Love ever after - Chpt 7

Chapter 7

 

  

         Letty and Bob had simply disappeared, leaving me alone.  Time crawled by as I wandered about the house, exploring room after room, waiting for nightfall.  Almost every one of them was empty, void of furniture or any evidence that they had ever been occupied.  Eventually, I made my way back downstairs to the kitchen.

      Bored with being inside, I decided to investigate the outside just to kill time.  

      Trailing along the top of a small rise that over looked the valley, a dirt pathway threaded its way through the back of the property.  I followed it, ducking under low hung branches and thick underbrush until; at last, it came to a small clearing.  Shaped in a loose circle, the vegetation had been cut away, opening it up to a commanding view of the valley and the endless orange groves that covered it.

      To my surprise, nestled at the back of the clearing, where the trees were tallest, was a redwood bench.  The rich, red slats of the seat were held in place with polished copper bolts attached to black wrought iron legs.

      I sat down, enjoying the cool air, breathing in the scent of orange blossoms.  Below me, I followed the main roads with my eyes, looking for familiar landmarks.  Most of the larger buildings I knew were nowhere to be seen.

     Eventually, rising from the backside of the mountains, a cloud bank began to manifest.  They became larger, darker, more brooding.

     The sky slowly faded from blue to the reds, oranges and yellows that accompanied the setting sun and the storm from the night before.

     Again, lightening jumped between them as the clouds grew thicker, more menacing in appearance.  Ozone hung heavy in the air as thunder began to echo across the valley.

     I sat on the edge of my seat, filled with apprehension as the valley floor began to change, undulating right before my eyes.

     Massive skyscrapers suddenly rose from the orange groves, stretching skyward as if pushed from below like living things, towering above the trees, replacing them altogether.

     At their center, rising faster, higher than all the others an enormous, glittering, and gold colored building.  It shifted, pushing hard in one direction and then to the other, appearing to destroy all that impeded its growth, devouring more ground than all the others until it reached its upper limit, disappearing high into the night sky.  As it grew darker, the windows began to flicker with a dull, yellow light.

     Fire suddenly erupted through the roofs of dozens of surrounding buildings and homes.  Unimaginable structures of every description rose as fast as thought and then, suddenly burned to the ground, only to be replaced with a new, different, larger one.

     The scent of orange blossoms had now disappeared, replaced with the acrid smell of diesel exhaust and the smoke from burning buildings. 

     During the day, music drifted from everywhere, but now, in the growing darkness, it was replaced with an angry, mechanical thrum... an insistent, repetitive beat that cut through the very fiber of me, filling me with aggression. 

    Car horns blared in the background, washed out by the roar of unbridled motorcycles and racing muscle cars.

    Suddenly, the tops of the purple mountains that held the limits of the valley stood out boldly... outlined by the glow of a fire racing up from the back.  First it was just one, then a second and a third. 

    My heart pounded as they roared over the top.  I stood, astonished by the sight of the carnage that swept over the face of the mountain.  Only an hour before the undulating hills were covered in lush grass, flowers of every color and more beauty than I could have ever imagined and now...  Now, fire appeared to be everywhere, devouring all it touched... spreading faster and faster.

     The houses that clung tenuously to the hillside were consumed in a manner of minutes.  The flames rushed to converge, slamming into one another like horrendous waves of blazing liquid, splashing pieces of it everywhere, creating one giant, unstoppable, inferno.

     I struggled to take it all in... To make some sense out of the chaos that ran rampant over the landscape.

     "Beautiful isn't it?"

     "I'm sorry?"  I turned, startled.

     "I said... its beautiful isn't it?" Grace asked, suddenly there, moving to look over the edge, lifting her hands in admiration.

     "Is this..." I hesitated looking into the valley once more.  "Is this hell?"

     "I beg your pardon?" she asked with a snicker.

     I stepped back, embarrassed by her laughter.

     "All of this," I said, gesturing roughly toward the carnage raging below us, "is this hell?"

     "No, Mr. Sullivan, it's not.  As a matter fact there's no such place," she said sympathetically as if she had just told me there was no Santa Claus.

     "No hell?  What do you call this?" I hissed, pointing at the valley.

     "Freedom, Mr. Sullivan... unadulterated, pure, unpredictable, endless freedom," she said, turning in a slow circle.  She held out her arms as her clothing changed style and color. 

     With each new rotation she became smaller, shorter, until she was closer to my size than that of Benson.

     Having started out dressed in jeans and a white blouse, she now wore a skin tight, radiant red dress... her hair now blond. 

     "Better?" she asked with a quick self inspection.

     "Better," I agreed with astonishment.  "And what does that mean?  Freedom?"

     "There are no limits here Mr. Sullivan... none.  No rules, no laws, and no one to say you can't do whatever it is you want.  You can do anything... have anything, build whatever you want... destroy anything you'd like... anything your mind can conjure," she explained.

     "Anything my mind can conjure, huh?"

     "No limits... all it takes is a strong will... a picture in your head of what you want... just like at the restaurant," she said softly, smoothing her hand across my shoulders.  "You can taste it, smell it... feel its weight, its texture and then..."

     Something in her voice was soothing, relaxing.  I concentrated on her words and slowly, a picture began to form itself in my mind.  As it took shape in my head it began to appear in my hand and before I realized it, I held a glass of wine. 

      "A very good start.  I'm impressed.  I think you'll do well here, Mr. Sullivan," she said smugly, taking the glass from my hand.

     Thunder rumbled over and over from one end of the valley to the other as lightening lit the interior of the angry clouds roiling overhead.

     "No limits?" I asked. 

     "For you, Mr. Sullivan just one," she said, hesitating for a moment, eyeing me closely.

     "And that is?"

     "I gave Benson my word I wouldn't tell you who killed you..."

     "But?" I inserted quickly.

     She shifted her weight several times, looking about.  She had something to say and was frothing to do so.

     "Yes, you're right... but...  I can help you find who killed Letty and why," she gushed cheerfully.

     "And that helps me how?"

     "Well, Mr. Sullivan," she began, slipping her arm through mine.  "What if you knew a little something she didn't, to help her with her situation of course?"

     "Of course," I replied.

     "I would think she would be predisposed to help you in return," she said glibly, squeezing my arm. 

     With this new understanding, I held no fear with the ravenous chaos working its way across the valley.

     Now, the repetitive pulse that worked at the very fiber of me was exciting... invigorating and the reality of my situation overwhelmed me.

    I could do anything... anything at all... even find out who killed me.

    "I think she would too," I said, nodding my agreement.

    "Oh, Mr. Sullivan, this is going to be fun," Grace giggled.

Author's Note

This is my personal view of hell and human nature

Reviews

[Avanthika]

the description of hell was elaborate so i skip reading that part as i was eager to read what happened next?