This was officially made for the 'Extreme Circumstances'-contest, made by Kem Rixen. Though I can't remember the story completely anymore, I do remember I was not really happy with it, or more like: "Extremely disappointed" as I said in the paragraph below this. But it's a waste to not post, I guess.
Anyway, I finished my story. It took me three days to create it, and I'm pretty sure you can see where I stopped writing and took a break. Regardless, I'm extremely disappointed in it, but it's better than not posting at all. Though these 'extreme circumstances' are one of the subjects I should be good at, it didn't really come out well and it doesn't really look it has much to do with the "extreme circumstances." Perhaps it would, if you'd acknowledge Jard or William as the main person. Oh well... read for yourself.
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<div align="center">Where light is consumed</div>
'What happened? Where am I?' were the first two things I could ask myself the moment I opened my eyes. I could see steel bars in front of me. Definitely not easily to break them since they were as thick as the double of my arm and it was clear that they went deep into the ground and ceilling. The cage I found myself in was small, with a little luck, you could push three average sized people in here. This time, I found myself alone in the cage. There was no one here with me, just me.
Suddenly, a blinding light seared through the small room, showing me that there are more people in this room, but in different cages. The room was large and the walls were black. At least twenty cages were around us, all filled with people, the one looking more desperate than the other. There were no windows, no lights only a door that was opened and two people walked in. Their clothes, or armor, reflected the sunlight. Sunlight came through the door opening into the large room. Other people in cages shared the same feeling as me, being pained by the sunlight that suddenly streamed in. Our eyes had too much trouble to adjust to the sudden light, so most people decided to close it. I managed to keep one open, to see what is going on. I could see a lot of people crawling to the edge of the cage, some pushing their hands between the bar and asking for forgiveness, other people kneeled down inside the cage, but there were also people who sweared at the two men who walked by and tried to hit them, but it was all in vain. There was too much of a distance between the cage and the two men.
"You're coming with me!" I heard someone shout to a man in a cage. The man in the cage didn't speak a word, only tears streamed down his face. He made no attempt to escape either, he willingly let himself get out of the cage and the people who pulled him out, who looked like guards after seeing their armor shine in the sunlight, looked quite satisfied that the man didn't make any attempt. The cage of the man was not too far away from me. There was only one cage that blocked my sight, but luckily, the man inside the cage to my left was kneeling on the ground so I could watch over him and have a very good view over the two guards and the man they were speaking to. "Good job, Jard, as long as you cooperate, you won't be harmed... yet" one of the guards grinningly told the crying man, clearly named 'Jard.' Jard had his eyes open and cried in front of the guards while he slowly pushed his body upwards. He probably doesn't even know that he was crying in front of the two guards. The guards didn't really seem to mind it either, they were probably used to something like this.
"What is his crime, Fred?" the other guard asked as he closed the cage behind the man named Jard after pulling him out. The moment the cage was closed, the guard immediately grabbed a small note book from his pocket and started to write something. He probably wrote down the name of the caged man, or prisoner to them, and most likely his crime.
"This sick *beep* murderd his own wife! Can you believe something like that, Robert?" the other guard shouted while looking disgusted towards Jard.
"Jard haven't do anything like that! Honustly!" Jard shouted in return while the tears dropped from his chin on the floor. "Honustly!" Jard shouted again, clearly trying to prove he is innocent. "You people think that Jard would hit own head just to look innocent?" the man cryingly shouted. A little mumbeling of the prisoners, the caged people, started. Everyone probably would have thought that Jard was guilty of all charges. But most people here have been prisoned for too long. They lost too much of their common sense during that time, and can only think about the simplest of things. Only those that are only just placed here, like me, can still think clearly. It is as if this place is made for people to lose their 'sense'. To lose their ability to think. Not that it would matter, actually. The moment you arrive here, your destiny has been sealed. There is no possible way to leave this place... alive.
'Hey Jard!' I shouted. Both guards turned to look at me, just like Jard, who lifted his head once again to look at me as well. 'Stay tough until the very end' I mentioned, a little softer than the shout I made just a moment ago.
Jard pushed his brown shirt up, the shirt we all wear, and wiped away his tears. "You be right, Ryan! Jard be tough until ending moment!" Jard shouted at me, in a voice much louder than any of us used here ever before. With a smack Jard hit his chest and stood up straight and a nod for confirmation. The guards grinned a bit to each other until the guard, apparently named 'Robert', pushed Jard in the back and made the gesture of 'move', while the guard named Fred, already took the lead and walked towards the front door. Again the moves of the prisoned people were made. Some again fell on their knees, others tried to grab the guards, but despite of what they did, it was all in vain. The guards walked out of range of the hands.
"Ryan, is it?" was suddenly asked to me when the door closed. All light was gone again, and it was too dark to see anything at all. I could barely see my own body, not to mention someone who would talk to me. It was rare and strange that someone would talk to you when you're stuck here. Not only because people here don't care about others, but also because most people lose most of the ability to talk. No one has the intention of making friends in a place like this, because it will only be painful the moment they are departed - knowing that you won't see the other person ever again while you're alive. To know something like that is painful, and can easily drive people crazy. Unfortunately, that is what happened to most people. But that someone would speak to me all of a sudden came as a giant surprise.
"Y-Yes, what is it?" I answered, stuttering and a bit shyly. No one talked to me the moment I came here. No one that asked my name, why I was here or anything else for that matter. I tried to ask things to people, but no one answered me. Some answered in a language I didn't speak, if it was a language at all. There was one man in the entire room that looked sane the moment I arrived. I tried to talk to him, but it was clear that he couldn't speak English. The language he did spoke sounded a bit like... Italian. But because I don't speak Italian at all, I'm not sure. I've heard it from time to time, but not often enough to understand it.
"I... I can't believe what you just did. You actually talked to someone in front of the guards" the voice said to me.
'Is it something special then? He is human too... right?' I asked while trying to listen carefully, trying to figure out where the voice came from. Even though we cannot see each other, it just felt right to look at the way the sound came from. To look at the way the man was sitting who talked to me.
"Y-Yes, of course!" The man quickly answered. "But, most people here don't care about others. Did you even thought about it how Jard knew your name? No one ever asked, did they?" The man continued. But even though we cannot see each other, I felt a familiar feeling. A feeling that he was looking me straight in the face. I'm sure he was nearby, but because of the mumbeling around me - both in languages I don't speak, and languages that don't exist - it was hard to hear where the sound was actually coming from.
"N-No, I guess you're right. B-but we can't just forsaken him. I mean, he is one of us, isn't he?"
"Ryan, have you heard his crimes? Do you know what he has done?" the voice told me once again. For some reason, the voice of this man was getting more trustworthy than anything else. Somehow, I trusted the voice more than the voice of my wife, or daughter.
"No. What are they? I don't believe it is true what the guards say. They are only concerned about how to get the people in- and away from here" I said in reply to the mysterious voice.
"I'm sorry to break this to you then, Ryan. But what the guards said, is very true" the voice continued.
"I... I see..." I softly mumbled as I sat down on the cold floor. Suddenly, the stone ground I have been laying on for days, felt so cold... so emotionless... so... dead. "What is your name?" I softly asked as I closed my eyes.
"William Nguyen" the man answered, like me, softly.
A loud scream woke me up. Not just me, because I suddenly heard different voices as well. Again a scream went through the room. It was clear that the voice was Jard, and that he was back in the room. Suddenly, my eyes grew larger. The emotion I missed since I arrived in this place - happiness. I ran to the edge of the cage, shouting the name of 'Jard', only to hear another shout in return. It wasn't just normal screaming, it was crying out in pain. Jard was in pain, very much pain, too much pain for him to handle.
'William?' I asked as I looked around, knowing that I couldn't see anything, but it felt the right way to do. 'William!' I asked again, without stopping of moving around.
"Yes, yes, I am still here. What is it, Ryan?" William answered me in a tired voice. A voice that is used to things like that. A voice that was everything but surprised... perhaps surprised by me talking to him, but nothing else.
'What is going on with Jard?' I asked William. By now, I was confident in saying that William was more experienced in this place than me. He apparently knew the system, he knew how these 'jailers' (note of Fladian: I'm not sure what the right word is here. Would it be 'jailors' or 'jailers'? Dictionary.com isn't much of a help here) work. 'What is wrong with him?'
"They experimented on him... just like they do with everyone. The worse the crime is, the more painful the experiment is to handle by the body, not to mention mentally. See it as a torture, only this helps people outside this... building" William softly spoke. The way he told me was as if he experienced it as well and knew what Jard must have been feeling right now. Though it of course depends on what kind of crime William made, and how much of a difference it had with the crime of Jard. "Tell me now, Ryan. Why are you here? What have you done to get in here?"
The question surprised me a bit and left William and me in silence. Until I finally spoke: "I'm innocent. I am sure that all of us here, are actually, innocent."
Despite not seeing anything at all in the room, I could clearly see a friendly smile on a cloaked face - which must have been William. It was not a laughing smile, it was a smile that appeared without any order of the brain, just something that came out of nothing. "Innocent... of course, I should've known" William softly spoke, barely hearable because of the screaming of Jard. "All newbies call them selves innocent," William continued. "But tell me, what is the crime people told you you've done?"
"I broke out."
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Feel free to comment on it.
Anyway, I finished my story. It took me three days to create it, and I'm pretty sure you can see where I stopped writing and took a break. Regardless, I'm extremely disappointed in it, but it's better than not posting at all. Though these 'extreme circumstances' are one of the subjects I should be good at, it didn't really come out well and it doesn't really look it has much to do with the "extreme circumstances." Perhaps it would, if you'd acknowledge Jard or William as the main person. Oh well... read for yourself.
<div align="center">---</div>
<div align="center">Where light is consumed</div>
'What happened? Where am I?' were the first two things I could ask myself the moment I opened my eyes. I could see steel bars in front of me. Definitely not easily to break them since they were as thick as the double of my arm and it was clear that they went deep into the ground and ceilling. The cage I found myself in was small, with a little luck, you could push three average sized people in here. This time, I found myself alone in the cage. There was no one here with me, just me.
Suddenly, a blinding light seared through the small room, showing me that there are more people in this room, but in different cages. The room was large and the walls were black. At least twenty cages were around us, all filled with people, the one looking more desperate than the other. There were no windows, no lights only a door that was opened and two people walked in. Their clothes, or armor, reflected the sunlight. Sunlight came through the door opening into the large room. Other people in cages shared the same feeling as me, being pained by the sunlight that suddenly streamed in. Our eyes had too much trouble to adjust to the sudden light, so most people decided to close it. I managed to keep one open, to see what is going on. I could see a lot of people crawling to the edge of the cage, some pushing their hands between the bar and asking for forgiveness, other people kneeled down inside the cage, but there were also people who sweared at the two men who walked by and tried to hit them, but it was all in vain. There was too much of a distance between the cage and the two men.
"You're coming with me!" I heard someone shout to a man in a cage. The man in the cage didn't speak a word, only tears streamed down his face. He made no attempt to escape either, he willingly let himself get out of the cage and the people who pulled him out, who looked like guards after seeing their armor shine in the sunlight, looked quite satisfied that the man didn't make any attempt. The cage of the man was not too far away from me. There was only one cage that blocked my sight, but luckily, the man inside the cage to my left was kneeling on the ground so I could watch over him and have a very good view over the two guards and the man they were speaking to. "Good job, Jard, as long as you cooperate, you won't be harmed... yet" one of the guards grinningly told the crying man, clearly named 'Jard.' Jard had his eyes open and cried in front of the guards while he slowly pushed his body upwards. He probably doesn't even know that he was crying in front of the two guards. The guards didn't really seem to mind it either, they were probably used to something like this.
"What is his crime, Fred?" the other guard asked as he closed the cage behind the man named Jard after pulling him out. The moment the cage was closed, the guard immediately grabbed a small note book from his pocket and started to write something. He probably wrote down the name of the caged man, or prisoner to them, and most likely his crime.
"This sick *beep* murderd his own wife! Can you believe something like that, Robert?" the other guard shouted while looking disgusted towards Jard.
"Jard haven't do anything like that! Honustly!" Jard shouted in return while the tears dropped from his chin on the floor. "Honustly!" Jard shouted again, clearly trying to prove he is innocent. "You people think that Jard would hit own head just to look innocent?" the man cryingly shouted. A little mumbeling of the prisoners, the caged people, started. Everyone probably would have thought that Jard was guilty of all charges. But most people here have been prisoned for too long. They lost too much of their common sense during that time, and can only think about the simplest of things. Only those that are only just placed here, like me, can still think clearly. It is as if this place is made for people to lose their 'sense'. To lose their ability to think. Not that it would matter, actually. The moment you arrive here, your destiny has been sealed. There is no possible way to leave this place... alive.
'Hey Jard!' I shouted. Both guards turned to look at me, just like Jard, who lifted his head once again to look at me as well. 'Stay tough until the very end' I mentioned, a little softer than the shout I made just a moment ago.
Jard pushed his brown shirt up, the shirt we all wear, and wiped away his tears. "You be right, Ryan! Jard be tough until ending moment!" Jard shouted at me, in a voice much louder than any of us used here ever before. With a smack Jard hit his chest and stood up straight and a nod for confirmation. The guards grinned a bit to each other until the guard, apparently named 'Robert', pushed Jard in the back and made the gesture of 'move', while the guard named Fred, already took the lead and walked towards the front door. Again the moves of the prisoned people were made. Some again fell on their knees, others tried to grab the guards, but despite of what they did, it was all in vain. The guards walked out of range of the hands.
"Ryan, is it?" was suddenly asked to me when the door closed. All light was gone again, and it was too dark to see anything at all. I could barely see my own body, not to mention someone who would talk to me. It was rare and strange that someone would talk to you when you're stuck here. Not only because people here don't care about others, but also because most people lose most of the ability to talk. No one has the intention of making friends in a place like this, because it will only be painful the moment they are departed - knowing that you won't see the other person ever again while you're alive. To know something like that is painful, and can easily drive people crazy. Unfortunately, that is what happened to most people. But that someone would speak to me all of a sudden came as a giant surprise.
"Y-Yes, what is it?" I answered, stuttering and a bit shyly. No one talked to me the moment I came here. No one that asked my name, why I was here or anything else for that matter. I tried to ask things to people, but no one answered me. Some answered in a language I didn't speak, if it was a language at all. There was one man in the entire room that looked sane the moment I arrived. I tried to talk to him, but it was clear that he couldn't speak English. The language he did spoke sounded a bit like... Italian. But because I don't speak Italian at all, I'm not sure. I've heard it from time to time, but not often enough to understand it.
"I... I can't believe what you just did. You actually talked to someone in front of the guards" the voice said to me.
'Is it something special then? He is human too... right?' I asked while trying to listen carefully, trying to figure out where the voice came from. Even though we cannot see each other, it just felt right to look at the way the sound came from. To look at the way the man was sitting who talked to me.
"Y-Yes, of course!" The man quickly answered. "But, most people here don't care about others. Did you even thought about it how Jard knew your name? No one ever asked, did they?" The man continued. But even though we cannot see each other, I felt a familiar feeling. A feeling that he was looking me straight in the face. I'm sure he was nearby, but because of the mumbeling around me - both in languages I don't speak, and languages that don't exist - it was hard to hear where the sound was actually coming from.
"N-No, I guess you're right. B-but we can't just forsaken him. I mean, he is one of us, isn't he?"
"Ryan, have you heard his crimes? Do you know what he has done?" the voice told me once again. For some reason, the voice of this man was getting more trustworthy than anything else. Somehow, I trusted the voice more than the voice of my wife, or daughter.
"No. What are they? I don't believe it is true what the guards say. They are only concerned about how to get the people in- and away from here" I said in reply to the mysterious voice.
"I'm sorry to break this to you then, Ryan. But what the guards said, is very true" the voice continued.
"I... I see..." I softly mumbled as I sat down on the cold floor. Suddenly, the stone ground I have been laying on for days, felt so cold... so emotionless... so... dead. "What is your name?" I softly asked as I closed my eyes.
"William Nguyen" the man answered, like me, softly.
A loud scream woke me up. Not just me, because I suddenly heard different voices as well. Again a scream went through the room. It was clear that the voice was Jard, and that he was back in the room. Suddenly, my eyes grew larger. The emotion I missed since I arrived in this place - happiness. I ran to the edge of the cage, shouting the name of 'Jard', only to hear another shout in return. It wasn't just normal screaming, it was crying out in pain. Jard was in pain, very much pain, too much pain for him to handle.
'William?' I asked as I looked around, knowing that I couldn't see anything, but it felt the right way to do. 'William!' I asked again, without stopping of moving around.
"Yes, yes, I am still here. What is it, Ryan?" William answered me in a tired voice. A voice that is used to things like that. A voice that was everything but surprised... perhaps surprised by me talking to him, but nothing else.
'What is going on with Jard?' I asked William. By now, I was confident in saying that William was more experienced in this place than me. He apparently knew the system, he knew how these 'jailers' (note of Fladian: I'm not sure what the right word is here. Would it be 'jailors' or 'jailers'? Dictionary.com isn't much of a help here) work. 'What is wrong with him?'
"They experimented on him... just like they do with everyone. The worse the crime is, the more painful the experiment is to handle by the body, not to mention mentally. See it as a torture, only this helps people outside this... building" William softly spoke. The way he told me was as if he experienced it as well and knew what Jard must have been feeling right now. Though it of course depends on what kind of crime William made, and how much of a difference it had with the crime of Jard. "Tell me now, Ryan. Why are you here? What have you done to get in here?"
The question surprised me a bit and left William and me in silence. Until I finally spoke: "I'm innocent. I am sure that all of us here, are actually, innocent."
Despite not seeing anything at all in the room, I could clearly see a friendly smile on a cloaked face - which must have been William. It was not a laughing smile, it was a smile that appeared without any order of the brain, just something that came out of nothing. "Innocent... of course, I should've known" William softly spoke, barely hearable because of the screaming of Jard. "All newbies call them selves innocent," William continued. "But tell me, what is the crime people told you you've done?"
"I broke out."
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Feel free to comment on it.
