Prisoner 5
*Prisoner 5 is a serial science fiction story released every Saturday*

Chapter 3

The numbness returns after a time. Numbness of the body and the mind.

The timelessness of the day to day, hour to hour is torture worse than the beatings. The beatings are real, everything else seems a vague illusion of a nightmare.

The voices in my head, the voices of my neighbors; they blend making it hard to know what’s real. What’s not. Either way I go with it. Questions are questions I have also, so it’s hard to answer wondering if I’m asking myself or if 22 asked. Is there even a 22? Are my speculations based on delusion? My neighbors input, is it also my own thought. Am I really alone and imagining the voices around me? I couldn’t imagine going through this alone. Maybe I don’t want the answer to that question. Either way it’s horrific.

I moved to the corner and sat. Moving still hurt but like the old saying — still alive for what it’s worth. Sitting the numbness set back in. Mind and body.

The grey made it easier to go numb. The floor and the walls came together in a way that blended, seamlessly causing a nauseating illusion at first but at least now my mind has wrapped around the perception. Round, in my head it’s round. A bubble of misery.

The screams, getting further away, echo. The size of this place must be immense. How many tens or hundreds are here? Thousands? Where is here?

Closing my eyes, leaning my head back against the cold wall I inhale deeply. Pressing my back against the wall, the healing cold. Soothing. Now. Now? I wait. Waiting for…I don’t know. Just waiting.

Fire-ants? I can’t stop thinking about fire-ants. Two words I seem to know but I can’t remember them together and why associate with pain? Fire burns. Ants. Burning ants? Ants that burn. Bite. Ants that sting like fire when they bite. Yes! Fire.

It hurts so much to remember. I hold my head, squeezing helps — it hurts. Hurts differently.

I am Prisoner 52781 — 340 but my neighbors call me 5.

Chapter 4
['J. Lee Graves']
['Mystery', 'Serial Fiction', 'Fiction', 'Science Fiction', 'Creative Writing']