4. Divine Encounter
Everything was starting to make sense now. I was brought here for a reason - to figure out who killed Lucifer. And even though he died months after I arrived here, I can safely assume that whoever is behind this has the ability to manipulate time and...Space.
As soon as I uttered the word, 'space', I remembered something. The Einstein-Rosen bridge. A theoretical devise that could connect two points in space. I looked back at the wall, and, with my new understanding, I immediately realized that the writings were actually the last pieces of the puzzle to construct a wormhole (E-R Bridge)
Night time came, and since it was a Friday evening, this would mean being thrown into the eternal fires, being roasted alive, and being escorted to each of our respective hell rooms. But all that didn't happen. The ruler of hell had died. No one likes torture, but people started asking questions, they were unsettled.
Anyways, I worked the entire night, trying to fit the puzzle together and solve one last equation before I manifest my wormhole. All this math and physics were starting to stress me out. Nonetheless, I kept working toward the greater good. I couldn't give up, not when we've gotten this far. "Right Jules?", (silence). "Julian!", I shouted. "You sneaky little devil!", I said in amazement. He was fast asleep - I have been talking to myself for the past hour, all the while trying to equate some last numbers.
Oh, how I wanted to sleep. My eyes were heavy, thoughts racing, and hands shaking. "YOU. SHOULD. GIVE. UP!", a deep voice said at the back of my head. This was the point when I realised that my mind could be deceiving me, trying to get me to sleep. I gave in...I lost this fight, so I turned off all the light, and went to my bed. "Scoot over Jules". I think he did not hear me. We had to share my bed, so I had to push him to the side so that I can fit. I got in bed, and as I laid my head down, a large noise filled the entire room. "What could it possibly be?"
I got out of the bed I had just got into - life wasn't fair. I headed straight to the light switch, and before I could turn it on, I saw two figures at the corner of my room: they looked like wings. HUGE wings, for that matter! I quickly flicked the switch, and to my surprise, I saw a man, who was dressed EXACTLY like Lucifer, albeit with different sets of wings. These were bigger, but not as pretty like Lucifer's. And less majestic.
"I'm Gabriel, God's trusted angel." the man said to me. I wanted to wake Jules, but he was fast asleep, and didn't like to be bothered when he's in that state. "I'm Jacob, nice to meet you, Gabriel", I did as firmly as possible. This was a divine spirit, one of God's favourites. I did my best to impress him, but he was not in the mood for it; for he came here with news. "I saw the portal open from our end, Heaven. Angels aren't allowed here. Same goes go demons into hell. It's a strict policy, so you're going to have to keep me a secret until I figure out why the portal opened."
I wanted to tell him that he could trust me, but that would've been useless - he was so uptight. If just this one guy is such a bore here, I wonder how tense the whole of Heaven must be. I looked down, and shook my head in disappointment.
"I know what you might be thinking, but I assure you, Heaven is, well, Heaven. It's fun and interesting. I wish I could say more, but I already told you I came here for ans..."
"he's dead!", I interrupted. "Lucifer. Lucifer...is dead" I could sense his emotion shifting. It was clearly visible that he truly cared about Lucifer, even though their relationship wasn't good.
"What do you mean?" , he asked in disbelief. It's the truth, Jules and I found him dead in one of the passages of hell. We the took his body, and buried him so that people don't panic. For without his power, this place would REALLY become hell. "What's that supposed to mean?", I asked, and he answered: "well, this whole place was being kept intact by his presence. Now that he's gone, hell has about 6 days to collapse to oblivion."
I just couldn't believe it: "so, what will happen to all these souls. Can't you at least take all of us to heaven, and we'll wait there until hell is rebuild." Immediately after saying those words, the ground shook. Never had we ever experienced a tremor that huge before. Could this really activity be the end of the Underworld?
"I'm sorry, but I can't help yhu all. The All Father has not approved such a task", Gabriel replied. I could get where he was coming from. Imagine disappearing for some hours, only to return home with millions of "bad" souls. I did not want to put pressure on the guy. So, I just said, "it's ok, I understand". I said this with a smile on my face so as to avoid him thinking I'm trying to manipulate him.
"I'm glad you understand. Now tell me, who opened this bridge? The last time a portal like this was opened was when Lucifer was banished from heaven. Imagine, thousands of years ago. Whoever opened it, probably killed Lucifer"
In that moment, I could feel my soul being set on fire. The one guy who's trying to find the killer will be wrongfuly incarcerated. I decided to not tell Gabriel that I'm responsible for opening the portal. But, something deep inside wanted to come clean. I had made my decision, if I die, I die. "Uhmmm.. Gabriel. I'm the one who opened the bridge, gate, portal. Whatever you want to call it".
I could feel the astonishment on his face. A kid, who has been in this hole for less than a year, has managed to make open a portal that even the most elite angels couldn't. A feat only achieved by God himself.
"But...why did you open the portal?". 'Why' was probably the best question, because explaining 'how' would've taken weeks. Weeks that we didn't have as a luxury.
"I did it because, in my dream, it was said to be the first step in solving this mystery. I didn't even know it would lead to Heaven. All i know is that, where it led, I'd find the answers there. So, let's go..."
"Woah!, hold up. One does not simply waltz into Heaven. You need clearance first, especially if you're from hell", Gabriel added.
"I'm sure everyone is focused on bigger things, they won't even notice. It'll be in and out.", I tried to persuade him. "There are measures in Heaven that are observed when someone escapes into Heaven from hell. You wouldn't even make it passed the Pearly Gates.
Who did he think he was, the Pearly Gates? Really? I survived 3 whole months of hell, dealing with Moses and Abraham's joke will be a breeze. "I'll be ok, don't worry about me.", I said while concealing my true emotion.
As we prepared to make go through the wormhole, I woke Julian up. "Wake up sleepy head. We're going to meet our Maker..."