Whenever I reminisce on the past I can never recall what I was actually thinking in the moment. Ideas are just too complex to store away in my brain, so it's the minute details that are given long stays. The details I remember are almost always how a person looks or what I ate that day. For that very reason I can describe a fairly accurate account of my 3rd grade teacher's face, A mole, black hair implants, and shining white teeth, but I do not remember a single lesson I learned from him. All I'll likely ever remember from moments before fighting the albino man, is that I hadn’t eaten at all. Fighting the Albino man on an empty stomach should earn me an award.
The lights were out in the cell block, and any conversations that had been going on had long since stopped. A faint moonlight filtered in through windows from high up that mixed in with the lights near the guard station. Shadows covered most of the cell block. I had missed lunch so I had been stuck in the cell all afternoon, just the knife and I, as the light filtered out over time. My stuff from the other cell would probably be scheduled to arrive tomorrow but I knew there would be no tomorrow. At least not here in this prison. My belongings would be a distraction even if I had them.
Poker had been a game I frequently came back to, but I dabbled in all games to get a feel for them. Poker taught me better than any game, to not be tempted by distractions. Other players are already looking to throw you off your game, so help yourself by eliminating distractions on your side.
I rolled the knife around in my hand, and practiced slashing and stabbing. I had placed the new sheets I had striped off my bed to cover what I had been doing. I needed practice. I hadn’t bothered igniting the knife because I knew the light from the light blue laser edge would draw all eyes toward my cell. I ignited it once during the day and it worked perfectly.
In between a slash, I heard the soft buzzing sound of my cell doors opening up. Midnight had arrived and the time for practice had come and gone. I slipped the knife into the sleeve of my prisoner garb and peeked out from behind the sheet curtain I had put up. Shadows still covered the cell block except for the faint light on the first floor. I looked down with great trepidation toward the albino man’s cell and saw his towering shape standing in front of his cell. His face, masked by shadows, seemed to be leering in my direction.
“I see you up there up there little bird. Do not try to hide from me,” The albino man said. I stepped out from behind the sheet and took a deep breath to allow the tension in my muscles to fade.
“My little birdies told me that we would meet again. I thought they had hid you from me but here you are, right where you are supposed to be.”
I stayed silent. My eyes stayed locked on him, and I held fastly to the knife’s handle inside my sleeve. My thumb hovered above the safety trigger that would ignite the plasma knife. Each step I took drew me closer, but the albino man stayed in one place following me only with his eyes. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel his gaze. My steps led me to the staircase and all around me I heard the whispers of other prisoners who had been stirred from their slumber.
“It’s time to collect what you owe, but something tells me that you do not have it. Now, I must commit an evil act to save you from yourself. I don't think I would have been able to stop myself from killing you tonight even if my boss had told me to, so I’m happy he is tired of waiting for you. My burden is heavy but I carry it graciously.”
The albino man opened his arms to invite me forward. I had made it to the top of the staircase and stared at him. From where I stood the light from the guard tower and moon angled to create an outline of light directly behind him. He looked like a God shining in brilliant radiance, whose face had been shrouded and replaced with an aura of light.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“You make it hard to feel bad for what I am about to do,” I said in a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear. The Albino man lowered his hands and stepped to the bottom of the staircase. I could kill this man. I would kill this man. I’m not a murderer. He was the one making me do this. I repeated the mantra over and over again in my head to psyche myself up.
“Wesley Howard, Come down and meet you doom”
“I'm actually much more comfortable up here, so I would prefer it if you came up here,” I replied with as much strength as I could muster. I would cut him down with a quick stab and send him tumbling back down the stairs. “I hope you aren’t too intimidated. That carving on your body must have cost a lot of money and I would hate to ruin it. You already have nothing going on in that brain of yours, so after night you’ll be a cripple,” I added. I didn't typically use crass language but I hoped to rile him up. I'd rather deliver insults than suffer injury.
“I’m happy you said that. My faith is greatly rewarded when I kill the most staunch evil-doers like yourself. If you will not come to me then I must come to you,” The albino man said.
The albino man rushed up the staircase, Skipping two steps with each stride. I slid the knife I had in my sleeve down into my hand, turned so my knife arm was in front of me and lowered my center of gravity. One good stab could stop his charge. The details of his face that had been obscured by the shadows became clearer with each step he took forward. His crimson eyes were placid. I had thought they were contacts when I first saw him but upon closer inspection they fit him too well. Eyes the color of blood fit a monster so sinister that he no longer went by his name.
He reached the top of the platform and I lunged out, pushing off the balls of my feet. In a quick whirling motion my arm moved directly in front of me and the knife ignited a pale blue light. The knife emitted a buzzing sound like a colony of bees that were packed to the brim in their hive. The albino man’s face distorted in shock as he saw the knife, and he tried to twist out of my trajectory. I stabbed deep into his lower abdomen, but he twisted himself out of the way before I could go deeper.
The albino man tumbled down the stairs, letting out a pained howl, like a drunk man who missed a step. I rushed down after him, but the steps the albino man cleared in great strides tripped me up as if my feet were being caught on wires. All I could think about was the pain he had caused me, and what would happen to me if he were able to get up. He came to a stop on the second floor platform. Only a small amount of blood bled through the shred in his tank top because the knife had immediately cauterized the wound. I pounced down with the knife overhead missing narrowly as he rolled over and fell further down the stairs.
The glowing blue knife had stabbed into the platform with a sharp thud and took precious seconds from me as I dislodged it. I looked down to the bottom floor and saw the albino man scrambling to his feet. He stood and faced me in a crouch with his open palms forward to wrangle my knife hand. I gripped the knife tighter and walked down slowly with the light from the knife glowing like a flashlight in the dim setting. Neither of us spoke.
The only sounds were the prisoners around us. My fellow inmates clamored for attention and filled the room with all forms of obscenities. Those who were asleep had rushed to the bars to watch our struggle. They were like spectators in the colosseum watching two gladiators fight for their entertainment.
We circled each other on the bottom floor. He jumped back and forth wary of my knife and I watched out for his reach. The albino man towered over me and after a few seconds of break he lunged forward for my knife hand. I slashed out with my knife and cut off his hand. It cut off right above his thumb, but his momentum carried his shoulder right into my chest, knocking me over. I hit the ground hard and the knife slid away from me. The albino man shrieked, grabbing hold of his fingerless hand.
The knife had only slid a few feet away but when I reached out, the albino man grabbed ahold of my leg and yanked me back toward him. I tried to kick out with my other leg but he refused to let go. He dived forward and swiped me with a blow to the temple. While disoriented I was, he climbed on top of me and attempted to choke me with his intact hand. I clawed at his eyes as I felt my throat being crushed and kicked him in the unmentionables. The albino loosened his grip and attempted to punch me in the face but his face landed next to my head. His fingerless hand couldn't hold me in place. I reached out for the hilt of the knife once more, and embedded it in his head in one motion.
The albino man’s dead body slumped down on top of me. I just laid on the ground, exhausted, listening to the shouts of the prisoners. They had enjoyed the show. I crawled out from underneath him and up to my knees. I coughed and sputtered blood out of my mouth. A wave of darkness hit me again as my eyelids drooped forward, and the last thing I saw before blacking out was the albino man with a knife poking out the crown of his head.