Gods, Gold, and Glory

His eyes open in a snap, the sensation of waking up was similar to the feeling of falling in your sleep. His gaze meets a closed hand gliding through the night sky, accompanied by a zipping sound. The stars have disappeared from his sight, leaving him cramped in the darkness. Lying on his back, he tries to recall the events that had led him to his current predicament, but he remembers nothing. His mind struggles to form a single cohesive thought until he realizes that he does not know anything at all; Not even his name.Unease fills his stomach. Being trapped in a confined space did not help his case at all. Despite not being in a room, he could feel walls closing down on him, encasing his body as if he were some caterpillar in a cocoon. The air he was inhaling was not fresh but filled with the smell of smoke and burning plastic. His innate need for freedom and release grows more and more as he continues to remain in this strange space that has been constricting him.A

 The light dims down as Goldie hunches over to take a hold of his now bleeding nose. He whimpers, although he tries his best to stifle his own voice. Leonardo looks down on him, wondering if this was the same person that Ines deemed as ‘crazy’. He notices something that was wrapped around the glowing man’s neck. He leans down to inspect it further and comes to recognize the contraption. A shock collar secured tight on Goldie’s poor neck.Standing up straight, Leonardo places his hands on his hips as he looks at a security camera in disappointment. His bewilderment for the strange yellow glow has worn off.“I thought you guys finally became competent after catching me!” He calls out to the camera, assuming that it has a built-in microphone. He turns to Goldie who was still recovering from a single punch. Leonardo clicks his tongue and mutters under his breath, “Can’t believe I lost to this. How embarrassing.&r

Midnight.The world is wide, bustling with tiny little rodents that ran across the crevices in between houses and buildings. On the roads, the streetlights blinked a yellow color rhythmically. There is barely any vehicle in sight. The air is warm, the smell of smoke is faint, but it feels refreshing in the lungs of the two outlaws walking down the highway with no fear. A passerby can see them and just think of them as two people who have lost their minds.Goldie looks upwards as he walked behind Leonardo. He smiles as he sees the white dots above him, sparkling. It’s the first time he saw them since he woke up, and he longed to see them.“Is ‘Goldie’ actually your name or is it a codename?”Leonardo snaps him out of his trance. He looks at the older man and hums shortly. asks out of the blue.“Is it your name? Yes or no?” he asks again.“No.”“Oh, so you can speak.”

  Leonardo freezes as he stares at the female who meets his eyes. Confusion is etched upon the soft features of her brown face. He couldn’t let this expression change into something else, so he walks over in quick strides and grabs her by her curly hair. She shrieks, making Darryl move swiftly towards the door to close it shut. “Great,” He mutters under his breath as he locks the door, “Which one of you left this open?!” “Darryl?!” The young woman exclaims as she’s forced to sit down on the floor by Leonardo. She claws on his wrists in an attempt to get him to let go of her, but it only makes him hold on tighter. On the other hand, Goldie takes a couple of steps back and gets closer to a wall. His eyes darting back and forth on everyone’s faces. “Why are you here, Katcha?” Darryl asks as he looks down at her, “And how long have you’ve been listening in?” “Huh?! I just got here!” She replies loudly, “ I just want to get the flash driv

 After nearly getting smothered to death, Katcha returns to her bleak dorm room. Each of the four walls has a single piece of furniture that is no more than three steps apart from each other. Some parts of the walls had a variety of notes and pictures of some sort of biological matter plastered upon them. Not very spacious, but the size of the room brings her a sense of familiarity that grounds her.Katcha heavily exhales as she slumps down in front of her study table. Not knowing what to do at this given moment, She stares down at the papers and pens cluttered all over the surface. As she sits in silence, she remembers the blow that was landed on her from earlier, making her wonder if she should get herself checked out by a doctor.  The sound of the pan hitting her face came back to mind. Something had to be broken in her head. Darryl did not seem to hold back when he slammed her face. It could have been from the adrenaline, but she didn’t feel any pa