Appleberry's Secrets

Chapter 1: The Shadows of Darkness

The Shadows of Darkness

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arrator: The Road leading up to Ordallen Correctional Faculties was dark and foggy. The messenger felt weary as he carried an important judgment up the steep hill towards Ordallen, or 'DIE LAND;' as the inmates called it. For fifteen and a half years, former Detective Clexpo M. Appleberry had been imprisoned in a small chamber while awaiting the final judgment. During his fifteen years of imprisonment, Appleberry had experienced some of the most brutal tortures known to man. Daily he was shackled, bound, and blindfolded, then tortured with KiZeffnites and The Rage Raiser.

Appleberry's survival was proof of the powerful Zefforic blood that ran through his veins. Others believed it was just the rage of being an innocent zeffer, unfairly exposed to the cruelest tortures in all the regions for only doing his swore duty.

The verdict was in, and the messenger had reached the gate. The tired messenger entered the building of Ordallen. He turned toward the directory on the wall and located office 137 of Warden L. Jacobs. The messenger sighed with relief, 'finally at the end of a long journey', he thought as he entered the Wardens office.

Messenger: Pardon me, sir. I have the judgment for the inmate Appleberry.

Warden Jacobs: "Let me have them, quickly."

He looked over the documents, squinting now and again.

"You've got to be shitting me! They set him free! Guards, go and get Appleberry. He's been granted freedom."

Appleberry:

Damn, it was around 12:30 p.m. I could barely see the edge of the clock as I peeked through the tiny holes of my cell. I've been caged up for some time now. I'm not sure how long exactly, but it has to be at least nine or ten years. During that time my rage has strengthened, so much so that I can no long control it. My powers now know no limits. All this time only one thought had raced through my head, the massacre.

Voice: [Open 601]

(Appleberry began talking to himself and was interrupted by a familiar voice.)

Appleberry: Finally, they've come to uncaged me. Instantly I'm blinded by a bright light. I couldn't tell where it coming from. All I could hear was the chattering coming from behind it. But I could see no one. I raised my arms trying to shield my eyes from the rays. They are saying that I've snapped. I viciously murdered all of them. That I'm a cold-hearted killer with no morale, no conscience, that I should've never been trusted. Then I hear a familiar voice behind the bright lights.

Detective Gable: "Yeah, He was once a great cop, but you can't hide from what runs in your bloodline. If it's a killer, then it's a killer. If it's a saint then, well he isn't a fucking saint." [Detective Gable throws down his cigar and walks out the door.].

Appleberry: I could almost hear his conversation just as he closed the door, something about my past and what was untold. But I couldn't quite make it out. I couldn't focus due to the blinding lights and lies that I was hearing. The only thing that I could think about was the possibilities of who could be behind it and what I'm going to do once I get my hands on them. First, they murder twelve innocent cops. One of them had being my life-long partner, Janelle. She was beautiful and sweet. She didn't deserve to die in the way she did. Then they framed me and set it up so I'd take the fall. Now this, now they take my life, my badge, my strips, and my guns. Well they couldn't take my Rolly. Rolly wasn't government issued. The Rolly was my weapon of choice handed down to me by my grandfather. No pension, hmm. Bastards even took the nameplates off my desk. I was kicked from the force after fifteen years of dedicated services, excellent merits, and honors.

'Thanks for the services, don't forget to close the door and sign out before you leave.' That's what they told me. Oh, I almost forgot. They'll try to keep me in the loop about the investigation. But for now, I'm suspended without pay and my leagent bracelet gets revoked, making me a free man. Hmm, being free in this world isn't always a good thing, especially with the Begore lurking. That beast kills without hesitation. Then weeks later I'm charged with the murders of my fellow comrades. They say I was a dirty cop cleaning up loose ends that could cause me my career. Now they're going to let me leave this prison as a free man. I vow to find out the truth behind all of this.

As I walked through the prison gates, the freshness of the air choked me down to my knees. My body had built up such a high a tolerance for the sour smells of the prisons bio-waste that seemed to fill my cell for years, that the fresh air smelled, making me feel sick. I mustered up enough strength to get back up.

I took the local transit back to my home. Everyone on the transit look different, their clothes, the way they talked, even the devices they were carrying were new. I looked around, nothing seemed familiar, not even the streets.

Transit driver: "Cedar Wood, next stop."

AB: "Home sweet home at last." I ran my hand through my jet-black tuft of hair and licked at my razor-sharp fangs as I waited for the transit to stop.

Narrator: After going home and getting cleaned up, Appleberry tried to get some rest but he couldn't. Something was troubling him. The images of the dead cops flitted in and out of his thoughts, the prison chatter echoed his every thought. [AB jumped up abruptly].

AB: Grr-rr- still I wonder who's behind this massacre and why they felt the need to frame me for it. They told and knew everything, even things I didn't know. They knew secrets, deep secrets. Now the only thing that's important is where do I start looking to find answers? Who would know something? (AB starts getting angry) Grr, Grr, Grr, UH, Clife, Clifre would know. He always knows something. But, how can I trust Clifre. He's a snitch and a rat. That motherfucker is liable to snitch me out to the very person he just ratted out to me. (AB starts pondering to himself about Clifre.) What a piece of work this motherfucker is. I might have to ruff him up a lil bit.) Well, off to Snitchville, time to visit Clifre. (AB looks around once he gets to the cruiser) Where's Rolly?

Narrator: ABmakes his way back into the house from the cruiser storage. He walks throughthe house, room to room, and found The Rolly still lying on its comfortablepillow. AB wakes The Rolly And heads back to the cruiser.