When he woke up, the same events replayed itself. The metal door slammed open and the guards escorted another batch of prisoners into the room. However, the lights were not turned on this time. The soldier could hear the scientist skipping into the room. The scientist had cornered the soldier, finally.

“Wakey wakey, prisoner.”

The soldier wished that he could simply ignore the morning call but he knew the scientist too well. If he did not respond, it was his friends who would suffer. The soldier responded, “what do you want now?”

The scientist surged towards his chained prisoner and stabbed him with a glass shard.

The soldier made no noise. He was mentally prepared for the unanticipated.

“What do I want?” the scientist repeated, digging the glass shard deeper into his wound, “I want to see the light leave your eyes. I want to wipe that smirk off your face. I want to destroy you, till there’s nothing left inside you.”

The scientist climbed onto a stool to reach his right arm which was strapped to the wall and forced a gun into his hand.

“Now, I want you to do the honours of killing your own comrade,” he whispered slyly into the soldier’s ear. Then he barked, “you first in line! What’s your name?”

No one replied.

BANG!

The other soldier in the shadows let out an awful scream.

“Damien, no…” the soldier muttered in despair.

“Not to worry, not to worry, boy. I’ve just shot at his leg. But now that both of us are fully aware who will be slaughtered, I think we can have some fun now.”

The scientist raised his voice to make sure every single prisoner heard him well and clear, “you there! Damien, is it? Lookie here. Our slippery friend here and I made a pact. I would spare him a day’s torture for every bullet he fires. Obviously, only those which actually hit something will be counted. And if all two hundred bullets are emptied from their magazines, he gets freedom from this wretched dungeon.”

The sadistic scientist whispered into the soldier’s ear, “I’m not lying y’know. The deals on.”

Never in the soldier’s twenty years did he hope to die so much. He cursed the death god. Why did he not take him away?

The soldier managed to let out a single breath, “Go fuck yourself.”

The scientist sawed the glass shard into the soldier’s side torso and pulled the trigger forcefully.

ARGHHH!

“Damien!”

“Ezra, is that you?”

“Damien, I swear I didn’t! I swear I”

The soldier’s voice was drowned by another loud gunshot.

BANG!

“NOOOOO!”

“Next!”

“Ezra? Please don’t kill me! I’ll take the torture for you! Please don’t”

BANG!

The soldier heard a loud thud.

No… please stop this. Please stop… Not Ronald too… Please…

“Ezra, I thought we were friends! You slimy traitor!”

BANG BANG BANG!

Three shots flew out from the dreaded pistol in his hand.

“No… no… please… I beg you… don’t…” the soldier whimpered, his tears flowing down his cheeks.

He had no energy to think. He just wanted it to stop as soon as possible. It may be until all his comrades have been shot, or when death grabs him away from this cruel reality. He heard the plea of his friends. He wanted everything to stop. He was desperately begging for death too. Every single comrade’s death would be on him. If he hadn’t been so stubborn, he would have died in a week. He reckon that it had been months since he first scratched the left side wall of that gloomy cell. Compared to this, the dark isolation in that little cell was haven. He did not know how many times he heard bodies collapse to the ground. He did not care how many bullets were left.

The scientist was savouring every second. Finally, the battle was over and the scientist emerged victorious.

“Where are the research papers, prisoner? The safe box was emptied.”

“I don’t know. It was empty to begin with…”

The soldier could anticipate what would happen next. He was desensitised to the thunderous gunshots.

BANG!

The soldier did not flinch. He did not cry. The same overwhelming feeling flooded his senses. He stared at the scientist, eyes widening but pupils narrowing. His body tensed up and for the first time in his life, he felt as if his body was raging with a power too strong to control. The soldier needed release. A black aura surrounded his body as the light escaped his eyes, leaving only empty shells like unpolished black stones.

The scientist did not like his behaviour one bit. That fiery defiance was back and the scientist was determined to tame the dog back down. He snatched the pistol back into his own hand and shot the last man down.

The last straw in the soldier’s mind snapped. In one swift motion, he pulled the metal chains restraining his arms. He did not care if his hands tore off. He just wanted to escape and be free from the very tools chaining him to this cursed fate. It was a million times more painful than carving the wall with his nails. Maybe his pleas were answered. The ungodly force which took over managed to pull out the slabs of bricks from the wall.

His arms dangled freely for the first time in months. He instinctively reached for the scientist’s throat and flung him away.

(Shit! How is this even possible?)

The scientist pointed the gun straight at the soldier with trembling hands and fired. He missed.

The soldier pulled out the shard from his body and pounced onto his victim with incredible speed. He could somehow locate the scientist in the dark.

The glass shard was much larger than the gravel he kept in his pocket so his grip on the shard was firm. The constant scrapping on the wall seasoned him well. The soldier kept on dealing slashes to the scientist. Each slash was with the same conviction he had when he marked the wall. Every strike contained his despair and rage which he needed to vent from his physical body.

It was now the scientist’s turn to face his worst terrors. His small body shivered involuntarily as he glanced into the soldier’s hollowed eyes. It was not the time to exclaim ‘eureka’ for bringing Frankenstein’s monster alive. His senses were numbed by the immense fear overwhelming his mind and body. He could not feel his skin being ripped apart. As he stared fearfully at the abomination he created, he noticed its slowly evolving expression. The face filled with anguish turned into a blank and lunatic grin which almost looked fiendish.

The metal doors slammed open once more. Armed men busted in and formed a human barrier between the soldier and the door.

The soldier turned around. He exhaled a single cold breath. The bolt mechanisms gave loud cocking noises. He heard every gear in the metal weapons shift slowly and clearly. Without hesitation, he leaped to the nearest guard and started the whole killing process again. The guards could not aim properly in the dark. Besides, the soldier was like a dancing shadow. He leaped from target to target, exterminating any who stood in his way. The slaughter room echoed the bombardment of gunfire and deafening wails of terror. One by one, the guards hit the ground, their last breaths snuffed out from them.

No number of bullets nor men could stop the monster. That night, the blaring of emergency alarms never ceased. Every reinforcement team sent in was stripped down by the same man they were tasked to take down. Soon enough, the facility became a house for the dead. No one survived the carnage.

The soldier climbed out of the facility, his bare feet touched the rough sandy ground. Grey clouds covered the night sky. The stars were unable to light up the quiet, ominous land. The chilling breeze caressed his face and fresh air reached his nose. He felt alive once again after months of torture. As he started to regain his sanity, fatigue began to kick in as well.

Where am I?

The soldier trudged on, dragging his feet out of the soft, grainy sand field. The biting gusts cut his skin with rough sand particles and irritated his dry, bloodshot eyes. He was in the middle of a desert.

Fatigue took over. He dropped to his knees. With the ensanguined glass shard in his hand, the eroded gravel in his pocket, the promise to the professor in his heart, hatred in his eyes, anguish in his soul and torment in his memory, he collapsed.

Maybe this time I’ll die, for real. Death, if you can hear me, take me with you. No one can stop you now…

Long and painful howls disturbed the tranquil atmosphere, as if the night was crying. As to what made those noises in the middle of the desert, the soldier no longer cared and could no longer care. His other hand clutched a metal military nametag with his name engraved on it. It was the only thing reminding him of who he was. Hopefully, the ones who would find his corpse could also identify him with that. He passed out under the dark sky on a moonless night.

His name, as it was carved on the dogtag, was Ezerka Nyx.

In Greek Mythology, Nyx referred to the goddess of the night. Maybe the night was protecting him, after all…