’’Have we met before?’’ The Story of Josh and the Stranger.

Josh slumped in his chair. He had just downed his third beer and was only getting started. By now he was so much of a regular that people stopped noticing him.

It’s been six months since Josh’s wife abruptly stopped yelling at him. He almost missed the days of hysterical screaming and bitter disappointment whenever he failed to return home in time. Now they were living parallel lives. Josh knew that divorce would soon be inevitable and he was almost resigned to this. His meagre unemployment benefits were certainly of no use to her or his children. Perhaps they would be better off without him.

Josh couldn’t help but feel at that moment that life had already slipped out of his hands.

All of a sudden, a hand tapped Josh on the shoulder, startling him. The bar was once a lively place and strangers met and greeted each other regularly, but gradually it degenerated into a dreary watering hole for empty people like him. It had become highly unusual for strangers to talk to each other.

Josh turned around and saw a tall and extremely muscular guy that would present like a typical bouncer were it not for the fact that he was dressed in an extremely sharp suit. Overall, he sported quite an intimidating presence. Perhaps he was a local crime boss. Josh just hoped he didn’t do something to offend the guy, as it seemed like he could readily take Josh out in a fight.

“Hey, Josh, how are you doing?’’ said the stranger, clearly knowing him from somewhere.

“I’m sorry, have we met before?’’ asked Josh in confusion. Despite having an inkling of familiarity, Josh was unable to guess where he met this guy before.

“Of course we have!’’ enthusiastically replied the stranger, intimidatingly lording over Josh who was still seated. “How could you forget your old pal?’’

“You’ll have to forgive me,’’ answered Josh. ’’But despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to remember from where I know you.’’

“Oh, now you’ve disappointed me greatly, Josh!’’ responded the stranger. “A long-time friend no less. We had some good times together. Remember Brookridge High?’’

Josh felt relief when he heard this. He was the most popular guy in high school, a promising quarterback for their football team. They even won the state championship one year and placed highly in all the others. Josh was untouchable. He was given ’positive encouragement’ which essentially amounted to getting an easy A in each class with little to no effort involved. He and his four friends dominated the halls of that high-school.

“Ah, of course! Sorry, you’ve changed so much that I couldn’t recognize you. Tell me, are you Mike, Zack, Eddie or T. J.?’’

“I’m none of those,’’ shot the stranger back. “Although, I must say, you five were well known throughout the school. Everywhere you went heads turned. You were quite a handful even for all the teachers. Consider me a secret admirer.’’

“Well,’’ replied Josh nervously. ’’I’m sure we met in some class. It’s always nice to meet someone from the old place.’’

“Of course it is!’’ the stranger raised his voice. “High school was the best for you. In fact, it must have been the time of your life. You were the best at football, indeed best at everything’’ he continued with a tone of stinging sarcasm that was immediately picked up by Josh.

“Now, now,’’ replied Josh trying to placate the stranger. “Not everyone reaches their peak in high school. It’s just the first step.’’

“Oh, it depends on which staircase you’re going to head off to, doesn’t it?’’ said the stranger. “I mean, look at you, spending countless hours here drinking your life away,’’ he spoke as Josh became concerned he had been spied at, “One could, in fact, say you peaked in high school, couldn’t they?’’

“Hey!’’ replied Josh in protest at his ego being wounded. “It’s not like that. I tried to make it to college, but it didn’t work out.’’

“Ah, what a sad little euphemism, ’Didn’t work out.’ You flunked out of a Division Three school. You never had the sliver of a chance. Do you know how many great high-school quarterbacks end up working some miserable dead end job in some dilapidated store dreaming of the time that crowds cheered for them? Some even fail at that!’’ said the stranger gesturing at Josh.

“At least I tried! At least I chased my dream,’’ spoke Josh indignantly, trying to defend his self-worth.

“Ah, yes, pardon me. Yes, you chased your dream. True. Many people don’t get that chance in life, but you took the life by its horns. Sorry for busting your balls there. Here, let me get you a drink.’’

The stranger left to the bar and returned with two pitchers of beer. Josh stood up to receive one of the pitcher as the stranger shoved it into his hands.

“To Brookridge!’’ the stranger boisterously raised a glass.

“To Brookridge,’’ replied Josh with slightly less enthusiasm. The entire conversation seemed to have put an even bigger downer on an already down evening. Reminding someone of their failed opportunities in life is the last thing you want to do to a regular bar patron like Josh.

“Damn, this is good beer. I don’t go to bars very often, so I don’t have much chance to partake in drinking beer, but this is some truly delicious beer,’’ spoke the stranger, giving Josh an uneasy feeling that he heard words of this sort somewhere before.

“Hey, I know of a great idea,’’ spoke the stranger after the glasses were downed as he landed his giant hand on Josh’s shoulder.

“Yes?’’ Josh replied tentatively. He was already thinking of how to extricate himself from this conversation.

“Remember those old games we played in high school?’’

“I’m sorry, but you haven’t told me your name yet,’’ interjected Josh.

“You’ll know my goddamn name when I want you to,’’ growled the stranger, dropping any pretense of civility. “Now, where were we, oh, you know those fun high school games everyone played?’’

“Well, there were the Red Gloves,’’ replied Josh as he tried to rack his brain.

“Red Gloves! Excellent! A game of skill and lightning fast reflexes,’’ exclaimed the stranger enthusiastically. “Let’s play a round, for old time’s sake.’’

“I’m not sure I...’’ said Josh, before the stranger’s glare convinced him to drop what he was about to say. “Sure... do I start first?’’ asked Josh tentatively, pleading for the answer to be ’no.’

“Of course, you start first! You’re the man, the mighty guy with the quick hands. Why, it won’t be the slightest problem for you to beat out a big clumsy geezer like myself!’’ replied the stranger almost mockingly.

Josh clasped his hands together and raised them in front of his body opposite of the stranger, who stood with his hands to his sides. The object of the game was for the stranger to slap Josh’s clasped hands. Josh could move his hands up and down but they had to stay clasped. If by some chance Josh managed to completely avoid a slap, the roles would be reversed.

As Josh nervously awaited for the stranger to make the first strike, he felt a sudden gust of wind and in the very next millisecond it was as if his hand caught on fire. A giant red welt formed on his left hand. The strangers arms barely seemed to move.

“Oh, wow! That was a big hit. Got to be faster next time,’’ smirked the stranger.

In the next hit, it was his right hand that received a similar red mark. The third time, the right hand was hit so strong it left a giant purple bruise.

Several hits into the game, Josh’s hands were already on fire and blacker with every hit. He kept looking pleadingly to anyone for help, but everyone seemed to blissfully go about their business. He was surprised at this, given that the barkeep had a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of violence in his bar. At one point it seemed that the barkeep glanced in his direction, but his gaze almost went through him. Whoever he was, this stranger was such an intimidating presence no one wanted to get involved.

At one point, mad from pain, Josh in desperation swung his hands high upwards. At that moment, the stranger swung hard, and, apart from grazing Josh’s hands, smacked Josh hard in his left cheek.

Josh felt unprecedented levels of pain and dizziness from the hit. He also felt several of his teeth significantly dislocate, as well as a giant swelling on his left side that completely deformed his face.

“Oooh! You shouldn’t have done that, Josh. Bad move!’’ spoke the stranger.

“Who are you?’’ screamed Josh in abject terror and fear.

“Don’t you know, my friend?’’ growled the stranger as inhuman red light blazed from his eyes. “You will remember me from the time when I.... sounded li..li..li..ke this!’’ spoke the stranger reverting to his long lost voice from the time he and Josh went to Brookridge.

Josh knew that stutter. He had imitated it plenty of times before. A long lost memory of a shy and withdrawn kid had jumped up from his subconscious and strangled him so hard he could barely breathe.

“A.... Aiden?’’ asked Josh, shocked as if he was seeing a ghost, which, in a way, he was.

“Yes, that’s me! Aiden Pelinkowsky, in person.’’

“But.... how?’’ asked Josh barely able to speak.

“Oh, I have a new employer. You might have heard of him, he is pretty big in this realm,’’ spoke Aiden as he revealed a sigil in the inner seam of his suit.

It was a Baphomet.

“The Dark Lord himself. Although, to tell you the truth, it’s all a bit of propaganda. Both he and the entity you know of as God are nothing more than giant conceited supernatural pricks and this entire realm is part of a big grudge match between the two.’’

“But, why did you go to hell?’’ asked Josh, already dreading the answer. “You didn’t do anything.’’

“Didn’t do anything???’’ Aiden raised his voice. “Josh, I killed myself. That is a mortal sin. The only place I could ever go to was hell. Do you realize what you did, you sick fuck, when you and your pals relentlessly bullied me? You ruined not only my life, but my afterlife!’’

Josh opened his mouth to speak, but there was nothing to be said. No empty word or platitude could ever undo what he did and he knew it.

“Anyway, I’ll ask you one question, and if I detect even the slightest bullshit in your answer, you’ll be begging Satan himself to rescue you from me. Why?’’

Josh gave out a heavy sigh. He had to be honest, not just to this agent of the underworld that was once his victim, but to himself. A horrible answer crystalized immediately in his mind, an answer that he couldn’t deny, no matter how much he tried.

“It felt good.’’

“Felt good?’’ asked Aiden genuinely surprised.

“Yup, it felt good. It made me feel powerful and in control. It wasn’t some trauma I was processing. I was happy and confident. I felt life was mine for the taking and you were just one of the things I took. It felt giddy having complete power and control over another human being. It wasn’t just the beatings, that I was stronger and could hurt you in whichever way I chose. It was the fact that I could stick any narrative onto you and you would be powerless to resist. Say, if I made up that you left school early because you crapped your pants, well, then you were a sniveling little pants-crapper forever.’’

“That was you who made that rumor? The reason I left school early that day was that I felt dizzy in the head from the beating you gave me and had to go to the hospital to check for head trauma.’’

“I honestly never knew this,’’ replied Josh solemnly.

“But, of all people, why me?’’ asked Aiden. “There were other nerdy kids, not just me.’’

“There is one thing that was the difference,’’ Josh finally realized. “The other kids were desperate for approval. I got bored of them quickly. You were different. You had a core part of yourself that would never break for anyone. Even in the throes of bullying, you still didn’t care what the other kids thought and continued to obsess over your stupid airplane models.’’

“I wanted to become an aerospace engineer,’’ sullenly interjected Aiden. “This was my life’s passion.’’

“Exactly! You had a purpose to who you were that I never had, that few kids at that age do. I wanted to take this away from you, crush it, break it up into tiny little pieces. I thought if I pushed you harder, you’d finally break one day and you’d lose this air of inner peace and confidence that annoyed me to no end, but you never did. I was almost ready to give up and then, one day, the school made an announcement that you killed yourself.’’

“Some people simply have this core as their nature,’’ replied Aiden. ’’You could never break it or tear it from me, no more than you could make a cat stop chasing mice. It’s what I’ve always felt in my life. Even in hell, no demon or torturer could ever do it.’’

“You were tortured?’’

“Of course I was and I still am. What the hell do you think happens in hell? Even now that I’ve been finally promoted to a Demon Recruiter, I still have to...’’

“Wait a second! Demon Recruiter?’’ asked Josh incredulously.

“Of course! Demon Recruiter. We recruit and shepherd newly departed souls to hell before they scatter into the oblivion.’’

“But why did you come to me? I am not departed!’’ asked Josh.

“Of course you are! Turn around,’’ casually replied Aiden.

Josh turned around and saw himself slumped in his familiar chair. He looked like he was peacefully sleeping, but Josh already knew he wasn’t.

“Aneurysm,’’ remarked Aiden. “A rather peaceful way to go. You drifted into sleep after your third beer, and then it happened.’’

“So, what happens now?’’ asked Josh apprehensively. “Will I get tortured?’’

Aiden started laughing so hard he nearly collapsed onto the floor.

“Tortured? Oh, no, Josh, you’re not actually going to hell!’’

“I cannot believe I’d deserve to go to heaven.’’

“Of course not. That would be ridiculous. I’m taking you, my friend, to the Badlands, just outside the Walls of Hell, the place for those unworthy of either heaven or hell. You really think you were worthy of hell? You know the kind of evil monsters we have in our realm? Their hearts would fill with joy if they ever saw an insignificant little shit like yourself sharing in the same torture they’re experiencing. And for a demon to waste their valuable time on you? Come on! We’re severely understaffed as it is!

“No, Josh. Life in the Badlands is much more mundane. You’ll simply spend eternity wallowing in filth, perpetually starving and thirsty. See, that pint of beer you just had?’’ asked Aiden, gesturing to the empty mug that now seemed to glow in an unnatural color. ’’I conjured it just to afford you a small mercy. Truthfully, I did it more for myself, but rules dictate I also had to give you one. Wouldn’t want a bunch of demons using their privileges left and right without a clear business purpose, would you?

“Anyway, that beer is the last delicious bit of drink you will ever have and whatever meal you last had will be the last bit of delicious food you’ve eaten. From now on, you’ll live only on fetid marsh water teeming with the souls of intestinal parasites and desperately fight against other souls for slop catapulted across the Wall to alleviate your immense hunger for just a tiny bit. A rather tame punishment if you ask me.’’

“How bad were yours?’’ asked Josh with a tone of contrition in his voice.

“Very bad,’’ answered Aiden. “Still, when I first arrived to hell, it honestly felt like a vacation. No amount of torture, no matter how painful, could ever match the terror of being an insecure kid coming to a new high school and not knowing or understanding why everyone hates him and abuses him.’’

“Look, Aiden,’’ interrupted Josh gingerly, trying to find the right words. “I know that nothing I say could ever undo the damage and harm I caused you, but I just wanted to say how deeply sorry I am because of what happened.’’

Immediately, Josh felt a stinging flash on his right cheek stronger than any before. Ghost blood shot from his nose and several of his ghost teeth landed on the immaculate bar floor.

“Trying to alleviate your conscience, eh?’’ barked Aiden as a fiery red glow shot from his eyes. “Don’t you ever dare disrespect me with that crap again! It’s far too fucking late for ’sorry.’ If you wanted to say ’sorry,’ you should have done that ages ago. Where you’re going, ’sorry’ is absolutely meaningless. You’ll be atoning forever for what you did to me. Enjoy your afterlife, pal. You’ll now have a significantly harder time with the gristle and offal that comes your way than had you kept your mouth shut. It takes eons for teeth to regenerate in the afterlife.’’

“Anyway, I’m done with you,’’ said Aiden, as Josh still clutched his face in pain. “It’s time for you to go. I hope, for your sake, I never run into you again as I pass the Badlands. I might not be in such a good mood as I am now.’’

Upon speaking these words, Aiden flicked his finger and Josh was gone from the realm of mortals forever.