What Memory Remains

Chapter 12

The two guards rushed down the corridors of the facility, weapons at the ready for whatever awaited them. They weren’t exactly sure what was going on, all they knew was that they were told cell 124B was empty and left open, and that the guards around there hadn’t checked in. As they approached the area, they could feel a heaviness in the air. The strange silence of the night only added to the eeriness. Other inhabitants stood at their doors to peer out at the guards as they passed, to which they were waved away by the guards.

One of the first things they saw was that the cell was that the door was standing wide open. Wedge, the more experienced officer, cautiously peered in to confirm it was still empty with his weapon drawn. No one was inside, so he radioed in his findings as he investigated further.

“Wedge to base, copy?”

“This is base.”

 “Inmate of Cell 124B is confirmed empty. There’s…blood all over the walls…we may need some backup. Be on standby.”

“Base to Wedge, we copy.”

Then…further down the hall, the younger officer noticed a barely visible silhouette , illuminated by the lights behind him.

“Stay behind while I check this out.”

“Al…alright,” the younger officer stated with a nervous glint in his eyes.

“Get ahold of yourself. You’re a soldier, “ he snapped.

“But it’s…it’s got to be Him!” The subordinate answered, to which the superior shook his head and advanced on the shadow.

“Identity yourself!” Wedge called with his gun aimed. No response.

The officer repeated his command two more times, but to no avail.

As he got closer, he was able to block out the glare of the light enough to see it was one of the officers that patrolled this area. His throat had been cut and he was propped by a set of two swords lodged into his back.

“What the….”

He stepped back, now scanning all around him in paranoia. There was still an eerie silence in the hall, enough that the drip of a faucet sent him in a panic. After seeing that his immediate area was secure, he checked in the information with base and quickly ran back to meet his younger partner.

“Who was it?” The younger officer questioned, still fixated on the wall’s blood spatters

“Renolds…..he’s dead.”

“Oh….I guess that explains this,” the younger mentioned shakily.

“What?”

“I couldn’t tell at first, but it’s not just spatters of blood…it’s writing.” He pointed to various sections where the phrase began and ended, and after a second Wedge could see it. Over and over again the words “your end is nigh.” Just as they inspected this fact further, a faint sound of footsteps ran by, followed by a girls’ giggle.

“Show yourself!” Wedge called, now on the verge of completely freaking out. The sound repeated, this time a little further away.

“I’m not sure which way it went.”

“Please don’t tell me that means we have to…”

“Yes, just do it. Keep it together,” The younger scowled at the last remark, seeing the fear in his eyes as well. After a moment of searching, the younger officer decided to check in with his partner since he didn’t have his own radio to inform him. Just as he was about to move, he heard the footsteps of his partner coming towards him from behind.