I was led further down into the earth by a stone-faced man in uniform. I didn't bother trying to talk to him; no one seemed to have much to say to me. He led me down a dank, musty hallway towards a single, naked bulb that hung from the ceiling. It tried in vain to fight off the darkness, or at least keep it at bay. The thud of the man's boots echoed violently off the cinder block walls. We stopped before an opening in the wall, the one nearest to where we'd just walked from. I entered the cell wordlessly, and the bar door hurtled closed behind me. My hair stood on end on my arms and neck. His boots thundered away, until they were nothing more than a rumble in the distance.
Without their intrusive sound, I could hear the drip of water on the floor somewhere nearby, slowly, as if it was dripping with intent. It was to this sound that I closed my eyes in the cell, which was miraculously smaller than my room on the train had been, and sat on the bed. At some point, I guess I fell asleep.
I was roused awake later by the thudding of those boots again, bouncing off the walls and into the confines of my cell, my temporary sanctuary. They approached, a pair of shadows dancing past me, and then another cell door slammed shut. Then they faded away again, as mechanically and indifferently as they'd come.
This time, though, between the drops of water, I could hear sniffling, and the occasional hopeless sob into the otherwise silence. I thought I recognized the sound of the person. I stood up.
"Sarah?" I called to the bulb, gripping the bars and squeezing my face against them. The sniffling stopped, and the sobbing turned into muffled hyperventilating as she tried to calm herself. Before she could answer, though:
"What the Hell?" John called from another cell down the row. "That was you they brought in here?"
"Yeah... wherever here is."
"Didn't you guys hear what he said?" Sarah cried, the tears fresh and the efforts to stem them shoved aside. "Didn't he tell you?"
I guess our silence answered for us, because she cried out again. Between heaves, I managed to put together something that scared me beyond comprehension.
"We're all dead."
Like actually dead? If so, my guess was right ! Yay ! But I guess she could mean they are being sentenced to death. I'm led to believe the first option though.
ReplyDeleteBut what did they do to die? And why are they being tortured? They most have done something wrong in real life if they are being treated this badly... Or they just weren't allowed to know they were dead or they would freak out. I know I would.
What would you do if you suddenly found out the life you were living was fake? And you were actually dead?
I have to say the line about the light bulb really stood out to me, about it trying to fend of the darkness. It's a really different way of describing the scenery other than it was a dark room. It's really weird but... I pictured a little cartoon light bulb with a little sword fighting off some black creature of darkness... I swear I'm not crazy!
ReplyDeleteThat last line leaves more questions than answers, as this entire story has done. That is not a bad thing, it adds to the mystery. What does "We are dead" mean? Are they going to be put to death? Are they actually dead and in some sort of heaven, or more likely hell? So many questions...
ReplyDeleteI realized I read this but forgot to comment, I was betting on dead the whole time
ReplyDelete