Chapter 5
Weeks passed by in what felt like mere seconds, every day was almost exactly
the same. I would talk to Glen more and more, soon talking about other things
besides the inmates in the prison. Glen became more of a friend then a partner
and it wasn’t long before I found myself longing for the short talks we had
daily. Although I started off cautious, I soon opened myself to him more than
any other person I had known. Not even my sister and brother knew about my
sword fighting practice, though brother might have had his suspicions. Maybe it
was because Glen was closer to my age, or maybe it was because he was my only
way out of the depth of loneliness in the entire prison. Regardless, we soon
came to understand each other more than ever before and as he learned things
about me, I also learned about him.
It turned out he was lying when he said he was sent in here because he stole a
piece of bread. Instead, Glen’s parents were killed by the guards and he and
his younger sister were left all alone in the city. Glen tried his hardest to
keep both him and his sister alive, but it wasn’t long until an orphanage took
notice of his sister and wanted to take in the both of them. Glen, however, did
not trust the orphanage and attempted so they attempted to run away. In his
attempt to flee, he ended up killing one of the workers and was quickly caught
and turned in to the authorities. Not wanting to waste time on him, they quickly
sent him to the Eternal Prison.
Though we talked daily, it wasn’t until two months had passed had he shared his
life with me and even then he still didn’t tell me the details, only leaving me
the basic outline. I didn’t mind that Glen didn’t tell me everything, the fact
that he already revealed that he was lying was enough for me. I felt a deep
trust grow between us and it wasn’t long before we started laughing and joking
around like true friends.
So far, after three months of fighting, Glen had yet to be wrong on the
information he gave me about the inmates. Almost every single one of them were
weak starved men, struggling to live inside the prison. The fights didn’t take
long and I always finished by forcing the opponent to give in. I had set my
mind to make sure I didn’t kill again. Though the inmates might be starving,
they’re not dumb. Once they realize they can’t win, they always forfeit, though
sometimes a bit of extra “encouragement” is needed.
Time was the one thing I had more than enough of, as when I wasn’t fighting or
talking with Glen, I was alone in my cell. Realizing that I might eventually go
crazy in the darkness, I thought of a way to keep myself occupied. I started to
work out in all of my free time. I had seen my brother do the same and so imitated
what he had been doing. I started with just push ups, continuously doing them
to the brink of unconsciousness. I could then easily fall asleep and didn’t
have to worry about thinking of unnecessary thoughts. I soon started to work
out my legs and stomach as well, once again copying what I had seen my brother
doing.
It had been three months from when I had entered the prison and the start of
what seemed like a normal day. My hair had grown long and my clothes were
stained and filthy.
I woke up to the sound of my cell door being unlocked and the guard yelling at
me to get up. I slowly picked myself off of the mattress and made my way
through the door and into the hallway. I stepped into the gap in the line that
had been made the moment I stepped out from my cell. I looked at the inmate who
had stopped to create the gap. His head was down and he was staring at the
ground.
Winning every battle for three consecutive months had given me reputation. At
first the inmates just thought I was getting lucky, but after a few more wins
they soon came to realize I was far stronger than what they had thought. Glen
was right in this idea too, everyone in the prison knew Glen and I were good
friends and so the same treatment was given to him.
I was soon sitting at my table in the centre of the room, the same table I had
used when I first came to the prison. I started to eat the food given to me,
after three months of eating the muck, I had gotten used to it and it almost
tasted good. Almost.
As soon as I started eating, it wasn’t long until-
“Hey kid, How are ya feeling today?”
I looked up to find Glen grinning at me from his side of the table. Even though
we were good friends, he still referred to me as “kid”. It irritated me for a
while, but soon I came to accept the name. I mean after all, I was
younger than him.
“Pretty good actually, better than I’ve felt in days.” I replied.
“Perfect. Getting straight to the point, today’s another weak looking inmate.
He’s pretty old, his name’s Bran Fran. It should be one of the easier matches,
the guy has no meat on his bones and he’s all fragile looking. Be careful not
to accidentally kill him if you’re still holding on to that stupid thought.”
Bran Fran… For some reason the name feels familiar. I know I’ve heard it
somewhere before… But where?
We talked for a few more minutes until it was finally time for the match,
bidding me good luck, Glen made his way over to the stands while I entered the
waiting room. Even after three months, it still looked exactly the same. I was
also still using the same sword I had first picked out.
As soon as I entered the room, I opened the closet, picked up my sword and sat
on the ground, waiting. Before long the door was unlocked and I moved forward
into the arena.
As usual the stands were packed and the opponent was already in the ring
waiting for me. He was a thin scrawny man and had overgrown hair covering his
entire face. This’ll be easy, I thought, Glen was right when he said
this guy has no meat on his bones, he’s almost like a walking skeleton. I
was confident in my victory and wanted to make it quick. As soon as the guard
gave the permission to fight, I charged at him.
In just a few seconds my elbow was planted inside his stomach and he went
flying. He hit the wall, hard, and dropped down to the ground. He wasn’t
moving. Fearing I had accidentally killed him, I quickly rushed to his side.
Once I was near him I noticed that his mouth was slightly moving, he was saying
something. Leaning closer, I tried to make out his words.
He was starting to speak louder and his body was shaking. I kneeled down next
to him and grabbed his shoulders. “Hey, you okay? Hey! I’m asking if you-”
“K...” I could barely make out what he was saying.
“What was that? What did you say?”
“K..., ki.., k…, ..ll, ..ll, ki..l, ki.ll, kill, kill, kill, kill.” I was
beginning to feel uneasy.
“Hey look, you need help, just throw this ma-”
“Kill, kill, kill, kill.”
“Are you listening to me? I’m telling you to-”
‘Kill… KILL!”
I felt something sharp poke me in my stomach, looking down I was surprised to
find the man covered in fresh blood. Why is he… I looked farther down
and noticed that I too was stained red. I then made out an odd bulge in my
stomach. It took me a few seconds before I had realized what happened. I stood
up stiffly and slowly backed away. I grabbed the handle of the dagger and
started to pull out. Pain. Beyond anything I had ever felt before. I yelled out
in agony as I finally removed the weapon.
The blade was covered in blood. My blood… My mind had frozen, I kept
staring at the dagger, oblivious even to the torrent gushing out of me.
“Hey Kid! What the hell are you doing!” Glen’s voice broke me out of my trance
and I quickly looked up just in time to dodge another dagger aimed for my head.
The man flew by me and again crashed into the wall.
I fell to my knees, trying as hard as I could to stop the blood flow. I could
make out the man picking himself off of the ground. He was getting ready to
charge at me again, but at the same time was also once again saying something.
“They killed them… All of them, without mercy. They made me watch! I watched
helplessly as my family was killed! And all because we couldn’t pay a few
taxes? I don’t care anymore, there’s no point in living anymore… I’ll just kill
everything, and everyone!”
The man charged at me again but this time, time had seemed to slow down. I
could make out every step he took and before long he was close enough for me to
strike.
I know who he is is now… Bran Fran, the father of the Fran family, the
farmers who were massacred...
He held dagger high, ready to stab.
He’s broke, no matter what I say he won’t listen. I don’t have a choice, I
can’t just die here so uselessly. He’s going to kill me… Or I’m going to kill
him.
The dagger was inches away from my heart when I quickly jerked my body out of
harm’s way. I side-stepped next to him and slashed my sword through his neck.
Instantly I was showered in a torrent of blood, drenching even my hair in just
mere seconds. His face had gone blank, his eyes just staring straight ahead. He
tried saying something but all he could do was make a faint choking noise. He
continued choking on his own blood for a few seconds and then he slowly slumped
to the ground, dead.
I was
breathing heavy and my vision was quickly fading. The inmates were yelling and
cheering at me as loud as they could. Praising me for killing someone… Heh.
I looked up at the stands and I could faintly make out Glen’s face. He was
grinning straight at me, almost the happiest I had ever seen him be. I weakly
smiled back at him, before falling face-first onto the hard, cold, stone.
*****
Pain. Once again more pain then I had ever felt before, but this time much
worse, greeted me when I woke up the following morning. It felt as if my
stomach was on fire, stabbed with knives, chopped to little pieces. It was more
than I could handle and before long I started screaming at the top of my lungs.
I don’t even remember how long it was until I lost my consciousness again. The
only thing I could feel and think was the pain erupting from my stomach and the
taste of my blood as my screams burned and scratched my throat.
*****
“Wake up already you runt, I don’t have all day.”
Groaning, I opened my eyes and picked myself off of the ground. The pain in my
stomach had disappeared and I felt as fresh as ever. I slowly got into line and
started my everyday routine. Just another day, like every oth- It was
then that the memories of last night came straight back to me. No… I did it
again… Even though I vowed to never take another life, I took one again! My
body was moving on its own, I didn’t even realize that I had already gotten my
food and was sitting on my table.
I’m getting used to it, I realized.
I’m getting used to being in this prison. I’m getting used to fighting every
night. And… I’m getting used to kil-
“That was quite the fight yesterday, for a second there I thought you might
have been done for.” Glen was once again sitting right in front of me, with his
usual grin plastered onto his face. “But it’s good you did what you had to, I
mean it was about time you abandoned that ‘I’ll never kill again’ crap. You
should know first hand that this isn’t a world you can survive in if you’re
weak.”
“Yeah… You’re right. If I’m going to make it out of this place, then I need to
stay strong. I can’t hesitate anymore, hell it almost ended up killing me.”
What am I saying? We’re talking about killing people here, I can’t
just-
“That’s it, now you’re finally starting to grow up a bit. But I suppose you had
to have it ‘beat’ into you eh? Heheh, though actually speaking of beating, are
you fine for tonight’s match?” Glen seemed relieved, as if a huge weight had
been lifted off of his back.
“Yeah of course, why wouldn’t I be?
“Why? Well you know, I’m not sure how it was in the ring, but when that dagger
sliced into your stomach it sure as hell didn’t look nice from the stands.”
He’s right, I was stabbed in the stomach!
Panicking, I quickly stood up and pulled my shirt off of my stomach. “What
the-”
“What’s wrong?” Glen looked worried, his gaze drifted towards my stomach and
his face turned ghostly pale. “Oi kid, you seeing the same thing I am?”
“Ye-Yeah… I am.” I replied weakly.
The dagger deep gash I had in my stomach had almost disappeared. It was only as
I looked closely could I make out a small, almost non-existent scar where my
once near mortal wound was.
Glen had started laughing hysterically. “Ha! What luck! I guess it just looked bad, the dagger must have been as
dull as a stone, hell it looks like it barely nicked you!” He had fallen to the
floor, laughing.
I put my shirt back down and joined in weakly. Glen might have been enjoying
himself, but my face was covered with worry. Taking a deep breath, I took
another look at my stomach and my fears were confirmed.
The small, almost non-existent scar was fading, and in just a few seconds had
completely disappeared.
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