In the dead of night (Freewrite)

The sound of sirens tears through the night, drowning out the pandemonium habitual of the small hours when there’s nothing but darkness to hear the cries of the desperate. And darkness doesn’t care, you might as well be the last wretched soul in the universe and no one will know your pain.
Nobody even knew there were sirens in that place, why would there be any? Frightening as they may be, sirens warn of danger, but also promise help - an ambulance is on its way, the firetrucks are coming, somebody will get rescued. But in that place there is no rescue, not now, not in a million years. Hell is forever.
The wail of sirens is a welcome distraction for the damned and, Heaven knows, they do not get any distractions there. That’s why they were sent to Hell in the first place, so they would suffer uninterruptedly for all eternity. No peaking to your tormented fellows, no consolation in thinking maybe your lot is not that bad, no getting a lunch break, no waiting for the night to fall. Quite the opposite, no one waits for the night to bring them rest. Nights are the worst - you’re never so alone in the light of day as you are in the dead of night. Hell has no need for night and day. They only exist so the damned can watch the waning light, murky as it is - there are no beautiful sunsets in Hell - full knowing that darkness will come and they will be alone with their suffering. No one sees them even by day, the devils don’t bother much to look at their charges, but at least there is hope, there's a possibility someone could see them. One of their despicable jailers, with his glowing red horns might just walk by with a clipboard in his clawed hands and notice you, realize there’s been a terrible mistake and your not supposed to be there. Or maybe you’ve done your time already. You’ve been there forever, after all. Surely, even eternity must end at some point.
The screams subside as the damned are straining their ears to get a sense of what the commotion might mean. Legions of devils just as confused can be heard scurrying about to gather in front of their master’s fiery throne, he must know why the sirens keep blaring.

For once in his immemorable existence the lord of darkness finds himself in difficulty. This has never happened before and the solution won’t be easy to find. There is no more place in Hell. It’s done. The place has been filled to capacity and the millions of sinners that die every year will have no place to go. Actually, that’s the wrong way of putting it. All the souls not worthy of Heaven could simply be kicked out into the great void no one has ever explored. Can’t be that great if it’s void, can it? Still, there’s no guarantee the scum of the earth will serve their punishment there and you cannot leave that to chance. It is written the wicked would suffer and so it shall be. But how?
The mighty Satan furrows his brow and silences the sirens with a wave of his hand. He needs to be able to hear his subjects wail to function properly. He is dreadfully aware that even as he sits there doing nothing, hundreds if not thousands of horrible sinners must be dying and they’re now stranded. It’s not that they’re stranded that bothers him, rather that punishment is not inflicted in a proper way.
One of the older demons, he must be among the oldest judging by the thickness of its convoluted horns, raises a hand.
‘If they cannot be brought here anymore, let them suffer where they are’. It’s not exactly a proposition, he dares not make it sound like a solution, for he is quite aware it is not his place to make decisions. And you do not want to risk the wreath of Satan himself, not even when you’re among the senior demons.
The lord of darkness weighs the merits of the proposal. A smart ruler knows when to listen to his trusted aides. He is weary of unleashing plague and pestilence on Earth, for this is how his rival in the sky usually tests the faith of men. The Almighty might object to his using the same methods, but there is no other way. Not for the time being, anyway. Renegotiating their agreement could take eons and even then it’s not certain his dominion would get the extra space it badly needs.
‘Send a drought on Earth then and we’ll see how it goes’.
Within a month, the first signs of famine predict the misery to come. And it surely does, millions die a horrible protracted death, but it is mostly the humble and the innocent that perish. Those most deserving of eternal retribution are more apt to find a way to survive. This will not do. Satan is most displeased. He’s doing the enemy’s work, sending millions to the green pastures in the sky or whatever it is that awaits them there.
Plagues and wars and rising tides are just the same as far as the outcome is concerned. It’s not his promised lot that suffers the most. What’s even worse, times of great trial sometimes manage to bring out the best in people. Like the disgusting thief that shares a loaf of mouldy bread with a wide-eyed orphan or the adulterer that redeems himself for stopping to help an injured man, tearing his shirt to dress the wound and stop the bleeding. A ten minutes’ good deed and bam, years of misery inflicted upon his poor wife just gone. Never happened. Heaven awaits you, go right in.
The elder who came up with the idea now lurks in dark corners, keeping out of his master’s sight. To make things worse, the Almighty is rather happy with the arrangement. He’s never been bothered by the enormous suffering on Earth as long as there’s a steady flow of souls to Heaven, to worship Him and sing His praise for all eternity.

Satan wanders the paths of Hell night after night, drawing comfort from the screams that pierce the darkness. He sometimes stops to listen to one of the damned moaning in his eternal torment. He much prefers them to those that protest their misery with ear-splitting cries. They’re still defiant, whereas those that have been reduced to stifled moans, those have already crumbled, they know there’s no hope for them, no point in screaming, as there’s no one to hear.
No better punishment than being alone with their pain.
That’s it! The lord of darkness feels hope surging in his chest, a most unusual feeling for one who thrives on suffering and hopelessness.

Never has mankind known such an era of great discoveries. There are no limits to what man can achieve. Towering fortresses of steel and glass rise to the skies with millions of former mud-dwellers now safe behind their reinforced doors. Airplanes take them form one place to another until there’s no place left to call home. ‘I’ll be in touch’, they say as they kiss their loved ones. And now they can, all their smart devices are there in the palm of their hands. They’ll call and talk and send pictures to each other. They’re never going to be apart now. They’ll make new friends, all over the world. People they’ll never meet in the flesh, people that don’t even have a real name or a face. Mankind has never been happier. At least as long as their little devices are lit and the constant pings let them know they are connected and liked. They matter.
Then there’s the waning light heralding the dead of night when the devices go dark, as they must, you cannot disturb people at all hours, can you? The night you must brave it alone. No one to tell you the grim thoughts that come unbidden at these hours are nothing to worry about. No one to tell you all will be fine. No one to hold you in their arms.
All alone in their glass and steel cells the people of the Earth moan themselves to sleep, knowing that if they died no one will even notice. The rising screams dry up in their chests cause there’s no one to hear them in the dead of night.

Lord Satan is satisfied now. An unorthodox solution, but it will do for the time being. The Almighty, on the other hand, is quite unhappy to see Hell on Earth, but his protestations go unheard.
‘Why should I bear the blame, my friend? I don’t get any credit, as you well know. They all praise you for every little so-called achievement. They’re made in your image, remember?’

Story written for @mariannewest's freewrite challenge. Today's prompt was: sounbd of sirens! Check out her blog and join our freewrite community.

Thanks for reading!

Images: 1, 2.