Reincarnations (Tentative)
I know I have grammatical errors here and there, but looking at writing prompts and writing some myself is fun and relaxing.
. . . . .
The hallway was cold. Concrete floor. Concrete walls. Concrete ceiling. It was cold for someone barefoot. The hallway was long. Long and dark. That’s how it usually was. The place we were going to had to be remote. Slightly away from most other things. No one found out exactly why, but it couldn’t be near other technology than what was used for its purpose. It just had to be to work. A combination of magic and science that needed a certain finesse and precision to work.
The chains around my legs were getting heavier as we walked down the hallway. My legs were getting exhausted. I wasn’t well fed before the journey, and I could feel it tear on my energy. There was hardly any need. I had a good meal the day before, and they didn’t want to waste resources when they didn’t have to. Not wearing good clothing didn’t help either. It wore you down, made you tired, more compliant. Few people had the energy to complain when they were at this point of their life.
When we arrived the door opened with a loud clank, and the hinges screamed from the weight of the door. It wasn’t a pleasant sound for anyone, and it sounded like the door would fall off at any minute, but miraculously it still held on, it always held on. I was guided in by two men into the middle of the room. There was a chair and not much else. A few inscriptions on the floor, walls and ceiling, and a small led lamp above the chair. They strapped me into the chair so I wouldn’t move. Arms, legs, body and head. It was, as they say, time to not move, just like a statue. They said it made it slightly easier. Maybe just for the others in the room.
“How many times has it been now? One? Two?” A man walked in a bit after the others were done strapping me in. He was reading off a few papers he had in his hand as he took a small trip around me. He stopped in front of me and looked up. Not at me, but the wall to my side. “Well?”
“This will be my second time,” I replied reluctantly. I knew I had to answer. Staying silent and dragging it on wouldn’t help.
“Ah, good. And you have a rough idea of how long you have left, then?” The man turned to me now and put his hands behind his back. Everyone agreed; It was an annoying sight to see, especially when you had seen something eerily similar the other times you were in the same situation.
“As decided by the judge in year 2247, I have about a four lifetimes worth of a sentence,” I explained as I looked the man in the eyes, “which means I’ll have two lifetimes worth of a sentence left.”
“Good, and you should already know now that we know when you’ll return back to life, and also where? We’ve already pinned it down.”
“I know. Can I ask where?” I tried asking.
“Well,” the man started before reading off his papers, “you’ll be born into a family consisting of a lone and sick mother in the north near the orphanage.”
“How do you always find these kinds of families? I never gave it much thought.”
“It’s magic, but partly science, and there’s some guidance from the guys at the top,” the man said as he looked up from his papers again. “Oh, and one last thing; You know why you’re being punished? You still haven’t forgotten?”
“In december, year 2246, I killed the traitor of the kingdom. Also my father,” I said before closing my eyes. “Just get on with it. Dragging it out is annoying.”
“And killing someone, whether they were traitors or not, has a punishment of up to 5 life sentences of prison. You, out of everyone in this facility, should know that better than anyone else, seeing as you used to work here. The traitor was to be put up for fair trial just like everyone else,” the man started explain as if I didn’t already know, “but that should be enough, yes,” he continued before he started walking out. “Oh, and as we always say, you have until you’re 17 to get out of this.”
That’s a false sense of hope, I thought as they closed the door behind them.