M:L: Chapter One

Linda or so she has been referred wants nothing more than to find out why she is considered a kill, but she has no backbone to stand on, although her cell mate has more than enough to spare.

I am not certain how I landed in here. I only remember walking down a street in the middle of the night. Then the cops found me and threw me in here. I was found guilty of something I do not recall doing. They would not tell me anything; not my name, not who my family was, nothing. How could I be found guilty of a crime I am not sure I committed?

  After a while, one of the officer’s came to my cell. He told me that the Clan I was in called me Linda. It made no sense. They called me; does that mean that they do not know who I am? 

Who am I? 

What am I? 

Linda? 

If so, why can I not seem to remember the details like why and when?

Is it a good thing I forgot? 

Am I better off this way?

Linda, or so that is what she called herself now sat on one of the beds in the small cell she had been assigned, looking at her hands. Something about her hands bugged her; all the small cuts on her fingers and the scars and burns that covered her palms and back of her hands. Though despite this, they were not rough they were smooth, like silk.

She looked up from them for a moment to look at her cellmate, who was lying down on the other bed. ‘Linda,’ was what they all called her privately, though few had anything to say to her face. ‘Linda’ was much better than no name but she still felt a sense of detachment from it.

Looking back at her hands she opened and closed her fingertips; creating a loose fist and opening them palms up again. She watched as they slowly became blurry and out of focus. Tears had begun to run from her eyes onto her cheeks, down her chin and drip onto the skin of her palms. She quickly wiped them away before her cellmate could see them.

In places like this, there is no room to cry; you constantly felt on display. All of the inmates in a five-cell radius of her could look in at any time, along with all of the officers.

Linda stood up slowly, her body swaying slightly because of starvation due to weeks on the streets. Gazing out, she noticed there was an officer by every door and two at her own. The next floor (since there was only two floors of stacked cells with no ceiling in between, just stairs at either end to get up and down) was the same; an officer by every door. This baffled Linda, so much security seemed unnecessary, over thirty men and woman seemed to be on guard at every moment just standing like statues for hours on in. 

Her cellmate sat up and looked at her.

“They increased the amount of cops when they captured you,” he said, as if she did not already know this. She had discovered the information from a cop, but he had failed to explain the reasons behind the doubled security. Linda did not turn and look at her cellmate as he spoke, just kept her hands tight around the cold steel bars, and kept her eyes fixed ahead. The officers in front of her were talking away, not even listening to what the inmates were saying. As it was, her cellmate usually said nothing to her. In fact, with her supposed record, she should not even have a cellmate. She should be in a tightly locked room with no bars or windows and should never be allowed to leave, or so someone had said, but the more she thought about it the more she agreed. Sometimes she believed that that would somehow be better than her current situation, for her head was empty and she was not sure what to believe anymore. In addition, having all these people around was not helping her.

“Why? I mean, I am not going to run away!” Linda started her sentence at a whisper before ending it in a shout. She then looked around at all the people who seemed to be staring at her. She loosened her grip on the bars and looked at her cellmate. Linda’s eyes then went from him to the floor. “I could never kill anyone,” She whispered bitting her lip and closing her eyes as she tried to hold back more incoming tears. At the time, it felt like the only thing she could do. Through this, she could not see her cellmate and the smirk on his face. It was almost as though he enjoyed her pain.

“Could you not?” He replied. “Well you used to be able to. I mean you were clan X’s secret weapon.” As he paused for a breath, he made a sound akin to an evil laugh, but it was quiet and hardly noticeable. “You knew how to handle a sword. I mean you could even block bullets, though from looking at you I must admit that had to be a huge exaggeration... maybe you weren’t anything special after all.” He laughed again though this laugh was not like the first. There was something off; though in her opinion everything about him was a little kooky. “Only a skilled fighter who's been in many battles would have all those scars on your hands. The ones that you seem so interested in,” At this, her cellmate’s lips spread into a menacing grin and for a moment, Linda even imagined his eyes glowing, it was a rather disturbing image.

Linda quickly took her hands off the bars. She obtained a second to look at her hands. Seeing that the scars have not disappeared she irritatingly let them flop to her sides and just hang there as if they were numb and unmovable. “I never could have done that. That was not me. It couldn’t have been!” Linda yelled. Clenching her fists, she opened her eyes and stopped biting her bottom lip. As she glanced around, her eyes were too blurry from tears to see who had noticed the scene, but she was sure everyone was interested. It was after all a rare opportunity these prisoners had: watching a Clan X member lose her mind.

“Calm down,” he spoke with an undertone, but it was still strict, even with his insincere attempt at empathy. Linda assumed he just did not want a lot of attention; he had become increasingly nervous with every person that turned to gaze into the barred quarters. “You will never know unless you get out of here. I mean, you are in here for life. You’re fortunate they’re not going to exterminate you.” The cellmate spoke, now in a murmured tone as if he did not want others to pick up what he was telling her. He seemed to be contemplating, something he had rarely appeared to do over the course of their association. Perhaps he had a plan; by the way, he was acting, he certainly had something up his sleeve.

“Well how do I get out of here?” Linda demanded. She looked up at him, interested in what he was saying. She suspected he was talking out his rear end and was just suppose to play into it; after all it wouldn’t be the first time. He seemed to know just how easily she hoped and how easily she was disappointed. He enjoyed yanking her chain.

Linda had no clue what the man’s name was, even though she had shared a cell with him for the past few weeks. She hadn’t become very acquainted with the man whose wide eyes; so dark it was as if they were colorless. Or his hair; a bad buzz cut that seemed to constantly stick straight up, as if he had been hit by lightning. She hated the smile on his thick lips and she despised his wide jaw, for his whole face was this way. He looked completely insane; like a mad scientist looking for his next experiment. The way he looked only matched how crazy he acted. Usually, a person's appearance was merely what hid the truth, but for him the truth was inside and out.

The cellmate laughed his malicious laugh. “You don’t. But we could always well escape from this cage.”

Linda shook her head as she glimpse back at the world outside her cell. Inmates were still looking in, monitoring their conversation. She gave them an evil glare, something she had never done before, but she didn’t like the attention. Most of them looked away, fear in their eyes, but Linda couldn’t understand why anyone would be afraid of her. She was skin and bones a result from a naturally small build and the malnourishment that is expected with prison life. The fact was, she was truly thinking of what he had said and she hated it. They had stuck her with a mad man because they believed she was mad herself. Linda did not believe she was crazy; she was just miserable, frightened, and solitary and most of all misunderstood. With her old self, nowhere to be found and her memories erased.

“How?” Linda questioned suspecting his trickery. The cops were still chatting amongst themselves, though it didn't seem to be about anything important. Linda noticed their keys, dangling completely unguarded at their sides. She could in all probability reach them from her location, and pondered the possibility for some time. She shook it away, though, in the end, for it was dishonest and sinful. She sensed that she was in all honesty corrupt; she would have at least been able to take a small set of keys, but no. It was something that could not harm anyone, and still she could not bring herself to do it. “Such a killer,” she convinced herself as she leaned against the bars, her forehead hitting the cold, refreshing steel.

“Well like this!” Her fellow inmate yelled and Linda believed that he was truly twisted. He jumped towards her as if he was a ravenous lion. Linda did not see him coming as she was still looking outside the cell. If it were not for the bed squeaking as he jumped off of it, she would not have even turned in time to defend herself. Linda was able to put her arms up over her face as he hit her and pushed her backwards, her back hitting against the bars. She tried to fight him off, though in her position she could only block the incoming blows. She was thrown off by the sudden attack, her vision distorted making it hard to tell where she was. She couldn’t feel the bars against her back and took a step backwards, tripping over nothing and barely catching herself in time. Her hands grabbed the gray brick wall. When she turned her cell mate was coming at her, no thought of stopping had come to him mind. She wrapped her arms around herself again. Holding her hands tight over her head as he punched at her thin arms. 

“Get off me! You’re insane!” Linda screamed as he took hold of her thin wrists and pinned them to one of the cell walls. He would not stop, that was evident, and he just snickers in response. Linda looked up at him; his eyes seemed to pop out of his head. Linda kicked him in the shin, his grip loosened enough for Linda to slip her wrists out, and she moved under his right arm. Quickly making her way to the other side of the small room, though she had little space to separate herself from him. 

He walked towards her, swaying a bit, with his eyes locked on her’s. Linda walked backwards until she felt the cold cell wall; she was afraid, unsure of what to do. On one side of her were bars on the other a bed. “Could the guards not hear? Could they not see what was happening right before their eyes?” Linda frantically searched around her, but never outside the bars.

Linda noticed his fist rapidly coming towards her. Her eyes widened as she flew her hands over her head, she ducked down and rolled out of the way, her feet hitting the bars of the locked cage. 

Her cellmate’s fist barely missed her head before hitting hard against the solid brick wall. He stumbled back, holding his hand, the top layer of skin on his knuckles scrapped off, and the bones in his four fingers seemed crushed he screeched in pain. Blindly, he stepped backwards until he tripped over Linda, who was still on the ground.

Linda felt a kick to herself, she grabbed her side quickly, it was hard to breath, but she turned her head in the direction it came from to see nothing. Turning the other way she could see her cellmate having a hard time getting up, only using one hand. She sat up, painfully, still holding her side. “Crap,” she whispered. 

Linda was still trying to ease the pain in her side when her cellmate stood up in front of her; he was cursing and muttering to himself. He turned, eyeing her with piercing eyes. “You’re dead!” he fumbled over his words as he took the two steps toward her and grabbed the collar of her loose gray shirt with his good hand. Effortlessness he pushed her against the wall, her back hitting hard and causing her to gasp. 

She stared up at her attacker her eyes pleading for a way out. He just responded with big black holes that tried to swallow her whole. Suddenly she looked away; the darkness within his eyes frightened her. Instead, she looked down at her bare feet, dangling a few inches off of the ground as he held her. Linda found the tears forming in her eyes were only getting closer to the surface the longer she looked at the floor. Reluctantly she looked up. 

He was still holding her up by her shirt as he balled up his fist, his bad knuckles seemed hard to move. Linda watched his face, but he showed no pain, even as blood ran down his fingers. 

The cops were just becoming aware of the ruckus that was happening in the small cell. A pile of guards stood outside looking in, in no hurry to end the fighting. Standing there watching the fight unfold. Finally, when one cop, the head officer seen the fight he slipped through the crowd. Grabbing his keys, he fumbled through them. Finding the right key, he tried to place it in the key hold; still he was in such a panic that he couldn’t get the door open. “S**t,” the cop muttered, dropping his keys.

The sound of the keys hitting the hard floor made Linda look in the cops’ direction. Her eyes narrowed seeing how only one of them seemed desperate to help her. “You better pay attention!” The man yelled, catching Linda’s attention. Linda allowed herself to peer at him, but she then quickly looked away. Realizing she was on her own, and had to save herself. Her eyes found nothing that would help her escape the man’s grasp. The cell was bare, like her tiny feet. The only objects in the room were the beds that were bolted to the ground.

“You are…You are insane! Let me go!” Linda screamed. She wriggled, trying to get out of his grasp, but it was no use. All she could do was get ready for the punch. She closed her eyes and turning her head to the side so that her nose would not be broken. She was unsure what else she could do. She bit her lip, something she did often when she was afraid. She could hear the cops crowding around and the inmates cheering, for they hated her so much they wanted her to be decked. It was probably the most excitement they'd seen since the fight at lunch.

She opened her eyes to see him getting ready to hit her, as he was taking his sweet time. She screamed and a guard finally was able to get the key and unlocked the cell door. Linda’s cellmate let go of Linda, she fell to the floor landing hard on her knees. Linda used the bed next to her to help herself up.

While still in mid-turn Linda’s cellmate swung and hit the cop. The officer stumbled backwards slightly as Linda’s cellmate took the opportunity to reach for the man's gun. The cop noticed this and tried to grab his weapon, but Linda’s cellmate was quicker. He grabbed the weapon with little trouble and then pulled back. Linda was leaning against the wall, unable to move, frozen. She pushed back against the wall, sliding down it until her butt hit the bitter hard ground. She saw the cop looking at her cellmate straight in his eyes. She saw the terror on the officer’s face and heard the gun shot as her cellmate pulled the trigger. Shot in the chest, the cop grabbed for his heart as he fell backwards to land against the cement floor.

“Could I have been just as evil as he?” 

The guard’s blood covered the floor. He did not make any sounds or movements and for all she knew, he was dead and now she was in the room with the one who had killed him. Linda quickly stood up; she did not know if she should run or stay. However, she couldn't run; she was shaking and too afraid to even move or breathe. She didn't know what would set him off. She was scared; too scared to do anything, even blink. She was locked up in this cell with a mad man and she had no clue how mad until that moment. Finally, the other guards recovered from their initial shock and they pulled and aimed their guns towards her cellmate, with a clear intention to shoot him if he tried anything rash.

The man in question reached down into the dead or dying guard’s pockets and pulled out two sets of keys, smoke bombs and a few grenades. The remaining guards just watched him and Linda wondered why they would not just shoot. Her cellmate then turned and threw the smoke bombs and one of the sets of keys at Linda, who let them just hit the ground and slide towards her. She waited tell they had hit her feet before she slowly bended down and picked them up. She did not speak, only stared at them for what felt like an eternity. She had little idea what he wanted her to do, for as much as they believed she was a killer, she still couldn’t believe she was. She shook her head. “What I’m I supposed to do?” She asked, her voice pitching in fear. She had some idea of what was expected of her, but she still felt safer to ask than to be shot for not doing what was required.

“You can use the smoke bombs to knock the guards out, and the keys to open the cells on the top floor,” her cellmate said calmly. He treated her as though she was in on it. He kept the gun aimed at the guards, and they at him. 

Linda wished they would just shoot for she believed he needed to be killed. “Could they not tell from the glow in his dark eyes that this was what he looked for?” she wondered. When she glanced at the guards, again they were saddened they could not even tell that she herself did not want to fight, that she was innocent as any other who was wrongly accused of a crime. She did not know what to think. The way the guards used to talk, they seemed to want to kill her, but now; now they hesitated to pull the trigger.

“And you?” Linda asked, wondering if he would use her as a distraction. This would mean that the guards would all chase her, since she was supposedly the secret weapon of X. That would give her cellmate a chance to escape. Linda would be kept alive, even if she were caught, because X was looking for her. She stood still, holding the keys and the bombs. “I never wanted to kill,” she silently lamented, and found herself looking up at him. He had his back facing her as he held his gun aimed and ready at the guards, poised to shoot anyone who moved. He wasn’t afraid to take what was not his, even a life.

“I’ll kill the guards on this floor and set the inmates free,” he said, his voice still calm. Linda just shook her head in response, not wanting to fight. He didn’t notice this, however, for he was busy yelling for the guards to back away. All she could see was the guards’ feet moving away from the cell. “Why wouldn’t they just shot?” Linda silently screamed, then realized she was the only one with a perfect opportunity to incapacitate him from behind. Nevertheless, she could not hurt him, let alone kill him, and at that point, it seemed that that’s all that would stop him.

“Okay,” Linda finally responded, sadly. As much as she wanted to disagree she could not, due to the shiny gun he still held in his hands. She did not want it pointed at her. She considered all of the guards who he would murder without a thought, but she was too afraid to stop him. To stop him, she would be putting herself at risk and would most likely end up like the guard, slumped over on the ground. She did not care if she did fight previously she wasn’t going to anymore. She even wanted to throw down the smoke bombs she had been given, but knew they would not actually hurt anyone, unlike the grenades and the gun.

A guard ran to the cell and attempted to shut the cell door, acting alone while the others were still backing up. Linda lifted her head to see this, for all she was able to see from her previous angle were the hero guard’s shoes running toward the door. She looked up at this man, seeing him for the first time, but her cellmate had already spotted him. He kicked the door open before the heroic guard could lock it, sending the guard flying backwards. Linda's cellmate started shooting as Linda stood in the cell. He shot the guards. Shocked, Linda was stuck watching as it all unfolded in front of her. A small smile appeared on her cellmate’s face, almost as if he was amused. Linda wondered if she should be freeing people like him. “Is it fun to kill?” she contemplated.

Her cellmate grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the cell.

“Stop being brainless! Go to the second floor and let those criminals free!” he yelled at her. Linda just looked up at him. She was not sure what to do and for a moment, she thought that maybe she was brainless, and her skull was just empty filled with air and that was it. She was shaking when he finally let go of her arms, tired of waiting for her to answer.

“And if I refuse?” Linda finally got to courage to speak. Her cellmate did not answer, he just smiled and waved the gun around, and that was enough of an answer for her. Linda sighed as she started out of the cell. Her cellmate followed close behind her, holding the gun at anyone who stood in his or her way. He started shooting at some of the guards, though none of them seemed to be shooting back. “What was wrong with these people! Why aren't they fighting back?” Linda thought, confused. It was not until Linda was out of the way did the guards finally start returning fire. They stood there, shooting at her cellmate but none of the bullets seemed to even come close to the prisoner.

Five guards who were guarding the stairs stopped Linda as she went to run past them. Noticing a small space in between two of them, Linda freed herself and was able to slide quickly through the small space that the guards unintentionally gave her. She was able to run half way up the steps before tripping as a guard grabbed at her feet. Latching on, they slowly began to pull her down the hard, concrete stairs. She tried to use her hands to stop herself from sliding, but she had to abandon this to keep the pins in the smoke bombs. She had no shoes, so her feet scraped against the rough texture of the stairs as she was dragged. She kicked out, trying to knock the guards that were holding her. It was to no avail, though.

Finally, she got free and threw a smoke bomb at the guards. It exploded, covering most of the area in a thick cloud of fog. Some of the guards were knocked unconscious by the close proximity of the blast, but none was seriously injured. Linda felt bad about it but she did not know what else to do, for they would have kept coming for her. She consoled herself with the fact that they would awaken soon enough. Linda noticed that the rest of the guards had rushed downstairs to catch the inmates escaping. This meant she would have an easy time opening the cells on the second floor. She quickly went cell to cell, letting every prisoner go. They all seemed to be laughing as they grabbed the unconscious guards’ guns. There was no room to move into the small hallway, but that did not stop the released inmates, for they were extremely happy to be free. They did not just shoot the guards; some shot each other and others just seemed to be shooting at anything that moved.

Linda watched as smoke covered the place.

“Heartless; cold-blooded; merciless; cruel. Which word would best describe these people? No, not people; they’re monsters, all insane. Could I have been this cold myself? Heartless? How? Why?” Linda thought. She stood on the second floor, leaning on the railing, watching what was happening below. She found herself coughing from the rising smoke from her own smoke bomb. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by an outraged criminal, still locked in his cage. He wanted out. She gave this man the evil eye as she slowly moved closer to unlock the door. At the time, she was shaking and the man had little patience for her trouble to find the right key. When she finally found it, he slammed into the door, frenzied for freedom.

The freed inmates ran towards the stairs and ended up blocked by guards, who were finally making their way up the steps. The guards shoved the prisoners back in the cells as they made their way towards Linda. Linda stood on the second floor, trapped, while the guards were slowly closing in on both sides. There was nowhere to run. She threw one of the smoke bombs and quickly ran past the officers and down the steps. She wasn’t sure how she had found a way to get around them for she couldn’t see in the smoke either. While traversing the steps with burning eyes and a sore throat, she tripped and slid down to the bottom. She hardly noticed much of it though, as the initial impact had caused an overwhelming headache. She knew she had to leave, so she managed to get up and began to run. She did not know where she was going, and she could still barely see, but she did not care. The smoke was rising slowly, but no one stopped fighting. They kept on battling in the ghost of the mist; not caring who was shot. Everything was a blur and her eyes still hurt and watered. She felt like she was going to faint, but something kept her going. She found the large door that lead out, ran down another pair of steps, and found herself inside the sewer.

She ran through the water. It hurt her legs, probably because of the cuts and scrapes, she had on them, but that was not what she cared about at that stage. She found herself trapped a bunch of bars in front of her. It was too dark to see and she had run into them. When she turned to head back, guards were already running after her with mounted flashlights on. She quickly pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at the bars, hoping the force would be enough. The bomb exploded and Linda, along with a bunch of water, was thrown flying backwards by the impact. She hurt all over from the falls that she had been taking, but she was not going to give in. She was bruised, burning and some shrapnel had sliced her as it separated from the bars. Somehow, with all of her injuries, she rose to her feet and speedily made her way through the hole she blew in the bars. Linda had gotten away. The guards decided not to go after her. They knew that she didn’t believe or know her past, not to waste time with her and to set their priorities to apprehending the escaped prisoners.

Author's Note

The first chapter of memories lost, not much to add. I know my tense issues and grammar are still a large issue, so if you want to point out such things go right a head, but I would rather know if the story interests you or if something turns you away from it. Thank you.

Reviews

[A. Amos]

Wow! What a start and whole read felt like watching a movie...you're one of the best story teller I have read so far on W/C...this will be one interest book you're writing and I wish you all the best and huge success because you truly deserve.

Respect

[Ashley.M.E]

This comment means a lot to me. I thank you so much for your time and am glad that you reviewed my work. I tried so hard to correct the flow in this piece over the years and am very happy that you could picture it so clearly.

[A. Amos]

You are very talented and I'm honor to be your friend and you're most welcome.

[Wolfwind]

I really like how the main character questions if they could be as cruel and evil as some of those they come across and see. I think it's an interesting plot idea and lets us see that the mind of the character as she escapes is swirling with a mass of what ifs.

Nice!

[Ashley.M.E]

Thank you so much for your review, I am really happy to see that people are interested and understand the story. I have been working on this one since I was 13-14 years old and have always been hesitant on if it was enjoyable or not.