Free Hell's Pawn by Jay Bell

this, he too would be called away to an eternal reward.
    J ohn was careful with his next selection, making sure this time to choose J acobi. The old man awoke with a start and took in their surroundings with wide eyes. J ohn was looking so intently for any sign of departure that he flinched when J acobi starting shouting with glee.
    “We’re free!” he said, doing a little jig. “Oh, by the heavens, we are FREE!” J ohn laughed. “That we are. Do you feel all right? You don’t hear any horns or see any pearly gates?”
    “Look around, John! This is Heaven!”
    B ut J acobi must have meant this figuratively, because he didn’t disappear. J ohn described what had happened to the other souls, Jacobi listening with rapt attention.
    “I t could be any number of reasons,” J acobi surmised. “O ur souls may still be tuned to P urgatory, since we never truly earned our graduation. That means we are still in balance, not quite good or bad enough to be summoned elsewhere. O r maybe it is a lack of desire or faith that leaves us free to choose our own destiny. Yes, I like that.”
    “We be er be sure before we pull Dante out,” J ohn said. “S omething tells me he’s the ideal candidate for a trip south.”
    “Nonsense,” J acobi said dismissively. “He’s one of us! P urgatory’s great escapists!
    B esides, he always kept his points in balance so he wouldn’t be expelled. L et’s pull him free. Then together we can decide what to do next.”
    S till J ohn hesitated, but he couldn’t just leave Dante trapped forever. He reached down, grabbed the hand sticking out of the barrier, and pulled.
    The I rishman groaned when he was free, mu ering something about a bender. He glared at each of them before rubbing his eyes. “I take it we ended up in Hell?”
    “O n the contrary,” J acobi said. “M y theories were correct. We are now on the astral plane. Here we will be able to give shape to the formless, to create a world of our choosing!”
    “So which one of you made the train station?”
    They looked to where Dante had nodded, but neither J ohn nor J acobi could see anything but swirls and stars.
    “You feel that?” Dante asked. “Like being pulled by an undertow. What is that?” The I rishman’s features began to blur, but before he could disappear, J ohn leapt on him, wrapping his arms firmly around Dante’s torso. He wouldn’t let him fade away!
    There was a terrible sinking sensation, and J ohn strained against it until it passed and Dante’s features went from blurry to solid again.
    “That was a close one,” John said with relief.
    “Think so?”
    A train whistle startled J ohn into le ing go. He spun around to find himself submersed in a massive station. Trains from all time periods occupied the platforms, passengers pouring out of each one. There was no sign of B olo, J acobi, or the psychedelic lights of the astral plane. All of it was gone, replaced by a train station where everyone seemed to be arriving, but no one was departing.
    “Doesn’t look so bad,” Dante said with cautious optimism as he stepped into the crowd.
    John hurried to keep up with him, grabbing his jacket so as not to lose him.
    “Dante, what was your standing in Purgatory? How many points did you have?”
    “About five thousand.”
    “Oh. Good!”
    “In the red.”
    J ohn gaped at Dante who was grinning. “Do you know what that means? Do you realize where we are?”
    “Yup.”
    “Then why are you acting so nonchalant?”
    Dante stopped, the crowd pouring around him as he turned to face J ohn. “B ecause for the first time since dying, I feel like I’ve come home again.”
    “Well, that’s a relief,” John said through gritted teeth. “What about me?” Dante shrugged. “You managed to break out of P urgatory easily enough. I ’m sure your superpowers can help you leave here if you want, but I think you should wait.
    I ’ve been here before. Well, not here but the equivalent on E arth, and I think