The Department of Hate - A Love Story by Anthony O'connor Read Free Book Online Page A

large wardrobe he pointed out a range of suits – all of them the same plain black in colour, very expensive looking, and all of them massive in size, far too big for him.
    “It's just like these ones, my Lord.” Then he opened the other side of the wardrobe to show a range of long gowns.
    “And perha ps one of these for the female?” Jarrod was amused
    “Why do I have those?” Abaddon again gave one of his smirks.
    “You did like to keep one or two of the human females around my Lord, and you always insisted on a certain level of elegance .” Jarrod stared back at Abaddon
    “Did I now?” Cassandra looked at Jarrod – her expression ambiguous.
     
    Given where they were the very idea of fashion seemed absurd. But maybe there was a point to it – fit in, play along. He looked over at Cassandra who just shrugged and replied
    “Why not?”   She sorted through the gowns - pulling out a red satin one.
    “This one will do.” She waited patiently, without saying anything. Jarrod finally noticed
    “Oh, yes, of course, we’ll wait in the other room.” He stepped outside. Abaddon followed him, rolling his eyes - he still couldn’t believe how inanely Lord Beelzebub was behaving. But once again he reassured himself
    “ It won’t last too much longer.” A few minutes later Cassandra came out wearing the long red, low cut gown. It was a perfect fit. Jarrod caught his breathe.
    “You look ... so beautiful” . Cassandra didn’t reply but looked at him oddly. Jarrod looked back at her. She reminded him of someone – someone in a dream, barely recalled, dancing with him, wearing the same red dress. He tried but he couldn’t remember anything more. He felt an immensely deep sense of loss without knowing why. He went into the other room and came out again wearing the black suit. Cassandra looked him over carefully but made no comment. Abaddon shuffled in place, keen to get going. He said
    “Ready, my Lord ?” Jarrod replied
    “Yes. Let's go then.” Cassandra added dryly
    “Oh yes, lets” They were both worrying what they were getting into next.
     
    Abaddon led them out of the building through the side entrance, around to the front and then down a broad promenade towards the Pit. He almost seemed excited. He told them that the Great Hall was also on the edge of the Pit about a third of the way around. They arrived at a circular roadway that ran around the edge. They could see the building they were heading for – about a mile or two away. It was starting to get dark but it was light enough to see clearly. The heat was still almost unbearable. But all of this quickly became irrelevant. Jarrod and Cassandra’s attention was riveted on the pit. It was now just in front of them. Both of them stared at it, too shocked to respond in any other way. It was several miles across and dropped almost vertically. Half a mile down there was the top surface of a seething mass of bodies in constant motion – all shapes and sizes - all naked – arms and legs and heads thrashing about as each of them tried desperately to stay on top and not get sucked under. All of them screaming, biting, snarling, scratching and clawing away at each other - in their endless effort to stay on top where at least the air was a little better. This was now all they had, and all they ever would have. For each of them the final end of a lifetime of striving, a lifetime that had been decreed to be inadequate, earning for them eternal damnation – untold and unlimited suffering and pain now and for ever more - just so many rejects cast forever into the Pit of Despair. Jarrod and Cassandra had to step back as they felt wave after wave of smouldering, blistering heat coming up out of the pit. There was a constant roar of pain and protest from below - even louder than the unending high pitched screeching from above as ever more of the damned poured out of the sky and down into the pit.
     
    Cassandra looked at all of this with great distress and her