I awoke to the reassuring thump of raindrops pelting the window of the carriage that steadily clicked down the uneven dirt road. My head ached severely, and when I attempted to move my hand to the source of my torment, I became cognizant of the fact that my hands were restrained behind my back. In vain I struggled to free myself from the binding before I began to survey my surroundings. I was alone, surrounded by three vacant seats each with their own sets of fetters and I noticed a sizable puddle of some dark fluid in the corner across from where I sat. I glanced out the window and saw the magnificent full moon and the reflection of the vehicle on a small lake with sparse trees lumbering over the shoreline. This scene consoled me, and I forgot my current situation while I admired the area.
When the carriage came to an abrupt halt, the slow, deliberate footsteps that approached the door set me on edge. The door flew open and apart from a large hat and a golden star-like badge, I couldn’t make out much of the stranger. I spewed out such inquiries as “What do you want with me?” and “Why am I here?”. Apparently, my captor didn’t speak English or was deaf, because I received no reply other than being yanked roughly out of my seat after he fumbled with the chains for a few seconds. I resisted his movement, desiring answers to my questions, but I was pulled further and further, and I was led into a dilapidated old building where my escort so kindly threw me onto the dirt floor. An iron gate slammed with a resounding explosion, and I crawled my way back into a corner and attempted to rest and ponder my situation.
I was awakened by the quiet rustling of plants on the outside of the wall with the barred window, or so I thought. I stood up and stretched and peered out from my cell and caught a glimpse of a fleeting, hunched over figure who looked back at me with a face as white as snow. Something rattled along the bars of the gate, and when I went to investigate the sound, now becoming frightened, a cool sensation brushed over my shoulder and sent shivers down my spine. I spun around and cried out as a mouse scurried across the floor and worked its way through the wall, back to the freedom of the outside world. I looked back out the window to calm myself, and that pale white face of death of the hunchback thing was staring right at the window. I can’t be certain, but I think I saw it grinning back at me in the pale light before morning arrived. I sank back into my corner and shut my eyes tight.
Morning didn’t offer any reprieve from this nightmare though. I opened my eyelids and a gaunt, long-haired man stood over my body. He began laughing maniacally when I opened my eyes, and I pushed him away when I stood up, thinking him to be nothing more than a madman. Now that the sun was up, I could see around the cell, and I noticed a man sitting in an uneven, rickety wooden chair at a desk, analyzing some papers. “Hey!” I shouted, “Can I talk to somebody? Why am I here?” I followed, as the deranged man chuckled behind me. The man at the desk looked up, visibly upset, and there was a gash on his left cheek that hadn’t quite healed yet.
“I don’t know really, other than you killed your mother and sister… oh, and you sliced my face when I tried to get you in the carriage.” He replied.
“My mother dead? Surely you don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t remember any of this!” I answered wildly. To be honest, this was the first time that I had seriously thought about my family and not just the puzzling circumstances of my incarceration. I stared at the dusty ground, watering it with my tears while gruesome images of my mother and sister filled my head. Their corpses were hardly recognizable … could I really have done this? Impossible! I got up and paced about the small cell, the late afternoon sun combating the darkness all about the room. I heard frenzied clawing on the outside wall, and suddenly all was dark. The other inmate in my cell suddenly stopped his rambling, which was curious. As I walked over to where he lay, a loud bang echoed in the cell as the gate suddenly flew open. I looked back at the man, confused, only to see blood freely flowing from around his head. His laughs were now spaced further apart, and before he died he opened his eyes and said some jumbled nonsense, followed by “you can’t escape”.
I ran faster than I have ever run before. I knew that I wasn’t responsible for the man’s death, but the police wouldn’t believe me, and frankly, the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t believe it myself. When I reached the lake that I marveled at on the way to the jail, the still water held me motionless, and I couldn’t look away. I was so focused on the beautiful scenery that I almost overlooked the man, nay the thing on the surface of the water. I was deathly afraid when there was only a pale face, with red eyes, burning like the strongest flames in Satan’s domain. I passed out from the shock of seeing this creature where my image should’ve been.
I awoke, yet again with my arms bound behind my back. I looked up, and there was a crowd in front of me, jeering and throwing projectiles. The police officer stood near me on the scaffold and began to enumerate my supposed crimes. He neglected however, to ask if I was guilty, and I could probably guess why. He had a large tear in the front of his uniform to match the developing scar on his face. I gave a resigned sigh and didn’t bother to argue with the man, and just waited for him to drag me back to my cell. To my immense surprise, he lowered a rope and tied a noose about my neck. I accepted my fate, and looked out to the horizon. The sun penetrated the overcast clouds, as if God was offering his sympathy for my plight. The executioner made his way up the scaffold with his black hood on, and he stared intently at me. I looked at him, and the last image that I recall was two red eyes peering at me through his headwear. I gasped, the clouds closed, and all was silent for just a moment.