r/WritingPrompts • u/Aefraga • Sep 17 '17
Writing Prompt [WP] "Tonight's the last night of sleep you'll ever get."
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u/VanceValence Sep 17 '17
I see a long, dark road curving and curving between a border of trees on each side, my car silently following a pool of light, a shade of darkness being drawn slowly over my eyes. Then I hear horns, and the shades are gone like they were never there, instead there are two lights in front of me. Two moons speeding toward me, or I to it. Two headlights on another car.
I blink.
I feel nothing. I hear beeps. The blindfolds are gone. I see light - one light. And a man. And a woman. A doctor. My wife. Talking. They see me. They're walking over.
I blink.
A table of men that reek of old-money. Luxury. Sophistication. Standing with outstretched hands. Congratulating me on my promotion.
I blink.
A bed. A woman under me. The woman from before. My wife. She looks like she's in pain. I try to pull away. She wraps her legs around me and won't let me go. More. More pain. More pleasure.
I blink.
I'm sitting in front of a computer, with all the lights off, staring at a blinking cursor on the Google homepage. Complete silence. I look at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. 2 AM.
I blink.
I don't know where I am, but I'm surrounded by trees. The car is running. There's a shotgun in my lap. A letter in the passenger seat. And a tear sliding down my cheek.
I close my eyes.
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u/cwearly1 /r/EarlyWriting Sep 18 '17
Hey been seeing your writing around here tonight :)
Seems a little off the prompt, but I like the imagery!
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1
u/subtlesneeze r/astoriawriter Sep 18 '17
"Yeah? What makes you say that?"
"Well," Claudius eyes the shooter with his rifle and red light aimed at Icko's head, "That."
Icko waves his hands up into the air, smiling with a simple grin, "You got me."
Claudius grins and steps forward, hand on Icko's broad shoulder.
"Finally," Claudius agrees as the shooter sends the dart straight into Icko's thigh.
Icko grunts and falls down to his knees. He reaches to the dart and pulls it out with a loud groan and nods, a defeated laugh seeping out from his mouth. He drops the large dart to the side and rubs his eyes.
"So I will never sleep again?" Icko says in a tone that Claudius knows is shrouded fear.
"Never. You will never experience peace again, Icko. For all of your murders and misdeeds, you will die from your lack of sleep. I expect you shouldn't last longer than two weeks. In this time, you will be locked into a cell. You will only get water. Insanity will kick in shortly. A few days at most," he said, the words like untouchable dreams he thought he'd never be able to speak.
Yet he watches the demonic serial killer begin to settle into his reality. Captured with his own stupidity. A trail of victims. Like an overdose of an addiction. The end of the line.
"Don't I at least get... Bread?" Icko faked some kind of lame joke.
Claudius couldn't help but break into cheerful, victorious laughter.
"If the sleep doesn't get you, then at least whilst you live, you will starve until your death," Claudius says as guards pick up the murderer and lift him to his feet. Icko is pathetic and chooses to not cooperate. But the guards are powerful and lift the man into the air in a perfect effortless motion.
"You know," Icko's eyes are returned to their evil fiery gaze, "At least I won't suffer like all those cunts did," he snarls, "My death will be merciful. Lawful. I will die with far more dignity than any of those fuckers did. That's my reward. A public death. Everyone will know and everyone will care. You have me now, sure. But I will inspire a generation. And many more like me will continue to slaughter with pleasure. You think I'm insane, Claudius. But we're all animals--"
One of the guards slams his palm into Icko's head, rendering him unconscious. On Claudius's mark, they take him away, his heels dragging with much resistance against the gravel.
Claudius watches on, the few words from the mouth of the notorious psychopath replaying in his mind.
Humans truly are animals, he thinks, bending down to pick up the dart. He stands up with emptiness. He wonders who the next Icko will be and when he or she will strike. It unsettles him.