Tomorrow makes five years.
The air is always damp, heavy with heat. Its moisture was not of relief but sadness, grief and bitterness. These were the ways to best describe it.
I am a prisoner.
I am a victim of this feeling.
The feeling of suffering that seems to suffocate my entire being.
Footsteps halted outside the cell.
“It’s your turn.” Someone said with unease.
He was different that the warden. His soul wasn’t all that tainted, but enough so that it allowed him to live as one of them. He was shorter in stature, scrawnier in size, similar to me; roughly five feet, eight inches. But his personality probably wasn’t as low as mine.
“Yeah.”
I matched his eyes with my crashing icy blue pupils that seemed to freeze his deep forest green. The tone of my voice halted the movement of his keys. He hesitated, becoming nervous. Sweat ran down one side of his face. One eyelid twitched perpetually. His eyes darted back and forth trying to avoid contact. He acted more like a kid than a guard dog.
Worse comes to worse, a warden was responsible of killing the inmate they are in charge of. Well, wouldn’t that be quite a show?
Slowly the keys began to make their way to unlock my cell door.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” I said with a slight grin.
Again, the keys halted.
His hand shook uncontrollably.
“Why?”
The small scraps of metal dangled inches away from being unlocked. But as if by some miracle, his hand stopped shaking. As if gaining confidence, he swallowed and thrust the key in. Another second of hesitation was taken before he unlocked it with a single twist and opened it in exquisite fashion. The door slid open with tremendous strength as his eyes shut tight bracing for some kind of extreme impact.
Well, that’s what supposed to happen.
“Huh?”
He looked at the cell.
“Why isn’t it opening?”
“The door is kind of broken.”
I forced myself to get up and began my slow walk towards him.
“You see. I kind of got into a little scuffle with a visitor. This is the result.”
He looked at the bars in amazement.
“Wow. That’s impressive.”
With a quick glance over his shoulder, he seemed to get the chills again.
“Get out!” He screamed with confidence as if trying to hide anxiety and fear.
I stopped, briefly pausing to look into his soul. The little black ball quivered, terror loomed over his tiny heart.
“Damn talk about a quick 180.” I mumbled. “Okay. Okay. I’m coming. Age comes with a price you know.”
Within a heartbeat my hand tapped his shoulder. Our eyes meet through my peripherals. His head began to creak towards me to match the level of my eyes.
“Just do what you need to do already and get this over with. Newbie.”
He stood in silence looking back into the cell.
“Wait, did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That.”
The broken bars were separated to either side. It was as if a supernatural lifeform left its cage.
“Yeah, maybe.”
As if shaken out of shock, he reached behind his back under his robe and pulled out silver hand cuffs.
“I’ll never get used to how fast you move. You do realize; you probably could have escaped by now?” He interestingly questioned. “More like you could have if you really wanted to.”
Damn this kid is weird. Flipping 180’s like it’s going out of style. It’s almost like he has a personality
disorder.
“Is that so?” I replied with a soft grunt. “Are you encouraging me to try?” I looked over at him, as he finished tightening the cuffs around my wrist, covering the marks of other ‘aggressive cuffers’.
“No, not exactly. I wouldn’t want that. It would then become my responsibility to kill you; and I don’t necessarily think I’m up for that kind of important task. Well not yet at least.”
I gave a slight chuckle. “Okay, kid.”
“You give off a pretty powerful aroma. It’s pretty scary.” He said as he scratched the back of his head. “I’m just saying that it seems like you’re the type who could have already made his own freedom. That’s all.” A dumbfounded expression prominently stood on his face.
“Freedom. That sounds amazing. But here, in this world. Freedom has cost humanity its slavery.”
“Why do you say that?”
“People don’t like being bound to rules or regulations. That’s just human nature. We set ourselves up for failure as a race once we try to control one another.”
“I guess, what I am trying to say is that you are the type who could have created his own freedom.”
I looked back forward. “Maybe. Maybe not. But where’s the fun in that?” I said with a grin.
“You’re insane.” The halfhearted bellowed chuckle didn’t reassure his opinion.
“This world isn’t as kind as you think. With that mentality, it will surely be your demise kid. I’ve witnessed the horrors that comes with that mentality.” I whispered.
“Huh? Did you say something?”
It was the same ritual that happened every night. A cage stood before us. Its giant iron bars reached towards the heavens above us, almost as if reaching from the depths of Hell. Doubled-cell gated doors stood on all four sides. Their wrought iron seemed chiseled to perfection at first but rusted over the years from the decay of blood that encased them. There wasn’t a ceiling for light. Well not necessarily at least. This was the only place within the entire building where light seemed to penetrate from above. I still never really understood why that was.
“Maybe soon, I will figure it out.”
“Stop.”
“Huh?”
He gently removed the handcuffs.
“I’ll come by later and tend to those marks.”
The doors of death slid open in either direction.
“No need.” I mumbled without hesitation. “They don’t bother me.”
Unconsciously, I began to rub the muscles in my wrist.
“Surely that can’t be true.”
Step.
Step.
Step.
I began to make my way up the small marble steps and into the arena, leaving him behind. Little balls of blue fire lit the way with every step.
“Well, if you need something. Don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Yeah. My freedom. But that would be too much to ask of a child.” I mumbled.
My hands searched for the depths of my pockets. Looking back over my shoulder, I watched as the warden began his performance to close the gate. With a single point of both fingers, he raised his arms and extended them to either side. One quick motion, he brought both hands together, forcing a loud clap. The doors slammed shut with incredible speed causing a blasted screech to echo on both sides of the arena. I reached for my right ear, pinky shoved inside, trying to bring my broken eardrums back to life.
“What a pain. Are they really trying to be annoying?”
“Here.” A soft murmured sounded behind me,
A sword hung there. Floating through the giant iron bars as one unknown hand held it upside-down.
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“Oh.”
It was rusty, dulled down from constant abuse.
“I guess it will do.”
I stepped over the body that lay pathetically on the floor. He looked dead to the bone, soul drained, jugular sliced.
His hand seemed to reach out.
“He must have surely known that there was no way.” A look of disappointment came over me. “Damn. He doesn’t have a soul. Where did it go?”
The blood from his fresh wounds continued to soak him through. It pooled endlessly, staining his skin and hair crimson. With a reaching hand, I grabbed the hilt of the sword. I pulled, but it didn’t budge.
“May the souls of the dead be with you.”
“Huh?”
I yanked the sword out of their possession.
“Yeah. Whatever. As if I need any more of them.”
At the other end, a man stood there. He was twice my size, rock-hard muscles protruding in every direction. A sleeve of skull tattoos lined each arm. What stood out was the mark that was imprinted on his deltoid. The mark of the military.
“The military. Why would a marine be here? I wonder what he did to be down in the depths of hell.”
But it slightly made sense. Physical ability meant everything here. I pierced the sword into the ground.
What could you possibly be up to now? What is your new goal? Darren, what is exactly going on.
“Are you scared? If you keep looking at the deceased, you’ll be lying next to his in no time.”
The echo of two fists pounding together raced throughout the cage. His bellowing voice drifted throughout the entirety of this vast space, but the neurons in my brain were scattering around violently that I didn’t pay him and mind.
I felt betrayed.
What was his purpose this time? Was this always part of the original scheme? The method that we came up with to get our payback. However, the last time I saw him was that faithful day when she died.
“You’ll be bowing down, begging before my feet for your life. The look in his eyes. The way he begged for mercy was merely ecstasy. The way he prayed for me to spare his life as if I was some god. This power he granted me, for only just a moment before his execution.”
Was this guy seriously still talking?
“I told him. It’s kill or be killed. That is was the way of this world. The laws that hinder our freedom. So, boy, familiarize yourself with it. Say your prayers!”
Every little word that came out of his wretched mouth was annoying. I wanted to grab his face and drag it through the floor, making him eat his own words, forcibly.
I didn’t care if he screamed for mercy.
I didn’t care if he pleaded.
I didn’t care if he cried because I would kill him regardless of whatever he did. It sounds like a great idea. My blood boiled. Its heat rose through me. It’s incredible how my imagination can just get me riled up and ready to fight.
“Calm. Calm. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Control yourself.” I began to whisper to myself.
Suppressing the anger deep within my stomach, I stood for a moment, meditating.
“That was a close one. No need to waste more energy than needed.”
“Don’t you ignore me, puny ant! You may regret that you didn’t have any last words to say. If I were you, I would be praying to your weak god.”
My meditation halted. Anger slowly seeped upward into the depths of my brain. I slowly turned my head to stare deep into his eyes.
“Weak?” A wicked grin lined my face. “Is that what you said? Is that what you call it? Weak? What makes my God weak? Why would a God be considered weak? They create and destroy. It’s the basic laws of nature. What God do you pray too lieutenant? Zeus? Athena? Or the one and only God that your religious freaks believe in?” I retorted. “If I saw a God, I would slaughter it from the inside-out. I would make sure their name was forever erased from the history books of humanity. I don’t care what kind of beings they are, whether idiotic or immortal. They don’t deserve to stand within the presence of fools. They should stay non-existent in the depths of humanities imagination.”
“…Huh?”
“I don’t think I have ever seen a man of your stature stoop so low as to talk so degradingly. Yes. That’s right. Lieutenant, I know who you are. I know the sins that you’ve committed. I know the reason as to why you are here. The chaos that you possess. I didn’t thing the military believed in such things. All I thought they did was fight for honor and glory, but I guess that was too much for your branch to handle. Or is it, you forgot which side you were actually on? The countless children you have raped. The mothers and fathers that you slaughtered by your own two hands are endless. All at a single command from the higher ups. Don’t go acting like you know the way of the world.”
He bit his lip hard enough that blood slowly trickled down one side of his chin.
“You probably don’t understand what a God is. You are a military dog.” I gestured on. My arms hung in the air with suspense. “The military if the reincarnation of the sins that havocked the world. The sins that look up to good that he cast away as he sat on his throne of light. But a god is someone who is immortal, someone who can change the fate of the world in the blink of an eye. Someone who has the ability to right all wrongs or even wrong all rights.”
“What did you just say punk?!”
“A god is someone who can… What am I saying? I am a god. Although that sounds arrogant to say, it’s true. I am the chaos that maelstroms in the hearts of people. But, that’s not the point. As for you, a military dog provides action, not just words that the average citizen uses to flaunt with. They don’t abuse authority when given too much to handle. They don’t cower in fear behind the masks of others. They don’t wrong the people who look up to them to make things right. You are just worthless trash. You abandoned your ideals long before anyone else.” I grinned with ease. Half of my lip was raised so only a portion of my teeth were visible, but they were misleading. “You don’t deserve to walk the same earth.”
“Why you?! Do you really think you can kill me?!”
“So, you understood where I was going with this.”
“A runt like you with no upbringing doesn’t stand a chance!” He screamed.
Blood still dripped from his chin creating small tainted speckles on the marble flooring.
“Is that an invitation? But, surely, I promise you. I have fallen deeper into the depths of hell than you ever will. Well, it’s not like I necessarily had a choice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind. You won’t understand. But, you’re right. The laws of this world, is kill or be killed. The wrongs that make the right. I wonder how many I really need to make to create a single right.” I looked down at my hands as I clenched and unclenched them in repeated motions. “These are simply enough to change the single course of the world.”
“Really? With your bare-hands? I don’t know what world you have been living in, but I’m still an ex-marine.” He flexed one of his biceps, watching the peak rise. “No one has been able to penetrate me.” His head turned back to look at me, eyebrows raised, lips curled upwards slightly at the ends.
“Wow. You really are a moron. That sounded wrong in every way, shape and form. How was it that you made lieutenant?”
I stood there, my hands searched for the depths of my pocket. Honestly, I didn’t necessarily enjoy this. I needed it though. It was a subconscious action that I must perform.
Everything is supposed to serve a greater purpose. Here it doesn’t. The cycle continues its circle, unyielding the slightest changes.
“I’m going to kill you!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, ripping me from my thoughts.
“You’re making the first move?”
He charged with his sword raised high.
“Does he even have a strategy?”
It hung there, poised to strike down and rip through my flesh at any given moment. His legs galloped across the white marble floor as fast as his bulky body could allow him.
“Damned fool.”
Three bounds.
Two bounds.
One bound left, and the decent of his sword began with all his might.
I lightly turned my head creating a tilt to my body, dodging the blade seamlessly as it roughly missed my entire body. The force of impact was unreal. It connected with the ground, cracking the marble. A wisp of dust traveled up my side as I still slightly leaned, ready to move at any fraction of a second. I watched as our eyes met, his with fury, mine, calm and collect. I gave a slight grin as I stared into the depths of his eyes that lusted for blood.
“We are similar but yet, so different.”
“We’re not though. I’m better.”
From the movement of my dodge, I spun naturally counterclockwise, positioning myself to jab an elbow. With a single strike, my elbow landed. The right oblique, a soft part of the body where there isn’t much muscle, just like the indents of the arms and legs, except he had more than the average person so I had to press a little harder than normal. My elbow pierced itself within the muscle like a blade.
Crack.
A heavy grunt escaped his sealed lips.
“Did that hurt?”
Saliva sprayed from his mouth.
“You bastard! I’m going to kill you!”
“You’re right. The last one you’ll ever see.”
I arched towards him, looking up towards the light that filtered through the roof. It flickered in and out as if someone was tampering with its beauty.
“Are you one of them?
“ ¾O-One of what?”
“Are you one of the sinful?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. I just explained this to you. It’s really a simple question. Just answer it.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Yes or No? Are you one of them?”
“…”
“No response. I guess I had too high of expectations that you would know something. Well, it was just an accusation, nothing more. Why would they let a rat like you know of the things they were going on?”
His breathing slowed down but the grunting continued. One hand covered his ribs.
“I should just end this.”
“Don’t start getting cocky! This isn’t over!”
He swung his sword at me. I ducked to dodge the oncoming blade, backing out of hand to hand combat range. My hair flowed elegantly as the braids behind my ears bounced up and down.
“Oh? But it is.” I replied coldly. “I told you, I am a god.”
“What are you talking about? You are mortal. There is no way a God would let himself be stuck down here for this life of misery.” He bounced up and down on his toes.
“Who said I didn’t have a choice?”
“Well then, that’s your fault. But, surely, I can tell you aren’t a God. You are human, but a man. So, let’s handle this like men.”
He tossed his sword away, flipped his hips, changing his stance. Pain bloomed in his eyes, but he tried hard to keep it hidden.
“Interesting.”
Changing stances was a military tactic. It was never certain in battle, but there was always the opportunity that you may face someone stronger than you. By being ambidextrous, it covered up weaknesses that your opponents would figure out during a fight. I examined his body closely, pinning locations in my mind of where I could potentially strike. By guarding his right hip, it left several parts of his body exposed on his other half. However, he seemed confident enough in his abilities to guard both from his assessment of my first strike.
“I should’ve just finished you off. Why did I have to hold back?”
“You’re just weak that’s all. There is no shame in admitting defeat.”
“That was a rhetorical question, dumbass. I guess. It’s time to kill you.” I said with a smile.
I charged.
Flash.
In a matter of a couple of steps, I was under his leaning body. His eyes couldn’t follow. My right foot planted between his legs, simultaneously I drove my left hand, palm outward into the left side of his ribs. I felt them crack on impact and there was no doubt that they shattered. As the impact hit, the pressure traveled in a straight line through his body, wind surfaced on the other side as it blew through past the bars, whistling.
The specialty of my fighting style, they bypass any object I touch allow the full force to exert itself. His face grimaced in pain as his body rotated to compensate for it. I switched feet, taking a step forward between his shuffling feet, planted them and landed a second blow. Again, wind surfaced on the other side as it blew through past the bars, slightly bending them from the pressure. His ribs shifted out of place, broken and shattered, obliterated within his body, floating between muscles and organs.
The edges of my mouth curled. “What a beautiful sight.” I said with happiness as a smile arose on my face. “Don’t you just love the sound of that?”
He staggered again. And, again my feet switched. His arms reached out in either direction in front of him to prevent a third blow. Fists closed, trying to crush my head with a single blow. It was futile though. My palm shot through them before they could come together. His first stopped right over both of my ears. The pressure took his breath away. I felt his sternum cave in. Blood coughed from his mouth and splattered over my face. Wind slowly swirled on his back, and within a moment’s notice it blasted past through the bars, shaking them with vigorous strength. It howled loudly. Echoing like a pack of wolves.
“Don’t consider yourself a fighter if you can’t manage to protect yourself.”
“What could you possibly know about me?!”
“Actually, everything.”
He slowly regained his breath, though still wheezing. His head hung.
“What could you possibly know about me. This is all I have! Since the moment I was born, I was destoned to be a fighter. The struggles I had to face. The obstacles that I have had to overcome. The family that I built myself. Everything was by these two hands.”
“So, you do understand.”
“But, everything was stripped away from me by that mad. Family, honor, rank, title. Everything can be taken away but one thing. Everything but my name. It is what keeps me going. It drives my ambitions. You can never take it away from me! I was the Lieutenant! I am the Lieutenant! I was the top official within the military! I was the youngest. I was the youngest. My true ambitions have yet to be fulfilled! I will get my revenger. That man. That man.”
“And, look at you. Look where you are now. They threw you aside, didn’t they? They no longer found use of you.” My eyes drifted to the light. “In this world, people fear what they cannot comprehend. The powerful falls from their pedestal and the weak continue to groan for mercy.”
“Then. You too. Are looking for that person?”
“No. Unfortunately, I don’t need assistance.” For a moment I stood there, believing the words that spewed from my pitiful lips. “The greatest loss in life is not death, but what is lost inside of us when we die.”
His short paces of breath came in and out at a rapid pace. Blood pooled in the corner of his mouth, dripping down his cracked lips. He used the back of one of his thick hands to wipe off the excess that dribbled from his chin.
“It sounds good, right?” I chuckled. “I read it in a book once.”
But in fact, it was the truth. Whenever I die. I have always lost something that was once precious inside of me. The memories of those that I once cared about slowly cease to fade from my existence.
“What are you?”
“That’s a funny question. Everyone has been dying to know. I’m the same as you.” My head cocked back and I gave a half-hearted laugh. “People have asked that same question for as long as I could remember but the answer never changes. I’m just simply put, human.”
“Human?”
“I am the sin that you have committed.”
The response threw him off-guard. I took advantage of it and circled behind him, watching as his pupils tried to follow me. Once behind, I jumped up, clasping my legs around his neck, slowly squeezing, making his breath sizzle away. Saliva sprayed from his lips as it mixed with blood. His hands tried to grasp my feet but it only made my legs crush his neck even more. They fell to his sides, limp.
“There. There. Don’t you feel so much better.”
“God…”
I rocked forward letting him fall forward onto his knees, but still, I continued to squeeze. Tighter and tighter I constricted my legs. The skin around his neck began to contort and twist from the constant struggle. Drops of tears fell to the marble floor.
“God…What did I do wrong?”
“That’s right. Let it all out. Confess your sins.” I leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Beg for the help of a savior. Plead for the mercy of the lord. Pray to the false god that you believe in, because I promise you. Your God won’t come to save you.”
“No. That’s not true. Miracles. They do happen.”
“They never do.”
As if my words produced some kind of spark, he gave one last effort to throw me off.
“I will not die here. I will survive!”
His knees pushed him off the ground as he began rocked backwards. In doing so, I leaned back as well, dropping my weight, letting gravity do its job. My legs snapped upwards, letting his body draw an arc in mid-air. He was taken off his feet before he knew anything had happened. I looked into his eyes as I leaned over his body. A moments exchange that seemed to last for a lifetime. Blood plastered my face. The black rings cirlced around my eyes.
“The devil. You are the devil.”
The coldness that my face portrayed sparked a lust for blood. As tears streamed down his face, the remaining bit of saliva furiously flung itself from his open mouth as his tongue flopped around violently.
“God! Save me! The devil has come to take my soul.”
I dropped him on his head. His skull splintered outward as the soft tissue that encased his forehead peeled away letting bone bust through. Blood rushed out profusely as brain matter followed in suite. Behind me, his feet slowly fell from the awakened black sky to lay on the bloody earth beneath him.
“Rest easy. May your soul never find its way to where it should belong.” I slightly bowed my head as I sat on top of him.
My hands were covered in blood.
Again.
I watched as they filled the cracks in my fingers and palms once more. Will this ever stop? Will, I ever be freed from this curse? How many more do they want me to kill? These cracks only continue to get darker and darker and the blood just soaks in deeper making them wider. The cracks are like canyons that rush with the blood of others.
“Well, I guess he is no longer one of the sinned. I did it again, didn’t I? I probably lectured his as well.”
A pair of eyes caught my attention in the distance. They were noticeable, hidden from the light, standing within the darkness that kept everyone else blind. A face that never showed itself, blanketing itself within the night.
“The hunt continues. Does this mean that I need to hold up my end?” I murmured with a smile.
I looked down at the giant-like figure that lay before me. His back rippled with muscle. Not a single one twitched. Blood spurt in every direction, covering my body as my hand pierced his flesh. For a second, I fumbled around to find it, flicking my wrist here and there.
“Ah. There it is.”
Within the palm of my hand sat a small grey circular object, resembling a wisp-like tennis ball.
“The human soul.”
It is what gives us existence in this world.
It is what materializes us from our consciousness.
Without it, we are just walking corpses, a host for others. Turning it, black speckles spotted here and there.
“So, you are tainted. Just not fully.”
Pop.
Swallow.
“Ah. That felt great.”
A smile spread across my face as I looked up. The presence of eyes finally faded. My body ached. I couldn’t feel its pain. But it was there. I could sense the constant brutal beating.
“Come.” One warden said.
The gate opened.
“Yes. Yes. I’m coming.”
Why can’t they just have names? It would make my life so much easier. Turning back, I stared at the pool of blood that seemed to freeze to the ground, staining the marble flooring.
“I hope to never see this place again.”
They took my hands and placed them behind my back, escorting me back. The bars were no longer broken. Red streaks no longer lined the walls.
Was it just my imagination? Was this a different cell? Or were the murders just a hallucination? If so, does that mean I can finally fall asleep?
They opened the door and tossed me inside, locking me in.
“Enjoy your last fated night.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Man, you really don’t care.”
I made my way to the back, where I sat down on the floor, hunched over.
“Maybe today...Will be the day.”