Chapter 1

 

The Cell

 

I don’t know how long they have been holding me in this cell. Time does not exist here. The very walls conspired to keep me lost in an endless night. There are no clocks, day or night, only the stifling stench of damp stone and decay, and the flickering of a dying bulb overhead.

The noise never stops coming from beyond the door. Waves of shrieks rise and fall through the corridors. Sometimes it can be a short-lived scream; other times, it is a quiet, gurgling sob that lasts for hours. Then there are the deliberate, steady footfalls that reverberate like whispers.

Keys clattered, and then someone yelled an order to be quiet. Still, there is never any silence. The guards are having fun. I can hear it in their laughter, which sounds like coughing, and how the walls seem to breathe when no one’s watching. I lie on the thin mattress stained by time, staring at the ceiling, which drips with mildew. Sleep escapes me.

My thoughts gnaw at me like something in the dark, dragging me through a memory that stutters, skips, then floods. I remember faces, some gentle, some harsh, all tainted. The people who broke me were the ones I trusted. Even worse, I can recall the wrong things I did for someone to talk about. I earned this decaying cell by doing these things. This place is a mirror, besides being my prison. It represents every perverted decision and transgression I attempted to cover up.

Every time I move, I hear the echoes of my past. I can’t close my eyes without seeing what I’ve done. I can only lie here, thinking, rotting, and waiting. Waiting for what, I wonder, death or madness, whichever comes first. That’s when I must have fallen asleep.

When I opened my eyes, a choking darkness enveloped my body. Silence dominated the room; it was a suffocating atmosphere. My cell was empty, moist, and cold. Each cold drip of water seemed a ghostly touch, and I flinched. Sweat beads trickled down, the damp penetrating my very bones, covering me with an icy shiver. Slowly, I found the strength to lift myself from the cruel, hard bed.

The room was dark, bare, and confined, with a mere sliver of moonlight barely creeping through the little window far overhead.

The door opened, offering a dim view of the darkness beyond. Unaware of what lay ahead, my heart raced as I walked closer. The door squealed and expanded as I approached, its hinges shrieking slowly. I waited a bit before stepping over the fog-covered threshold. Slowly, the fog lifted, revealing a sight to take my breath away.