"The Adventure Concludes"
The ‘playroom’ was not as fun as it sounded. It was the devil’s own torture chamber; infested with all sorts of vermin, rats, snakes, spiders and all manner of repulsive creatures. Racks, hanging pendulum blades, and skeletal remains of those who have gone before were just some of the things that surrounded our immediate vicinity.
I was strapped to a table; a pendulum blade hanging about three feet off my chest. Following the chain up with my eyes, I found that it disappeared into the roof of the cavern, but appeared to come back out a few feet to the right. It was attached to Rob, who was standing on the floor.
Looking to my left, I saw that Lisa and Cindy were tied, back-to-back, and strapped onto a large roasting spit. Lisa was facing the ground and Cindy was facing the ceiling.
Looking up I saw an observation room, much like in a hospital’s operating theater. Lucifer and a now tied-up Melissa were within sight; behind a window of glass.
Satan smiled and spoke. His voice came through the glass as if he had activated a microphone switch.
“Now, my meddlesome time travelers. You have all come to the end of your journey.” Melissa was gagged, but I could see her struggling.
“You won’t get away with this,” shouted Lisa.
“Yeh,” chimed in Cindy, “Athena will save us.”
“You do not get it, do you?” replied the Lord of Darkness, turning himself back into the red mass of energy. He penetrated the glass and materialized in the playroom.
“I am Satan. I am it. I am your worst nightmares and fears all rolled into one. There is no escape from me.”
“But if the gods could rescue Pegasus, they can rescue us,” stated Cindy.
“That was ancient Greece. That was Hades. That was a watered down kingdom of evil. Zytus—in his capacity as Zeus—had some control over everything there. What you fail to realize is that this is not ancient Greece; you are not on Earth; you are not even in your own dimension. This is the here and now—and Zytus has no power over me here. I am not from Alpha Centauri; I am not some Atlantian adviser run amok; I am the personification of evil throughout the universe—throughout the ages—throughout every single solitary culture that has ever existed or exists or will exist throughout the stars.” He paused to sip from a silver goblet that stood on a little table.
“The blood of a previous playroom guest,” he smiled.
“Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name..,” began Lisa.
“Not here,” grinned Lucifer, “It is over. You are all finished.” Reaching up with his arm, he set the pendulum blade in motion.
He walked over to the wall and pressed a large stone. As it disappeared into the wall of the cave, I heard the sound of large stones grinding together. I looked around to see what was happening. I found that the floor had opened up; beneath Rob on my right and the girls on my left.
“Incubus!” bellowed Lucifer, “You forgot the hair!”
Out of the shadows appeared an incubus with a large pair of shears. He began to cut the girls’ hair off.
“Burning hair makes such a nasty smell,” he smiled.
“Bastard,” I said.
“Now,” began Satan, with bits of delight in his voice, “here is how the game is played.” He set the rotisserie in motion.
“On this side, the girls will cook. Simple and straight to the point. My incubi just love freshly roasted human flesh.”
“You fiend!” stated Lisa, as her face rotated around toward the Lord of Darkness.
“Clichéd,” smiled Satan, then continuing, “and over here, as the lava pit melts this metal scrap heap,” he pointed, indicating the still-deactivated Rob, “he will get lighter and lighter—slowly lowering the pendulum.”
“Oh, do not worry,” he added with an evil chuckle, “the lava pit will rise upward; maintaining a constant melting temperature.”
“You can’t do this!” stated Cindy, as her face rotated around toward the Prince of Evil.
“And just who will stop me?” He waited for an answer, knowing full well that one wasn’t going to come.
“To continue; once you are sliced into lovely pieces,” he added, making slicing motions on my chest with his sharp fingernail (at least one of these actually cut into my flesh), “I’ll probably have you baked; maybe into a nice, rat casserole.”
“Could you at least reactive the robot, so I can say good-bye?” I asked.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,” he chuckled, “did I fail to mention that I read minds as well. That spell book is not only useless to you, but it is useless to me. Let it burn here in the fires of Hell.” His tone then changed from jovial to downright evil as he added, “it is time to die.” He once again turned himself into the red mass of energy and rejoined Melissa in the observation booth.
“Unless one of you has a brilliant idea,” I started, slowly and most solemnly, “I will now close my eyes and think about the good times we’ve shared. I love you both.”
“Larry,” began Cindy, “since we all grew up together, I want you to know that you’ve been like a brother a me.”
“I agree,” said Lisa as she rotated toward me, her face beginning to drip with sweat. The stubble of what once had been her hair was a sad sight.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s not your fault,” said Cindy, “we all came along by our own free will.” She rotated away.
“This is how it ends,” sighed Lisa.
I looked up at the observation booth, just as Lucifer ripped Melissa’s top off. She struggled and I heard her muffled scream through the glass, as he ripped the gag out of her mouth.
Glancing over toward Rob, I watched as the bubbling lava below began the melting process on his treadle section. His arms were already slumped forward and hanging into the lava, small flames leaping up his arms.
Looking up I noticed the swinging pendulum blade begin to lower itself. I closed my eyes and felt the tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I prepared to die.
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