Realm of the Dead

ONE SPRING WEEKEND, AD 33

Gethsemane:

Just outside Jerusalem. The land of the living. Darkness! Deep oppressive darkness. Has the light of the world been extinguished forever? Three crosses. Oh! The weight of sin! How it bears down on the man in the middle? Thunder! Lightning!! Boom!! Zwang!! What did he say? It is finished? What is finished? A strange man indeed.

The Realm of the Dead:

See the smell of death hanging in the air. Swirling wisps of gray mist. Grey all around. Dark sadness. See lights? No! Empty eye sockets emitting jaundiced yellow light. Hopeless this one. Evil, piercing, wicked that one. Lusty eyes! Sly eyes shifty! Deceitful, no good. Strange forms envelope the eyes. Brooding vapors blend with the landscape. A vast expanse of... of... nothingness. No, not nothingness. Holes in the ground. Souls in the holes! Wailing, mournful cries. Hopeless. Lost. Gone forever.

Commotion!

Why, the Prince of Darkness Himself! So animated! Even the yellow-eyed forms cringe in fear. The Evil Prince. "The Special Chamber!" he shrieks. "We have him!" Myriads. Myriads upon myriads of the evil horde! Buzz around the Prince. A train? What? They never come so quiet. They kick, they scream!! Never quiet. Not like this one. "Our victory!" the Prince of Darkness shouts. Oh! Foul breath. "Yes, our victory!" the horde shouts. Evil buzzing around. Myriads upon myriads. The souls, the holes wail all the more. How oppressive the darkness!!

The Special Chamber:

Dark hole. The Quiet One, pushed towards it. Strange! Spirit of man? Yes. But strange. So quiet. That damned wailing, moaning, groaning! The quiet holes! See them now. Hear them. So quiet. He speaks to them - the Quiet One? "In! In!" Darkness screams. Into Special Chamber goes the Silent One. A huge, dark stone. Rolled over the Special Chamber. It rumbles. It seals the chamber. A loud "Boom!" It is finished. The Evil One shrieks with laughter. Evil laughter echoes across the vast expanse of nothingness. It fades. The Evils recedes. Moaning, groaning dark holes. And the loud silence of the quiet holes. And the Silent Chamber.

Third Day:

More holes. More kicking and screaming. More wailing. The eyes yellow. Taunting the souls tormenting. The smell of death. BOOM!!! The huge stone blasted. A thousand pieces. The Special Chamber - light? Here? No! Never light here! But yes. Blinding light! Yellow eyes blown away to the farthest reaches of emptiness. "What have you to do with us?" They cry. "Nooooo!!" they echo. They fade.

Spirit of God! Son of Man! Awesome power! Mighty Man of Battle! Long robe. Golden girdle. Snow white hair, eyes blazing. Firm bronze feet. Thunder like many waters! A command, "Come!!" The quiet holes stir. They arise! Song! "Halleluyah!" they sing. So much light - can't see! Where do they go? The Quiet One rises. The quiet holes arise. They rise. Higher and higher they rise. Louder and louder their song. A blinding beam of light rising. Thundering song! Then nothing. Silence. Hopelessness left. Darkness. Oppressive grey.

They're gone! "He is risen." The Prince of Darkness mad! Raving mad! Trouble for sons of men. Swirling mist Death in the air. Strong powerful death. Yellow eyes moan. Special Chamber empty. Gaping hole. Dark inside. Silent. Silent forever.