Scarlet Crypt

The Hundredth

Two days later, I was dragged along by my group of guards- I learned their names were Elvie, War, and Fritz. Elvie was a bit younger than the others, and he had coffee-brown skin. Of the three, he also looked the most innocent with his deer-like eyes. War was a baby-faced guy who had hair so dark, it was blue. Fritz was a narrow-bodied guy, and had carrot-orange hair.  It was War who held the control device the day before yesterday.  They escorted me from the mansion and train, to the dome. We traveled for six hours by train. Surprisingly, they served me regular food. I was thinking that they would give me nothing, since I was an “outlaw” and all. I spent the whole trip sleeping soundly on the booth, the guards taking turns on watching me. There were some times before drifting off to the comfort of unconsciousness, I would think about how the punishment would be. Breaking of fingers? Long, endless weeks of torture? Endless doses of toxins and who-knows-what? It was noon when we set out to our journey, and we arrived there by dusk.

I’ve just opened my eyes to the orange sky that was quickly turning to gray when I heard Fritz and Elvie murmur to themselves that we were almost there. I sat up and stared at the window. I wondered how the people I cared about were doing right now. My mother, Cyrielle and Cristof, Cosette, Garrick and all the others, even Father. Is my family alright? Do they know about this? Is Cyrielle doing good in school? Is Cristof still the aloof boy I left at home? Is Cosette okay? Speaking of Cosette, I absolutely missed her. Her air of authority and her sense of pride. The way she could make you laugh by her high self-esteem and her rare jokes. I prayed that her punishment isn’t as severe as mine.

We arrived at the huge dome port. It was three times as large as the Judgment Hall’s. As we stepped out of it, I had my first look at the dome. It was probably fifty times as big as the mansion. On the outside, it looked like a gigantic white building. It was said that long ago, this was the fortress of the ancient people. Now it’s simply used for different agendas. Such as large market sales. Or mass torture.

We passed, not through the great front doors, but through a side door. As we stepped inside, I saw that the whole place was all metal and steel- metallic pipes on the ceiling and steel walls all around. It reminded me of the ironwork of Cosette’s team when they arrived to test us. We went through a few corridors and passageways, Fritz reading off a map, until we arrived on a giant foyer full of antechambers. In the middle was a large open space which gave view to more chambers below and above, all around. Each antechamber was occupied by a person. When they heard us coming they started shouting maniacally and madly.  My guard group steered me towards one. The cells look different here. They’re mostly blocked by an iron door, and the only opening is through a screened window. Once they’ve figured out how to open it, then ushered me inside and closed the door. I sat at the cot and tried to start formulating escape plans, but failed. I was taken by surprise when Elvie returned.

            “We’re leaving you here now. So don’t do anything stupid, if you want to live for a couple more days.” He said from the other side of the door. “Goodbye, now.”

Somehow, this simple gesture softened my mood. I was about to reply when Fritz called out, “Elv! Let’s go!” Elvie gave me a once-over look, nodded at me, and left. I was left with the soft whispers of the other levies outside and the metallic clang of hurried footstep ringing over the place.

There was a time that night when I heard someone calling out, “Hey, you! New guy ovahr there!” I groggily went up to the door and peeked out the small opening. I spotted a girl waving her hands over her inside another chamber. She kind of reminded me of some sort of barbaric princess with her olive skin and her shadowed features. He tangled hair stick out a little at all sides, like she never had time to comb it for a while.

            “What do you want?” I didn’t care about common courtesy or anything alike, for that matter. All I wanted was to find myself a few hours to forget about this whole thing and situation.

            “Where yah from, Junior?”

            “None of your business.” I answered with nonchalance.

            “Aye, but ‘tis. You better get in touch with your competition if yah want to live for as long as possible. Call me Gladys.”

To live? Competition? What the hell was she talking about? “You mean to say we’re not gathered her to face the wrath of the government? Together?”

She laughed a little, then continued. “Oh, yes, we’re sure ‘re going tah face the wrath of thegovernment.” She said the word with unhidden disgust. “But no torture from them. It’s more on we torture each other. Yah know, we fight ‘til we finish off our numbers. Good way to save time for them.”

            “So we fight each other? Great.” The bombshells just keep getting better and better, I see.

            “Haven’t yah heard of the Scarlet Fields. They’re named scarlet for something, yah know.” I imagined her rolling her eyes, since her tone betrayed a hint of it.

Scarlet. Blood. Death and gore. So it’s not torture, then. From them, at least. It’s…some kind of gladiatorial fighting. Outlasting each opponent for another day. Staying alive for a meager worth of time. Wow, this is the worst I’ve heard of yet. And luckily for me, I’m comprised of this position. Great.

            “So you’re the hundredth?” Gladys asked me, scattering all my thoughts and reverie from my mind.

            “Yeah, well, that’s what I’ve heard at least.”

She started giggling and making high-pitched wails. “The hundredth! The hundredth is here! I’m finally getting out of here… The scarlet Fields shall kick off!” She rhymed and sang on. I was finally convinced that she was a mad woman. The others started stirring in their rooms from the noise Gladys was making. Before I went to bed I heard a deep, “Shut up!” from someone. Gladys did so. I silently said thank you to the small blessing and finally went to sleep again.