“… The land of deepest night, of utter darkness and disorder, where even the light is like darkness” (Job 10:22).
“ They grope in darkness with no light ” (Job 12:25).
As quickly as Allen’s cosmic creation adventure had started, it ended.
“Whoa!” Allen shook his head routine again hoping it might clear his thoughts, then tucked his hands in his pockets, and looked up at Unice now sitting beside him on the couch. “Was that what I thought it was?”
“What do you think it was?” Unice smiled all the way to the corners of her beautiful eyes.
“Well, I thought it was the creation of the universe.” Allen gulped down a tightening in his chest. “And near the end I think it was the Creator ever so gently putting the earth in place.”
“You’re very sharp, young man.” Unice stood and clapped her hands. “You’re correct and for that I will give you a standing ovation.” And she did. It was quite a sight for Allen to see this beautiful creature standing there clapping like some kid that had just won a prize from a crackerjack box or something.
Allen remained seated and said “Thank you, thank you very much!” He pulled off an old Elvis Presley impersonation he had heard his dad imitate for a laugh and would you believe it, Unice got it! And it had the same effect; a good laugh for both of them at his wisecrack.
Then Allen asked another probing question: “But Unice, what about what happened at the end; that was Vulpine, wasn't it?”
“Yes, it was. And his performance at the end reflected a scheme he had discovered to bring great pain and misery to Theos.”
“How?” Allen asked.
“I can’t answer that right now, but during the rest of your stay you’ll find out.” Unice turned to leave. “I must leave you for a moment; I need to find out if we should go in to Theos now or if He has other directions for us. Wait for me here, I’ll be right back.”
Another knot lodged in Allen’s stomach and his level of stress began to rise. It looked like his audience with Theos was going to happen soon. “What will I say? How will I stand before Him? Should I bow? What if my voice quits on me like it did when I met the mayor of my city that time? I wanted to crawl into a hole, but this is a thousand times more intimidating than meeting the mayor. Theos is—he is—Well, there’s nobody more powerful than He is!” Allen knew he was being the machine gun kid again.
Unice made a hasty exit, leaving Allen in the great room alone. His throat felt parched and dry and it caused him to cough. An echo from his cough came back to him just as if someone else had coughed. He coughed again. The same echo mimicked him. Allen chuckled to himself. “Hello!”
The echo repeated, “Hello!”
“How are you?” Allen stifled a laugh so he wouldn’t miss the echo, “How are you?”
“My name is Allen.”
The echo replied, “My name is Allen.”
“Are you my echo?" Allen asked.
“No, I'm a real voice.”
Allen was startled. What had happened to the echo?
Then Allen noticed a figure. This one was startling in a new way. It had wings, a beautiful robe, cool boots, and snow white hair, but its features were very young, like a child. Then to top it all off, the being was only about as tall as Allen.
“Hi, my name is Hellost. I have been sent to take you to see Theos.”
Even though this new character’s voice sounded pleasant, a shiver crawled down Allen’s back. “Thanks, but no thanks. Unice is coming back to get me.”
“Well, she sent me.” Hellost stuck out his hand to shake Allen’s. “Come quickly! We don't want to keep Theos waiting.”
Allen was a little suspicious, but if this messenger was for real, he didn't want to keep Theos waiting either. “I’m coming.”
The two moved quickly to a door near the back of the auditorium, Hellost opened it and they exited. Without warning, everything went black!
“Hey! What’s going on?” Suddenly someone was tying Allen’s legs together and his hands were secured behind his back. It didn’t matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break loose. A heavy hood was placed over his head.
“Hushhhhhhhhh!” A voice hissed in his ear.
Somebody lifted Allen up in the air. He was sure he could hear the beating of wings.
His mind raced with all kinds of thoughts. “Am I going to arrive at the throne of Theos? Am I headed home? Did I make a mistake in going with this creature called Hellost? Where is Mike or Gabe or Unice?” As Allen’s questions grew, so did his fear. “Whatever is happening, it can’t be good!”
After awhile the beating of wings stopped. Allen was dropped down on a floor and the chains were removed from his hands and feet. The hood was still over his head. At least he thought it was, but when he reached up to feel it, the hood was gone. He stood in darkness like he had never experienced before—Wait a minute. Yes, he had. It was when he was crouched at home waiting for the wave to hit his house. At that time he remembered he could almost taste the darkness.
“Is anyone there?” He whispered faintly. On one hand, he hoped someone would answer, but on the other hand, he hoped no one would. Then he felt himself being dragged along, but couldn’t see who it was. “Where am I? Who is this dragging me?" Allen asked desperately.
“Put these on!” The demanding voice sounded like Hellost.
Allen felt something thrust into his hand. As he tried to determine what it was, he recognized the shape as a pair of very small eyeglasses. He slipped them on. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a creature dressed in attire Allen had seen before. The Duns wore that kind of clothing! His vision was not very clear. Objects resembled those he had seen in pictures taken through night vision glasses used by the military to see in the dark. Everything had a deep green color. Allen could see some creatures slinking through the darkness. He peered at his captor. “Where am I?”
A voice answered, “You are in the Dark Region!”
Allen’s knees trembled. He could hardly stand up. His hands began to sweat. He was determined to find out what was going on and tried to put on a brave voice. “Why?”
“You are a chosen one of Theos. I was instructed to find you and bring you here. I never dreamed it would be so easy.” The creature taunted Allen with a sinister look.
Allen’s spine stiffened. “Are you the one that came into the room and told me you were taking me to Theos?”
The creature never answered, but beside him Allen could see a wig, a robe, and a false face lying on the ground. He had tricked Allen. Then he remembered, “I never checked for an earring. How foolish of me!”
“You lied to me,” protested Allen.
The creature cackled. “You believed me and that’s your problem.”
“Hellost!” a voice shattered the darkness. “You must report at once!”
Something grabbed Allen by the wrist. Allen could feel a powerful grip lock around his arm, yanking him toward a cell-like enclosure and thrusting him inside. The door slammed shut and something ripped Allen’s glasses off. A deeper and darker blackness engulfed him. Oh, such darkness!
Allen searched frantically for the glasses, dragging his feet hoping they had fallen somewhere near the door, but he couldn’t find them. He held onto the cell wall with one hand and crawled along on his knees, hoping to feel them with his free hand, still nothing. He continued searching in a frantic frenzy but could not find them. A panic attack seized him! Not a sound could be heard except for the beating of his heart.
After awhile, Allen began to hear other sounds too. He could hear the blood flowing through his veins and, bizarre as it was, when he took a breath he could hear the air going down into his lungs and then flow up again as he exhaled. How keen his senses were, but right now they served no purpose except allowing him to hear these eerie sounds of his own body. No matter how he strained to listen, he heard nothing else.
A wave of loneliness and hopelessness swept over Allen. He was a prisoner in a world that was black and full of nothing as far as he knew. “Will anyone rescue me? How long will I remain like this, separated from everyone and everything? Would it be like this forever? Is this hell?”
Allen covered his face with his hands, hoping to drown out the anxious thoughts racing around in his mind, but it was no use. Memories waltzed through his head: family, friends, school, the Kingdom of Light, Vulpine. He frantically searched his mind for a way to escape. An endless carousel of the same thoughts consumed him. Because of the blackness, time didn’t seem to exist because with no day or no night, how would you tell time?
Fright seized Allen repeatedly like waves. He screamed for someone to help him, but nobody came. There was only an eerie silence. He shook the cell. More silence. He cried because he was so afraid and lonely. “Someone, please help me!”
Allen crept away from the door, feeling his way along the wall of the cell. He was hoping to find an end, but there never was one—only a continuous cell wall. “This is crazy! I have to get out of here. I’m going out of my mind.” Even though Allen was constantly moving, he never became tired or felt hungry. However, he experienced an endless thirst for something cool to drink. Everything seemed unending. He hoped that if he kept moving, somehow there would be an end to this. “Surely sooner or later someone will help me!”
Like a caged animal, Allen paced back and forth. He was losing hope. “How many miles have I walked? How long have I been in here—a day, a year, a hundred years?”
He was so defeated he wasn’t even sure anyone would even remember who he was. He couldn’t turn off his tormenting thoughts. The constant motion and the debilitating blackness were slowly suffocating him. “It’s hopeless!” he thought in despair.