Heaven Up Here

Seeing my discomfort, she hushed me, putting a finger to her lips, all her earlier coquettishness gone. She and the blonde picked up their cylinders and again I was engulfed in vapour that had my head swimming.

She sounded wistful, almost sad. "Something you should see, Alex. Something important. See you on the other side, sweet boy. Good luck!"

In an instant, I was back on my bicycle, pedalling home in the semi-darkness, wishing for a hot shower, a cup of tea and a few beers before the daily grind started again in the morning. A small respite before the sheer drudgery of it all overtook me and a new working day began.

Once more, I passed the decaying club and the poster for the Hallowe'en party. Then, as I stuck out my arm to indicate my intended last left turn before home, that blasted eighteen-wheeler cut across me on my outside. I felt the draught as the wing-mirror clipped my elbow and sighed in relief as I had done hours earlier as it passed me by.

Then something massive hit my rear wheel and I felt the bike buckle beneath me. The tyre was sandwiched between the rear wheels of the truck. It skidded briefly and the bike swung like a catapult and I parted company with it.

I soared into the air with the huge, blank rear wall of the derelict Astoria Cinema approaching me at the speed of light. There was only one thought in my head as my demise was upon me.

"Alex - you spent a fucking fortune on that cycling helmet and you may as well have used hair-gel."

A split-second later, I was crushed into oblivion like a fly on a windshield and the lorry hurtled on towards the M25, the driver seemingly unaware of the life he had just cut short. Strangely, as I returned to consciousness, a sense of calm overcame me. It was pitch dark again and the women were no longer in my arms. A quiet, measured voice came from my left, strangely familiar, yet completely unknown.

"Alexander Phillip Rushden. Born Erith, Kent, 18th January 1996. Deceased, All Hallows' Eve, 2020. Road traffic accident."

There was a short pause, then a light came on to my right and the Cornishwoman was illuminated at the foot of the bed, her head bowed. She looked up slowly and pointed to herself. Her voice was different, her thick, archaic accent now gone.

"Morwenna Angharad Duffy. Born St. Ives, Cornwall as a commoner in the early 1780's. Died in her seventh childbirth as Lady Morwenna Trevelyan, aged thirty-something, All-Hallows' Eve, 1815."

Sadie was now highlighted by a single spotlight on my left. She pointed to herself, her head also bowed. Her accent was also now replaced by more measured tones.

"Sadie Elizabeth Simmonds. Born Greenwich, London, April 1853. Died in a catfight, Limehouse, All Hallows' Eve, 1893. It was a mercy. She was raddled with pox, syphilis and gonorrhoea."

She smiled ruefully at Morwenna. "I died in the gutter. She died on a feather bed, but we aren't so different. That's why we're such a great team and why we love each other so much. Oh and by the way, those lovely diseases are long gone!"

They both knelt and put an arm around each other, their faces radiant.

A million questions flooded my addled brain and I was able to speak at last. "If I am dead, where am I? Who are you and what happens next?"

Morwenna spoke. "Yes, as you are now aware, you are dead Alex, and in a waiting room of sorts. We have been called Harvesters, even Reapers. But we prefer Rescuers. It's our job and we have been doing it a long time and we are damned good at it."

"Rescuers? Rescue from what?"

She laughed. "The other lot. The nasty, boring buggers that live upstairs from us."

Now I was utterly confused. I was about to say something when I was cut short by a pounding on the door. A shrill, brittle voice called out into the darkness.

"You have five minutes, Morwenna. There is no chance of claiming this one, despite your filth and debauchery. Leave him to us."

An exasperated look crossed Morwenna's face. "Fuck - right on cue." She raised her voice. "Not a fucking chance, Sister Callista. We get first dibs on All Hallows' Eve as you well know, so piss off back to your frozen little cloud and leave this to the pro's."

Her words were met with more thumping on the door and a hideous Banshee wail.

She turned to me, a look of alarm on her face. "Sorry, Alex - it takes a long time to harvest the energy we need to get you back. The more sudden and violent the end, the more energy is required. We tried our best, but despite our efforts we may be a little bit short - this is going to be a close run thing -- are you coming with us?"

My mind was in a whirl. "Who are they? What do they want me for?"

Sadie shrugged. "We usually claim our Lost Souls turn and turn about with that lot out there. But on nights like All Hallows' and Summer Solstice, we get first choice. They can make a claim if they think they have a chance. It's the same at Christmas and Easter. They get first pick and we mop up the rest. Just in case you're thinking of going with them, this is what's on the other side of that door."

She blew vapour from her cylinder into my face and if I still had a heart, it almost stopped at the vision I now saw.

The woman - if that is what she was - was well over six feet tall and clad in diaphanous robes that swirled about her. Her skin was an almost translucent pale blue, her eyes pure white orbs. Bony plates protruded from her bald head and her lips looked rotten, revealing dagger-like fangs. Her limbs were impossibly long and thin, ending in skeletal claws. She looked ancient, decayed and utterly evil.

As my blood ran cold, another similar vision joined her and as they hammered on the door, they set up a hideous ululation.

Morwenna took my hand. "You've seen what we offer, Alex and now you've seen them. Time's running out. You coming with us or them?"

Given the alternative, I had no choice. Something very strange was happening, but one way or the other, I needed to make a very quick decision.

I gripped her hand. "I'm with you, Morwenna, Sadie. I don't know who or what any of you are. I want to know what you two are, but I don't want to know them. Take me with you, please."

Sadie let out a relieved sigh. "Phew. Come on, then Lost Boy, time to go. Let's get you home! Oh, and sorry, but not to put too fine a point on it, this bit's going to fucking hurt like you've never hurt before, but it's the only way."

The door sounded as if it were about to splinter and the ululation got ever more frantic until it was ear-shattering. The two women's tails unfurled and the tips of them stroked my buttocks gently.

"Won't last long, honest. Got to force all that energy we extracted back into you to make the transition. Just hope we got enough."

I screamed in genuine fear and agony as the end of each tail formed into a vicious barb reminiscent of a scorpion's and sank deep into my upper thighs. It was utterly excruciating as they burrowed deep into my flesh and I felt the spikes scraping against the base of my spine.

Then all hell broke loose as the door burst open and the two fearsome apparitions tumbled into the room. As the barbs punctured my spine, I was unable to even make a sound it was so agonising. It felt as though I was having an epidural without anaesthetic.

As the two intruders set about my Rescuers with flailing arms, something was injected deep into my spine as the room spun and a burning, acidic pain spread out up my back and into my head until it felt like it would explode.

My Rescuers eyes burned a fierce red as their tails went ever deeper and the room spun faster. They thrashed at their attackers, who seemed almost ghostly now I could see them more clearly. They were utterly terrifying as their bony, clawed hands tore at Morwenna and Sadie and their Banshee wails rent the air.

Just as I thought the pain would tear me apart, my whole field of vision began to fade grey. As I began to lose consciousness, I heard Sadie call out in a shaky voice.

"Beat you again, Sis Cal, you fucking bag of bones. Another one claimed for the good guys!"

Then something icy cold encircled my left ankle and I was jerked back to the here and now. Callista had attached a thin tether to me and her cohort was tightening it like a noose. It cut into my flesh and made the pain in my back and head feel like a gentle tickle as Morwenna and Sadie now screamed in pain and their tails retracted from me as a wave of Arctic chill replaced their burning acid.

Their grip on me weakened as whatever the Banshees had inflicted upon me took its toll. Morwenna looked at me with shock in her eyes as once again, I began to fade to grey. Sadie slid off the bed, her face distraught as mocking laughter rang around the room and cold, bony hands took me in a firm grip.

Sister Callista screamed in triumph into Morwenna's stricken face. My would-be saviour mouthed one last word before blackness claimed me.

"Sorry."

Three

It is so cold I can barely think straight. It is like living in an endless, freezing fog. The shackle feels like it is burning into me it is so cold. I glance down at the livid blue band that encircles my left ankle, biting deep into the flesh, chilling the bone to the marrow.

An equally livid, icy-blue brand glows from the inside of my left wrist. It consists of a single number.

'5'.

When it was inflicted upon me with undisguised glee by Sister Callista, it said,

'7'

Her ear-piercing whisper told me then that when the count reaches zero, my Cleansing will begin. I have no idea what that will entail, but I know I am not going to like it.

The only other voice I have heard in my brief time here was a faint echo, coming from what seemed like a million miles away. A soft, Cornish accent speaking nine words that give me a glimmer of hope.

"We'll be back for you, Alex. We never fail."

I have the distinct impression that if they do not get back to me before I am Cleansed, then I will be here for all Eternity and that thought fills me with dread.

From time to time, I have seen fleeting glimpses of shining, dead eyes as they gaze back at me from the mist. I see them now, approaching fast -- closer than they have ever come..

As the number on my wrist changes from '5' to '4' the hideous face of Sister Callista appears in front of mine. The dead mouth opens and I feel a chill draught as fetid breath assails me and that insidious, ululating whisper worms into my brain.

"We will Cleanse you soon, Sinner. Then you will be ours. This is how it will feel -- it will last a very long time and by the end, you will be stripped bare and born anew."

My mind is filled with a vision of two women kneeling in front of me. My cum drips from their chins as they laugh and kiss and sheer euphoria sweeps over me. I relive that glorious moment as Morwenna and Sadie share my spoils and I gaze on in stupefied awe at what is unfolding.

Then I feel a dull ache that spreads out from my groin, rapidly becoming an unbearable freezing sensation -- all-encompassing and agonising as I shake and scream in anguish. Morwenna and Sadie continue to grin as I weep, sucking the mess from each other as I squirm and plead for it to stop. The thing around my ankle feels as if it is going to cut through the bone and sever my foot. My brand emanates a Polar chill as it pulses on my wrist and the torment goes on and on for minutes on end.

Then the vision of Morwenna and Sadie fades as blackness takes over and the pain recedes.

Then that whisper again, rasping in my ear like a swarm of wasps. "You see, it will stop if you cease thinking those base thoughts. Cleanse yourself and it will be easier. In four days, it will begin. Twenty-one days later, it will end and you will be Cleansed. Non-stop agony to wash away the lewd thoughts of the flesh. You will then rejoice that we rescued you from their clutches and washed you clean."

My vision is replaced by blank, staring orbs that slowly recede into the fog. If I could, I would fall to the ground and curl into a tiny ball.

Then another, softer voice fills my mind. "We are coming, Alex. We are stronger this time."

A snarl emanates from the mist and Sister Callista turns back to me. She screams her Banshee wail.

"Sisters, the battle is on."

A soft Cornish voice to my left. "Bring it on, Sis Cal. This one's ours."

A London accent to my right. "Come on, blind bitch -- make my fucking day!"

As the fight over me commences, it sounds like a subway train braking in a tunnel. A hideous, metallic shrieking noise that rends the senses and leaves rational thought all but impossible.

I watch as shadows and ghostly images flicker in and out of my vision and tails, horns, claws and fangs rend at each other.

I always wanted to go to Heaven when I died.

If it truly is Heaven up here, then please let Morwenna and Sadie win and take me down to Hell with them.