SHORT FICTION
The Room
No One Leaves Before Redemption
We were a collage of shattered souls searching for hope, waiting in an empty room with nothing more than the seven white chairs we sat on, and a clock on the wall. We waited for the man in grey. He said he would help us.
Bored out of my mind, I walked out of the room and wandered through the halls. Something about this place felt weird…like an unwrapped box. Clean and sterilized. It seemed to scream to us to leave while clinging to us at the same time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I wasn’t supposed to be here.
There was a picture on the wall, just a few paces away from the room. In it were seven people, sitting on white chairs. The same ones we sat on today. Looking at them aroused feelings of nostalgia. I’d never met them before and yet they felt familiar.
“They were the first lot we took in,” a voice came from behind me. It was the man in grey.
He had found me sobbing in an alley during the storm last night and brought me here. Not forcefully. When you’ve hit rock bottom, you’ll gladly hold on to a snake. I don’t know what he is exactly. He could be a creep, a servant of God, or the Devil. His offer was weird, but exactly what I needed. A second chance and redemption.
“What were they like?” I asked pointing to the picture.
“Exactly like you.”
It should have been a sweet remark, sentimental even, but something about how he said it sounded…wrong.
I looked at the picture again. At the bottom of the frame were the words – ‘Herein lies Redemption’. The same words were above the front door.
“They don’t look…redeemed.”
“That is because they are you…before you go through the process.”
He pointed to the man on the furthest end of the picture. I looked just like him. Right now I was even wearing the same clothes he had on. I looked at the others in the picture and gasped. All of them were weirdly imitated versions of the people I’d sat with in this room. They were different and yet the resemblance was uncanny.
“Wh...why do we look like them?”
“They are you.”
I struggled to keep my voice even. His voice was monotone like a robotic recording. Though he smiled, his eyes were baleful. What was wrong with him? Did I really want to know?
“I think I’m going to leave now,” I said pushing him aside.
I marched past the room heading for the front door. A man appeared in front of me. It was the man in grey. I looked behind to make sure it wasn’t just a look-alike. The hall was empty. I looked back at him.
How? When did he get past me?
He didn’t give me a chance to give voice to my questions.
“No one leaves before redemption.”
There was some emotion in his voice now. Something dark and authoritarian.
“Look, I changed my mind okay?” I meant to sound firm but my voice sounded more like a plea.
“Herein lies redemption.”
Before I could respond, I was back in the room. I joined the others. We sighed and twiddled our thumbs as we listened to the clock ticking: waiting for the man in grey.
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