The Pleasures of an Eternal Nightmare

Chapter 16

Kent stumbled backwards and started giggling. The crowd surrounding him and another inmate were exchanging glances at each other as the fight took an interesting twist. The bigger inmate had bloodied fists and was breathing heavily while Kent was bleeding from his nose and mouth but he was giggling with glee.

"Wh-what the Hell is wrong with you," the inmate asked. "Why are you laughing!?"

Kent swayed left and right as he approached the inmate and grabbed onto his shoulders for support as he looked up at him. "It's funny," Kent said as he laughed. "It doesn't hurt anymore! So keep it coming! I can do this all day!"

The inmate shoved Kent away and landed a quick jab. Kent laughed as he fell to the floor and struggled to get up. Once he was up though, his laugh was still strong, striking fear in the other inmates. The bigger inmate looked uncomfortable.

"Try laughing at this!" The inmate grabbed Kent by the throat and lifted him off the ground. The prisoner then proceeded to punch Kent in the face repeatedly with blows that echoed through the cafeteria. The other inmates cringed and started to back up. After twenty blows, the bigger inmate threw Kent to the ground and panted. "Is that still funny?"

Kent was silent for a moment, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Then they heard it. The soft giggling. Kent slowly sat up and still continued to laugh, but there was something different about this laugh. This laugh was filled with sorrow. Tears rolled down Kent's face as he laughed.

"I can't suffer," Kent said as he stood up. "Suffering isn't possible for me anymore." He spread his arms out and looked around at everyone. "I can't suffer! All that's left is death! Anyone volunteer? I'll gladly die right now!"

A punch hit the back of his head and he dropped to the floor, unconscious. Caroline looked around at everyone with blood on her face. "What the Hell was going on?"

The bigger inmate stepped forward. "This lunatic bumped into me so I started beating him, but every time I hit him, he just laughed it off, saying it didn't hurt... It was really fucked up."

Caroline nodded as she picked up the limp boy and slung him over her shoulder. "He's my responsibility. I suggest you keep away from him or you'll have to deal with me." The inmates nodded and hurried away. Caroline started her walk to Kent's cell and let out a sigh. "You're not going to last long like this, kid. I can't protect you forever."

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Marker opened his eyes and saw the hospital room he was in. He tried to scratch an itch on his head but his arm wouldn't move. He tried to stand but his legs wouldn't move. He sighed, realizing his state. Paralyzed.

"How are you doing?" Marker turned his head to see Kaleb sitting in the chair beside him. Kaleb was wearing denim jeans and had bandages wrapped around his waist, stained with small blood spots. "Do you know why you're like this?"

"Did he shoot me?" Marker asked.

"No, Officer Cross did. Now you're paralyzed."

Marker nodded. "I decided I don't want to chase after him anyways."

Kaleb frowned. "What?"

"I said I'm done." Marker looked out the window and sighed. "I'm done trying to get this guy."

"What made you change your mind!? After all these years, what could've possibly made you change your mind!?"

"A friend begged me to stop, telling me that they didn't like watching me suffer."

"Friend? I'm your only friend! You distanced yourself from everyone else! Who could've possibly told you to quit!?"

Marker turned back to Kaleb with tears in his eyes. "She did, Kaleb... Juliet... she did..."

Kaleb looked down at Marker in shock. Tears and the mention of Juliet. Kaleb grit his teeth and stood up. "You might give up, but I won't. I'll kill this guy if it's the last thing I do."

With that, Kaleb left the room, leaving Marker to think about what Juliet had told him.

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Julie saw Caroline standing outside of Kent's cell and decided to approach her. When she saw the blood on Caroline's face, fear filled her. "What did you do?"

"I got into a fight with some chick," Caroline said. "I won. Other than that, Kent got into a fight with an inmate and scared him and everyone else half to death."

"K.C. scared them?"

"Yeah." Caroline leaned against the wall and folded her arms. "The other guy was beating him pretty good but Kent kept laughing it off, saying that it didn't hurt and that he couldn't suffer. When the fight was over, he was begging to die."

"Jesus Christ," Julie said under her breath. "Well, how is he doing now?"

Caroline shrugged. "I knocked him out about half an hour ago. He still hasn't woken up yet."

Julie looked into the cell. "He's gone."

"That's what I said. Out like a light."

"No," Julie said as she turned back to Caroline. "He's literally gone. He isn't in his cell!"

"What!?"

Julie pulled up her radio. "All units, Kent has escaped the facility, locate and detain immediately! Lock down the area, repeat. Lock down!"

Guards started rushing in and started forcing the prisoners into their cells, three of them tackled Caroline and cuffed her before carrying her to her cell. Julie drew her pistol and started running to the exit, knowing that something wasn't right. How could a kid who said he liked it here escape?

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Kaleb drove cautiously as he rounded the corner and shut down the car. He ducked under the steering wheel as four police cars drove past. He let out a sigh and turned on the engine and continued driving.

"Where are you taking me?" Kent asked. "I liked back in there."

"You still serve a purpose, K.C.," Kaleb said. "I need you to catch the guy responsible for killing Terry."

Kent laughed. "Terry? Kaleb, I don't care about that. If anything, I would like you to kill me."

Kaleb sighed. "I know that's not what you really think, K.C.. Just stay with me a little longer."

Kent moaned. "Fine."

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Caroline broke the cuffs holding her hands together and rushed to the door of her cell. She looked around and saw only one guard at her cell. Caroline took a few steps back before rushing forward and breaking the door down. The guard grabbed her throat and threw her to the ground, holding her there with her gloved hand around Caroline's throat.

"Don't try anything stupid," the guard said. "I could take you down any day of the week."

Caroline let out a battle cry and kicked the guard in the chest. Once the guard stumbled back, Caroline jumped to her feet and stole the handgun before knocking the guard to the ground. "Nothing personal," Caroline said. "I just need to help Julie before she does something stupid."

Caroline ran off and jumped out the nearest window before running to the parking lot to steal the nearest vehicle.