“In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
A soundless darkness embraced him as he drifted through it. All sensation of time had been consumed in a instant. Only nothingness surrounded his body. This had to be his vision of hell. Maybe it was a glimpse into what awaited those who committed heinous crimes and died. No one really knew what came after their date of expiration. Only those who performed the waltz understood it and felt it. Roman sat on the edge of death, welcoming it with open arms. Ready to reap what what he sewn into the world.
Roman drifted off into darkness that could be named by many things. The afterlife, hereafter, abyss, life to come, whatever religion one followed. It couldn’t be explained how it felt just a feeling of drifting. He could say nothing as he watched himself float through the darkness. The only thing he could make out was the trail of blood being left behind. He was battered and bruised. His shirt was torn open by the hole left in his chest. Grass stains covered his slacks from when he landed. It seemed to be suspended mid air as he floated through the area. He had a groggy look across his face with a dark coloration under his eyes.
‘Am I dead?’
“You seem pretty dead to me!”
These words echoed throughout his mind and exited into the darkness around him. The darkness seemed to speak back to him. In any other case he would have just assumed it was the paranoia created by the drugs he took. This was different from all those other times. He couldn’t feel the euphoric undertow of the substances. He couldn’t feel anything really. Just a sense of emptiness as he floated downward.
‘Who said that?’
“Me silly, down here.”
Roman looked around slowly for the voice speaking but nothing was there. A puzzle look littered his face while he turned his head. It was only welcomed by more nothingness around him. He could feel that his body was being pulled downward faster suddenly. He turned his body around and looked downward. He could see something off in the distance. A small spotlight off in the distance. He squinted his eyes to see if he could tell what it was. Unfortunately he couldn’t tell, because it was so small. He could tell he had a destination now, there was something here in the abyss speaking to him. It wasn’t all in his head. This was very real.
A few moments passed and Roman realized he was starting to slow down. His falling speed reduced very quickly and he set himself upright. His feet touched the ground first making no sound. It was odd really, the ground was physical but it rippled when touched. Blood continued to drip from his chest, he didn’t stop it only looked forward.
“Hello?”
Suddenly a trail of lights clicked on from above. As if there was suddenly a ceiling above him. The lights created a spotlight on the black ground in front of him. He shielded his eyes for a moment while looking forward. He saw something protruding from the ground. It was a flower.
“Come on, I don’t bite, much.”
Roman looked around for a moment too make sure it was talking to him. He walked towards the flower in question, passing through each spotlight. After passing through them they turned off. He didn’t have much to say, just best to go along with all of this. He looked behind him to only see the glowing red trail of his blood behind him. He looked forward once more as he got closer.
He stood a few feet away from the flower. It was leaning down and suddenly it moved. It looked up at him and yelled.
Roman was a bit taken back by the fact the flower was alive. Then again in the world magic anything was possible. This was still a bit out of the ordinary really. Did he have much of a choice but to go with it? “Hi.” His response was short but that's all could leave his lips at that very moment. He was still trying to make sense of all of it. Standing there Roman tried too act calm and collected while dealing with this ‘thing.’
“It seems someone didn’t like you very much. Enough to leave that hole in your chest there Roman.”
Roman was caught off guard by the fact this thing knew his name. He pointed to the whole in his chest.
“It’s odd you know my name, without me saying anything. A bit rude, to not give a name first at least don't you think?”
The flower smiled and tapped it’s head with its petal. “Where are my manners, I have many names and forms. I don’t lay claim to any specific name. For the sake of this conversation call me, Arum.”
“Roman Astoria.” Roman replied.
“No need, I am very aware of who YOU are, I am curious too what you make of me.”
“A talking flower in the middle of darkness. I am still trying to figure that out myself.”
Arum laughed before speaking once more. “You see, this is the end. What you see here is your own fear manifested. To be surrounded by nothingness, everyone has a deep seated fear that they won’t admit too. This is your’s friend. I am just here to dish out the punishment for the sins you have committed.”
Roman laughed right back at the flower after he finished speaking. “Look the guy who did me in was strong, I can tell that much. You are a fucking talking flower, what makes you think you could kill me? As a matter of fact I can erase you right now at the flick snap of my fingers."
Arum looked amused by Roman’s threat, “Try it.” A certain tone was behind his voice, a seriousness carried itself with it. Roman said nothing and snapped his finger at Arum. He had full intent of erasing the thing where it stood. Nothing happened, he was actually confused for a moment. The flower had a smug look on it’s face in response to the action. “See I am in control here.”
Roman didn’t want to accept that fact. Instead he unsheathed the bat from his back while jumping high into the air. He came down with a double handed bat strike. Once again the flower looked bored by this. An unseen force of energy erupted from Arum, sending Roman back several feet. Blown back he landed on his feet, coughed up a bit of blood and rushed back in. A series of blows were enacted on the flower. Each one was deflected by an unknown force. He continued the onslaught until he was tired. During this whole thing Arum bobbed back and forth, with a huge grin on it’s face.
“You done yet?”
Roman said nothing due to being winded. ‘What the fuck is this thing.’ A tv dropped from the sky and squashed Arum. Roman figured it was over, sadly it wasn’t the case. Then it clicked on, static filled the screen before the play button flash. It was a tape of Roman’s life being played. Roman took a step back in horror, too shocked to say anything. Everything he had done to people, every evil thing he had done played before him. Then flesh erupted from the sides of the television forming a mouth.
“What am I you ask? Well that’s easy.”
“The Judge.”
It started to become massive, and Roman stared at it with no words. Then large, plant-like tendrils erupted from the ground around Roman. This made it so he had nowhere to run. The monstrous entity towered over Roman with two eyes staring him down. The televsion continued too play, fast forwarding through his life suddenly. Roman did the only thing he could do, and that was prepare for battle.
“The Jury.”
Roman clenched his weapon with both hands and tensed up. He took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.
“And the Executioner.”
The television switched channels and there was a face with a devilish grin. It laughed for a moment, a cackle that sent a chill down the very soul of Roman.
“Welcome to the end of the line Roman Astoria. We are going to have so much fun together.”
WC 1500/5000