TORTURE 5, a short story by actung. Date added: 2009-09-14. Times viewed: 1501.
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- Intro: Fifth and final part.
Graham's face bore a blank expressionless look as he entered the prison to begin his sentence. A look that definitely said the lights are on but no one is home. He had only just arrived to the prison and already he had mail, a letter which had been placed between the blanket and the toilet rolls he received upon his arrival. He entered his cell, turned, faced outwards as the cell door closed and was locked. He dropped what he was holding and picked up his letter.
A bald man in his mid forties lay in the bottom of the cell bunk bed reading a book, or at least attempted to continue reading his book, as he was being distracted by his new cell mate. A moment passed and both men had yet to speak. Graham had not yet to even notice that he was not alone in his cell. He read his letter and his eyes opened wide.
‘No, no' he spoke quietly and to himself at first before beginning to repeat himself getting louder and louder.
‘Are you ok man?’ asked Graham’s bald companion.
Graham approached the bald man, bent over and grabbed him.
‘What the hell?'
‘She set me up, don’t you see? She set me up' said Graham,
‘What?'
‘She set me up' repeated Graham three times showing his cell mate the letter.
The letter read : 'I never meant for any of this to happen, I am sorry, my love for you was always real and will always stay with me'.
The letter was not signed. Graham had recognized the writing, it was the same writing that was on the birthday card he had received, the card that only had a time, date and location on it, a card that ultimately lead him to where he is now. Neither the card nor letter were signed. Graham knew it was from Sarah. He knew they both were from Sarah.
Graham stood facing out of his cell and began roaring. His cell mate approached him.
‘Calm down there man'.
When he got close to Graham, Graham pushed him, hard enough to knock him over with the bald man hitting his head off the stainless steel and seatless toilet bowl. Within seconds prison guards grabbed Graham and brought him to the infirmary, strapping him to a bed.
Graham roared and continued roaring, until after being strapped to the bed when the lights went out. He went totally silent when the lights went out leaving him in total darkness. A spinning sensation hit him. It was if the bed he lay on had started to move in a circular motion. This moving sensation began to pick up speed. Graham felt dizzy, the spinning was out of control though it did eventually come to a halt and when it did, Graham would feel another sensation. He no longer felt as if he was lying strapped to a bed, but rather sitting chained to a chair.
An acetylene torch ignited provided some light. Graham was back at the beginning of his own attack. The acetylene torch was about to burn his left hand. His heart began pounding hard as his eyes opened up wide with fear, but before he could feel the heat from the torch come near him, Graham began to feel another strange sensation. This time it was as if he was floating, floating through the darkness, a darkness which brightened into light.
Sarah had her own darkness to deal with. The November evening had turned the day time light to a night time sky. On a long straight road, Sarah drove with no particular destination in mind. She just wanted to get away. Her car stalled. The only light came from the full moon and the surrounding stars of which there were many. It wasn't long before the car got going again and Sarah continued along her long dark road.
Still feeling a floating sensation, Graham had drifted into a large white room. The windows covered by steel mesh, and he was not alone in this room, a room very much resembling an asylum. Graham had no control over this floating sensation or where it would take him, as he floated past people he recognized. His bald prison cell mate, Denis Berry the man he had fought at that house he had gone to, Derrick Harris his doctor from when he was in a coma. All these people greeted Graham as he passed by him.
Graham watched the doctor pass a lump hammer to a nurse, a nurse who had her back turned to them both. She stood over what seemed to be a patient in a bed. The floating sensation subsided. Graham was now that patient in that bed and the nurse with the lump hammer was facing him. Not only that, the nurse, the nurse was Sarah. She lifted the hammer high and as she brought it down hard and fast toward Graham everything turned a bright white.
Sarah picked up speed along the long dark road she was travelling; she was tired and wanted to settle down for the night. She took her eyes of the road for a moment and when she looked back there was a very bright light in front of her. It was more than just a bright white light. It was a man standing within a very bright white light. Sarah didn't have to look twice, that man standing in the middle of the road emanating light was Graham. Sarah turned quickly, but the speed she was travelling forced her car to flip a number of times.
In the prison infirmary Graham had gone into cardiac arrest, doctors tried but they couldn't save him and Graham died at 7.15 pm on the bed he had been strapped into. It was a few hours before medics arrived where Sarah’s car came to a halt, too late to be able to do anything for her. Her watch had stopped at 7.15.
Maybe something intervened; maybe Graham’s madness projected itself towards Sarah or maybe her guilt lead to her own demise. The torture has ended. The torture is no more.
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