The Pandemonium Chronicles: The Merge between Heaven and Hell: The Pandemonium Chronicles, #1

By Sufian Cotto

The Pandemonium Chronicles: The Merge between Heaven and Hell is a novel based in the future. The setting is a post-apocalyptic world where demons have taken over Earth. John Stevenson and the Heaven’s Angels must save Earth as well as the rest of existence. The Pandemonium Gem, or the source of evil, is the only thing keeping the balance between good and evil stable. The angels want to destroy it to eliminate Hell while the demons want to enhance its abilities to eliminate Heaven from existence. Little does anyone know that existence needs both Heaven and Hell to sustain itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sufian Cotto
• Release date: Aug 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516386925

Sufian Cotto

My name is Sufian. I am 21 years old but the extensive amount of personal growth and wisdom I have acquired in a mere two decades makes my place within my age group very unusual. I wrote The Merge Between Heaven and Hell starting from sixth grade until my high school graduation. I got a summer job when I was 18 to pay the publication out of pocket. The only time I lived anywhere rent-free was at my mother’s house. So I took advantage of that time to invest in putting my foot in the door of published writing. I may not be a well-known writer like my idol, J. K. Rowling, but even she started from the bottom and earned her way to fame. If she can make her way to the top from a humble beginning, then why can’t I? I am in college to major in Psychology because matters of the mind intrigues me. I go to church every Sunday. I work out regularly. I practice resilience. I believe that the key to life is to work on yourself physically, mentally, spiritually, and psychologically. And to also apply those things to any external connection with other people.

Book preview

The Pandemonium Chronicles:

The Merge between Heaven and Hell

Sufian

Book: 1

Yin and Yang

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Chapter One  I n the distant future, it was a very stormy May afternoon. The citizens of Cromwell, Mississippi saw this as a phenomenon for it doesn’t precipitate very often.

An industry was located in the middle of an eerie forest so that nobody would come across it. The cluster of buildings was surrounded with electric fencing with barbed wire curling around the top. The only way in being able to go in and out of the facility without getting killed was to have a special I.D. card in a hologram projection, and hopefully have granted access. If your entry is denied, snipers from the rooftops and automatic turrets will shoot your entire body until your skin literally melts off.

The reason why this specific address is heavily guarded is because it belongs to a top secret program. This enterprise is known as the Southern Nuisance Agency, or the SNA for short. The agents who work there are all assigned to separate jobs that all contribute to the safety of the United States of America.

John tore his wandering eyes from the ominous view outside the window to continue to keep a careful watch on the strongly caged gem in the middle of the laboratory. The sparkling ruby is not just the most appraised, but also the most puissant. According to Greek Mythology, Hades, the God of the Underworld, created the Pandemonium Gem before Earth came to be. The gem is supposedly the source of all that is malevolent.

Mr. Stevenson was fairly old; the man was probably in his early fifties. John had thinning white hair that reached up to two inches in length from his skull and a huge bald spot in the center which he would hide under an out-of-place winter hat. He had slight wrinkles near his gray, nearly-lifeless eyes. He always wore a blue t-shirt under his darker blue vest that showed his bulging muscle. The vest came with denim pants that went all the way down towards his black dress shoes.

John had a long history with this jewel. The wasted time to acquire it nearly consumed his whole life. He was only a preteen of twelve years when his father forced him to travel through time using their time machine that was once in their basement. The young boy landed to the time when the source of evil was recharging.

Every century, the gem is set on a holy pedestal to absorb all the evil in existence. As this is happening, it simultaneously builds up the malevolence in the souls of all life. This process is similar to the relationship between plants and animals. Humans breathe in oxygen that plants make and breathe out carbon dioxide that plants need.

John had arrived just in time when the gem was doing its job in its cycle. That night, he snuck into the hidden chamber of Hades’ palace in the Underworld. The young boy had done this because he heard the demons say something about using the jewel’s power to overthrow their leader. Long story short, John had no clue what to do with it so he brought it to the SNA to guard it from evil forces.

A sudden knock on the door disrupted the gentleman’s train of thought.

Come in, John said in his gravelly voice.

The door opened to reveal another man holding a little package in his burly arms. The package was placed on the nearest table before the delivery man left once again.

John took hold of it in his hands and scanned the address in which it came from. It was mailed from his nephew, Donavon, who lived with his sister and their parents in the rural part of town. The cardboard box was carefully opened to reveal a framed portrait of the family.

This was obviously another attempt for him to spend time with the only family that he had left. The man just didn’t have the time to have a vacation.

The picture was gently placed into the drawer of his work desk.

Impulsively, Mr. Stevenson’s telephone made a beeping sound signaling that a message was about to be heard.

John, a meeting about a bank robbery is being held. Mr. Howards really wants you to be a part of it, his secretary replied in her professional voice.

John was ecstatic to hear that his boss, Evan Howards, finally let him come to the meetings in the kinetics division. This was a turn in the elder’s daily routine. However, it wasn’t safe to leave the Pandemonium Gem unguarded. He decided to go to the meeting anyway.

Soon enough, Mr. Stevenson was standing near the meeting room door. He stared back at the jewel for the last time before stepping in.

The glad agent was sitting in a comfortable, leather chair. The meeting room was full of other agents wearing similar outfits as him as if they were each part of a big and important whole. Mr. Howards was sitting in the head chair waiting for the employees to quiet down. Once his request was granted, he started his important announcement.

Just two hours ago, a bank robbery was held at the Webster Bank in East Cromwell. A green van with a logo on it that contained a red pitchfork was found on the premises. We did a search of all kinds of companies in the country, but this logo seemed alien. Your job is to find out who they are and put a tracking device so we can do future analysis. Any questions?

Yeah, if all you want us to do is insert a tracking device on their van, then why are most of the kinetics field operatives going? an agent named David asked.

"Good question, son, the robbers didn’t stop at just robbing a bank. Now they are terrorizing the entire east side of town. They have weapons far more high-tech than even our most powerful weapons. This case is literally the most deadly bank robbery ever known.

"Anyway, I’ll need three agents to go forth with the mission: one to knock out the robber guarding the front entrance, one to get rid of the two guys guarding the interior, and one to put the tracking device on their vehicle. Also, an assortment of other agents will accompany the trio on this mission. Throughout the affair, you’ll need to gather information on who they are and what they want.

I want Sally to dispose of the guard. John’s stealth will allow him to attach the tracking device onto the van without their driver noticing him. David, you’ve been here the longest so you’re responsible for the innocent lives of all the people in that building.

As soon as Mr. Howards made his announcement, the agents that weren’t going to be involved in the assignment left the meeting room to continue their patrols.

Mr. Howards gestured the three operatives to follow him into the weapons and gadgets room. This room was located across the campus so it took a little time to walk there, but when they did; their boss introduced them to the weapons/gadgets specialists.

I want you to meet our new specialist, Mr. Waylon Melendez. He actually got this job by inventing a gun that can also be used as a sword.

John, Sally and David shook hands with Waylon and then they were led to the weapons table.  The specialist showed them twin pistols, machine guns and rocket launchers.

I suggest that Sally and David should have sniper rifles and John should use a silencer.

He handed them the weapons he indicated respectively. For a moment, the trio examined the other weapons gently for the weapons were worth a lot. Then, Mr. Melendez ushered the agents towards the gadgets.

When they headed forward, David said, Waylon, I was looking for that part sword, part gun thingy, but I couldn’t find it. Where is it?

It’s called the Bladeshooter, and I only have the prototype for it. It’s securely guarded in a vault somewhere in the facility. I’m not authorized to tell you where the vault is located, Waylon replied, Now I like the gadgets better than the weapons because they have a more unique purpose, I think. Weapons just kill but gadgets can do that and more!

The specialist picked up one of the gadgets as an example.

This gadget has multiple purposes. It’s called the grappling casket. Its main purpose is to scale higher surfaces such as tall buildings or mountainous cliffs for up to 50 feet at a time. However, it can also be used to pull small things towards you. I’ll give each of you one of these; the grappling casket can be very useful in sticky situations.

Waylon handed them each a grappling casket and added a flight inhalant to their utility belts. He explained how the flight inhalant looked like an asthma pump and if one breathes in a puff of the helium cartridge planted inside, they’ll be able to levitate in mid-air up to 150 feet for a short time. Also, the agents were allowed to also possess heat and x-ray goggles, smoke pellets and a mini-cannon shooter.

When John’s utility belt was practically full, Mr. Melendez said farewell and wished him well. John thanked him before Sally and David did so too. They were then brought to the company’s parking lot to board an SNA helicopter.

Once the three operatives were strapped in, John saw Mr. Howards waving them off through the condensed window before the helicopter lost contact with the earth.

During the start of the ride, John got acquainted with his two allies. The only female agent on the mission was named Sally Jenkins. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes and she had worked in the field operations for seven years. Sally was holding hands with David Palmer, a rookie with light brown hair and green eyes.

Once they knew each other, John stared out through the window at the storm that was not too far above them. Every once in a while, he would glare from the corner of his eye at Sally and David. He couldn’t help but notice that they must have had feelings for each other. Office dating was prohibited in the compound; if Mr. Howards found out about their relationship, the couple can get fired or even killed.

The continuous buzzing from the helicopter blades ringed in John’s ears. The aircraft would once in a while swivel side to side by the raging winds. Other than these frequent noises, no voices were heard.

John looked out the window once again, but when he did, he noticed a brief shape levitating in the air. The lightning crackled with laughter, playing with John’s sight as the shape disappeared as soon as the taunting seized. The wise man thought that maybe his mind was playing tricks on him; he didn’t have enough time to sleep for the eight hours he needed. He decided to close his eyes and take a quick nap to ease his worry.

Lightning sputtered with a roar. A flash of light was visible under John’s eyelids and he couldn’t help himself but to open his eyes and once again see the ominous dark shape in the distance.

Hours passed after John had been a part of the meeting that gave him his assignment for there was no longer any sunlight in the sky, but stars who try but unsuccessfully give assertive help for the naked eye.

Now John was hoping for the lightning to appear sooner so he can assure himself that the dark shadows in the sky were in fact real. At first, there was one figure but after several lightning strikes, more and more of its kind materialized in the darkened fog.

When John looked away from the sky, he checked his watch to see when the helicopter will land. A sigh of relief echoed in the tight space of the helicopter for the ride was almost over. Mr. Howards shouldn’t have allowed them to ride on a helicopter in the middle of the worst storm that year.

The rain started to pour more heavily as raindrops pounded the window in a furious pace. The air pilot put on the windshield wipers and a huge ball of fire was seen coming towards the helicopter. He pressed a green button that activated the chemical shielding on the metal coating of the air craft.

The fireball dissolved immediately after it collided. A slight impact shook the people inside, but other than that, they were not harmed. The attack, however, proved that the dark figure John thought he saw was in fact non-fiction.

With that impact, the shielding must be destroyed. We have to land immediately or else we’ll get blown out of the sky! Sally yelled.

John was searching frantically for the dark figure and hoped that there wouldn’t be another attack on the helicopter. They were hundreds of feet above sea level so if the air craft was destroyed, the fall wouldn’t end too well either.

He was starting to believe that this mission was much more than just resolving a bank robbery, but a matter to save the whole world.

Chapter Two

The fog cleared up when the helicopter lost altitude. The pilot needed to hurry in order to prevent another massive attack. He also had to keep in mind that there were passengers on board and part of his job was to make sure that they’re safe until they reach their destination. 

As the helicopter was near land, however, a lightning bolt hit the top surface. The windows shattered into millions of tiny segments. The agents had to cover their heads with their arms to avoid fatal injuries.

What the hell was that? Take us down now! Sally yelled through all the havoc at the top of her lungs.

Without further harm, the helicopter landed in a valley near the Webster Bank that was up ahead. The landing wasn’t a perfect one; the helicopter was no longer capable of being operated, but fortunately, the three SNA workers weren’t hurt.

The pilot pulled out his two-way radio to contact the SNA for backup. It would take a while for them to locate them so for the meantime, they were stuck in the eastside of town.

John, David and, Sally began to wander through the valley, but the marooned helicopter pilot remained near the crash site for reinforcements to come.

In the bright side, this was an easier way to be unnoticed by the robbers for a surprise attack that John had played through in his head numerous times throughout the walk.

As the remaining trees and ferns were pushed aside, the three of them witnessed the chaos that was brought upon the city. People were running amuck every which way, looting as if they didn’t have much time to live. Many stores and houses were burned to the ground as a result of firearms; they were possibly destroyed by the robbers themselves. By now, John definitely knew that these robbers were much more than what Mr. Howards said they were.

Besides the innocent lives that were at risk, there were squadrons of strange-looking people with the same logo of a red pitchfork on the back of their suits.

These robbers were deadly yet not one of them possessed a weapon on their person. Somehow, this added information did make sense; the fireball that ruined the helicopter’s shielding couldn’t have been a projectile of any weapon whatsoever. Not even the biggest gun John has ever seen would be able to house a projectile of that size or temperature. However, a space frigate could shoot fireballs without any trouble. Was it possible that these so-called bank robbers could be from another planet? If so, then this was no bank robbery but an alien invasion!

That would explain the mysterious logo, the fireball and maybe even the dark figure John had a glimpse of several times during the storm up above.

This came as a shock to John, but according to Sally and David’s faces, he was the only one who realized what was possibly going on. These aliens weren’t here killing off people for mere money; they couldn’t have because that wouldn’t add up.

Mr. Stevenson and his battalion had finally reached the front door of the building that they were planning to snipe on. The skyscraper had 72 floors, so his squadron tried to use the elevator. He pressed the up button dramatically, but he found out there wasn’t any electricity in the entire structure.

I guess we just have to take the stairs, one of the agents replied with a groan.

It took about 40 minutes to make it to the peak. Everyone took out their briefcases to reveal all the separate pieces of a sniper rifle. John took his position in the center-edge so that he can see the bank most easily.

In only seconds, John put the weapon David let him borrow together conjointly. His scan visor allowed him to see through walls and up to 300 yards with ease. The sniper rifle was being aimed at one of the burglars caught in the scene.

The trigger was going to be released before a thought popped into Mr. Stevenson’s mind. If he missed his target, the second-story thieves would be alert and most likely would kill the hostages. Suppose John aimed carefully and didn’t pull the ignition for a long time, it still wouldn’t matter because the burglars can move anytime. What he needed was a composite, an event where more than one shot is fired in order to reduce a miss.

Put down your weapons. The four robbers are too active. There’s a very high percentage we’ll hit ‘em if two agents aim at one of the bandits, John stated.

His co-workers all agreed to his advice. They walked toward each other to decide who was going to aim at whom. At the end, John was partners with David who was much younger than he was.

Mr. Stevenson’s teammate looked as if he was in his early 30s. He had swaying blown hair that moved in the severe breeze. He was the type of person that you would be jealous of and would love to be friends with. John didn’t feel this way because all he thought about was his job.

Are we supposed to aim at the bald guy with that ugly, white gown? David asked as he stared at John with his shiny, blue eyes.

John only nodded, obviously annoyed with his associate.

Both men pointed their guns at the same burglar.

Mr. Stevenson counted to three out loud so that all the agents can hear. Once his countdown was finished, everyone discharged their artillery.

It all happened so fast. The 500 mph bullets smashed through the thin windows. The agents aimed very accurately, but for some reason their target didn’t drop dead. A strange thing occurred. The bullets had bounced right off their flesh. The only thing that could have protected the burglars would have been an invisible force shield.

"How could they have activated the force shield so quickly? Did they somehow know