Redemption

Wednesday #2

The very first thing I encountered as I opened my eyes was the utter absence of light – second, I noticed my arms were restricted, tied to a rusty metal pipe fastened to a concrete wall.

The question was: where?

The atmosphere was occupied by a known reek. My nose inevitably turned itchy, and my stomach grew unstoppably repulsive. The rocky texture of where my fingertips laid on top was composed of a well-acquainted sensation of coarseness.

Though turned exceptionally dark and ethereally hollow, I was in Beth's cell, amidst a wretched presence.

I stroked the means of restriction enticing my wrist, and I deemed it an ordinary rope. Rough, unrefined, and painful, nonetheless never reliable enough to restrain something forever. With the appropriate tools, it wouldn't be impossible to liberate me from the constraints.

Question number two: how?

The answer soon became laughably self-evident. The shiv. The one shiv that I always possessed, buried deep in my pocket. Neither of my hands reach that far, however, since both were prohibited from utilizing most of the maneuvers. I devised a plan to take advantage of the natural law of physics. I twisted my body to the right, and a piece of keen metal slid out of the hole as gravity pulled it down. It made a soft clink as it touched the ground. The required number of attempts was not ridiculously high, fortunately.

I had to be quick.

My legs fumbled around in search of the cold metal blade. Its temperature made it prominent, so I merely had to utilize my most fundamental senses to allocate the object to the correct location. My hands, simply inclined toward the right, searched for the right place to grab. This time I became scared of running out of time – it took me quite some effort to position myself correctly.

I made it eventually.

I felt the fingers touching a tainted line of metal. My grip proved itself firm enough; I used my fingertips to drive it toward my palm and held it upwards so that the point went on top.

I pushed the shiv up by a few inches. It barely touched the rope that tied my wrist together. That seemed enough.

Suddenly, I heard one of the doors open from around the corner. A bleak presence of light illuminated the obscurity, and relentless footsteps soon followed. Certainly an attempt to break free would hardly be appreciated.

I repositioned my hands to face the wall and attached them to its surface.

A presence was drawing near – footsteps soon ceased to be. Soft exhales born with a tender shiver, unmistakable signs of human nervousness. The presence was occupying the pitch-black oblivion I was staring into; hence, any attempt to discern the person's appearance would have been futile.

A fumble – the person placed something down. Something quite heavy... or light, even weightless. Something – or someone – of a complex nature. There was a scent that I could easily recognize.

I squeezed the shiv. I hurriedly, but steadily and gradually, moved the shiv up and down along the grooves chiseled in the strand. Darkness kept my actions unnoticed. The blade would soon penetrate my flesh and nourish the floor with magenta droplets and subsequently liberate me from the chains.

I heard an uneasy sigh beyond the veil of obscurity.

"Hi." The man said – he sounded like one at the very least. Perhaps saying 'hi' back could have been a viable option, but that was a road I chose not to take.

"You're her friend... don't think about calling out for help. I, I locked the doors, closed the windows, and I'm here as a customer... "

For the next dozen seconds, he materialized nothing but the mere pace of his breath, pointlessly defining his uncertainty and unsettledness. I heard something that sounded like nails and teeth colliding.