Red Rock

Chapter 7: A Piece of Mind for Peace of Mind (Part 1)

Chapter 7 A Piece of Mind for Peace of Mind (Part 1)

Timothy's bedroom door slid open making a pressure release sound similar to opening a new bottle of soda. A set of bare feet protruded from the bedroom doorway and slicked their way down the hall.

Timothy's face was red and purple with bruises and blood clots from the beating he took earlier that day. His nose was slightly fractured giving a comical balloon like sight, and his forehead looked as if there was a hidden tennis ball beneath the skin from a hematoma.

The blade in his hand was made from a long shard of glass taken from his shattered bedroom mirror. It was wrapped with a piece of cloth around the base so he wouldn't cut himself. In his other hand he held a rectangle identification card with the name 'Neil Lapse' pasted on its front. Timothy stopped at the beginning of the dark hallway and turned to the entrance of Neil's door. He carefully scanned the identification card next to the bedroom and browsed through the options. 'Lock All Doors,' he pressed with his left pointer finger confirming his action. 'Password' the Screen responded showing a blank eight digit sum and a number bank below. Timothy drew Neil's identification card to a tangible distance from his face and turned it around. '61211220' it read in small numbers written in messy black ink.

All of the doors in the hallway made a conjoined 'click' followed by a loud obnoxious alarm. The alarm sounded in loud five second intervals flashing red lights around the room. Timothy took a step back and waited, feeling the flashes of red reveal him from darkness. Barely seconds passed before Neil opened his window cover and peered into the hallway. "What going on?" he yelled, frantically trying to open his door.

"It's locked!" Timothy yelled back, trying to be as visible as possible.

"Timothy? What are you doing?!" Neil replied in shock.

Timothy held Neil's identification card to the bedroom window and smiled. "Whatever I want to do, Neil."

"Jesus Christ!" Neil panicked turning bug eyed. "Listen Timothy, you need to open this door right now!"

"I don't have to do anything. You're not the boss of me!"

"You're right Timothy. You don't have to do anything I say. Just let me out of here and we can talk about today."

Timothy shifted his focus to the screen beside Neil's door, and pressed 'Immediate Departure'. The alarm responded with louder and more frequent intervals of blasting, matching the intensity of the situation.

"No, Timothy! What are you doing! No!" Neil screamed bashing every limb against the air-sealed door, desperate to escape his room. "Don't do this!"

"Beg me!" Timothy responded with an open mouth smile.

Neil stopped banging and looked Timothy in the eyes. "Please Timothy! Please!" Neil cried, feeling a waterfall of tears roll down his cheeks. "Don't do this to me! Please no! Please don't do this! Please let me out! Timothy, please! I'm sorry!"

Timothy was breathing heavily, feeling strokes of power fill his veins and loving every second of Neil's whimpers. He felt like a God, deciding the fate of an inferior being with the stroke of a finger, and it made him laugh. "Bye Neil!" Timothy smiled waving his hand at the window.

"What! No! NO! DON'T! NO!"

Timothy pressed the screen to confirm his action and watched as Neil's room launched off the spacecraft turning into an escape capsule. Timothy gave a sadistic smile and glared out the window, watching Neil's face slowly fade into the darkness of space.