Needed to work out some plot kinks in my original story, so i decided to simply start writing a multiple chapter back story to one of the characters instead. If anything it should just give me writing technique tips for went I write my originally planned stuff. It's kinda short, but I did rush out of procrastination. Critique away, God knows i need it.
Chapter 1
! The announcement echoed throughout the world, it spanned every inch of the earth where there was a soul to hear it. Whole nations were crippled with fear and scrambled to try and decipher the message that had been delivered. As if the audible voice that had sounded across the globe wasn’t enough, it began to appear even more. It made front page headlines in newspapers that insisted they had never printed such words, it was etched out in the sky with clouds where no plane had flew, radio and television sets everywhere had their broadcasts interrupted repeated by this mystery of a message. Wherever anyone looked, they would find it, and there was no one who was not aware of the message. From the urban streets of major cities to the desert nomads who had no contact with the outside world, they all saw it, every last one of them. Governments worked around the clock attempting in vain to uncover the origins of the message. Neither side in the decades long Cold War were willing to admit it was there doing, and were both afraid to accuse the other in fear that it was true. There were some minor groups that came out and publically stated that it was there doing, but those claims quickly quieted when those groups met with complete destruction in strange and curious ways. Not only was the origin of the message a mystery, but the possibility of it being delivered as it had been continued to stump even the brightest of minds. With the scientific world left baffled, the masses turned, in fear, to the only other option that was giving them an answer that they could fathom. Religions of all sorts sprung up with their answers to the mysterious events. The answers they provided, however, were as varying and as numerous as there were orders of faith. Most were not satisfied, whether out of fear, curiosity, boredom or purpose, there were many who answered the call of those words. Many reasoned that no matter what happened at this event that it would leave the world forever changed.
! “THE GATES OF HELL ARE OPENING.”
! Those six words seemed to be etched on every surface the world had to offer. In some places more was given, the voice that repeated every day at noon being one of them. It was always followed with a different message, but it always said the same things. For one day only Hell would open their gates, and a select chosen few would be given the opportunity for a tour, and if any were left in doubt as to where this tour was taking place the voice always made sure to clarify, as if covering themselves from legal repercussions, that it was Hell itself that was being toured. The message went on to give vague instructions for any wishing to be selected. A time, and a place were both given, and a suggestion was made that only those who truly wished to step through the gates be present, as others could endure a variety of unpleasant fates. In the land known today as Australia, atop what the voiced labeled “The Table”, but included its present day name, Uluru. The voice would always continue on as if trying to sell the event to the public, making their pitch to convince the masses that they would actually want to visit Hell. Many people cowered in fear, others delved deep into thought, and then there were those that prepared. Schedules were cleared, transportation was acquired and weeks in advance there were millions who gathered at the base of the natural landmark. Of millions who gathered, there were thousands upon thousands who attempted to scale the rock, as all forms of aircraft were repelled by strange gusts of wind that nearly caused many to crash. Many of those thousands did not make it, however, most were repelled by a great fear which came on many, including those who had been brimming with confidence before they began their ascent. Others were stubborn, and pressed on through the fear, only to be knocked down off the rock by the same gusts of wind that kept vehicles at bay. Only those who ascended and did not feel that fear, or that wind, were able to succeed in their climb. Proving themselves to be the ones who truly wanted to pass through the gates, as the voice had proclaimed. As the appointed time drew closer the crowd atop the rock slowly grew, with ten minutes remaining the numbers had swelled well beyond one thousand. Among the crowd were gathered both men and women from many different regions, ages and walks of life, united only in their desire to pass through the gates. Many remained in one place silently, simply waiting; others paced around and managed a glance at many others, as if expecting them all to be opponents. Those that had come in large groups made sure to bunch up together, not quite knowing what to expect, from the people around them as well as whatever events or creatures came with the opening of the gate. Despite the diversity conflict was kept to minimum, with the exception of a few exchanged words between groups that were natural opposites of one another. Even as the crowd grew in size they all seemed to avoid settling down near the eastern edge of the rock, no one had any specific reason for moving west they simply just did, without even a second thought. There was one exception, however, a lone man sitting at the eastern most edge with both his legs dangling off the side while he looked down with a slight grin on the gathering crowd some three hundred meters below. As he sat there grinning the clouds began to mold into a rather thick formation above Uluru, causing all the sunlight to blocked with the exception of one patch of clear skies that shined down directly on top of the east side of the rock where the man sat, legs dangling. As all the sunlight for miles round began to focus on him, he slowly looked from the crowd below to odd formation coming together in the sky, all while not failing to keep his grin. After gazing up towards the heavens for few moments he finally opened his mouth and uttered a mere three words.
“It is time.”
He then hoped up from his seated position and turned to the west side of the rock in order to face the rest of the crowd. He paused for a moment to scan what the crowd had now grown to, being pleased with what he saw he opened his mouth to speak, and what came out was anything but natural.
“ATTENTION!” he boomed with a volume that shook the earth itself and easily reached the entire mass that had gathered. “IF YOU COULD ALL PLEASE TURN YOUR EYES UPON ME IT WOULD MOST APPRECIATED!”
A murmur went through the crowd after the man had spoken his first words. His voice was recognized, and it set off a chain reaction of questions and comments between the many that had shown up on the rock.
“It’s him! The voice!”
“Where did he come from?”
“My ears!”
“He looks completely human, is he a demon? Is he Satan?”
“Where’s the damn gate?”
“Seriously, my ears, I think they’re bleeding!”
“So that’s the voice, I thought he’d be bigger.”
“It seems the time has come, excellent.”
“Dammit! They ARE bleeding!”
“ATTENTION!” the man yelled again, causing all talk to vanish. “I WOULD MUCH LIKE TO NOT HAVE TO SHOUT THE ENTIRE TIME, SO IF YOU ALL CAN ACT CIVILIZED THEN I CAN QUIET THINGS DOWN A NOTCH.”
The silence that fell over the entire crowd suggest that the man’s words had been heeded by all, were it not for the one man still writhing in pain while blood continued to flow from his ears. Being the only person making a sound on the entire rock he quickly drew the attention of all present including the man with the voice, who then briskly walked towards the injured man. As he moved through the crowd they all watched as he walked with the physique that any average male human in his twenties would have. His muscles were easy to spot as they caused his slightly tanned skin to bulge on his sleeveless arms, though his black shirt and pants made it difficult to tell if any other muscle groups had been toned just as well. His matching black hair that reached to his shoulders also covered up parts of his face, but that didn’t stop some from seeing his eyes, their complete redness giving away that he was not of this world. Upon reaching the man with the bleeding ears he knelt down and rested his hand on the man’s shoulder. After the man looked up to with eyes full of fear and uncertainty the voice began to speak again, only this time it was much more softly.
“I apologize for my voice causing you so much pain, but I am afraid that I really get agitated when people make noise while I am speaking, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Leave?” the man asked, “How can I move like this?”
“That’s not my problem,” responded the voice, “but you aren’t climbing down off this rock within ten seconds then I’ll throw you off myself, and do keep in mind that when I throw things they go very far.”
The man looked up frantically with a surprised face that wasn’t entirely sure if the voice had been serious or not, but the next word spoken erased all his doubt.
“Ten.” Said the voice.
“No, please no!” begged the man as he scrambled away from the voice towards the nearest edge, tripping and stumbling along the way.
“SIX!” the original volume had returned, causing the man to wince in pain and scramble even faster.
“THREE!” shouted the voice as the man reached the edge and glanced down at the near straight drop all the way to the base of the rock.
The man hesitated; knowing that in his current condition scaling the rock down safety was near impossible and would almost surely result in his falling to a death by impact. Not wanting a certain death he turned to face the voice who was now approaching the edge where the man was on his knees.
“Please,” asked the man, “I just need to wait up here til I can go down safety.”
“TWO!” the voice continued, though not as loud as earlier.
“I’m telling you, if I go down now I’ll fall and die, I couldn’t possibly make it.”
“ONE!”
“NO!” the man had begun sobbing, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”
The voice leaned in close before speaking softly in the man’s wounded ear.
“Then what made you think you could handle Hell?”
And then he kicked him off. The voice then turned and walked back to his spot on the east side of the rock while others peered over the edge to watch the wounded man fall the entire way.
“See there young ones,” spoke an older man with a black robe and white collar, “this is the mercy that the denizens of Hell will bestow on you.”
The uncertain and gloomy faces of some of those who stood around him dressed similarly were the reason for his words.
“Strengthen your resolve, and pray to God now, for he won’t be with us where we are going.”
After the gruesome display it took only the clearing of his throat for the voice to receive the attention of the crowd.
“Well then,” said the voice, “I suppose we can now return to business, though I’d advise that if what just transpired makes you fearful, then you should leave now.”
He paused to scan the crowd once more, waiting to see if any of those remaining would be wise and take the opportunity that he had just given them. When he saw that all were standing firm he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself on the stupidity of humans. Not wanting to delay the process much further, he continued on.
“Welcome, welcome to all of you, to the forth ever tour of Hell in the human year of 1982. I must say that I am quite pleased with the turnout, with the technology as it was during the three previous tours it made it rather difficult for this many to reach us. A total of one thousand thee hundred and seventy nine of you are here today, or seventy eight I suppose would be the count now. First off allow me to introduce myself. My name is Grivil and I shall be your personal guide for those of you lucky enough to be given a chance to tour the depths of Hell. I should point out, however, that can almost certainly not bring all of you in for a tour. Therefore, there will be a series of three challenges that will allow for us to trim down your numbers. These challenges may or may not possibly result in your death, so once again if this makes you waver in your resolve then you are more than free to leave immediately. If you are removed from contention for a spot in the tour and still remain alive then you must descend the rock immediately, or face a face similar to that of the man with the ear issue. Any questions?”
“Yes I have a question.” Replied a man to the left of Grivil. “These challenges that your giving us, will they be based physical or mental capabilities?”
“Oh they’re not my challenges,” responded Grivil, “as your guide I must remain partial to any of the events that transpire in during the tour. The challenges will be issued to you by the three who guard the gates. Any specific questions about the challenges will have to be posed to them I’m afraid. Keep in mind, however, that what we look for in a tour member is not entirely based on physical or mental fortitude. Of course, having such fortitude certainly can’t hurt.”
The man seemed unsatisfied; his stretched bright yellow shirt over his large body and accompanying hammer suggested he was a man focused on the physical. Despite his looks of a brute, though, he still wasn’t done asking questions.
“You said this was the forth ever tour of Hell. When were the other three, and why haven’t we heard of them?”
“Now that,” said Grivil as he grinned widely, “is a question that I can most certainly answer.”