This story contains scenes of graphic imagery, insanity, and peril. Reader’s discretion is advised.
I wondered how long I’ve lived in this place. It had felt almost like years since I’d traveled to that resting place of the troubled. Yet, I wanted to leave. That place was not a place of rest. That so called “sanctuary” was just another torture chamber for men who’d committed crimes like me. Though, I knew I was innocent, it almost like I did do something. Like I actually killed that woman in the parking lot. I would’ve never killed a person, nor would I have wished to. They wished me to stay there to relax and rethink what i’ve done, but I didn’t. I was thirteen when they plucked me from my homeland to rot in that recreational area for those who wish they were dead or wished to cause death. I begged innocence of the murder. Heck, I wasn’t even present when the crime took place. Each day, I felt as though my bones were withering away into dust, as I sat eternally on my rear, watching the birds outside. They barred the window too. There came a knock on my cell door, then a sudden click. In stepped a man in all blue uniform, carrying a weapon. He wishes to kill me, I thought. Instinctively, I huddled myself in the corner of the room, crying softly.
“Relax.” he whispered, reaching for his weapon.
“No!” I yelped.
“It’s okay. Just stand up for me.”
“No! You’re going to kill me! I didn’t do it! I swear!”
“It’s okay, I just need to tranquilize you. It’s time for your interview.”
I had forgotten it was time for an interview. That was the warren’s word for “torture.” They said itwas meant to help us feel better. Yet, it was another way to die slowly in that hole. Long ago, the government decided to run experiments on their definition insane people. That would mean murderers, robbers, and mentally diseased people. Unfortunately, I was tried as one of these people. They use the information they gain from the “insane” to try and manipulate their thoughts. They felt as though these experiments could prevent robberies and murders. In reality, they were taunting us, wishing to punish us for our crimes in the harshest way possible. To kill the pain, I was usually given tranquilizers to numb the pain, but it wears off long before the “interview” begins. I hesitantly moved from my spot and held my arm out to the man in blue.
“There now. That wasn’t hard.” he said in a mellow voice as he placed the tranquilizer in my vein.
Slightly groggy from the tranquilizer, I wobbled out of my room, hitting the walls as the man in blue escorted me. In front of me were the blurred images of other men, also fumbling as they walked. I had never spoke to any of these people, mainly because we never got to visit each other. One elderly man ran out of his room, trying to escape his escort. His escort, unfortunately, caught up to him and began to whip the old man. I shuttered.
I walked into an open room with the American seal on it’s ceiling. There were about fifty people in that place. The escorts left us behind, locking an enormous door behind us. Usually, the “interviews” were individual with the warren. Usually, names were called in alphabetic order by our first name. Unfortunately, my name starts with an A, giving me a disadvantage. Millions of people cried out towards the warren, begging for forgiveness. I would’ve been one of the people who begged, but the warren was truly who would need forgiveness in the end. The first name called, was Aabi Bo, a short Indian man. Afterwards was my name, Aaron Coel. I shuttered, whispering to myself to calm myself down. I entered the smaller room that lay attached to the warren’s room. The warren stared at me over his desk and grinned.
“Hello, Aaron Coel.” he smiled.
I sat down in a seat in front of him with knobby knees.
“So, are you ready for your interview? This one only takes ten seconds. Maybe this time you won’t get your head stuck in the mechanism.”
The mechanism is the nickname for the machine we’re tortured with. It’s a machine in which you place your head inside and then they show you things or put you in certain scenarios. The ten seconds one are the worst. The warren led me into a dark closet in which the mechanism lay. It hung from the ceiling, connected by only a few wires. I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from crying.
“Stick your head inside, Aaron.” the warren begged.
Realizing I had no choice, I placed my head into the mechanism. Inside of the mechanism were walls lined with screens that provided a complete view. The warren flipped a switch and the screens flickered on.
“You ready?” asked the warren.
I didn’t respond. The screens turned dark then turned back on. I braced myself for what I was about to witness. The mechanism produced a fake, metal claw that held my eyelids open. The screen produced an image that appeared serene.
“What do you think of image one?” asked the warren.
“Serene.” I replied.
Then, the actual interview started. In front of me stood a masked man with X’s over his eyes and a dagger in his hand. He cackled, twitching with each movement he made. He took the dagger and placed it into my chest, twisting it painfully. The mechanism was meant to simulate the real feelings of which are in the video. I screamed as the pain intensified. The next image was the same man holding a lit torch, he pulled my hair and held the fire up to my eyes, burning them out of my skull. I felt my vision begin to fail as I screamed in pain. Then the screens turned black.
“How was that?” asked the warren as he unhooked me from the machine.
“No!” I yelled, grabbing my eyes to stop the pain I still felt.
The warren led me out of the closet and towards my escort. I nearly collapsed into his arms. He propped me up with his strong arms.
“It’s okay, Aaron. We’re leaving now.” my escort cooed.
“No! No! No! No! No!” I cried.
“Come on Aaron.” my escort appeared to shoot the warren a dirty look.
I sat in my room, watching the birds again. I touched my chest to make sure it wasn’t bleeding, for it felt as though it were. There was another knock at my door, then a click. My escort came inside my room with a bowl in his hand. He silently placed the bowl on my bed, leaving me alone to look outside. Outside of my room walked a screaming man who grabbed his eyes, almost ripping them from his head. I felt my eyes and began to wail.
“Aaron.” whispered my escort.
I turned around to face him.
“There’s a bomb placed in the room next to you. It’s been rigged to be set off by tonight, you’re escaping.” he smiled authentically.
“What?!”
“You’re escaping tonight. Get everything you might need and be ready to run.”
Just like that, my escort vanished. I sat in my room and continued to look at the birds. None of the birds appeared to be singing, only flying away. I began to long for such a feeling like that. Inside the bowl my escort provided was a quart of hot broth. I slurped it slowly, inhaling the steam coming from it. Hot both was usually given to people after the interviews to calm them down. The flavor filled my mouth with delight as I thought of the idea of freedom.
I waited for night to come, trying to pass the time by sleeping. There came a knock on my door, then a click. In came who I thought was my escort. I turned around to face the intruder, only to find it was the warren. The beard on his face was filled with crusty, red liquid that I hoped wasn’t blood. He sat down at the foot of my bed and grinned.
“Hello, Aaron.” he faked happily saying.
I backed towards the wall, thinking the warren was there to harm me. He laughed then held out his wrinkled hand.
“It’s alright. I just have something to say.”
I touched his hand.
“Aaron, since you’ve come here, i’ve noticed you’ve been acting different. I guess everyone here acts that way, but you’re nothing like how the rest of them act. I trust you, Aaron.”
The warren looked at the empty bowl on my bed and picked it up.
“Did your escort bring this to you?” he asked.
I nodded.
“So, Aaron, I wish to offer something to you. I want you to work as my inside spy. You could work as my spy to see if the other prisoners are plotting anything.”
I didn’t speak, only watched him.
“I don’t suppose you have anything going on?”
“No!” I screamed.
“Pardon?” the warren leaned in towards me.
“No! No! No! No! No!” I grabbed my head, rocking back and forth so I wouldn’t have to hear the warren’s voice anymore.
The warren stood up and walked out of my room, leaving me behind.
“No!” I screamed again, banging my head on the wall.
“No! No! No! No!” I slammed my fists against my cell door.
One of the escorts came into my cell and slapped me across the face, almost knocking me out. I lay on the floor, crying maniacally.
“Shut up!” yelled the escort.
“No! No! No! No!” I whined.
“Shut up!” the escort began to kick me in the ribs.
Other people and escorts began to bang on my cell door, screaming at the escort. I failed to resist, feeling little pain from the escort’s feet landing in my ribs. I closed my eyes, tears rolling down my face. My escort took the other escort off of me, wanting to break up the fight. Then, I heard the explosion.
For a few split seconds, fire erupted through the walls, blowing flames into the hall outside the room. The people and escorts outside fled away from the flames, stampeding away. Freedom, I thought. I stood up painfully, steadying myself on my bed, then collapsing again. The stampede outside began to fade away as everyone around me ran. Then, I closed my eyes.
I woke up the next second, shocked. My right eye burned with fury, bleeding violently on to my clothes. I placed my hand over it to realize there was no eyeball. Where my eye had been was a hole, a bloody hole. My left eye looked around, trying to see where I was. All around me were the bodies of men and escorts, burning. There was a line of defense with guns, shooting at people to make sure they were dead. I quickly stood up without thinking and began running away. I cried out of my left eye, whispering to myself.
“No! No! No! No!” I cried.
“It’s over, Aaron.” called a voice.
“No! No! No!”
“Aaron!”
I opened my eyes. The warren stood over me, his crooked smile consuming most of his face. My hand instantly reached to my eye. There was no hole there.
“It’s over now.” the warren grinned.
“What was that?” I asked him angrily.
“Nothing. You know, that was the hardest thing to create.”
“No. This was all too real. How was my escort in there? How was my cell in there? How were my things in there?”
The warren laughed then turned to me, eerily showing off his yellow teeth.
“Oh. You thought this wasn’t real?” he asked.
“What?!” I cried, touching my eye once more.
“Your eye was replaced by our latest technology. I know it looks like the mechanism, but it only replaced your eye. Do you want to look outside?”
I hobbled off the “bed” I was on as the warren escorted me towards an area of the room concealed by beige curtains. He pulled back the fabrics to reveal a hallway full of dead men, covered in blood and black marks.
“It was a stupid idea to plant a bomb in such a facility. I don’t suppose you would want such a thing to happen again, would you, Aaron?” grinned the warren maliciously.
“Where am I?” I asked, wondering what was happening to me.
The world I thought I saw was nothing like the real world. That’s what I thought at the time. Those weren’t people I knew, I told myself, the mechanism made it. That’s what happened. All this is fake to test how I react to certain scenarios since i’m insane. I’m not insane, though. I’m not insane.
“You’re in my world now.” said the warren.
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