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Echoside
by Jason Van Buren
Copyright 2002 All rights reserved
shayshays_boy@hotmail.com
Imagine a place that exists beyond, a place that's seldom seen, a place that not even the wickedest souls that burn have ever been. There was this soul named Damien, a soul that Heaven wouldn't save. He was a wicked man that earned his place in hell right up to his dying day.*His soul was ripped from his cold body by demons, and thrown in their wagons, that then headed straight for Hell. Damien was terrified. He didn't know what was going on, and the demons were cackling the whole way. Damien wasn't alone in his journey, there were many others. There were a lot of rich people, and cops riding too, and they all seemed just as scared.
The wagons came to a halt outside of a large fortress, and the demons then got out and pulled their terrified passengers from the out of the back, and pushed them inside the fortress gates. When Damien entered the fortress gates, he saw many tortured souls. They were all screaming in agony and the ones in the courtyard were nailed to upside down crosses. There were demons in long black robes with pale blue skin, whipping these men with fiery cat-o'-nine tales. Damien asked the nearest demon why this was being done, and the demon grabbed Damien's arm and hissed, "These are all those that witnessed Christâs Crucifixion. All the souls that cheered for his death." Then the demon slashed Damien along his chest, ripping slabs of flesh from his body and said, "Don't worry, you've got something just as painful coming your way!"
Damien pulled himself from the demon's grip, and put his hand on his chest. Warm blood was running down his chest, and his clothes were sticking to him. The demons kept everyone moving, and as they entered the front door of the fortress, the stench almost made Damien pass out. The first big room smelled of ash and charred flesh. Damien saw demons eating people, just tearing chunks out of their arms, and legs. The chunks would then grow back, so they were never finished. Damien recognized one of these souls as the soul of Jeffery Dohmer, the man who murdered and then ate his victims. Damien started to cry. He realized that there was a theme to people's punishments, and he knew he did some very screwed up stuff in his life.
He remembered all of the children he had mutilated, women he had raped, and even the cruel things he did to animals. Then, the worst thing he ever did came to mind, and he stopped walking. He had unleashed a virus, which killed the population of about seven starving third world countries. He thought he was going to solve the overpopulation issue and stop world hunger. He killed about 3 billion people with this virus, and knew that his torture would reflect it. Just as he thought this, a searing pain spread throughout his chest. He looked down and saw that a rusty sword had been shoved through him. It was the demon that was behind him, keeping him moving. The demon swiftly pulled his sword from Damien's back, and the wound began to heal. " Move along." The demon snarled.
Damien began to walk again, amazed at what had happened, but also in immense pain. Damien now entered a third room, and it contained a huge lake of fire. There was a seven-headed dragon in it and many of the people that came in the wagons with him were tossed in and devoured. Damien stood and watched in terror. All the Demons were chanting and screaming, and Damien decided he had to get away from here.
Now, even in the afterlife, things don't always go as planned. Satan's realm is hectic, its crowded and overjammed. Damien managed to slip away from the group, and went to a door at the very back of the castle. Damien opened it and slipped through. He was now outside again. He looked up at the sky, which was blood red sky, with no clouds or sun. Damien began to run. He ran and ran until he collapsed from exhaustion. There were huge dead trees, with charred corpses hanging form the branches. He looked off into the distance he saw headless children playing.
As soon as he regained some of his energy he began running in their direction. As he approached, he began to feel that their was something familiar about these children. He looked closely at the children, and he recognized some of them as kids he murdered. The children saw him standing there, and also recognized him. They began to chase him with their heads in hand, screaming, "You did this to us, and now we'll have our revenge!"
Damien began to run again. They children gave chase, but could not keep up with him. Damien lost them after running for what seemed like forever. He then began to wander again. He walked and walked, but saw no one as far as the eye can see. He looked at the wound on his chest, and saw that it had stopped healing, but was instead spreading an infection throughout his body. He kept walking, trying to think of something he could do, but there was nothing he could.
He walked for several days, maybe even weeks, he couldn't tell. There was no day or night here. As he continued walking, he could feel his body begin to decay. His legs fell off at the knees and he began to crawl, pulling himself with his arms. As he started crawling, an old man with a long black tongue approached him from behind. The man jumped on Damien's back, and began licking the back of his head. A festering wound had developed on the back of his skull, and the man was licking the puss and blood out of it. Damien struggled with the man, and got him off his back. The old man said this rhyme:
" Underneath the shadows on the other side of time,
If there is a Hell, then there must be a behind.
Would you take me to the other land,
And bury me in black; take me from the Echoside
And never bring me back." *
Then the man faded out right in front of him, as if he had never been there. Damien looked around, and saw that many people were now appearing and disappearing. Damien didn't know it, but these were the people in Purgatory. They were slipping in and out of all dimensions of time and space, and would do so forever. They lead lives that weren't good enough to get them into Heaven, but not bad enough to send them to Hell.
Damien continued dragging himself along, and his fingers began to break off at the joints. As he continued to drag himself, he saw a huge fortress in front of him in the distance, and began pulling himself towards it. He heard the voices of children behind him and he looked behind him. The headless children were catching up, and he began to drag himself franticly.
As he got closer, his legs began to heal themselves, and grow back. He got up and ran for the gates, looking behind him at the enraged mass of children chasing him. He entered the gates and continued running.
These gates were the gates he had first entered. They were the front gates of Hell, and he never knew it. Hell is just a tomb, resting in the Echoside.
FIN
*Lyrics from Insane Clown Posse on the Amazing Jeckel Brothers Album. Just giving the credit here.