Unfold

Chapter 9: Prison Break

About an hour later, Alicia was escorted back to her prison with her hands cuffed in front. As she neared it, the two guards inserted the key into the hole and turned it. The clicking sound echoed throughout the area. A few ogres were awake at the time, and one raised its head upon hearing the sound.

‘Back from dating with the devil, girl?’ said it. Alicia shrugged at the remark and quietly retreated to an empty corner. It was dark and cold, with cobwebs sprawled across edges of the walls around them. As the silence went on, she curled herself up and minutes after, the fatigue accumulated from earlier sent her off to sleep.

If it wasn’t for the horrendous scream of a man, she wouldn’t have woken up this soon. She rose to her feet, then fumbled at her waist for something.

‘Our weapons have been taken off us, remember?’ An ogre who has been looking from about a metre away, reminded her.

‘Oh. True that.’ She replied. ‘So, what’s with that sudden loud scream just now, old guy?’

‘God knows to what mischief the humans are up again.’

Little did they know that the scream had came from one of the prison guard. He was patrolling at a nearby area when suddenly, from behind, he was stabbed through his stomach. The colour on his face drained away, he put down his head and looked at where he was pierced and his eyes instantly expanded at the sight. ‘Y- You will never escape here.’

There was a soft giggle at his back. A man with his beard overgrown stood half- naked, having only a pair of pants to wear. He pulled his fist away from the knight with his back facing him. In both a calm and threatening tone, he said, ‘Those who dare defy the Gods will suffer.’

CRAAAACKKKK!... SNAP!

And the knight fell flat on his face. Pain was written all over his pale face. ‘R-re… ‘ were the final words that left his mouth.

‘Oh? To think that I would meet you here.’ The man said, before adding, ‘Arade…’ From behind the veil of the shadows, a faceless man walked out. His face was still bearing the crack on it. ‘Also feared by many who have laid eyes upon him, as, The Joker of Trandafir.’

Arade dragged his claws along the wall as he took one step at a time, walking towards him. The screeching intensified as he drew closer to him, reaching the ears of many who were both awake and asleep.

‘Wh-what’s that?’ The ogres panicked upon hearing the sound. ‘Is it time for our execution already?’ Alicia swallowed a gulp as the rising tension in the air grabbed her heart.

‘What exactly… is happening out there?’ She asked herself.

The bearded man laughed, before saying, ‘That part of you never change, Arade. Heartless and bloodthirsty.’ And once within range, Arade swung out at him which he ducked easily then, entered an extremely close- range field. ‘Forgive me, Arade.’ His hand turned into a fist that corkscrewed to his side. Arade flew to the side and crashed into the wall. ‘Turned rusty already?’

From behind the curtain of dust, Arade pulled himself to his feet and almost instantly, he dashed towards him and on came the next wave of strikes. They were fast. A mere second of taking your eyes off them would definitely make your head paid. However, Arade’s opponent was no ordinary man as he slipped to the left and to the right, weaving all his way around the strikes.

‘There!’ Another fist lunged out and this time, rocketed its way up Arade’s chin, sending him upbound for a while before dropping to the ground. On his four, Arade placed a hand on his face and a soft giggle could be heard from him.

‘R-R-ex,’ he said.

Rex, his opponent, somehow read his thoughts and stepped back into a ready position to run. Negative charges physicalised in his presence, gathering around his legs then streaming up throughout his body. ‘I-It has been f-fun.’ Arade removed his faceless face. And a blackhole was revealed. Rex resisted the force pulling him into the vacuum space. He was dragged against his will, his feet scraping against the ground. ‘COME TO ME!’ Arade shouted, a speck of joy in his tone.

Rex was close to it, about a metre more to spare. Just then, the currents on his body burst into a blinding light and at the next moment, shorter than the split of a second, Arade could have sworn he heard a zapping sound passed by his ear. When the darkness has been restored to its rightful place, Rex was gone and Arade replaced his face over the blackhole.

And there he was, by himself.

Most of the prisoners were still holding tightly to the bars, wondering as to what could the loud noises and the singular laugh mean. Were they the signal for their execution? Was the laugh coming from the soul reaper himself? They fretted and continued fretting for their lives. Alicia leaned against the wall, calmer than a minute ago after noticing the tension in the air was gone.

SKRIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!

There was the sound of footsteps approaching the prison in which Alicia was kept. The ogres standing at the bars watched the ground attentively for the appearance of any shadow. Then, one came into sight. Following behind the shadow was none other than Arade, his head down and with one hand holding his side while the other stretched out and grabbed the bar in between the ones an ogre was holding. He raised his chin, still breathing heavily.

‘Alicia,’ he said. ‘C-come w-w-ith m-me.’