Shattered Sanity

BANG! BANG! BANG!

”GUARD!”

Diddy’s voice thundered through the corridor, as he repeatedly slammed both his fists against the rusted iron bars until the entire cell rattled violently.

”OI! GUARD!

WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”

He roared, while across from him, Jeffery suddenly burst into hysterical laughter before joining in, kicking his own cell door over and over again with enough force to send flakes of rust scattering across the stone floor.

”WAKE UP YOU LAZY BASTARD!

I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US!”

The deafening racket echoed relentlessly throughout the prison, as neither man showed the slightest intention of stopping despite the noise carrying through every corner of the underground cells.

Watching from his own cell, Riven instinctively took half a step backwards.

There was something profoundly unnatural about the pair.

It wasn’t merely their filthy appearance, the matted hair hanging over their faces, or the broken teeth visible whenever they grinned.

It was the way they behaved.

There was no restraint left within either of them.

They did not look like they feared the guards or the prison system at all, and somehow the lecherous looks that they gave him, made him wish he could gouge their eyes out.

”Hehe..HAHAHAHA!”

”Hoho, hahah, hohohuiuihuihui”

The two of them laughed while smashing their fists bloody against solid iron as though pain no longer meant anything to them, as the longer that Riven stared, the more uncomfortable he felt.

’What... happened to these people?’

He wondered, as neither of them looked like ordinary criminals anymore.

They looked like men whose minds had been left to rot for so many years that whatever humanity they had once possessed had long since disappeared.

Clank... Clank... Clank...

Eventually, heavy footsteps echoed from somewhere deeper within the prison.

A broad-shouldered guard rounded the corner carrying a thick iron baton, his face already twisted with fury long before he reached their cells.

”What in the ever-loving fuck is wrong with you two?”

He roared, as without waiting for an explanation, he swung the baton with both hands.

CLANG!

The impact against Diddy’s cell door rang throughout the corridor.

”You brain-dead, piss-soaked animals trying to wake every prisoner in the bloody castle?”

Another savage strike followed.

CLANG!

”I swear to the gods, one more minute of this racket and I’ll drag both of you out by your ankles before beating you until your own mothers can’t recognise what’s left of your faces.”

The guard stepped directly between both cells, glaring at them with open disgust.

”I ought to break every finger you’ve got just for making me walk all the way down here.”

Only then did the corridor finally fall silent.

Diddy slowly leaned against the bars before lowering his voice.

”I’ve got an offer for you.”

The guard narrowed his eyes.

”I’m listening.”

”I’ll have four hundred silver coins delivered to you by Monday.

My brother will bring the money.

I’ll write him a letter and tell him to meet you at Moe’s Tavern.....

In return, you just have to open my cell door and let me have my five minutes with fresh meat over there!”

Diddy said, as before the guard could even respond, Jeffery immediately grabbed hold of the bars of his own cell.

”I’ll match it.

Four hundred silver from me too.

Just let me have my turn first.

Just looking at his young face without any visible signs of moustache or beard has me tingling all around.

Also, look at his posture.

So immaculate!

He might as well be a noble!”

He declared, as he began to lick the rods of his own prison cell like a maniac.

”GET BACK, YOU WEIRDO!”

The guard warned, before slamming his baton on the rod Jeffery was licking, as Jeffery stumbled backwards at once.

”It’s a lott of money guard.... You could buy something nice for your wife with that sort of money.”

Jeffery offered, as the guard slowly tapped the iron baton while carefully weighing the offer before finally asking,

”And what happens if you both don’t pay?”

Diddy merely shrugged before flashing another rotten smile.

”Then it’s not like I can run anywhere... can I?

You can always break my kneecaps on Tuesday.

I’m not exactly going anywhere.”

He replied, as the answer seemed to satisfy the guard.

Slowly, he turned his head towards Riven instead.

”Huh...”

He muttered, as his eyes travelled over the frightened boy from head to toe.

”I almost feel sorry for you, brat... almost.

But unfortunately for you, I wasn’t hired for my heart.

I was hired to keep this place running, and eight hundred silver buys a lot of sympathy.”

He said, as Riven instinctively looked back at the man, silently hoping that somewhere beneath the uniform there remained enough humanity for him to change his mind.

However, the guard merely snorted before reaching towards the heavy ring of keys hanging from his belt.

”Don’t look at me with those eyes kiddo, the castle gallows are the wrong place to expect mercy.”

He muttered, as after searching through several rusted keys, he finally found the correct ones before unlocking Diddy’s cell first, followed shortly afterwards by Jeffery’s.

The heavy iron doors slowly creaked open.

”AWO AWO AWOOOOO!”

Jeffery howled as the guard stepped in and slowly opened his restricting chain, before stepping out and doing the same for Diddy, as he set the two prisoners free.

”Oh yeah.... Come to papa!”

Diddy muttered, as without rushing, both prisoners stepped into the corridor before stretching their shoulders and cracking their knuckles, grinning at one another like two old friends about to enjoy an evening’s entertainment rather than committing an immoral act against a minor.

”Alright, behave now. I don’t want the kid dead, so there should be no choking.”

The guard warned as he finally unlocked Riven’s cell, as still chuckling amongst themselves, they slowly began walking inwards, while the guard remained leaning against the opposite wall, his baton resting lazily upon one shoulder as though he were merely waiting for a show to begin.