Detective Arc pulled Samantha down, onto the ground behind the large wooden table that lay in the center of the prison cells. She placed her hands onto Samantha’s shoulders, “Listen to me. You need to do exactly what I tell you. Do you understand.” Tears streamed down Samantha’s cheeks and fell onto her legs. She nodded but didn’t speak.
“I am going to hide you but I need you to be strong,” Detective Arc said.
She pulled Samantha into the open prison cell. They stood over the two dead bodies. Samantha put her right hand over her mouth and placed her left hand over it to force herself to not make a sound.
“I need you to be strong Samantha. And no matter what you hear, do not come out. You are going to hide under these bodies. Can you do that?” Detective Arc asked.
Samantha responded in a low voice, her initial shock almost silenced her and robbed her of words, “Yes.”
Sophia turned her head to see the dungeon entrance. They moved fast. Detective Arc on one side and Samantha on the other. They lifted up the body with all the strength they had left in them and rolled it over.
“I need you to lie down,” said Detective Arc.
Samantha got down onto the floor, it was full of dirt, grime, blood, and other chunks of human something that looked like they came out of a meat grinder. She lied down, her back sank into the wet mess around her and pieces of flesh and intestine rubbed into her skin and God knows what else. Detective Arc pulled one of the corpse’s shoulders to roll the body half way onto Samantha’s, a whole new meaning to the game hide and seek.
Samantha made a gasping sound and couldn’t help the steady stream of tears that ran down her face, now rolling onto the remains of long gone peers of Freedom House.
“Just focus on your breathing and close your eyes. You can do this,” Detective Arc said.
Samantha closed her eyes and turned her head to face the prison wall but at least she had company lying with her. Detective Arc rolled the second corpse onto Samantha to create a casual, or organic, maybe even natural pile of death. Just a normal layout of internal organs spilling out and just the right amount of sporadic placement of limbs to not bring attention to the mound of lifelessness that Samantha used as a blanket of survival.
“It’s going to be okay,” Detective Arc said then she walked out of the prison cell and closed the cell door, leaving a small gap of open space. Samantha heard the door squeak and opened her eyes for a second, the prison wall came into her view then she shut her eyes tightly.
Detective Arc approached the wood table, the home to another unfortunate Freedom House soul. Above the table there hung many different tools: knives, handsaws, and cleavers. She unhooked a knife and got down onto the floor, behind the table and stared at the corridor entrance. She could hear something getting closer. She watched the dark entrance way and gripped the knife.
The Darius and Cyrus appeared at the entrance. He stopped and placed his hand up to signal Cyrus to stop. They said nothing. The Darius looked around the dungeon by only moving his head from left to center to the right. His eyes moved from the corpse lying on the wood table up to the tools hanging directly above. He walked to the first prison cell to the left and stood in front of the cell door.
“How we doing today Miles?” He asked with a meditative smile.
Miles didn’t look up. His head hung down over his chest. The Darius walked over to the open cell. He swung the cell door open. Samantha held her breath. She could feel maggots crawling over her left shoulder as they swarmed the rotten meat that lay on top of her, the rapid movement of insects at work together, feeding, feeding, feeding. She closed her eyes and sweat built up around her hairline. She had an itch on her cheek, the kind that seems to force your hand to reflex and move on its own, only this time she had to fight the reflex. She could hear The Darius’s heavy feet on the floor just feet away from her and getting closer.
Then Samantha heard Detective Arc.
“Looking for something?” Detective Arc asked.
The Darius turned around still standing inside the open prison cell. Detective Arc was next to the wood table and holding a knife to Cyrus’s throat. The Darius’s expression remained unmoved.
“Zoe is it?” The Darius said.
“It’s over. Freedom House is over,” Detective Arc said as she had one arm wrapped around Cyrus’s neck and the knife pressing against the skin at his neck. Her hand shook while her eyes stayed locked into The Darius’s. Cyrus looked down, thinking if he could only get a glimpse of his neck then all of this would somehow stop and he’d be awakened from this nightmare.
The Darius said, “Oh don’t you wish it was. I know why you’re here. You lost something long ago. Something dear to your heart and it was your fault. You haven’t forgiven yourself and you never will. A piece of you has been lost with it.”
“You know nothing about me,” Detective Arc said, now with a hint of anger.
The Darius started walking out of the prison cell and toward Detective Arc and Cyrus. He took his time and each step moved with a purpose, “Where is Ivy?” The Darius asked and he continued to walk to the detective.
“I came down here to look for her,” Detective Arc said.
The detective backed herself up against one of the prison cell doors as The Darius walked up to her with the same steady speed, a walking chase that made her palms sweaty. She gripped the knife against Cyrus but the clammy residue of her palms played a game of slip and slide with her hand and the knife handle.
The Darius stopped only a couple of feet away from Cyrus.
“My Cyrus. Such a loyal and intelligent soul,” The Darius stood with his hands behind his back, resting against his lower back as if standing in a park and admiring a willow. The beauty of its weeping, tendril like branches and leaves but always with that underlying sadness as its branches frown down to touch the ground.
Detective Arc held Cyrus’s head back and tried to grip the knife steadily amongst the slime of sweat, the slime of fear, that seeped out of her palms. She stared at The Darius and although her eyes never left his, her mind was time traveling into the past and back to the day that she lost Charlotte. The song of the ice cream truck, like that of a jewelry box chime, echoed through the neighborhood. It got closer and Charlotte turned around. She didn’t have enough coins. We could’ve gone straight home. I gave her enough to get an ice cream and she didn’t even get her ice cream. I gave her enough.
“Thinking about what you lost Zoe?” The Darius asked, his hands still resting behind him with a gentle ease.
“It’s over now. It’s time to end this.” Detective Arc said.
“You’re right. I knew The Darkness was coming and now, it’s here,” The Darius smiled. He reached up and held Cyrus’s cheek in his hand. He touched it with the care and love of a father to a son. He looked in Cyrus’s eyes and in a whisper said, “It’s your time to be free now.”
The Darius kept his right hand on Cyrus’s cheek and with his left hand he grabbed Detective Arc’s wrist and used her hand as his own. He pushed the detective’s hand into Cyrus’s throat and the knife sliced into his neck, his skin split open and blood began to trickle down his chest. Cyrus’s eyes widened but he resisted a fight because he knew it was time to be free.
“Nooooooo!” Detective Arc screamed. Cyrus tried reaching his arms out to The Darius. The Darius wrapped his arms around Cyrus and allowed his body weight to fully submerge onto him. He hugged him and went onto his knees, bringing Cyrus onto the ground. Warm blood spread between both of their chests. The Darius laid Cyrus down and he stood up. Detective Arc held the knife but her hand shook in small intervals back and forth, a jitter that only someone else could stop.
“What have you done?” The Darius asked.
“I...I didn -,” Detective Arc dropped the knife. Tears fell down her face and she shook her head in a repetitive motion. The Darius moved at the same calm pace as before. He leaned over and picked up the knife. Detective Arc stared at Cyrus’s dead body on the floor and she cupped her mouth with her hand and she cried, trying to hold the sounds in and tuck them far down into the depths of her stomach.
The Darius held the knife down to his side with no attempt to hide it.
“Zoe, don’t you want to be set free of all of this? The Darkness from your past doesn’t need to dictate your future,” The Darius said as he used his left, bare hand to wipe Cyrus’s blood off the knife. He raised his left hand to his nose and smelled it the way someone smells a vanilla peach candle.
“You’re sick. I can help you,” Detective Arc’s voice cracked with fear but was spoken with hope.
“It’s time for you to be free,” The Darius said.
That’s when Samantha crawled out from under the mound of flesh and squirming maggots and she stood up, “The Darius, weren’t you looking for me?”
-Written by Sterp
All Rights Reserved
“I am going to hide you but I need you to be strong,” Detective Arc said.
She pulled Samantha into the open prison cell. They stood over the two dead bodies. Samantha put her right hand over her mouth and placed her left hand over it to force herself to not make a sound.
“I need you to be strong Samantha. And no matter what you hear, do not come out. You are going to hide under these bodies. Can you do that?” Detective Arc asked.
Samantha responded in a low voice, her initial shock almost silenced her and robbed her of words, “Yes.”
Sophia turned her head to see the dungeon entrance. They moved fast. Detective Arc on one side and Samantha on the other. They lifted up the body with all the strength they had left in them and rolled it over.
“I need you to lie down,” said Detective Arc.
Samantha got down onto the floor, it was full of dirt, grime, blood, and other chunks of human something that looked like they came out of a meat grinder. She lied down, her back sank into the wet mess around her and pieces of flesh and intestine rubbed into her skin and God knows what else. Detective Arc pulled one of the corpse’s shoulders to roll the body half way onto Samantha’s, a whole new meaning to the game hide and seek.
Samantha made a gasping sound and couldn’t help the steady stream of tears that ran down her face, now rolling onto the remains of long gone peers of Freedom House.
“Just focus on your breathing and close your eyes. You can do this,” Detective Arc said.
Samantha closed her eyes and turned her head to face the prison wall but at least she had company lying with her. Detective Arc rolled the second corpse onto Samantha to create a casual, or organic, maybe even natural pile of death. Just a normal layout of internal organs spilling out and just the right amount of sporadic placement of limbs to not bring attention to the mound of lifelessness that Samantha used as a blanket of survival.
“It’s going to be okay,” Detective Arc said then she walked out of the prison cell and closed the cell door, leaving a small gap of open space. Samantha heard the door squeak and opened her eyes for a second, the prison wall came into her view then she shut her eyes tightly.
Detective Arc approached the wood table, the home to another unfortunate Freedom House soul. Above the table there hung many different tools: knives, handsaws, and cleavers. She unhooked a knife and got down onto the floor, behind the table and stared at the corridor entrance. She could hear something getting closer. She watched the dark entrance way and gripped the knife.
The Darius and Cyrus appeared at the entrance. He stopped and placed his hand up to signal Cyrus to stop. They said nothing. The Darius looked around the dungeon by only moving his head from left to center to the right. His eyes moved from the corpse lying on the wood table up to the tools hanging directly above. He walked to the first prison cell to the left and stood in front of the cell door.
“How we doing today Miles?” He asked with a meditative smile.
Miles didn’t look up. His head hung down over his chest. The Darius walked over to the open cell. He swung the cell door open. Samantha held her breath. She could feel maggots crawling over her left shoulder as they swarmed the rotten meat that lay on top of her, the rapid movement of insects at work together, feeding, feeding, feeding. She closed her eyes and sweat built up around her hairline. She had an itch on her cheek, the kind that seems to force your hand to reflex and move on its own, only this time she had to fight the reflex. She could hear The Darius’s heavy feet on the floor just feet away from her and getting closer.
Then Samantha heard Detective Arc.
“Looking for something?” Detective Arc asked.
The Darius turned around still standing inside the open prison cell. Detective Arc was next to the wood table and holding a knife to Cyrus’s throat. The Darius’s expression remained unmoved.
“Zoe is it?” The Darius said.
“It’s over. Freedom House is over,” Detective Arc said as she had one arm wrapped around Cyrus’s neck and the knife pressing against the skin at his neck. Her hand shook while her eyes stayed locked into The Darius’s. Cyrus looked down, thinking if he could only get a glimpse of his neck then all of this would somehow stop and he’d be awakened from this nightmare.
The Darius said, “Oh don’t you wish it was. I know why you’re here. You lost something long ago. Something dear to your heart and it was your fault. You haven’t forgiven yourself and you never will. A piece of you has been lost with it.”
“You know nothing about me,” Detective Arc said, now with a hint of anger.
The Darius started walking out of the prison cell and toward Detective Arc and Cyrus. He took his time and each step moved with a purpose, “Where is Ivy?” The Darius asked and he continued to walk to the detective.
“I came down here to look for her,” Detective Arc said.
The detective backed herself up against one of the prison cell doors as The Darius walked up to her with the same steady speed, a walking chase that made her palms sweaty. She gripped the knife against Cyrus but the clammy residue of her palms played a game of slip and slide with her hand and the knife handle.
The Darius stopped only a couple of feet away from Cyrus.
“My Cyrus. Such a loyal and intelligent soul,” The Darius stood with his hands behind his back, resting against his lower back as if standing in a park and admiring a willow. The beauty of its weeping, tendril like branches and leaves but always with that underlying sadness as its branches frown down to touch the ground.
Detective Arc held Cyrus’s head back and tried to grip the knife steadily amongst the slime of sweat, the slime of fear, that seeped out of her palms. She stared at The Darius and although her eyes never left his, her mind was time traveling into the past and back to the day that she lost Charlotte. The song of the ice cream truck, like that of a jewelry box chime, echoed through the neighborhood. It got closer and Charlotte turned around. She didn’t have enough coins. We could’ve gone straight home. I gave her enough to get an ice cream and she didn’t even get her ice cream. I gave her enough.
“Thinking about what you lost Zoe?” The Darius asked, his hands still resting behind him with a gentle ease.
“It’s over now. It’s time to end this.” Detective Arc said.
“You’re right. I knew The Darkness was coming and now, it’s here,” The Darius smiled. He reached up and held Cyrus’s cheek in his hand. He touched it with the care and love of a father to a son. He looked in Cyrus’s eyes and in a whisper said, “It’s your time to be free now.”
The Darius kept his right hand on Cyrus’s cheek and with his left hand he grabbed Detective Arc’s wrist and used her hand as his own. He pushed the detective’s hand into Cyrus’s throat and the knife sliced into his neck, his skin split open and blood began to trickle down his chest. Cyrus’s eyes widened but he resisted a fight because he knew it was time to be free.
“Nooooooo!” Detective Arc screamed. Cyrus tried reaching his arms out to The Darius. The Darius wrapped his arms around Cyrus and allowed his body weight to fully submerge onto him. He hugged him and went onto his knees, bringing Cyrus onto the ground. Warm blood spread between both of their chests. The Darius laid Cyrus down and he stood up. Detective Arc held the knife but her hand shook in small intervals back and forth, a jitter that only someone else could stop.
“What have you done?” The Darius asked.
“I...I didn -,” Detective Arc dropped the knife. Tears fell down her face and she shook her head in a repetitive motion. The Darius moved at the same calm pace as before. He leaned over and picked up the knife. Detective Arc stared at Cyrus’s dead body on the floor and she cupped her mouth with her hand and she cried, trying to hold the sounds in and tuck them far down into the depths of her stomach.
The Darius held the knife down to his side with no attempt to hide it.
“Zoe, don’t you want to be set free of all of this? The Darkness from your past doesn’t need to dictate your future,” The Darius said as he used his left, bare hand to wipe Cyrus’s blood off the knife. He raised his left hand to his nose and smelled it the way someone smells a vanilla peach candle.
“You’re sick. I can help you,” Detective Arc’s voice cracked with fear but was spoken with hope.
“It’s time for you to be free,” The Darius said.
That’s when Samantha crawled out from under the mound of flesh and squirming maggots and she stood up, “The Darius, weren’t you looking for me?”
-Written by Sterp
All Rights Reserved
