The Trial

Chapter 13 - Edited

For some unknown reason, my captors won't allow the mist to come. I've been forced to watch through the eyes of my younger self for countless days or weeks; remaining trapped within this perfect prison. There should be some madness setting in from my silent cell, but my mind's as sharp as it was on the day I died.

I've tried everything I can think of from begging to cursing, but they refuse to show themselves. There's no more control over my body now as when I was first sentenced to revisit my past, and won't deny the anger that's building within me. If they ever show themselves, I'll find some way to take my growing rage out on them.

More horrors have been burned into my mind, but none as bad as the first. I've been lucky to not get caught and have managed to mostly keep my head down. There's a daily rhythm I've built and it helps to focus on something other than the suffering outside. The most important part's cleaning my office a little more each day as it gives me a sense of fighting back in my own little way.

My computer no longer has the grime that had built up over countless years and the keyboard no longer leaves me wanting to burn my fingers off after touching it. The messages come and go with very little removed in the process. It's never enough to get caught, but always something that can be used in the future.

I study her writing a little more each day, and managed to steal some of her pens without notice. She's oblivious to such things, and all that matters to her is I play along with the sick jokes. There was nothing pleasant about guard twelve when we first met and have grown a greater hatred for her with every passing day.

The only number I can safely change is a three to an eight, but have to wait for the right number to be given. I could never get away with freeing some of them if the number is too low and must wait for the right opportunity. It's going to happen at some point and I'll be ready when it does.

State driver forty-seven's proving far more difficult, since his chicken scratch is impossible to alter. I must include an accurate number for the dead, but it's just a matter of time until I think of something to solve the problem. I've grown weary of watching him work out every day and wish his hateful eyes would stop glancing at me. He hates me more than anyone ever has and made it clear just how much he wants to kill me; I've given him no cause and he's never said where the hatred came from.

From my office, I can hardly smell what lays beyond the gray walls, but it's there, and I'll be burning everything when I finally leave this nightmare. I've watched and know no one else comes into this area. There's no way to know where the other guards spend their time when not on the wall, but it doesn't matter. They don't come in here and that's all I care about, since one cruel guard is more than enough.

I hear the ringing as she answers and lifts up the paper. My feet carry me over to her under his hateful gaze, and he's tempted to break every bone in my body. I've no idea what's kept him at bay this long, but it can't last forever.