Date: 5/15/2022
By Ecnelis_Lataf
Our boss was the Kingpin of crime in town. He was strong of body and will. He could persuade most anyone with his talent in debate… and he used his skills to keep crime organized in the city so it didn't run rampant and destroy everything. His main business was a hotel. It was a huge one with 17 floors but no one treated the 16th or 17th floor like they existed in public. That's where most members of the boss' group lived. I was one such person who lived there. I lived on the 17th floor. Just two rooms down from the boss. I did a lot of part time work here and there. Some at a dojo run by Boss. Some as a transporter for people from the hotel to their destinations. All jobs were done under Boss' orders. There were a number of occasions where I'd been brought to the basement of the building. In my earliest years, it was used to break me from my fears of being buried by a building again. In my later years, it was so I could interrogate those Boss had brought in. I was skilled at this part. Torture of the body. Torture of the mind. He'd taught me everything to make me his ultimate tool. His ace. A position I enjoyed. Other members teased and said I was his lap dog. I had an unwavering loyalty to him because he'd never given me reason to doubt. He'd done more for this city, for the people, and for me… than any "official" authority figure had done. But then I began getting plagued by nightmares. Ones I'd had before when Boss saved me… but more vivid and frequent than back then. Nightmares showing me leading others, mostly kids, outside a crumbling building. Waving a flashlight inside bathrooms, calling out for others who may be needing help out. Constantly having to clear my throat to call out for people through the dusty air and the rubble. Others in our group were calling out after me to try and get us help. We stuck together. Helped get more people out to our group. We made our way to the exit. We were saved by people in vans that brought us to hospitals. Got us looked over. But I kept feeling as though there were more people I left behind. I would awaken from those nightmares every time with that feeling that more were left behind. One night I awoke to see a note on my nightstand that read "Beware what he says is truth for he always lies." I awoke from the dream after that.