They can't find me, they can't find me, they can't find me... I made such a good plan, they'll never find me." He released his sinister laughter into the suffocating space. He tried to silence the storms raging inside him. A voice in the corner of his mind kept whispering, "This time you'll get caught, guard! Those kids will get their revenge on you."
He shouted back at the voice in his mind. "Shut up! That secret is lost forever."
"You think so, guard, but this time it's different, this kid is strong, not like the others who were orphans. The whole city is up, looking for him, you’ve reached the end of the road."
"No, no, no! They can't find me, they won't find me, they mustn't find me. I can't go into that cage."
He clasped his hands around his head and knelt down. It was dark; the ticking sounds were from the rats. The voice in his head was louder than the rats.
"Why guard, why don’t you just give up? You don’t have to enter that cage. You can still escape, you still have a chance."
"Are you an angel of mercy? What do you care, what do you care, what do you care, huh!"
He was no longer speaking inside; he was screaming at the top of his lungs. He pulled at his hair with his hands. Strands of hair fell between his fingers onto the concrete floor. His eyes were fiery, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Nobody should try to be good to me!"
He straightened his bent knees and kicked his feet against the wall opposite. His anger was beyond control. He started growling like a mad dog. Foam splattered around as he screamed. Unable to contain his rage, he kicked the wall one last time and stood up. The voice in his head had fallen silent.
He laughed; his face in the dim light was no different from those who had escaped the grave. "I know what to do, I always know. I’ve always succeeded, I will succeed again. Who are you, huh, who are you, stupid voice? Trying to trick me into thinking you’re giving me advice, planning to trap me in that hole. But I’m too smart, too smart to believe your words, too smart to be deceived."
His laughter echoed in the cramped space, reaching his ominous ears again. The last angel of goodness lurking in the depths of his troubled mind also disappeared.
It dispersed, vanished, was gone...
~~~~~
Her mind slowly peeled away from the darkness. She tried to open her eyes but the darkness clung to her eyelids. Was it night? "Mom!" she tried to say, opening her mouth. Had her lips been zippered shut? Her little heart fluttered with fear as she tried to move her hands. No, her hands were tied behind her back. She grew even more frightened; as her chest rose and fell, salty drops trailed from her eyes down to her zippered lips. She struggled with her feet but could only move her knees. Where was she? Muffled sobs escaped her as a door creaked open.
She stopped; the only sound she released into the unknown space were her deep breaths and the pounding of her heart. She remembered! The last thing... No, her mind was still shrouded in darkness. "My brother," she thought. Where was he?
"So, you're awake," said a voice, Azrael's voice, mingling with the smell of mushrooms. This scent triggered a memory. "I made your favorite food." Who had told her this, her mom or her brother? Footsteps clicked closer, and she wanted to scream, to free her wrists from that vice grip. As her struggles proved futile, the now sharper scent of mushrooms pushed her deeper into the darkness.
She fell apart, vanished, was gone...