Chapter 7.333

Dane gingerly rubbed his wrists, the flesh still tender from Armand’s eagerness to prove the shock cuffs’ effectiveness. He understood their motive. They were trying to break his spirit… to break his heart. He smiled slightly to himself. They’ll have to try harder than that if they want anything out of me. He leaned backwards, resting his head and neck against the cold stone of his cell wall. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to clear horrific memories from his head, the tales of torture and cruelty experienced by others within these cells. Of course, there weren’t many stories from this place. There weren’t many survivors who were ever able to tell them.

From beyond the cell door, the sounds of footsteps and scraping boots echoed down the hall. Dane crept closer to the door and stood, peering anxiously through the door’s small glass pane. He watched as a young man, barely conscious, was dragged down the hallway by two men. He was taken aback as he prisoner’s face came into view. They were stopped by a third, whom Dane presumed was in charge, given the respectful nature the other two bowed to him. The leader pointed, seemingly to the cell next door. “Put him in there, next to the other one.” Dane watched as the men disappeared from view. He listened as the footsteps gradually moved away and out of earshot. The few lights throughout the cell and passage went out, leaving him surrounded by darkness.

He sat against the wall separating his cell from the new prisoner and knocked against the stone. He heard a faint rustling from beyond the wall. “Can you hear me?” he called. He placed his ear to the stone.

A weak, trembling voice replied. “Where am I…?”

“You’re in a prison. A very secret one at that. Of course, I can’t imagine the reason that someone like you would be in a place like this.” Dane chuckled to himself. “You don’t appear much like a terrorist or hardened killer to me.”

“Appear… What are you talking about?

“I watched them bring you in. Something about you seemed vaguely familiar.”

“I’m not a terrorist… or killer...” The voice began to waver. “But you have no idea how badly I want to be one right now…”

Dane frowned. “That’s not something most people wish for, friend… Being a killer isn’t something that you can pick up or put down whenever you want to.”

“You don’t know what I’ve been through these past few days, so why don’t you just mind your own damn business!”

Dane sighed loudly. “I’ve killed more than my share of people kid. The reason doesn’t matter… It’ll still haunt you each and every day.”

"I’d rather be haunted by that bastard over and over again... By his voice whispering that he’s going to kill me. I’ll do it if it means I get to see the face behind that red cloak… to look in his eyes and put a bullet in his head, just like he did my dad!”

Dane’s eyes widened. “Armand…”

“How do you know his name?”

“Because I have every desire in the world to see him dead too.”

The voice on the other end remained silent for several minutes. “Who are you?” The wavering in the voice had ceased.

“A friend… With a large number of friends who share your feelings.”

“Yeah well… It won’t do much good while we’re in here…”

“I don’t plan on being here long. You can come with me if you like. I can’t promise that you’ll ever get to kill Armand as you wish, but we’ll do whatever we can to make sure him and his superiors feel the pain of our presence. That I can promise.”

“It can’t be worse than a life of being alone… I’ll come with you, if you let me.”

Dane smiled. “Anyone who wants to be free of oppression and tyranny is welcome with me… So what’s your name, kid?”

“Xavier.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know, you're probably wondering why it's 7.333... Well... it's because this section will eventually be Chapter 8... once all of it's finished. Why Chapter 8? Because two years ago, I began writing this story... I was inspired by boredom and imagination, but mostly by Kaylyn, who uses her imagination to create wonderful worlds to be immersed in.

This was my own attempt to do that same... to be that place to let my imagination flow freely. One of these days, if someone desires it... maybe I'll post some of the rest of it up here. For now though... this is a start. And I feel so much better now that I've finally broken through all that was keeping me from doing so.