the flow of humanity apart and choosing who would go where. As Declan raised his weary head and observed the odd spectacle he was aghast at the fearsome hall of souls writhing in agony, stretched off as far as the eye could see. More terrifying still were the creatures that could only have been demons packing the poor victims into the endless space with relentless ferocity. Noticing his companion begin to wretch in fear Abaddon stopped leading the way.
“Relax kiddo were not headed over there! That’s for the real mean mother****ers! Believe me you don’t wanna go anywhere near that place. First off its full of bastards constantly wailing for help, just the sound of it is enough to make a guy go mad and join em! Second off we got the boys rotatin’ over there making sure they don’t escape and **** up our part of hell. So if you get too close and one of em don’t notice ya you’l get pushed all the way in and chances are never make it out! So don’t **** around over there ya hear!?”
“Yes… of course… it’s just that I don’t see why you helped me out with my pain and yet you leave them in there to rot. Don’t you care?”
“Care? Not a chance buddy! Those sick ****s are the rapists, murderers and most corrupt people that had their opportunity on earth. Not only do they deserve to get what’s coming to em, but even if we did try and help em their guilty consciences don’t let the pain get any better, and neither does the big man either.”
“Satan is punishing them for their actions on earth?”
“Ha! It was the boss who first tried to help em; even the ones that repent now are given no quarter. We can’t give them any solace in the strength of their character because lets face it, they have none. They’re a lost cause compadre so forget em, anyone of em would have stabbed you in the back for a 50 back on earth.”
“Then where are we going?”
“On to the left, passed the holding area and straight into the penthouses baby!”
Declan had half a mind to enquire as to what the “Holding area” actually was, but the notion of a more luxurious existence swept over his anxiety like a wave of hot chocolate.

Please help me improve with honest criticism!

Originally Posted by Thread title

Epic violence + Rampant man-love

Why? There's little actual violences. As for the man-love...

I like it. Gimme some mo'...

Well i was complaining about the lack of attention that this topic recieved but then Kscott told me it was all about attracting people with the title.

the rest is history...

KScott has been reading Copywriting 101? It also says there that the headline needs to create a promise that the inside text can fulfill. And it does not deliver the promised man-love, not even some demon-man love...

I kid... I like it and wanna see whre you're headed with it...

Originally Posted by MoROmeTe

KScott has been reading Copywriting 101? It also says there that the headline needs to create a promise that the inside text can fulfill. And it does not deliver the promised man-love, not even some demon-man love...

I kid... I like it and wanna see whre you're headed with it...

Bull. I could write a book titled Running in the Fields of Rainbows and have it about a pyscho killer. The author has no obligation to fufil preconcieved notions that the reader may form from reading the title.


btw Rez, this is getting damn intresting, can't wait for some more.

This will be the last segment i am posting on the TWC, i have gauged the interest and it seems good. You might see some nicer snippets from later on when i get there. But do not think i have stopped writing. Anywhay here you are

In the fair distance from Azazeal’s desk to the final portal to what Declan had mentally dubbed ‘happy hell’ a rather large queue of approved souls was waiting to finally make it to an ironic salvation. Abaddon dragged him into line and slouched irritably ignoring Declan’s hilariously painful excitement. Looking around at the first semi-familiar company he had seen in what seemed like an eternity Declan was beginning to feel some hope. Unsurprisingly he did not recognise anyone in the crowd around him, he was dismayed at first but then realised what a horrible thing it was to hope for the death of a familiar face. Internally scolding himself for his unforgivable insensitivity his facial expressions were a source of apparent amusement for Abaddon, who clearly was in need of some mirth.
“Ha ha! Buddy you’re a real catch you know that? Here I am ****** off like you wouldn’t believe and all I have to do is look at your face. It’s like a friggin roller coaster! Painfully happy, sadly in pain, good old simple pained, excitedly pained, I could go on for the whole queue!”
“Please don’t…”
Declan’s realisation of apparent importance had led him to new heights of confidence. He was quite sure that Abaddon was not to harm him until he had met with the devil. As long as Declan was able to blot out the ending of his journey an air of safety and calm pervaded in his mind. Unfortunately for Declan, whenever he had tried vigorously not to think about something it only made him obsess about the forbidden thought all the more. From exam results to his wedding night Declan was an insecure mess when it came to his future. As such he was getting further and further away from the confidence instilled by his apparent importance and far closer to a gibbering wreck of fear. But at least for now he was able to maintain a veneer of normality, or at least he hoped so.
“Aww come on buddy im only messin with ya! We gotta have some fun in this literally God-damned line.”
Stretching over the top of the heads of the surrounding crowd Abaddon bellowed out to the far end of the hall.
“Hey you sons of *****es I got important cargo here! Hurry this damned line up will ya! For the love of all that is free amigo you’d think they’d have cleared a path for us VIP’s wouldn’t ya? I mean im Abaddon man, a ****ing Seraphim! And I gotta wait in line with these new saps? You must be shittin me! Aw im sorry kid I didn’t mean to take it out on ya, im still ****** from that ****er Azazeal takin advantage of my recent fall from grace.”
Abaddon’s furiously transitional mood and temper were becoming rather unpredictable to Declan, a man unused to volatile personalities taking care of him. However the swift apology gave Declan enough comfort and confidence to ask a little of Abaddon, he was smart enough to avoid his recent troubles however as Declan had no wish to see Abaddon angered any further.
“Might I ask what you meant by being a Seraphim?”
“Heh, you sure are a polite one, I like that in a person. Don’t look so relieved it doesn’t matter whether I like you or not my man, in the end we all have our duties and were all gonna fulfil em. But you wanna know about my rank? Well let me tell you my friend we got a lot of time to kill in this crappy line, we may as well talk about me. See the Seraphim are the highest order of Angels in Hell, then it goes the Cherubim and then the thrones. That’s the first sphere of Angels; the other two are full of lesser angels. Sure they’re good guys and the try hard, but all the important guys are in the first sphere. The best of the best being in the Seraphim, except of course for the boss. But we’ll get to that in a moment, right now were talking about how im in the highest order of Angels in this business. That means I got clout you no what I mean? Lower order Angels respect me because I am a greater being than them and that means im stronger. Kinda like Mr Corleone in “the Godfather,” man I love that movie! You ever see it? If I gotta give one thing to you humans it’s those gangster movies!”
In that instance Declan finally realised why this demon spoke in such a ridiculous accent, he appeared to be emulating the roguish heroes of humanity!
“Yes I enjoyed the film ver…”
“Yeah that’s great buddy im talking here. So I don’t actually threaten any of the other boys, naa there’s no need to. They respect my place in the order of things, and I respect them. Because goddamn us kid every one of those angels made the greatest sacrifice in history to be here. Every ****in one of em is a hero you understand? So remember that next time Zavebe’s around, he may not be much of a Spiritual entity but hell, he’s braver than any human who ever lived.”
“Yes yes… I wouldn’t dream…”
“Still talking here amigo, what happened to your manners? Anyway there’s one exception to the order of things. The boss, he’s a cherubim. Technically lower in rank to me, but that don’t mean **** when you consider what he’s done for us, and for you kiddo. He was the one who stood up to God himself demanding liberty! He was the one who freed humanity! And he was the all-star hero that chased Satan and his grimy assed accuser complex right back up to heaven! Believe me boy you better thank him for that last one! So he transcends the order and no one says a thing, because were all too grateful to care. Not only that but he treats us all with respect.”
In the midst of the pressing crowd and weary faces Declan had struggled to both keep pace with Abaddon’s winding speech and keep on his god side. Unfortunately the perplexing nature of the monologue did nothing to aid Declan’s comprehension.
“I'm sorry did you say that Lucifer sent Satan back to heaven!? Surely Satan is God’s greatest adversary? Why would he be in heaven?”
At this Abaddon burst out in hysterics for what seemed the millionth time to Declan.
“I'm sorry kid, no one usually knows this stuff but you were supposed to be some superhuman to change all this ********. But you know absolutely nothing about anything buddy! Jesus weedy Christ I bet you got this image of Satan and Lucifer hanging out and making ****** comments about God right?!”
“Actually I thought they were the same person”
With this final stroke Abaddon fell backwards in laughter and proceeded to disrupt the entire line with a tidal wave of falling bodies. Climaxing the scene only to stand up and call Declan insane.

thanks

Is the title 'epic violence + rampant man love' just there as an attention grabber?

well done shaun

Edit: no that was far too mean. Sorry it just had to be done...

yes the original title was far too boring

sorry for the double post, but heres an update

The “holding area” was only slightly less depressing than the horrors of the dark place. The nonchalant manner in which Abaddon had referred to this place had left Declan comfortably expecting something like immigration at Heathrow airport. It actually appeared to be one hundred times worse than the security at Tehran airport. Declan’s first impressions left him lurching away from the scene and to his great surprise towards the demonic figure beside him.
“Easy there buddy, Fags ain’t exclusive to hell!”
“I'm sorry it’s just that this is almost as terrible as before!”
“ Take a closer look man, first things first you can see that there might be an end to this hall. Now what does that tell you?”
“Given the name I would say that you pass through here first for some reason”
“ Hey hey! Look at the genius over here! Well done Einstein now look even closer, what do you notice about the people who are nearer to the exit?”
“Well they seem to have stopped screaming at least a little”
Declan's weaker voice was being drowned out now that the two VIP hell dwellers had come nearer to the sadist’s wet dream symphony.
“I can only assume your smarter than the average bear and have understood were at the worst end of the stick here! Well there’s one last thing you should be able to see. Look over to the far right; ha! Zavebe always gets the worst shift! You see he’s the first person to attempt to comfort these saps. Eventually they’ll pass onto the more talented among us and hopefully calm down. Some of em just never quite come out of it you know? We put them in a safer place and try to keep them from disturbing the rest of us but is always a pain coz we know they’re good guys. Just a little too ****ed by the situation, real shame… Anyway we give these guys the therapy that makes them feel better about themselves. Eventually we can bring the pain down to a level that is still pretty agonising, but its enough to let them eventually get used to it. Some of the guys in our hell, I swear, you could barely tell they’re in pain you know what I mean? Like Socrates for instance, he’s only a human spirit but he’s been here so long and with such a strong mind you would think he’s one of us! Funny thing is though the process usually takes a long-assed time you know? Like months to bring it down properly, but you… oh you, you gotta have something special about ya. I was expecting to be out there for weeks! But enough of this **** we’re wasting time and the boss is waiting, lets move it.”
As Declan dragged himself after the persistently striding Abaddon he might have appeared as the Igor to Abaddon’s Dracula from a bad film. Unfortunately the tortured man could barely keep within 10 feet of Abaddon’s pace let alone keep up. With a sigh and a disapproving look Abaddon picked Declan up and tossed him over his shoulder.
“Hold on tight ****o”

What happened next seemed to be over in a flurry for Declan. Yet the blinding speed and inherent turbulence forced the timid man into shutting his eyes and whimpering at the additional pain this was adding to his already burdened head. When he opened his eyes he couldn’t even see where they had started out from, but he certainly couldn’t hear anymore screaming. Looking around he could see a multitude of moderately sane looking people, perhaps a little put off by the wincing pained expressions they were wearing, but nonetheless a half familiar sight. The whole debacle reminded Declan of an NHS Hospital waiting room, full of irritated people in pain and waiting for the rooms beyond.

Throwing his passenger to the ground with no regard for his comfort Abaddon dislodged himself of the whiny pest and strode with confidence to one of the men standing behind the many entry points into what Declan only hoped was a better place. As he hit the ground and rolled into the wall he felt only an increased sensation of pain in his head for a few moments. Scrambling to his feet with half a mind to show Abaddon some manners he inevitably sagged back to his knees when the other half of his mind reminded him he was Declan ‘Ashley’ Groom – the least person to teach anyone a lesson, let alone a demonic entity. He watched from a short distance as Abaddon proceeded to gain access to the restricted zone with much flair and pomp.
“Hey there Azazeal buddy what are you doin’ in this ****** job? Your way too important for this crap!”
“The master thought it wise to make sure someone of intellect admits our special visitor.”
Azazeal’s voice was soothingly intellectual and pleasant to the ear. However Declan could detect the tell tale signs of sneering arrogance in his elevated rank.
“Well I got him right here, one bonafide hero coming up!”
Abaddon stepped aside to reveal a greyish looking man sagging like a sack of potatoes on his knees, clutching his head and whimpering in pain.
“Abaddon, the master sent you down there because he assumed you could take care of this business properly, he did not send you to pick out a random urchin and throw him to me! What happened? Did you get bored and merely pick out someone on the way back here? Hmmm?”
“Hey don’t get fresh with me pal this guys the real deal! Just look at him, he’s a fighter! He’s a Champ!”
“How long has he been down here Abaddon?”
“Maybe 24 to 36 hours, I wasn’t really keepin’ count, ya know how it is?”
“Interesting... his mental condition is spectacularly advanced, maybe the master sent you down there for a reason Abaddon – it appears you have a silver tongue. What did you say to him?”
“Well I gave him the usual of course, but ah you know me Azzy, the master of dialogue eh?”
“Hmmm yes I know all about you, this is a good sign. If he responds this well to you imagine what we could achieve with a high order angel, or better yet the master himself. This one might actually be the key. Go on take him straight to the master.”
With a scowl at Azazeal’s snub Abaddon spun on his heal and hastily dragged Declan through the doors. As they waltzed past the entry station Declan got a glimpse of cynical scrutiny from the haughty demon.
“Come on ya sack of meat the sooner we can get to the boss the sooner I can get back into the boss’s good books”
The notion of a corporate Satan promoting his “employees” of hell and encouraging team spirit flew through Declan’s head like a swallow, bringing the faintest beginnings of a smile to the tortured soul’s mouth.

Originally Posted by rez

well done shaun

Awww, I was rather looking forward to the man-love part.

Anyway, nice read.