'Who are you?'� He asked. He sat alone in a dark room, he had just left hospital, he was weak and confused.
'We are a religious group.'� Came a voice, it seemed to come form nowhere.
'Why am I here?'� He asked.
'Because of where you've been.'� The voice answered.
'I haven't been anywhere; I've never left the state.'�
'You've been to a place where many have gone before you, but so very few have returned.'�
'Please stop.'� His heart started to beat heavily; he felt a lump in his throat.
'You know what we mean.'� The voice continued, 'Two weeks ago, on your twentieth birthday, you became intoxicated on numerous alcoholic beverages, you were hit by a car. You were clinically dead for sixteen minutes; you sustained no permanent brain damage.'�
'I didn't go anywhere.'�
'Our group strives to achieve an understanding of the afterlife; we have interviewed numerous people who have had similar experiences to you. They told us of a bright light, a tunnel and a joyous feeling of weightlessness. You will not tell us of this place, will you?'�
'I can't'� let me go'� I can't.'� He felt like he needed to cry, but he couldn't.
'Tell us what you saw and we'll let you go, with a sizeable amount of money.'� The voice sounded reassuring.
'There is no light.'� He gasped in despair, 'There is a tunnel, but there is no light. It was like every piece of me was a hundred times heavier then it should have been. I was falling down this tunnel faster then I have ever moved in my life. When I came out I was in a terrible place. It was total darkness, but I could see. Above me was a faint light, a whisper of hope, but not for long. It faded out of existence, like a lid being put on a hole. I was alone, so alone, I have never felt such loneliness and I never hope to feel it again. It was like anyone who ever loved me, whoever hated me, whoever even knew me had suddenly abandoned me, forgotten about me. I had been left to rot in that place. Underneath me I saw the foulest thing I'll ever see. It was a vast sea, a vast writhing mass, it stank like all the foulest smells you could possible imagine. It was veined with glowing blue cracks that squirmed and thrashed like bolts of lightning, but with no shred of beauty.
'Then they came. They were hideous, they weren't remotely human. They were ghostly white and like insects. They were jagged and thin and they creaked like a live skull being crushed. Their faces were similar to that of an unborn baby, only longer and full of despair. Their eye sockets were vast, and empty, I could see right into their heads. The insides of their skull were like peering into a rotten apple, with bits of mucky flesh hanging from an unseen roof and filled with writhing maggots. And it wasn't just their eye sockets; they had patches of their exoskeleton that were cavernous and gangly, with more writhing maggots. The creatures were so sad, so lonely and so full of vengeance. They wanted me to be destroyed, and they reached out to me. They had pointy claws that scratched my skin, and I felt my flesh start to rot. I looked at the scratches, my flesh was
decaying from the inside out, I could peer through the cuts at my innards. It was like looking into a rotting potato; grey and scabby.
'I felt like the creatures were going to devour me, but they stopped. They were scared, I knew they were scared. A vast bubble suddenly swelled in the sea beneath me, like a pimple in the fluids of despair. The bubble burst and revealed a huge tunnel underneath it, the tunnel lead into something beyond understanding, but it was not the tunnel that scared the creatures. It was the face'�god that face'� It was strange, it was cold, emotionless, no expression. It was metallic and white and unmoving, like a big floating mask. It was the ruler of the realm, the keeper of that terrible dominion. I am sure that I was in hell, and that had to mean that that face was the devil. They say the devil is a villain, but that face had no evil, no hate. I looked into the empty eyes of the mask and I felt like I was peering into eternity. I did finally see something; the face was old, older then the realm I stood in, the oldest thing in existence. Even, it seemed, older then god. It was lonely; it was being kept in this place. Trapped with the souls not worthy of paradise. The face didn't hate me, it didn't love me, but it acknowledged me. I know now that the devil is not a villain, just a lonely, ancient soul that has a job to do. It spoke and its words resonated around the realm. Its voice stayed the pathetic creatures that surrounded me. It gave a sense of comfort to me as it spoke: 'I will look after you, you must follow me. Your soul bears no darkness; your heart bears no malice, and your mind bears no vengeance. You are not supposed to be here.' Then it sank, it sank slowly into its terrible tunnel, the void in the morbid sea. It beckoned me, I didn't want to follow, but I knew I
could trust this face, this devil. I sank into the hole with the face. I don't know why but I felt an urge to reach out and touch the face. I did so and I felt his ancient strength flow through me, like liquid comfort being pumped into my veins. I felt lighter then I was before, and the sense of foul heaviness left me. I shot up out of the realm, through the tunnel. I saw a light, not the light of heaven, but the light of day. I was slammed back into existence like being hit by a truck. I was back, but I'll never forget. I cry at night, because I know I'll die and I'll go back there. I reach out with all my strength and I hope that face hears me. I want to tell it to send me to paradise next time it sees me'� why do ask me this?'� Finally, he cried. He cried violently and silently.
'Thank you.'� Said the voice.

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