The Boy and the Demon Part 3

Bobby saw terrible things down there, things that he never thought he could ever imagine. A child being raped, a group of soldiers killing and mutilating the innocents of a village, an entire population reduced to waste by starvation and disease, a maggot filled corpse, and always, the smiling face of the demon. Bobby fell and fell through this nightmare, screaming and sceaming, knowing and at the same time, not knowing. He fell through reality into the dark cracks, the abyss where all things morbid and malicious are confined, the demon's realm. A place of perpetual night, of eternal pain, and endless torment, some might call it Hell, but it isnt Hell in the biblical sense, it is something far more terrible than what is written in any religious text, it can only be called the Black Place. Other people, like Bobby, had come into contact with Beelzebub, and they, like him, had been charmed and seduced by the demon's dark power. Every one of them had fallen into this place, like him. Now, he saw their frozen faces pass by him, each one locked in a look of perennial horror, each one reaching out to him, begging him to save them, begging and at the same time knowing that rescue was impossible. Their's was the plight of person stranded at sea knowing they would never be rescued, but swimming with a hope borne of desperation. Their screams mingled with his. If any person in the world above could percieve the sounds of this realm, even for an instant, they would driven completely insane by the listless screams within it. Sometimes the Black Place seeps over into the material realm, it seeps like poison seeps into a lake. When this happens, the land is influenced in horrible ways. Animals become vicious predators, people become cold blooded killers. Ice however, is the entrance to the Black Place. The cold, hard ice which covers a lake or a river sometimes serves as an opening where the malefic beings of the Black Place can physically pass over into our world. Some say that if you go out to a frozen lake in the middle of the night and put your ears down to the ice, you can hear muffled screams coming from deep within. Bobby fell and fell until he finally landed, landed on something. He didnt know where he was, as all was still black. Through the din he heard the voice of Beelzebub "Mmmmmm...Bobbbbyyy, myyy Bobbyyy...Whaaat ssshall we dooo wiitth youu." Bobby tried to make himself small, insignificant, tried to hide himself from the demon. "Wee are goinggg to haave fffun withh you Bobbyy...We arrre goinngg to plaaay...alll daaay, everydayyyy...foreeverr and eveerrr." Bobby held himself tight, he prayed hard, he prayed futilely, he tried to focus but felt his mind shattered and broken, his body useless, surrounded by the black. The demon's mellifluous voice pulled him, pulled him further and further into the dark. It was then that the pain began. How long he was down here he didnt know, seconds seemed like hours, hours like days, time however, has no sway over this place. He suffered horribly. He felt constant pain. He felt waves of fire flowing through him. He felt himself beaten, whipped, castrated, bound, raped, tortured in horrible ways. He died again and again. Most times he never realized what was going on around him, most times he simply spent every second begging for death, begging and not getting it. Bobby was being prepared, he was being broken, he was being furnished for the collection of other helpless souls which had fallen into this place. Very soon he would join the pantheon of faces he had seen before, very soon he would be stuck here forever. But until that happened, although Bobby didnt know, he still had a chance. Beelzebub was destroying his soul, but it still remained. But what were the odds that he would escape from this place? What were the odds that he would ever see the light again? For Bobby, unlike the others, the odds were good. What Bobby didnt know was that he had been in the Black Place for a span of 58 years. The demon had taken him in the winter of 1886, the year was now 1944. In 1940, the Black Place had seeped out into the world once again. Like always, the psyches of many people were unconsciously affected by this incursion. However times had changed, methods of killing had become far more efficient. This efficiency, combined with the baleful influence of the Black Place triggered a scale of murder unprecedented in history: The Holocaust. The influx of negative energy triggered by the mass murder of innocents was so enormous that the Black Place swelled like a tumor. It swelled and swelled and finally collapsed in on itself releasing a massive shockwave throughout space and time. The demon's iron grip on Bobby was suddenly released as the entire realm flew into chaos. Huge gaps in reality appeared and Bobby was sucked through one of these, away from the furious clutches of the demon. He soared through the cosmos, through space and floated there. Bobby was free from the Black Place, but he was now gliding aimlessly through time, however he didnt care, anything was better than what he had suffered. He had gone through so much that he couldnt comprehend anything anymore. The thought that he would never see his family or his home again never even entered his mind. All that mattered was that the terrible pain had stopped and at last he had found some kind of peace. It was then that he heard the horrible sound, the sound of screams, the sound of the Black Place. He saw, to his horror, that the infernal realm was closing in on him, tentacles outstretched, trying to consume him again. No one had ever escaped from the Black Place before, and Bobby was not going to be allowed the privelege of being the first. The Black Place moved like a putrescent tide and it was then that he saw the face of the demon, leering out, smiling hellishly at him. He tried to move, to glide away, but he couldnt. It was closing in on him, and soon he would be back in there, back in that stygian pit. The demon would have him, have its way with him until it broke him and then he would be trapped there forever. Without strength, without hope, he awaited the inevitable with a kind of despondent defiance. It was then that he heard a barking sound. It was then that he saw Baxter. The dog flew to his aid. Running fast, faster and faster. Bobby looked on in amazement, he thought Baxter had been sucked into the Black Place as well...He didnt know why Baxter was now standing before him, but he didnt have time to think, he grabbed the dog's fur and Baxter ran, pulling him along across the stars, away from the Black Place. Oh how he ran, he ran with grace and dexterity, he wouldnt lose Bobby again, he wouldnt let the demon have him, and Bobby knew it. Baxter seemed to run forever. Bobby's time in this cosmic space could be equated to an extra 60 years on Earth. By now, the 20th century or the 'Age of Infamy' was coming to an end. genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Yugoslavia and others. The Black Place was being swelled by the Epicurean delights of these events. Bobby could see it growing as it chased them, growing and growing as it reached out for him, a hundred billion screams echoing from within, weeping pustules and bloated corpses flowing like a river from within, the Black Place collapsing for second time from within. The second time was much more cataclysmic. The entire structure of the Black Place buckled in on itself and was utterly destroyed. Like a great tidal wave reaching its limit, the Black Place faded and faded, and finally subsided. It had been stretched to the very limits. pulled across space and time and filled beyong capacity with nourishment from the atrocities committed on Earth. But not completely destroyed. It remained as a fixture in space and a shadow of its former self. Bobby could hear the enraged cry of the demon as he clutched on to Baxter and rode off into the stars. Bobby and Baxter moved across the crystal skies, moved endlessly off into eternity. Baxter was taking Bobby away from his terrible memories, away from evil and harm. they moved endlessly and still move endlessly across space, gliding together. Some say that on clear nights, when you look up at the stars, you can sometimes, for just a moment, see Bobby and Baxter gliding as one shape. Some call this a shooting star, others call it good luck, but many beleive that seeing it is a warning, a warning that the Black Place has its sights on you. Although it was very nearly destroyed, the Black Place still remains and can still seep out into the world. It's only a matter of time before the Black Place can return to its former strength. Its only a matter of time before another atrocity is committed. Its only a matter of time before little Beelzebub comes for you and invites you to join him under the ice...