The Department of Hate - A Love Story Read Online Free Page B

think?” Cassandra was still trying to take it all in. She seemed lost in thought. She shook her head, replying only with
    “I don’t know.” Abaddon spoke out loudly, almost fiercely
    “I’ll call for a guard my Lord, to take away the female” But Jarrod looked back at him even more fiercely
    “No. She stays with me. She is not to be harmed.” Abaddon nodded his head
    “Of course, my Lord. ” Cassandra finally seemed to have come to some conclusion. Looking at Jarrod she blurted out
    “So, we’re dead and you’re Satan?” It sounded ridiculous – and yet here they were. Jarrod smiled and shook his head slowly
    “No, he says I’m just Beelzebub, second in the hierarchy, Lucifer is Satan.” Cassandra replied with a smile
    “Well that’s ok then.”   It still all seemed absurd though. They were still in the park, in the deserted city – well, not quite deserted – standing, talking. Jarrod was thinking that maybe this was some kind of trick. It was best to play along, find out more. And yet, he didn’t really think it was. There was something awfully familiar about Abaddon. He turned back to face him
    “So where’s Lucifer then?” Abaddon couldn’t even hear that name without flinching. He replied carefully
    “He hasn’t been seen in a long time my Lord. He’s been waiting for your return though, we all have. You’re a year later than expected. I’m sure someone has already told him you’re back.” Jarrod listened to all of this carefully. He had no idea what Abaddon meant by ‘a year later’, but clearly being ‘back’ meant being dead. He was in an increasingly strange mood. Looking for more answers he said
    “We had a little trouble on the train.” Abaddon actually smiled at this. He smirked
    “Ah yes, the terrorist bombing. Seven hundred killed. Things are heating up. Wont be long now, my Lord.”   Jarrod decided not to ask what wouldn’t be long. He looked straight at him and asked instead
    “So we were killed? We are dead then?” Abaddon seemed surprised by the question
    “ Well of course, my Lord.”
     
    Jarrod ignored Abaddon and moved closer to Cassandra. She’d been standing there listening, but not looking very happy. He reassured her
    “Stick close to me. I won’t let anything happen to you.” She seemed uncertain. She spoke quietly
    “You appear to be taking all of this in pretty easily.” Jarrod looked back at her.
    “Well, it’s hard to believe. I know who I am. But let’s just play along. If this is Hell its better to be one of the demons, that ’s one thing we can be sure of.” But Cassandra shook her head, exclaiming
    “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. And what about me?” Jarrod replied earnestly.
    “I will protect you.” He had no doubt that he could. His feelings for her were even stronger than before. He felt certain that their arrival together was no accident – that their destinies were interwoven in some remarkable way.
     
    Abaddon motioned for them to follow him and set off quickly. They walked through a series of gloomy streets making their way towards what they could begin to make out to be a mighty wall in the distance. Strangely as they walked the city streets seemed to dissolve around them and then fade away completely. Before very long they found themselves in a desert some miles away from the outer walls of a different city. It seemed to be early in the morning. The sky was a harsh yellow in colour. There was no sun to be seen. But it was already fiercely hot and clearly was only going to get worse. Jarrod called out to Abaddon
    "What's going on?" Abaddon stopped and looked around before replying 
    "We're now properly in Hell my Lord. These are the Plains of Desolation. The walls ahead are the outer walls of the city of Dis. When a group of the dead get taken in special circumstances - as you were - they go through some kind of shared hallucination – some kind of projection. Details vary. This happened to all of you on the