…We can dance all night
Those were the days where the dawning of life first set forth into the weaving mother Gaea. Alike that of a gem at sea; an Emerald within Beryl. Innocence was a birthright, a secluded gift from God. Life is a fragile thread; a brittle soul so easily giving in to the sinful Python. Time is lucid alike that of the river lithe, passing aimlessly and the next thing he knows, he’s forgotten. People live. People die. Heaven or hell, a mere hindrance only used to shield the people off their true destinies. The heart staking memories shattered like fractal glass on the cold concrete floor, harsh but necessary. Tears glistering against the shady backdrop of the fogged air, hollow yet so exquisitely tranquil. The world is a harsh place; a fortress for the predator, the perishing for the weak. No dwelling on the past; remorse is only the weak and to be weak is to be dominated and to be dominated is to conquer. ‘God’, a mere symbol for belief; and he did believe. He believed that the world was a subtle place for good. That all the world ever needed was a change, a chance. He was wrong. Not here, not in his city. The world is as corrupted as it can ever be and there is nothing he can do to stop it.
Utopia, the city of hope. A city of peace and order under precedential judgement, law and order. The people who are politically involved, constantly finding ways to contribute in making the city a better place – that is of course, just a cover story for what truly lies from within; a city crumbling, eating away from the insides of its core. Underneath all that cover lies an organization, a network of scandals and crime. It is inexorable, really. He has tried to change the course of things, to let the higher-ups realize that what they’re doing is wrong, to reconsider their heinous schemes for he too was once a victim of the reaping. He however failed horribly. He was casted out, exiled and left to rot away in the streets with thugs and psychopaths. He suffered deeply. They tackled him hard, hacked and slashed at him. He screamed with such hysteria as they bludgeoned him over and over. Left by the dumpsters infested by rats and vermin, blood pouring in continual splendor. A shadow confronts him smirking at his pathetic state. He grimaces as he strained to meet the figure. The figure said nothing as it reached out to touch him. The gesture was clear: an offer of chance, an offer for revenge on what the world has made of him; an outcast. He needed the push; the path to a greater good. The world needed the freedom it deserves. Right now, it was the epitome of chaos itself. Reaching out, he grasps on to its feet like Tantalus towards food and drink. A contract: a blood seal. The shadow loomed as it enveloped him, the deal done. His deal; his revenge, his sacrifice: his soul.
Hate. An emotion so potent, it consummates. Bathing in blood whose victims he slain, ripped from the corpses so fresh, a perfect reign. That night; it was cold, it was dark. It was wet; it was heavy with sadness and so full of dread. He watched the house burn. The house…his family, the people he loved. He would never forget their screaming cries. He watched his family die. Their horrifying screams, eerie and sharp. Somebody had to pay. Somebody to blame, to face justice; his justice. So he left; in search for a home but he was denied, casted out onto the streets, left forgotten, left abandoned. So he thought: maybe, just maybe he could change things: make the world a better place…somehow; that all he ever needed was to persuade the higher ups. He was wrong. If only it had been that easy. He gradually found out that the cause of fire from that night of his family’s death was solely caused to rid his father off the board due to his opposing insistencies. He was mad. ‘I will avenge him’ he thought as he swore a deep silent oath.
So he bided his time. He was slow but certain that he could overthrow the board as he worked his way up the ranks. He came by close…so close only to fail. He got thrown out onto the streets yet again. He was hopeless, with no family and home. He was certain that he was joining his family soon. Until that shadow came…
He has found a new purpose now. The world needed a ruler; he will be its ruler. Rely on the higher ups no more, as for what purpose do they server besides robbing people off their wealth? No, he will be their ruler. He will eradicate them; all of them. Until they beg for mercy for what they have done to him. Oh, such a fool of him to be toying with life. No, have mercy no more. Their time, reprieved for far too long; they deserve the death they receive, his justice.
‘Kill him! Spill his guts!’ the shadow seems to say.
A flash of silver, a sudden jerk; the splattering of guts. A cry: a lush and lustful bitter-sweet cry. Music to his ears, how nostalgic! The body: the last of the lot, now limp and lifeless slumps against a sea of filth and blood seeping into the pores of the mossy-green walls. A smile plays across his face as he wipes the grime off his tainted lips savoring his glory.
‘Yes, yes! Feel the hatred coursing through your veins, Feel it, embrace it and become one with it’
How was he able to kill them? Surely with all the gunshots fired at him, he would have died. It’s a miracle, really. Is this perhaps, the power within the deal? Is he perhaps, a sole guardian to wipe out these scums off the surface of this very Earth? Whatever it is, it feels great! The killing; oh, the power! The joy of glorious vengeance. Ha! The world needs a ruler. A ruler! Yes, he will be their ruler! They will serve him. To make this world a better place, it deserves no freedom.
He stares at the limped corpses with eyes jet-black like that of black pearl. ‘This is my destiny!’ He thinks to himself. ‘Blood! Blood for all! I will wipe out the city’s taint and tear it down brick by brick. I will, and I will rebuild the city off its rubble.’ The shadow; the silhouette silently staring, silently observing his every move…a scoff, then maniacal laughter…
‘Who’s there?’ His shrill cries echoing across the hollow brick walls.
‘Nobody, I’m merely jussst a figment of your imagination,’ a voice slithers into his head.
‘Your sssource of anger is rather amusssing, I might sssay…’
‘Go away, whoever you are leave me be.’ he says, steadying his composure.
‘Ah, yesss I’m afraid not. None can do…’ it whispers, tendrils of dark smoke curling up his limps.
‘And why is that? Who are you?’
Nobody…jussst a figment of your imagination, you ssswore an oath. It liesss with you till the lassst of your eternal breath,’ the voice chuckles.
‘So you will be here to help me?’ he asks, cautiously.
‘No, just a sssilent watcher…’ it hisses back.
‘Then what use are you to me?!’ anger flooding his mind.
‘Nothing, you are merely a pawn, sssomething I created out of boredom…’
‘I…do not understand.’
‘In time you ssshall…for ultimately, you will losses…’
Laughing at his pathetic beliefs, almost intolerable; the shadow, merely pulling at his leg… Sirens. More sirens. The police flock the compound like stealth panthers, trailing their weapons on him. He stands erect, smiling from ear to ear with a blade in his hand. Such hopeless hypocrites, he thinks to himself.
A flash of blur as he makes a dash for his life. He hears gunshots firing followed by a jolting pain. He slams onto the ground, helpless with the knife clattering out of his hand. He floor is a sickly shade of crimson red. ‘Just end it already,’ he thinks to himself. Life is so cruel. Just free him…free me already…free me…free me…darkness.
I wake up to a glare of florescent lights. Where am I…I do not recall. Leaning back – a white wall; I am in a cell. I am…I am…I am nothing. Okay, that sure is depressing. Stretching my legs, I feel an ache; I had been shot after all – a flesh wound that has been clumsily patched. The whole space reeks of sweat and urine. Scanning my surroundings, I see wooden splinters, carmine stained sheets, blood prints staining the walls, broken glasses scattering the ground, and…a recorder. There is a video recorder hidden within the cracks of the splintered bed.
*Bzzzt* ‘This is a recording message. Whoever you are, you are now currently under surveillance and in five, you will be caught and then brought to the slaughter chamber. The key is located inside this recorder. Find it and get out of here as soon as possible. The fate of this country currently lies in your hands’ *Bzzzt*
I pry open the casing and true enough, I see a key. My heart is beating fast. Ignoring the nagging ache, I make a dash for the door, escaping the cell.
‘Hey, you over there! Get back here!’ Uh-oh, I think to myself as I state to gain speed. Running own, the gloomy corridors, I see peeling walls with blood stains, shattered glass windows and doors, abandoned rooms with pickled jars of organs: brains, eyes, kidneys, hearts, etc. along with mad scientists dissecting corpses; little kids with their hands stained with what looks to be fresh blood, laughing and swiping at each other; men in strait-jackets yelling at the top of their lungs rolling on the floors; a man dancing to opera music with a model skeleton…the floor is stained with more blood and scratch-marks from stretchers. Shrill cries, laughter, laughter and more laughter. This must be an asylum, I think to myself, panicking.
*Bzzzt* ‘This is a – ‘ *Bzzzt* ‘You, like many others here are brought in by the government. You have to survive this ordeal to pass this recording message to the President. Let the world know what truly lies within out city. Our city is dying. It can wait no longer.’ *Bzzzt* ‘This is an asylum used to capture anyone who gets in the government’s way. The people captured here will be used as test subjects for human biological warfare experiments funded by a bunch of corrupts from within the government. I am currently running short of time. The law was once created to enforce legality to bring in criminals; over the years however, things have changed. They plan to create a human weapon and we are the test subjects used for their experiments. They will be here to experiment on me soon. I’ve got to –’ *Bzzzt*
‘Over there!’ each step I take feels like millennia. Oh god, I can feel the guard gaining over me. I find another door that leads to the exit. Pushing forward, I slip and roll down the stairs as I slam my head against the railing hard…
‘No…’ I whisper… ‘I can’t, with the faith of humanity in my hands, I can’t just…’ and then, there is darkness, yet again…
‘Sss…I told you…didn’t I…sss…?’ opening my eyes, I see a python. It’s forked tongue flicking back and forth as though deciding whether or not to launch for the kill.
‘Uwah-Ahh! D-did you just…speak…?’ I exclaim my throat hoarse and dry. I struggle to rub my welted head only to realize that my limbs are strapped down to a hospital bed.
‘Why, yesss…have you, perhapsss forgotten me? I’m the one who gave you life, the one who gave you hope, no…sss?’
‘Who are you…?’ I ask, panting, my heart racing; tired of playing riddles.
‘Ahahaha, I am your deepessst fearsss. Tell me Roy, tell me that I am not at all intimidating to you…sss…tell me that, and I’ll loosssen the strapsss for you…sss…’ I am about to say yes when suddenly, I am petrified. Somehow, something churns within me: Fear. I couldn’t move. No, not one bit. How does it know my name? What is this monster? All of a sudden, I am in my bedroom, afraid of what might lurk within that closet; the scene shifts and I see my family screaming in pain as they burn alive…it all comes back to me like a billion joules of energy coursing through my body. Spasms fill me as I struggle to keep in control.
‘No…’ I say, breathless. ‘I can’t take this anymore, please stop!;
‘No, of courssse not. There’sss no way you can sssurvive after ssseeing this form,’ the python says, ‘I am Lucifer; it’sss a pleasssure to meet you! Welcome to hell! Ahahahahaha…sss…’
Darkness. Deep down the uneven path, rocks spiraled like overcrowding souls encrusted and edged into the pores of the very void. At the brink of sanity, only the slightest touch would send the rocks stabbing, painting his guts onto the wall like graffiti…
Who am I?
My name is Roy Smith.
Who do I work for?
I work for no one, only myself.
Are you sure, Roy?
Yes, yes I am sure.
Where are you, Roy?
I am at home…with my family. We are happy together.
No Roy, you are in an asylum. Welcome to hell, Roy.
No…this can’t be real. No, why. I’m falling…falling…
I see lights! Lights! Ha! I see lights! I’m free! Free! FREE!
I hear the whirling of the buzz saw. I open my eyes. I see limbs dangling. My limbs.
Looking down, I see my guts…my heart, thumping against my chest, I see it.
My limbs are dangling. I am dangling.
Lucifer says that I am in hell…am I, really?
Music; I hear music. The sound of an orchestra, bubbling by and away; the fatal lullaby playing while all the puppets laugh and sing along to the tune. A blinding light – there’s a show playing. The puppeteer is about to make his play. I see him. He smiles.
‘Let’s dance,’ he chuckles. He picks up the control bar; a sudden jerk and I am standing arms raised. He forces my mouth open.
‘Welcome, people! We can dance all night…’