Free Nillium Neems by Francisco J Ruiz Page A

He wanted escape as bad as me. In
some way or another, he was as much a prisoner as I was.
    "If you want my help to escape, why did you
lead me right into the Wardens hands last time?" I asked.
    Derrick smiled, a twisted, rotten little
smile.
    "I could not resist! Escape was my want, my
way, my wish, but... it was too tempting. I could not help
myself."
    My eyes narrowed and Derrick realized he’d
said just the wrong thing.
    "But, but I will not betray
you this time," he blurted out quickly, tripping over his own
tongue. "I will not, will not, will not. We will escape together, freedom, freedom at
last."
    I opened my mouth to reply, but was
interrupted when the door opened. The Hooded Man stood framed in
the doorway, hooks dangling from their chains and resting on the
ground. He then started towards us, left foot limping.
    Cackling with mad glee, Derrick slipped out
of my grip and headed for the door, sidling around the Hooded Man.
He almost made it before one of those deadly hooks tripped him up,
dragging his prone body beneath the Hooded Man’s cloak.
    I watched in paralyzed terror as Derrick’s
screams rent the air, so loud it was like nothing I’d heard before.
I don’t know what the Hooded Man did to him beneath that cloak, but
as he finished and began walking once more towards me, what was
left of Derrick trailed out behind him. And it was not very
much...
    I picked Mousy up from the floor and shoved
him through the hole in the wall, so that at least he might be
safe. I then turned back to face the Hooded Man.
    "I know what you are, Tormentor!" I said
frantically, searching for something, anything that might slow down
this abomination. "Siegfried told me all about your kind."
    The Hooded Man didn’t even break stride,
walking till he had me cornered against a wall. He reached out a
pale hand towards me, stroking my cheek and whispering of death.
Fear overcame me, stark, raving terror. Lines of a poem I’d written
long ago, came back to me, a poem that I wrote to give me courage
against the fear.
    Who is the Hooded
Man / that
monster with his chains ... One of his
hooks snaked out, wrapping around my ankle... Whisperer of death / till no life yet remains... It tugged hard, yanking me off my feet... A stranger in the dark / the sum of
all our fears.. . I struggled up, dazed,
but was knocked once more to the ground... No weapon can assail him / neither sword nor pleas nor tears... My head hit hard as I fell and my vision
swam... An unstoppable assassin / a Tyrant if you
will... Fear was all I felt, so much
fear... No one left to stop him / no one left but
Nil...
    As I lay there, waiting for
him to strike again, my mind raced. No one
left but Nil . The wardens, the doctors,
everyone was oblivious to this creature. If he killed me now, who
would stop him? Would he go on to torment others, other patients
like Jeremy, like Lana, even crazy little Harold? No one left to stop him .
No one but me...
    I got to my feet, facing the monster. That
was when I changed. I don’t know if it was my confidence in
standing up to Derrick only moments before, or my new found
freedom, but I was done being afraid. Done being afraid of every
single one of them. Done being a victim.
    As the Hooded Man reached out his hand once
more, I grabbed it and bit it, bit it hard. It evoked an unexpected
chuckle from the Tormentor, who otherwise seemed unfazed. Frowning,
I yanked hard at his arm and heard a pop as it came loose and fell
to the floor. I found myself staring at nothing but your basic,
decayed human arm.
    My eyes traveled upwards from the arm, to
the two ugly yellow lights beneath his hood. One of them winked and
I heard the rattle of chains as his hooks once more wrapped around
my feet, sweeping them out from under me once more.
    I fell and it hurt, but I couldn’t let it
stop me. I had to act fast before he finished me. I struggled
upright but the hook wrapped tighter around my foot and pulled,
knocking me right back to the ground. He