Chapter three

Jessica awoke in a chair next to a ravine, with a seemingly bottomless pit below that emitted an orange glow as well as a smattering of sparks and a whole lot of heat that rose up from it.

The two women were on either side of her. Neither spoke will they took turns stroking her hair. She still had on her wedding dress, but it was now tattered and terribly soiled. The man was behind her and spoke.

“I am sorry it has come to this, I truly am, but its time for the sickness down below to have its day.” He pointed to the bottomless void.

“I cant stop this?!,” she asked in vain. She didn’t wait for a response but answered her own question. “It’s gonna take me.”

“But sorrow is all I have known. Why me?” she countered with small bud of hope starting to grow.’

The two women nod in unison as they now stood before her and waited for the man to speak.

He kneeled down beside her and took off his hat to reveal a thinning hairline, matted down with sweat.

“True that. You have had a hard life, but unfortunately, we cannot overlook the sins you have committed. These two women can attest to this. You should recognize them.”

Jessica looked at the younger woman. “I have seen your picture somewhere, but I can’t remember from where.”

The man spoke up. “This is Donna. She was happily married to Jeremy. Until you showed up.”

“Now wait,” Jessica countered.

Before she could continue, the man stopped her. “I know what the world thinks, but here, is where we know the absolute truth. The truth is, you logged onto Jeremys account at work, sent Kimbery that email, and then just as quickly deleted it, to remove all evidence. Only thing is, in this realm, there is no such thing as a deleted email.”

Jessica swallowed hard. “Yes, I did, but how was I to know she was going to kill herself?”

“You wouldn’t have known. Absolutely true. But when you saw her text to Jeremy…”

“I let him know. I got the phone to him right away.”

The man spit to the side and rubbed his forehead. “Did you really?”

Jessica suddenly had a sinking notion that the harsh truth was coming out. She shook her head as it was an unspoken knowledge of everyone there. While Jessica did get Jeremy his phone that day, she deliberately stalled in getting him the phone in hopes it would be to late to save his wife.

It was.

Kimberly stood motionless while the man pointed to the older woman with terrible teeth.

“Now I know you know this woman.”

“Yes. Mom?”

Her mom, Theresa, nodded and knelt down as she cried. The man didn’t even have to bother to berate her with questions that he knew the answers to.

Jessica had gone to the internet and found out where her mom was staying. She had snuck in during the night, to find her passed out, so high on crystal meth that it’s a wonder how she didn’t overdose on her own.

Jessica went there in hopes of finding out who her father is. When she saw her, surrounded by drug paraphernalia, anger took over. She found a loaded gun in the room, pressed it into her mom’s laxed hand, put it under her chin, and forced the trigger to propel a small caliber bullet through her jawline, then into her brain, and out the top of her skull, pelting the headboard with skull, hair, brain, and blood.

Jessica cried, not for herself, but for what she did. For the first time, she truly regretted her sins, as she now felt the pain of the two women before her.

“I was going to be a good mom. I was going to make my child’s life better than my own.”

The man put his hat back on and stood. “You still can.”

“What?”

“You see, you are pregnant with Jeremy’s baby. If you truly repent your sins, I will make sure the baby lives on and has a fruitful life. Just remember, there is no lying here.”

Jessica wiped her eyes as she now felt a new kind of uneasiness. “Back away from me. I’m gonna implode.”

The three of them complied and she stood up and stepped to the rim of the chasm.

“I Rebecca, take full responsibility for my transgressions, and ask for forgiveness. I am terribly sorry for what I have done. Above all, I ask that you not punish my unborn baby for what I have done. Please let it have a bountiful life. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.”

She leaned forward and let herself go into a freefall.

Epilogue

No one at the wedding saw the three uninvited guests or knew why she collapsed. When the EMT’s arrived, they found her barely alive. They took her to the nearest hospital. She had suffered an aneurism. She slipped into a coma and stayed in that state until, miraculously, Isaac, her healthy son, was born.

Minutes after Isaac took his first breath, Jessica’s physical body expired, as her spiritual body went deep into the lake of fire, washing her sins away.

End