12.
Satan slithered into the seat, imitating man making himself more comfortable. A smirk creased his hardened face while he watched Jonathan watch him with great expectation.
‘I will take you back to the beginning of time. God created all things; this is true. He created the angels to serve Him. I was one of them serving my Master in awe of His magnificence, and I was His personal entertainer, it was my job.’
God’s glory shone so bright at times it was even difficult for us angels to look at Him.
I’m sure you can remember the story in the Bible of Moses and how his skin shone after being in the presence of God - I’ll get to that later – but that is what it was like for me. After a long, long era exposed to God’s radiance, I thought that I had absorbed some of it. And then after many more millions of years, don’t forget now this was not your years, God’s time is not the same as yours - I believed that I had the power of God. In my egotistical mind, I had not realized that the shine I had been minuscule compared to that of God’s - a drop in the ocean.’
‘I convinced a few other angles that we were equal to God in power – now that took some doing – but I convince them I did and we formed a rebellion against God.’ Satan chuckled wickedly to himself at the memory of the event. He shook his head and with his long boney crooked fingers wiped his brow and continued. ‘My comrade angels and I went to God and demanded that His throne be turned over to us.’ Satan let out a grunted snort and shook his head again. ‘Was He angry? Let me tell you this. This world and every inhabitant that has ever existed on it have not known the wrath of God as we did at that moment; God was so infuriated he created hell, Oh yes, hell is real. Very real and the way the Word describes it in the Bible, so it is; believe me, you don’t want to go there.’
‘This is funny,’ Satan smiles widely exposing his disgusting teeth ‘my followers, Satanist, they honestly believe that I control hell and that I will keep a cool place for them in hell. What a joke.’ Satan crashes out a roll of thunderous laughter that brings tears to Jonathan’s eyes it hurts so much.
‘Watch this.’ Satan motions with his hand and an oval portal blended with the wildest colours of red and orange, with a black hollowed centre forms between him and Jonathan. ‘Look through that portal.’
Jonathan hesitates naturally untrusting and afraid.
‘Do it!’ Satan hollers.
Jonathan immediately obeys and cautiously edges his face into the portal that is floating in mid air.
Jonathan opens his eyes to what will probably haunt him for the rest of his life. The flames are too intense for him to keep his face in the portal for very long. His eyes feel as though they have melted out of their sockets, his ears are burnt red. He is only just able to see what Satan has shown him.
He has seen his place in hell. It’s a place of fiery heat that will consume him endlessly without easing without relief. Satan shows him how demons devour him each day and then spit him out to return and repeat the procedure over and over again. He watches himself in hell screaming in pain so excruciating; the gnashing of his teeth so audible it is unbearable.
He pulls his face from the portal in a panic and then throws up on the floor next to his chair. His heart is racing toward hysteria. He wants to run but instead flings himself into his chair gripping onto it, cowering for mercy from Satan. Satan is almost hysterical with his grotesque laughter.
Jonathan cannot speak he battles to control the mayhem welling up within him.
‘How do we prevent that?’ Jonathan trembled.
‘I will get to that at the appropriate time. Now where was I? Oh yes – hell. God’s fury ignited a spark of hell and banished us to it. But God spared me unchained to the burning fires that gouged out the pit of your soul eternally. I must re-iterate, hell is a thousand more times worse than you have just seen.’ Satan shuddered at the mere thought of it.’ I will be going back there and this time, there will be no release for me, there is nothing I can do about it, and I dread it like you will never understand.’ He covered his face with his grotesque hands causing Jonathan to almost vomit. He put his hands away, sighed and shook off the image that was haunting him. ‘I think God spared me in the hope that I would change and repent, and then he would remove hell, but I was bitter and disappointed and yes I was angry, so I made hell my kingdom. I felt powerful reigning over those that were weak and powerless to do anything other than cry in pain and anguish. I always hoped that the love God had for me before I betrayed him was still valid, and he would forgive me. He did love me and, of course, the other angels that turned against him too but immensely hurt by my or our actions. God turned His back on us, so to speak, and we were left to dwell in those red flames.’ He held his stomach, or rather an area of where it was meant to be and almost cried. ‘Oh those flames, those flames. They never stop. Never!’ His face distorted into a painfully stricken torment mixed with a hateful surge. Jonathan slowly moved back into his chair, his legs slightly trembling fearing another outburst or another view into that portal of hell.
Satan’s face slowly eased, and he looked at Jonathan realizing he had frightened him. ‘Sorry, did not mean to frighten you again, just yet anyhow, but you have to understand the seriousness of hell for me to continue this interview.’
‘I do. I do.’ Jonathan hastily said. Cold droplets hung on his forehead in fear, but at the same time Satan’s word “just yet anyhow” spun through his mind, terrified enough as it was and yet this was still not what the extent of his fear was going to be. He shivered, motioned with his hand for Satan to carry on, not that Satan required him to do so.
Satan readied his position to speak but thought about his next words carefully, tapping his thighs with his hands hidden under the long sleeves of his cloak. ‘So where were we? Oh yes! There we were all in hell, and then God decided to create the Universe and for whatever reason God pitied me and allowed me to roam around His universe under the condition that I did not derail any more of His angels. Naturally I agreed. This is where all my fun and what I thought was to be my revenge began.’