"Do you know the meaning of the mark on your neck, kid?" In a room with only one source of light, a man asked the person in front of him.
"Yeah." For a blink of an eye, the room was filled with a blue color, and what followed was the sound of teeth grinding against each other.
The man raised up his eyebrows toward him; he knew what that implied, so he said another word with a dry tone: "Sir."
"Such a disappointment; a few more years and you would have learned how to behave. I still remember your first day in here, a sheep in the den of wolves, but tell me, who protected you against everyone in here? You were a savage dog; with my teachings, you have turned into a civilized person!"
Memories flashed in his mind; three years ago a fifteen-year-old kid was arrested. With no family and no one to know anything about him, he was sent to a prison made for life imprisonment criminals. How little he knew what secrets this place had in store for him.
"Thanks."He stared into the eyes of his warden; his own face was reflected in his eyes: short black hair, a face as forgettable as writing on the sand, and a pair of blue eyes.
As they said, the eyes are the windows of the heart; however, his eyes were empty of any emotion, like a dead person walking on the ground.
"We don't have much time, so I will get to the point." The warden took out a paper out of his pocket and started reading: "This is a letter from a facility called the Academia, which is run by the government. They have detected a marked one in here and asked us to send you to them. They will make preparations for the kids like you to be able to face your mark, so be happy. In there you will have food to eat and gain some training."
He saw the smirk on the warden's face; many questions were shaped in his mind, and he had a vague knowledge about the academia and the mark. The best course of action was to be silent until he reached academia and found the answers he wanted, but the curiosity got the best of him: "When is the summoning day?"
The warden didn't answer with words; instead, he wrote a three in the air.
On the surface his expression didn't change; however, his thoughts were like a stormy sea. "Three days? Or three months? Three weeks? If it's three months, I might have a chance! If it was three days, he would have just said it! That would have made me way more anxious. The higher probability is three weeks or months."
The warden tried his best to act like he had empathy for him: "You know, boy, what is the ratio for those with a mark? Of every ten people, only one survives! And those who survive, you might know about them; they are not rats like you who have grown up in the streets!" He took out his necklace, a wooden triangle with a torch carved on it. He hid it in his fists and started praying, "May the god of light, the creator, show you the way forward. May you walk on the road heated with his light..."
The prayer was a long speech, and he couldn't care less about it.
In this world existed many religions, and one rule was the most common among all of them: In the face of blasphemy, one must not retaliate!
He knew the warden was not a religious person; hell, this was the first time in the three years that he had seen the light symbol. But one thing was for sure: they couldn't kill him now that the academia was aware of him; they might even watch him now. Yet all it took for him to do was a simple insult, and he would be shot to death for the crime of blasphemy.
When the speech was over, he added with a smile on his lips, "Warden, I wish that if the light god helps me survive my future, he helps us two cross paths again!"
"Hahaaa..." He coughed a few times. He chose to say nothing for the time being; in his mind he was sure that the person in front of him would die in a few days.
He pushed a button on the desk between them. Soon he heard footsteps, and they got louder with each breath. After a minute, two men wearing a black military uniform entered the room.
"Start."
One of the men put a document on the desk in front of him and started to read: "Prisoner No. 9, known by the name Ray. From today onwards your remaining years in prison will transfer to the years of service in academia. Currently only two years of your imprisonment remain that will turn into ten years of service in academia." He showed a place on the document with a red circle: "Sign here, and after that you will no longer be a prisoner."
Ray signed the paper; with each movement of his hand, the sound of chains could be heard.
"Now, can you open this?" He stared into the face of the man next to him; instead of a face, all that was visible was a pitch-black mask.
The warden waved his hands and started to light a cigarette: "Congratulations! You are a free man from now on…" A faint smile appeared on his lips: "For the next three days."
His ears heard the sound of chains falling to the ground; after a very long time, his legs and neck were free, and soon his muzzle followed. It seemed they didn't want to open his handcuffs for now. "It seems the worst outcome is at hand!"
Usually those who would get marked would be aware about two to one year prior; under one year were very rare cases, and now Ray was marked three days before the summoning day, or the warden was lying to him.
"Oh, it's good to be free!" He muttered to himself as he started to move his head and legs, enjoying his freedom. He checked on his warden smoking a cigarette; he was already half done with it. His mind started to wander about the possibilities: "Even if I only have three days remaining, I might have a small chance to survive, but the end if I stayed here would be the same." For a long time he was under control to not harm himself, and when finally he broke, getting rid of him was the best choice.
"Warden, can I get your necklace? I want to ask for the light god's forgiveness."
The warden looked at him with an amazed face; not once had he seen Ray pray to any god in the past years, but now that they were under watch of the government, he had to agree to his actions; otherwise, the act could be seen as a form of blasphemy.
Ray watched as the warden took out his necklace and gave it to him. He took it and moved to kneel on the ground. The symbol was right in front of his face, yet the only thing that got his attention was the light of silver chains on hands.
He started to whisper some prayers with himself while the rest of the men in the room were staring at him with indifferent faces.
"Are you done?" The warden asked him when he finished his cigarette too.
Ray stood up silently as he took a step toward the warden and placed the necklace in his palm.
The warden sensed a familiar look in his eyes; he couldn't remember it clearly, but it made him uncomfortable nonetheless. He felt the warmth of the wood on his palm, and then a sound of something breaking filled the room.
The warden looked at his right hand; two fingers were not in their usual spot. The pain rushed to his brain slowly; however, one thing was missing. Where was Ray?
In the blink of an eye, he felt a chain around his neck pulling him back, trying to suffocate him.
Ray felt the weight of the warden on his back; he was not in good shape. If he tried normally, the warden could break off easily, but now gravity helped him too.
"Stop now or we will shoot!"
He looked to the side; two men had already pulled out their guns, aiming at him.
The threat had no effect on him as he pulled back harder; a gunshot filled the room.
Ray felt a surging pain in his legs. It became harder for him to stand on his feet, yet he continued to pull back his head; he could already feel the life moving away from his body.
In this world with so many healing souls, no matter how many severe injuries one had, they could be easily healed. That alone made the world much crueler, as the only acceptable result in a fight was to kill; the ways to do it became more advanced with each passing day.
Another gunshot.
He fell to his knees, but he kept his form intact as the warden on his back was searching for a way to be free.
In the blink of an eye, Ray saw the foot of a man coming his way, and then the world went black for a mere second.
"Don't use too much force! He might use it to break his neck!" The man behind him yelled.
He sensed the smell of blood flowing out his nose; the world was moving all around him.
As another kick hit his face, he was already on the brink of losing, but his will continued to pull harder. The fire of hatred in his heart rose as the pain brought back memories.
With each breath, his consciousness was fading away. Suddenly a story that he loved in his childhood resurrected in his mind; all the details about it were vague and had been forgotten except the end of it. In the end the hero had sacrificed his life to save his loved one.
The reason for his action was pure love.
And at that moment, for the first time in his life, Ray could understand him. An emotion driving him to be able to throw away life!
The warden was already dead by his hands.A smile slowly shaped on his face.
And then complete darkness.