The Purgatory Saga #1: People of the Fire

by Michelle Dalson

  I felt disgusted. I could feel Dewey and Lexie staring at me with disbelief, and I didn’t want to meet their gazes. I could feel Lucien’s hard stare sharpening on my back. I didn’t want to look at anyone around me, so I stared into Igor’s snaky eyes.

  Suddenly, a rumble sounded in the back of the crowd and a creature groaned.

  Demetrius jumped. “Borus! Are you gonna have your eternal indigestion pains again?!”

  But suddenly, a dazzling light shone through the back walls. It destroyed the hell creatures in front of it and turned their bodies into ashes. Hannah and her band of angels came through the opening. By her side, her air type SoulBird, Chelsey accompanied her, and to her right, was a fair-haired valiant young man with long bright hair. I guessed it must have been Michael.

  “Lucien! Aha! Just as I suspected!” Hannah cried as she and the angels made their way over the crowd of hell creatures. Any hell spirit that tried to jump up and attack them immediately turned to ashes from the intensity of their angelic glow.

  Lucien etched a smirk on his face as he met Hannah’s gaze. “Hello, Hannah. Michael.” He nodded at both the angels at the front.

  Michael was a stunning sight. He was muscular and handsome. He crossed his arms as he locked eyes with Lucien. “Apparently, no one has found the golden SoulBird yet. Ebenezer and Aracto are still searching.”

  Lucien growled. “Perhaps Satan can take care of that.”

  I glanced at the crowd of angels that accompanied them. There seemed to be more now, for Michael’s side had reunited with them, and the place was shining from their brightness. The hell creatures were coughing and backing away from their presence. I looked through the crowd and then saw a hand waving at me. It was Saint Annabelle.

  I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. Some help this was. If she were really helping me, she would have found me while we were still in Jerusalem, fleeing from the rising hell creatures and the Satan dragon. What a slow saint she was.

  “Zach! Are you okay?” Hannah hovered down to stand in front of me with her hands clasped together. “Oh! Thank goodness you’re not badly wounded. We must get you back to the world of Purgatory right now!” She wrapped her arms around me and escorted me to her hovering crowd of angels. “Earth is no place for you anymore, especially when hell creatures are taking over…..”

  “Ah-ah-ah,” Lucien raised his voice and took a step after us. His trident was glowing and his eyebrows were raised. “Hannah?” He was chuckling. “I’m glad to have your sweet angelic presence to light up this dark and weakening center, but you can’t just waltz right in and take Zach from us. He has to make a decision first.”

  Hannah and I turned to face the tall Higher One.

  “Oh really?” Spoke Hannah defiantly. “You didn’t want him anyway. You still have Angeline to chase after.”

  “Ah, yes, but we weren’t finished with what we started with Zach.” He looked into my confused gaze. “Zach? Have you made a choice yet?”

  “Huh? Already?” I winced.

  “Oh stop it,” snapped Hannah, giving Lucien a look. “Zach’s got the rest of the year to decide whether to change his ways and make it to Heaven or Hell.”

  “Oh, but he doesn’t,” said Lucien’s cunning voice. “You see, the spirits come to Purgatory to be cleansed from that little badness that lingers in them before going to Heaven. But even you know that it could just be as simple for an angel from Heaven to come down and purify the spirit with a snap, and then simply carry them to Heaven.”

  I widened my eyes. “Really?” I turned to Hannah, who was looking worried. “You can do that?”

  “Of course,” Michael answered for her. “If an angel gets the privilege from the Most High, then that angel can come and carry a spirit from Purgatory to Heaven, and the soul doesn’t have to go through years of classes to earn their way into Heaven. But that matter is a very rare matter. It‘s usually preferable that the spirit earns its way into Heaven.”

  “Hey, so there is a free ticket to Heaven,” I muttered, feeling my heart lift.

  “Hehe, now that is true,” said Lucien. “But same goes for the creatures of Hell. You could easily be dragged into Hell if Satan grants it. And I tell you my boy-- Satan always allows spirits to come to his kingdom, no matter what stage they currently attend. Though you may suffer, you will be with your father. Now there was something Uncle E did not get to tell you. Your father loved you very much. Your father always spoiled you and tried to make you happy during your mortal life on Earth.” Lucien was kneeling down beside me again, putting a hand on my shoulder. “And now, all he wants is to have his family with him. This was why Satan and I sent the hell creatures to fetch Angeline, your sister. And this is why you can still make your own choice, Zach. All your father wants is to be one happy family again.”

  Hannah gasped. “Oh! No! Zach, you can’t! You will not be happy! Lucien! Please!”

  I was staring into Lucien’s devilish eyes. “The choice is yours, my boy.” He smiled.

  Hannah took my hand and I snapped out of it. “Zach! Please choose wisely.”

  I winced. I didn’t want to go back to Purgatory, only to be punished by Gretchen again. That was enough Hell for me. I looked down. I didn’t know what to choose. I really wanted to see my family again. But I didn’t want to go to Hell.

  Hannah huffed. “Oh! Zach, you don’t have to worry. Come with us! We can offer you a privilege to enter Heaven right now!”

  I looked at her longing face. Michael was giving her a concerned look and all her angels were murmuring to one another.

  “Hannah, do you think the Most High would let him?” Said Michael softly.

  “Oh, I hope so!” Huffed Hannah.

  The hell creatures yowled against her offer. I could hear Dewey’s pleading cry. I stared at Hannah with disbelief. An angel was actually offering me a free ticket to Heaven. I wouldn’t have to go through years of training in the academies.

  I really didn’t want to be unhappy in Hell, but at the same time, I was worried about the Most High would say to me. I doubted a spirit like me would even make it simply just like that yet.

  I sighed. “I-- I don’t know. I think I’d rather just suffer in Purgatory for now while I think about it.”

  Lucien’s gaze faltered, dropping to a glare. He rose up. “Well then…I guess that is a wise choice for now. Why don’t you come with me? I have my own palace here. It’s a wonderful place for your mind to calm down and think.”

  I felt my spine drop. A palace?! In here?!

  “You palace?!” Hannah yelled. “Lucien! Are you crazy--?”

  “You will be comforted,” said Lucien, gazing into my eyes. “Yes, I do have a palace here. I must have a home near Hell, if I am to keep peace between the underworld and Purgatory.”

  I didn’t know what to think. I wondered if Lucien’s palace was as pleasant as he made it sound, or if it was just another version of Satan’s hellhouse.

  “I think I’ll come with you,” I said quietly to Lucien. I didn’t even know what I was saying. The headband on my head was burning intensely. “I’ve gotten off to a rough start in my afterlife, and I’m failing my academy. Before I decide where to take my path from here, I think I should take a break and clear my mind in your palace.”

  Lucien’s eyes glowered. “Excellent choice.” He took my hand and gently pulled me out of Hannah’s grasp. Hannah watched me slip away from her grip with disbelief. The rest of the angels looked just as astonished. Saint Annabelle had pushed her way through, hovering at the front with a wide-eyed look of horror. But she said nothing. She was speechless.

  Lucien looked around at all the hell creatures. They were all keeping away from the angels’ presence. Dewey and Lexie were still under the guard of Demetrius and Jezebel.

  “Now! The boy has made his mind! As for the rest of you, you may all return to the pits of Gehenna. Hannah?” The Higher One raised his gaze at the angel. “If you could all make yourselves useful? These creatures need
to make it back to where they came from.” He turned to nod toward Dewey and Lexie.

  Demetrius grabbed Lexie’s hand. “This one’s still mortal!”

  “Well, see to it that she returns to the Ark where she can speak with the sister of this boy.”

  Jezebel groaned. “Oh, can’t we kill her?”

  Lucien’s eyes flashed and he gave them a dangerous stare. The imps remained silent and said nothing.

  I looked up at the Higher One. “Are you saying I can’t bring Dewey with me?”

  “My boy,” Lucien looked down at me carefully. “If you’re going to clear your mind and start over, you must do it without the help of a SoulBird. Those creatures only guide you to one path or the other, and if you’re going to make your own choice, you must think about it alone.”

  I looked away from Lucien’s intriguing gaze. I glanced at Dewey, who gave me a straight, unblinking look of disappointment.

  Lucien’s warm hand gently gripped the back of my neck, and I felt my body heat up. Suddenly, my vision blurred and I was feeling lightheaded. I stopped breathing and I collapsed on the ground.

  The last sound I heard was the cry of Lexie’s voice as she screamed out my name.

  Chapter Ten-

  I felt a small hand grabbed my right hand. A voice giggled.

  “Zachy…..” It was a little girl’s voice. She sounded so familiar.

  I opened my eyes and found myself rising from the edge of a fiery pool. It was the swirling Hellfire Pool. It was continuing to swallow up debris as my spirit emerged.

  As soon as I was standing at the edge, I looked down at a smiling face of a little girl who stood in front of me. I felt a stab of sympathy in my heart. The little girl had dark brown, curly hair. Her eyes were a bright, blue color that twinkled with a cheerful gaze. I instantly recognized the face. It was my sister, Angeline.

  “Zachy!” The little girl immediately hugged my waist.

  I felt lost in a daze and I stared ahead blankly. I looked down at her. She looked up at me, still wrapping her arms in a hug.

  “I’m hugging a ghost,” she giggled, letting me go. “You’re a ghost now! I knew they were real!”

  I blinked a couple times to regain my senses. I was still speechless.

  “Zachy? Can you still talk? Do ghosts talk?”

  I suddenly looked away from her gaze. I couldn’t think of what to say. This dream felt totally real. Unlike the recent visions and dreams that I had been receiving, I didn’t feel any vagueness.

  When I said nothing for a minute, Angeline giggled “Well, that’s okay!” she said. “Before, I couldn’t talk either. It was because I breathed in so much smoke and fire from the apocalypse. My voice sounded like frogs! Luckily, I was healed in the Ark, and now I feel good as new.”

  I gasped and looked down at the girl. “Wait…so you are hiding in the Ark?” I looked into her eyes.

  Angeline nodded. “Yup. And so is this other girl, who helped me find the Ark. Her name is Alexandra White. I was lying wounded on the streets! The apocalypse was terrible! Some monkey-devil creature pushed past me and I hit my head on a fallen switchboard. Alexandra found me and helped me get to the Ark for safety.”

  I studied my sister closely. She was bare foot, and like Lexie, she looked like a bedraggled slave.

  I looked at her, feeling crestfallen. My sister was still alive. She recognized me, and she wasn’t scared of me, despite the monster that I was. I wondered if she knew where in the afterlife I had gone to.

  “Angeline….” I couldn’t meet her gaze. “You’re still alive, aren’t you? You’re actually one of the last living souls in this city?”

  “Yep,” Angeline nodded, giving a solemn look. “It’s just me and Alexandra White, or Lexie, as she prefers to be called. If it weren’t for her, I’d be dead like you!”

  I narrowed my eyes and frowned, but then I started to smile. “So Lexie’s taken care of you?”

  “Ooh! She told me all about you! I was so excited to hear that she actually saw the ghost of my own brother earlier today. She returned with…..angels, and I was sooo bewildered. I thought I was dreaming!” Angeline’s eyes were bedazzled. “I’ve always known angels were real….”

  I raised my eyebrows at her. “So you met the angels too?” Hannah, Michael, and the other angels must have returned Lexie back to the Ark, as soon as I had disappeared with Lucien. I looked up. “Ugh…” This place was starting to look worse and worse. Up ahead, I could see the Ark and the Temple. Both stood firmly, invincible to the surrounding apocalypse.

  But being with Angeline made the place lighten up. Suddenly, I was looking around, not at a destroyed, dying city of Jerusalem, but a city full of richness where busy people roamed the streets inside auto-cars and computo-bots. For the first time, I looked up at a perfectly blue sky that was filled with the hustle and bustle of sky highways.

  Then it all disappeared and Angeline and I were standing in front of the Ark. “There! Go inside!” Angeline was bubbling with excitement. “Lexie’s in there! She’ll love to see you again!”

  I hesitated. “Go inside the Ark?”

  “Of course! If they protect me and Lexie, they can surely protect you! Now go!” She gave me a hearty push. “I bet you’re trying to hide the excitement you have to see your girlfriend, Lexie!”

  I gave her a haughty expression. “I barely know her yet! What are you talking about?”

  Angeline shrugged, smiling with her hands behind her back. “She seemed very fond and happy to have met you. You were both near the center of the Earth together. She told me all about it.”

  “That’s ‘cause I’m your brother.”

  “Yeah, but still. She seemed to still like you even though you came from the lowest class in Purgatory.”

  I felt suddenly disheartened. My sister did know about how my life was like in the afterlife.

  “Oh, it’s okay!” She seemed to tell how I was feeling even though my face didn’t show it. “I still think you’re the best brother in the world, no matter where you go! You’re gonna make it to Heaven! I know it!”

  I felt my heart tighten. Did Angeline really think that?

  I turned with a sigh and faced the curtains of the altar. With another hesitant moment, I grabbed the bedraggled ends of the now torn curtain, and pulled them to the left.

  And just like before, a bright light shone through and hit me in the face. My entire vision blanked out.

  Chapter Eleven-

  But I wasn’t dead this time…at least I didn’t die for a second time.

  As soon as the light shone in my face, I blanked out of the dream and shot my eyes open to darkness.

  “Fool! When is your dead ghostly brain going to realize that you are not allowed inside that Ark?” Saint Grenada was yelling in my ears again.

  I growled. “What just happened?! Was that not a dream then?”

  “Oh, no, that was a dream alright,” replied Grenada. “It’s just that….oh how can I explain this? You had a star-portal kind of dream. It’s when you dream of something, and it happens somewhere else—for real.”

  I winced. “So while I was sleeping here, there was a duplicate spirit of me visiting my sister in Jerusalem?”

  “Somewhat,” said Grenada testily. “Your sister was praying for you on that very night Lexie returned and told her about her journey with you. And somehow, her faith pulled your inner spirit closer to her so that when you dreamt, you were able to visit her through a star-portal dream.”

  “Weird,” I muttered. “And I bet I could never control or pick the nights to receive dreams like that.” I thought about dreaming myself being in Heaven, so that I could see Dewey in there and see what it would really be like to live in a perfect world.

  “Aha! Don’t get your hopes too high, boy,” Grenada was reading my thoughts again. “You can’t just ‘pick’ your realistic star-portal dreams. They only happen through other spirits’ prayers, or by your own powerful faith.”

  “Huh! But what
if Angeline prayed for me to go to Heaven?” I said snidely.

  “Hah! I’d like to see that work. She’s probably prayed all her life about being together in Heaven with you. But those star-portal dreams have strange limits. I’m not really quite sure how to explain it myself.”

  Suddenly, I felt my dark vision burst into flames. I jerked awake and found myself lying flat on my face on hard, shiny floorboards. I grunted and cursed. I got up and saw that I had fallen off of a bed that I had been sleeping on.

  A bed?!

  Where was I?

  “Zach? Are you awake?” Lucien was standing at my door.

  “Ugh! I am now….” My head was spinning.

  Lucien chuckled and laid his hand on my shoulder. “Welcome to Zellux.”

  I regained my vision and gazed around myself. I was in an exotic room, with high walls and a golden ceiling. A beautiful silky canopy was hovering over my bed.

  I peered out the window to what looked like a modern metropolis. The buildings were so high that I could not see the top through the thick hazy clouds that surrounded them. Hellish monsters were wandering around the city.

  “Wow…” I was breathless. “Are we still on Earth?”

  “This is my kingdom on Earth—North of Jerusalem. I have assigned the hell creatures to rebuild great cities on Earth, since this is the time for Satan to rule the planet.”

  A fire SoulBird was headed toward us from the sky. An old spirit hovered next to the SoulBird. He was holding onto a computer cube that was keeping him above the ground.

  I turned to face Lucien with awe. A man was approaching the Higher One. The old spirit’s eyes had a dim, vague color. He looked like a deprived angel. He wore a headdress wrapped around at the top of his head, and he was dressed in a dirty white robe with small jewels at the bottom.

  “Your honor?” The man spoke with a calm voice as he faced Lucien. “What must be done about the armies? There have been skirmishes in the upper fields, where angels have been sighted. ”

  Lucien raised his eyebrows. “Angels? Well…I better take a look at the place myself, then. But first, I also have news for you. This is Zachariah Ezekreth. You may know of him as the daredevil of St. Gretchen’s Academy.” He glinted with humor.