Chapter 4: The Children of Joseph

Part 4: Home of Shadow

He heard voices.

He could smell burnt apples.

He thought he heard several thousand voices at once, but they sounded slow.

They were moaning. Or grunting...

Pleasure?

He tried to move but felt like he was inside another type of surface, a thick surface like water where you had to wade in order to move. Either that, or time was really slow in this place.

He looked around but couldn't see anything. He tried to reach around... he felt a body, a human body. "Mara?" Emmanuel asked. A body brushed against him, he realized that this person was feeling him: "Oooohh.. A fresh demon..." The words came in a thick voice and an extremely slow tempo. Emmanuel tried to measure time with an internal metronomic mechanism and thus was able to slow down the tempo of his own auditory perception in order to be in the same level as the voice: She now sounded "normal", and in fact, very sexy.

"I can see you haven't been touched in a long time." The sultry female voice whispered in his ears. "I have to take you alone; I cannot share you with anyone... Come to my cove..." Emmanuel pushed her away: "I don't know who you are, stay away from me." There was silence from her side but he could still hear the whispers and the moans. He tried to walk but realized that there bodies on the ground, he walked further, there were more bodies, the bodies were intertwined with each other. Emmanuel stopped for a moment and realized that those people... All of them, were fornicating with each other... What form of damned place had he walked into?

"I need to get out of here!" Emmanuel said. The woman grabbed his hands: "Oh! You are lost!" She said. "My name is Jehan El-Massa from the Odartian tribe of The Diamond, I can make you shine with love. My record is seven hundred fifty humans and fifteen demons in a single session lasting two human weeks. But of course, I see that you are not in the mood for that, I don't know how regarding you are in Odibil Onretea. But, I trust that you need my help." Emmanuel didn't speak at first but decided he needed to. "Alright then, Massa , lead me out of here."

The girl shook his hand, as if nodding. "Alright, where do you want to go? And why are you looking at the ground and not my face... Or my body? Don't tell me you are bashful?"

Emmanuel raised his head: "Actually I can't see anything." She pulled him closer, he could feel her breath on his face so he figured that she was looking into his eyes to see what was wrong with them. He smelt a tantalizing aroma of sweet red apples in her breath... Her skin smelt of roses.

He was tempted, very tempted, to get closer and kiss her lips, or touch her naked body and make love to her... But he refrained... It was wrong, and Enoch could be looking, or so he thought in the back of his mind.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" Sure enough, she said it.

"Nothing. There is no light here for me to see things with." Came the honest but obviously human reply.

"LIGHT!" She shouted with a very shocked voice. "You don't need light here. Light is just a lazy way of seeing, you have to wait for light to hit things and hit back into your eyes for you to see them. Down here, you don't need light. You LOOK with your Soul, it has all the light you need."

"Even demons?" He asked. "Yes! Even demons! They are divine too you know!" She replied with a soft chuckle.

Emmanuel sighed, “What a training day!” the thought to himself. He turned around, saw nothing but darkness. He concentrated on a specific direction. For a long while he stared...

Nothing?  Is that what he was supposed to be seeing? Or was the girl just fooling him?

He was about to turn around back at Jehan but noticed something bluish moving with the turn of his head.

He turned back and concentrated, it was two bodies intertwined together... Not male and female but female and female, they were making love... It was a very shocking sight, something that Emmanuel never imagined could happen. He cursed them for their sin under his breath.

"What did you say?" She said, he turned back and couldn't see her entire face, only her forehead, he determined that he was taller than she was... He also realized that he could only see one part of her face at a time, he looked at her blue cheeks, then her blue nose, he looked down at her lips, and they were rosy, very rosy.

He looked slightly to the left, and saw her beautiful red hair covering her ear... He looked down and saw her breasts; they were small and very enticing.

"Go ahead, I know you want to touch..." She said softly.

He shook his head: "No. I can't..."

She smiled: "Can’t? Or wouldn’t? Why? Because you are afraid you'll get punished? By whom? Let me tell you something, darling... There IS no punishment. Only one thing... Aitnegludni."

"What does that mean?" Emmanuel asked. "It's Nital for Indulgence."

Emmanuel looked at her eyes. His heart stopped. They were a fiery rosy color, and the color shined... The rest of her eyes were black... He blinked and realized that it wasn't the color of her Iris that he was seeing, but the color of her soul.

"Tell me..." Emmanuel asked. "Yes?" She said, shutting her soft eyes ecstatically, waiting for his rough and rugged demonic touch on her bare fragile skin. "What is Nital?" He asked.

She frowned: "It is Latin, in reverse. It is the spoken language of you demons and the Lingua Franca of Hades. Any other questions you want to test me with?"

Emmanuel took the chance of her answering his questions. "Yes. What level of hell are we in?"

"That's an easy one!" She snapped. "We are in Obidil, the Second Circle of Hades: Lust. Ruled by our Queen Inanna and her wife! Please tell me I will be getting a very very handsome reward after this. As handsome as you!" Her voice was now turning into a purr. She was obviously burning with desire, that is something that Emmanuel was not interested in at the moment.

"Come with me." He said.

She smiled: "Yes! I will! Where to?!"

"Take me to Limbo... Sorry, Obmil." He replied.

Her smile turned into a frown: "Obmil? But... But that is in the first circle, with Purgatory... I don't want to go there... I was told that I may lose my Odartian status." She lamented as he forcefully grabbed her arm.

He felt a strong flow of energy here, as if he could do anything he wanted without anyone objecting; even crush this very annoying creature if he wished to, without regrets.

"I said. TAKE ME TO OBMIL!" He shouted, with his bellowing demonic voice. He pulled her arm closer to himself, his claws were digging deep into her skin, and blood was now starting to gush out.

"Oh please... Don't hurt me, demon... Don't!" Her attempt at shouting seemed meek, it was like she was mocking him. Or was she? Was she enjoying the pain?! "I will kill you if you don't come with me." He said.

"Die? I'm not scared of dying, I will just be reborn. But to lose my status... That means I won't be able to enjoy myself anymore, I'll be guilt-ridden again and I can never go back to that state!!" She lamented frantically, obviously distraught.

Emmanuel sighed. He shut his eyes and let his energy distribute through his body instead of concentrating on the emotion of anger. "Alright," he sighed "What is Odartian status? What does that mean? I don't understand this human language you call Latin. I only know Hebrew, Egyptian and Ionian."

She nodded: "Alright, I understand. When shades learn to accept guilt and absorb it rather than repent, they are given a chance to "Oneila" or let go their devotion to a supreme God and instead embrace the life-force that is known as the devil, which is, the only God. If they do that, they get taken down to the lower levels and are judged according to their arche-psyches to be in one of the levels according to their favored indulgence on earth. In my case, I...."

Emmanuel snickered: "What? Was the whore of the town?"

She blinked: "No... I was... Cut..."

Emmanuel shook his head: "What?" She sighed: "I lived in Italy in a very, well… Not religious, more like traditional family. For us, chastity was so important that all females had to be circumcised."

Emmanuel let go of her arm in shock: "What? They mutilated you?! Who did that?" She shed a tear while she looked at him: "My mother... She said..." Jehan sobbed: "That she was allowing me to eradicate evil from my life. She cut me when I was only eight. I bled for days."

"Oh... For males, I can understand because it’s a Hebrew tradition, but females? That is just… Inhumane!" Emmanuel said, sounding a little odd for a demon.

Emmanuel sighed. "I'm so sorry..." he tried to rub her cut but his skin actually scratched her more. She flinched, but Emmanuel didn’t notice because he could only see her arm at that moment.

She smiled: "You know, I'm glad it happened. Because of it, I hated my family and cursed God. Thankfully, after my death, it led me here, where I can indulge myself. For ever!" She said that and Emmanuel looked at her mouth and noticed that she was smiling, but her smile wasn’t sincere, and Emmanuel could feel it.

Emmanuel shut his eyes and took a deep breath: "But that is not all that you want, is it, Jehan... You want more out of your after-life. Perhaps, one soul whom you can share forever with?" She looked at him. Tears were now flowing freely down her face: "I've been here for three hundred and eighty six years, if you could count it with human years... And I've not been happy not even once." Emmanuel hugged her, trying as softly as possible not to hurt her with his rugged skin.

"Honestly," Emmanuel said. "I've not always been a demon. I was once a human, like you. And I may have hated my life... But one thing's for certain, Despite of God, it has taught me to care about others more than to care about myself."

Jehan sobbed with a smile and wiped her tears: "I guess that's a cue for me, isn't it." Emmanuel nodded with a smile. "Yes, it is."

Jehan nodded: "Alright, I'll take you there. Even if it means feeling a little bit of shame once again in my life... Just promise me one thing, that after I show you that place, you would come back to visit me again some day?"

Emmanuel smiled: "Yes, I promise, if it is ever possible." She smiled: "Thank you." He looked at her: "What for?"

She held his hand: "For listening to me and making me feel happiness."

Limbo

Up here was a little easier for Emmanuel’s eyes. There was light here and there from small bits of fire that came out from scarred cities.

There were burnt carriages that seemed to be able to be drawn without horses... There were tall broken buildings and dark pools of blood. There was a scream from a distance, Emmanuel looked up and saw a man clothed with strange black pants and a white shirt, jumping from the very tall building. He fell to the ground, forming a large dust cloud.

"I hope you find what you are looking for quickly." Jehan said. Emmanuel looked at her and realized that she was covering her breasts with one hand and trying to cover her under parts with her other hand. He knew it wasn't because of the cold wind because she was specifically covering her private parts. She was starting to feel shame.

"This place gives me the creeps." She murmured.

There was another scream. Emmanuel looked back at the tall building and saw the same man falling to his death again. "Why... Why does he keep falling?" Emmanuel asked.

"This is Limbo. Mostly for people who committed suicide or people who gave up on trying to repair their karma. That guy killed himself by falling from that building; he therefore will keep on doing that."

"For ever?" Emmanuel asked. She nodded: "And ever."

He sighed, thinking about his own wife. They walked on.

It seemed like they were walking for days. There were different cities, the further they walked, the less strange the cities looked and the more familiar they became. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling crawl up the back of his head. He turned towards a small cubicle... It looked like it was extracted from a house... The architecture of which was definitely Egyptian. "Mara!" Emmanuel said as he walked towards the cubicle.

Jehan waved at him: "Goodbye, Emmanuel! I've had true pleasure in meeting you. But I have to go now!" She walked away, Emmanuel didn't look back.

Emmanuel knocked on the wall. There was no answer. He walked in. A woman sat there and looked onto the air with lost eyes. She probably didn't even notice Emmanuel was there. She looked around, as if confused. Her eyes were red like she hadn't slept in years. "Mara..." Emmanuel whispered with a broken voice. She looked up at him, then stood up with a fright and ran to outside: "NO! Stay away from me you monster!!" She screamed.

Emmanuel turned himself back into human form but as he took a step forward a piece of broken glass cut the sole of his foot. He realized that he was naked. He could feel the pain on his foot, and he could feel the cold wind. Apparently, the demon body was made to be adaptable to the extremities of hell, unlike the human body.

He walked outside the cubicle, careful not to cut himself with any rocks or glass. "It is me, Mara! Emmanuel!" Mara covered her face, weeping: "Emmanuel! Thank you for being here! I was so scared! I don't know where I am and there are monsters everywhere!"

They hugged. "I am here now, everything will be alright." Emmanuel said with his soft, human voice.

Suddenly she let go of him violently and pushed him away with sheer strength, making him fall to the ground while the tears continued to stream down her face. She ran to the table where a cup of tea was placed and drank it. "NO!!!" Emmanuel screamed. "It's poison!!!"

She looked at him with a puzzled look and fell on the ground... She was dead.

Emmanuel sat there, not knowing what to think or do.

A few minutes passed. She got up again. Emmanuel went to her and held her hands. "My dear! You are alive!" He smiled, the tears streamed down his eyes. He was being tortured more than she ever will be.

She stuttered, not knowing why she felt so tired and drained: "Yes, of course I am.... Where am I? And why are you crying? I thought... I thought you were stabbed, by..."

"No. They are lies. All lies. The Egyptians killed me, not Moses." He said.

"Killed? How can you be dead, you are right in front of me!" She said. He shook his head: "Never mind that. The important thing is that I'm here and I'll never leave your side, not for anything!" She smiled and touched his soft human face with loving eyes.

She kissed his soft lips and told him how much she loved him. She looked around. She saw the cup on the table and reached for it.

"No!" Emmanuel shouted, flinging the cup away. It shattered and spilt the poisoned tea across the ground. But before he could look back at Mara, the cup was right there on the table, as if Emmanuel never even touched it. "What the hell..." Emmanuel grimaced.

"Come, let's go away from here." He said, pulling her away.

"But where are we going to go... And what is this place? What happened to our house? It looks like there was war here." She asked.

She walked with him. He held her firmly. "We are in Hell." He said. "Hell? But that place doesn't exist! You told me so!" She said.

"I know, but somehow, it does exist. I don't know why, or how. Mara, you killed yourself, do you remember?" He asked.

She thought for a moment. "The... Poison..."

He nodded. "Yes, and I think you are being punished, but don't worry because..."

"The poison!" She screamed and ran back to the cubicle, Emmanuel ran behind her and tried to push her away from the cup but some strange benevolent power overcame her and she jabbed through his ribs, breaking them as he flew across the air, breaking the wall with the sheer force.

She grabbed the cup as if she was about to die of thirst. She downed the drink, stood there for a moment then fell down, dead.

"Why!!!" He screamed, looking upwards as if someone was up there, listening to him.

He tried to stand up but realized that he broke his arm and a leg. How was she able to push him so hard? Even with his own above-normal strength??

He managed to heal his wounds on his own, apparently his alter demonic form had some sort of Immortality ability. He stood up and looked at his dead wife.

Minutes later, she woke up again.

She stood up. "Emmanuel? What are you doing? Why are you naked.? And where am I?" Emmanuel sighed. He realized that there was nothing he could do. "Don't you remember? I already told you, you are in hell! You are being punished!"

She looked around and started to panic, crying uncontrollably. "Hell?! I was told by my father that Hell did not exist! YOU told me it doesn’t exist!"

He shook his head: "It does! Look around you! Do you think you are in a dream?!" She nodded: "Yes, I hope so... I thought… I thought you were dead!"

He shook his head: "I told you... We are in the after-life, can't you remember anything?!" He looked at her and his heart drooped. It was hopeless. She was damned, and now, this was her home. They stood there, he didn't know what to say or do. Suddenly she grabbed the cup again and drank it.

She stood there as a tear rolled down her face:

"I love you...." She said.

She collapsed and died again.

Emmanuel wept as he sat next to her and pulled her body close to his. "WHY!!!" He screamed. He wished there was something he could do to break this awful spell that was upon him. But there was nothing, THIS was all the real that was left.

Emmanuel turned back to his demonic form and walked away.

His choice was now clear.

(Continued...)