John Foster blinked against the morning sunlight, disoriented by the sudden transition from the celestial tribunal to the familiar parking lot of Foster Precision Components. His BMW M3 gleamed nearby, exactly where he'd parked it on what now felt like a lifetime ago—the last morning of his earthly life.
He patted his chest and arms, discovering he wore khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt—his casual Friday attire, pristine now with no signs of the violence that had ended his life. The weight of his watch, his wedding ring, the familiar pressure of his wallet in his back pocket—all restored as if nothing had happened.
"Beautiful machine, isn't she?" came a voice like smooth bourbon over crushed glass.
John turned to find a man leaning against a lamppost, dressed in an impeccably tailored three-piece suit that somehow seemed both modern and reminiscent of 1940s cinema. His silver-streaked hair was slicked back, his smile revealing teeth too white, too perfect. Everything about him suggested wealth and power, yet something in his eyes—flat and calculating—set off alarm bells in John's mind.
"First trial," John murmured to himself, remembering the warning from the heavenly tribunal.
The man's smile widened unnaturally. "Nothing so dramatic, John. Just a simple opportunity to avoid unnecessary suffering." He pushed himself away from the lamppost with graceful ease. "You see, I know what happens when you get in that car today. You drive downtown, get caught in that protest, and, well..." He made a hanging gesture with his hand. "Not a pleasant way to go."
John's stomach clenched at the memory of the rope, the desperate struggle for air, the darkness closing in.
"But it doesn't have to be that way," the man continued, circling John like a shark. "Your car won't start this morning. You'll call a mechanic, miss your appointment downtown, and live out your days as intended—successful business, loving family, grandchildren on your knee in your golden years." He stopped directly in front of John, his eyes suddenly black from corner to corner. "All it requires is a simple acknowledgment of who truly rules this fallen world."
The man extended his hand. "Just bow to me, once. You won't even remember this conversation. Everything returns to normal."
John felt a powerful pull toward the man's outstretched hand—a desire to accept this reasonable offer, to return to Marissa, to watch his grandchildren grow up.
Then he remembered Jesus's words: "The Adversary cannot take what is not surrendered."
"No," John said, the single word carrying more weight than he had expected. "I know who you are, and I will not bow."
The man's facade cracked, his handsome features contorting with rage. "You fool!" he snarled, his voice no longer smooth but guttural and harsh. "You think your pitiful loyalty matters? Your death changes nothing! Your suffering has only begun!"
The world around John dissolved like wax melting in a flame. The parking lot, his car, the morning sun—all gone in an instant.
Darkness. Oppressive heat. The stench of sulfur.
As his eyes adjusted, John found himself standing in a vast cavern, illuminated by an orange glow emanating from below. The sound of bubbling liquid echoed off stone walls that stretched beyond sight into the darkness above.
Before him loomed a creature straight from medieval depictions of hell—towering, muscular, with leathery wings folded against its back and curved horns protruding from its forehead. Its skin was the color of congealed blood, cracked in places to reveal molten heat beneath.
"Second trial," John whispered, his voice thin in the dense, superheated air.
The beast's laughter shook the cavern. "This is no trial, mortal. This is the consequence of your first refusal."
With a flick of its clawed finger, John found himself transported, now naked and balanced precariously on a small rock jutting from a lake of churning magma. The heat hit him like a physical blow, instantly raising blisters on his exposed skin.
"Feel that?" the demon growled, now floating above him, wings extended. "That is just the beginning of what awaits you. Your death has marked you as mine."
John's feet began to blacken where they touched the heated stone. The pain was beyond anything he had experienced—worse even than the hanging—a white-hot agony that consumed his entire consciousness.
"It can end now," the beast offered, its voice almost gentle. "Bow to me, acknowledge me as lord, and you return to your life, free of pain, free of memory of this place."
John's skin was smoking now, the smell of his own burning flesh filling his nostrils. He could barely form thoughts through the haze of agony, yet somehow he remembered Mary's compassionate eyes, Jesus's words: "Stand firm in faith."
Through cracked, blistering lips, John managed to whisper, "I... will not... bow."
The beast's roar of fury shook the cavern. "Then burn!" it howled, swooping down and striking John with enough force to send him flying from the rock into the lava below.
The shock of the magma engulfing him was so intense that John's mind simply shut down, unable to process such total agony. As consciousness fled, he thought he heard a distant tone like a crystal bell cutting through the demon's continued roars.
Darkness. Silence. Relief.
Then, gradually, new sensations: cool silk against his skin, the subtle scent of expensive cologne, gentle music playing somewhere nearby.
John opened his eyes to find himself reclining on a plush sofa in what appeared to be the presidential suite of a luxury hotel. Through floor-to-ceiling windows, a glittering cityscape spread out below. The room was bathed in soft lighting that highlighted the elegant furnishings, crystal decanters of amber liquids, and—most strikingly—several extraordinarily beautiful women in revealing attire lounging around the space.
"Ah, he awakens," came a cultured male voice.
A man approached from across the room—tall, perfectly proportioned, with features that combined strength and refinement in ideal balance. He wore a bespoke suit that made even John's expensive tastes seem pedestrian by comparison.
"Final trial," John murmured, sitting up cautiously, relieved to find himself clothed again in a suit, his body restored from the horrific damage of the lava.
"Trial?" The handsome man laughed, the sound musical and infectious. "I prefer to think of it as an opportunity. A chance to experience everything you secretly desired but denied yourself out of misplaced devotion to outdated moral codes."
He gestured expansively around the room. "All this can be yours, John. Not just for a night, but for a lifetime. Wealth beyond your current comprehension. Power in circles you've only glimpsed from the outside. Pleasures you've never allowed yourself to imagine."
One of the women rose and glided toward John. She was stunning beyond any human standard of beauty—her features perfectly symmetrical, her form embodying every cultural ideal of female attractiveness. As she sat beside him, her scent enveloped him—an intoxicating perfume that seemed to bypass his rational mind and connect directly to primal desires he had long suppressed.
She leaned close, whispering descriptions of pleasures she could provide, her breath warm against his ear, her hand sliding up his thigh. John felt a hunger awaken in him that was both familiar and foreign—amplified beyond any temptation he had faced in life.
The handsome man smiled indulgently. "This is not even betrayal, John. Your life was taken from you unjustly. Why shouldn't you claim a better one? All these delights, all this power—yours for the taking. Just acknowledge me as the true authority in this world and bow once."
For a moment, John wavered. This tempter offered not just escape from torture but fulfillment of desires he had barely admitted to himself. The woman beside him seemed to sense his hesitation, pressing closer, her touch becoming more insistent.
Then, cutting through the haze of temptation, John remembered his grandchildren's faces, Marissa's devoted love through thirty-three years of marriage, the simple joy of Sunday dinners with his family. He recalled Jesus's words about bearing witness, about standing firm when others faltered.
With sudden clarity, John understood the emptiness behind the luxury surrounding him. This wasn't pleasure—it was addiction, a bottomless hunger that could never be satisfied.
Gathering his strength, John pushed the woman away and stood. "No," he said firmly. "These are not my desires. This is not what I want."
The handsome man's face transformed, beautiful features twisting into a mask of hatred. "You self-righteous hypocrite!" he snarled, his cultured voice distorting. "You think you're above basic human wants? You think your pathetic life of compromise and mediocrity is something to protect?"
He struck John with devastating force, sending him crashing into a glass table that shattered under his weight. As pain exploded through John's body, the opulent room began to disintegrate around him, the beautiful women melting into grotesque parodies of themselves.
"You've made your choice!" the being howled as darkness began to claim John's consciousness. "Return to your rotting corpse if that's what you prefer!"
As John slipped into blackness, he heard again the distant crystal tone, louder now, and sensed a light growing somewhere beyond his perception—pure and impossibly bright.
The third trial was complete.
