The Last Level

His wrists didn’t hurt anymore – the rusty metal colliding his wrists together had undoubtedly grown accustomed to his body, for his brain stopped bothering to send signals of the pain he had once felt. Though his body was starting to betray him, he felt comfort knowing that after half a decade, there was still something clinging onto him.

That’s why he didn’t feel the thin fabric on his chest ripping apart under him, nor did he feel the skin of his legs burning when he was being dragged by two guards from just his two toes. As a blindfolded man, the inmate couldn’t tell where fate would put him next. But he knew where, knew it all too well. The last level. He had heard stories back when he was just residing with pick pocketers – or maybe even burglars. In front of his cell was a map. A map which spoke louder than the guards ever could. It was the map of the prison, better yet, a signal to not mess up any more than you’d already did, or else you’ll go to the next level.

Armeñas never thought he would live to experience the last level. Only the worst criminals on the face of this planet would deserve such a fate. However, as he was suddenly thrown into a room, he could feel it – could feel the drop in temperature, and could smell the horrible stench of death. Though, it wasn’t the smell of dead rats he was all too familiar with; it was different. For all he knew, he could have been surrounded by a sea of dead bodies. His sense of sight was blocked by a cloth tied around the first half of his face, after all. Any light that passed through his blindfold left as soon as a sound of a metal door slamming shut passed through his auditory system.

Alone again he was. On a freezing day in the middle of winter, in the last level. Last level of what, he thought. What happened after that? Or did no one live to see what was beyond? Armeñas didn’t care to find out. He stopped caring years ago, as soon as his wife had stopped writing him letters. There was always this part of him that said she still hoped for his return, but as he was left there with nothing but his thoughts, he knew she had moved on. The mother to his two children was the best thing that happened to him. The only good thing that he had experienced.

What was a man supposed to do in the last level? It was just him, his thoughts, and the endless ringing sound pitching through his ears. So, of course, he thought. He thought so much he thought he was back with his family again, playing golf with his sons and having supper with his daughters. As he was reminiscing, a single tear streamed down Armeñas’ eye, though it didn’t manage to go pass his cheek, because the water droplet was absorbed by his dehydrated body.

Suddenly, he felt motion outside his cell – it was as if there was a conversation happening.

"Do you think *inaudible* did it?"                                                                                                     

 “Of course he did. Why else would he be in here?”

Just like that, the whispers became more and more distant, until their voices couldn’t be heard from the cell. Armeñas cursed at himself for not making out who they were talking about. He decided to put the blame on the steel door instead. He may be practically blind, immobile, and has nothing to cover himself through the chilly nights, but at least he has something to think about for the long night ahead.

A COUPLE OF DAYS(?) LATER

The days in his new home passed by not so slowly, as he’d originally thought. A very much alive rat made its way onto his arms one night, and since then they’ve been the best of friends. He had always wished to tell the tales of his youth to his grandchildren one day, and Ben was the perfect listener – in fact he found himself longing for his return whenever Ben disappeared to who knows where. Even though Armeñas didn’t know how long it’s been since he'd showered or seen light, at least he was still given sufficient food to live – a single bowl consisting of dry, minced meat and peas per day - which wasn't a big challenge to eat, despite being handcuffed. Though, he’d grown to appreciate his tastebuds more now that he couldn’t see anything. So far, the experience on the last level hadn’t been quite different from the past ones. Or so he thought. 

Armeñas was woken up from his sleep by the creaking of the chained door, and immediately felt a presence. Years in prison gives you a sense of awareness – even when asleep. At that moment, Armeñas knew that night was going to be different.

“..who are you?” he said, sitting up to turning his body towards the approximate direction of the man.

Silence.

Armeñas repeated himself, this time louder, just in case all this time without conversing with a human had made others incapable of hearing him.

When no one answered, he started doubting himself – though he swore someone was in that cell with him. His intuition was always right. And at that moment, his intuition told him to stand up and search.

He used all the strength he had left in his knees to pull himself up, but as he was half-way into standing on his two legs, an incredibly strong force pushed him right down again – right onto the ragged bricked wall. Human hands? He was sure he’d blacked out for a second.

The mysterious man finally speaks.

“What shall I do to him, boss?”

Through his dazed state Armeñas hears nothing but mumbling – implying that whoever was in front of him was talking to his boss on the phone. Boss. The one who was responsible for everything. And just like everything bad that had happened to him in the past, boss was, again, deciding on what to do with him.

“Okay,” said the man.

His voice was deep, void of any emotion.

The “okay” was said in such a monotone way, it gave no hints for Armeñas to interpret the situation. He was scared – because for once, he didn’t know what would happen to him.

After what felt like a year of silence, the man spoke again.

“You’re coming with me”.

Before he was given time to react, Armeñas felt a something hard hitting his head, and after that, he lost consciousness.

IN THE REHABILITATION ROOM

A throbbing headache, a black spot in his vision, and a…wait. If there’s a black spot in his vision, it means he can see. Armeñas musters the strength in his eyelids to open them, and to his surprise, they’ve gotten rid of his blindfold. The disorientation he was feeling didn’t give him the chance to celebrate, though. Where was he? He was sitting on a chair in the middle of a huge, dimly lit room, that’s for sure. Oh, and his restraints were gone – now replaced with rope tying him to the wooden chair. His wrists felt odd without the comfort of the metal on them.

In the corner of his eye, he sees a man entering the place from a side door, leaving the familiar creaking sound of the door behind him. Is the man walking towards him? Echoes of footsteps fill the empty building, until a dark voice follows. Armeñas quickly realises it’s the same man who got him here.

“..he got knocked out good. We’re waiting for him to wake up.”

As the man is making his way towards Armeñas, they make eye contact.

“He woke up, boss.”

..

“Okay.”

The man hangs up and puts the phone in his pocket, never looking away from Armeñas. His gaze signaled that he was the one in charge, and made sure that the one tied to a chair was aware of it.

Armeñas had so many questions. He was never supposed to be in the last level in the first place – from what he’d heard, only monsters deserved a spot in there. He surely wasn’t one. He didn’t think so, at least. Six years ago, Armeñas’ family was struggling, and his job at the coal mine wasn’t sufficient. When he was at his wits end, he went to his employers and took as much money as he could find. Though he was sentenced to six months in prison, he thought it was worth it – if his family had money to pay their loans, it was fine.

Each year Armeñas entered a different level. The first time, he thought he was finally going to get released. Instead, he got locked up in the second level. He had less recess time, and his meals were less frequent. After another year, he was yet again transferred, just to the third level. In the past, he’d gotten beatings from his employer, but nothing compared to the beatings he received by the guards there. Even years later Armeñas still dreamt about their faces as they hit him with whips, counting until their boss told them to stop. Once he found out he was going to go to the fourth level, Armeñas wasn’t surprised anymore. In fact, he was scared of nothing. He had nothing to be afraid of, indeed. Instead of whips, he got beaten by batons, and instead of having weekly beatings, they were daily. Though, Armeñas was numb to the pain by then. Each time he’d get hit, he’d imagine his wife and children living happily, as they deserved. That way, he would never feel the weapons scarring his body.

But now he was in the last level. And as he sat there with a guard in front of him, he knew his days with his friend rat were over. At last, he was going to feel the wrath of the final level.

“Oh. You’ve woken up.” the man smirks at him, his eyes completely lifeless. Armeñas’ body shivers in fear.

“Why so quiet? Aren’t you grateful that you can see?”

“What is this place?!” Armeñas almost screams, trying to sound intimidating. On the inside he was terrified.

The man comes at a stop directly in front of him, towering over him.

“Now, now. Don’t get that way with me. I supposed that you wanted some answers, so I decided this would be the best place to have a little chat. Don’t you want to know why you’ve been here all these years, hm?”

“What does boss want from me?” Armeñas says in a lower voice, after realising his plan of scaring the man hadn’t worked.

“Oh, nothing much. We’ve figured beatings weren’t enough for you.” The man chuckles, amused at the sight of the weak and thin man in front of him. “So, we’ve decided on a different path. You see, the last level is customised, according to the inmate. Of course, you are no different.

Armeñas’ heart rate quickened – because it was going to be something new. What could they possibly do to him if it wasn’t beating him?

“Remember the person you took thousands of dollars from? Sorry to inform you, but you had just managed to take boss’ hard earned money back then. He had to go from hell to back just to get that amount back. Let’s just say, he’s held a grudge on you ever since then. His only wish was to see you suffer; hence why you made it to the last level.”

Answers. Armeñas finally got them, after six years. If only he knew the identity of the person he stole from, he would have stolen from another one. At the end, boss got what he wanted, because there was his victim, tied up in a warehouse, and broken, inside out.

“Anyways, I got side-tracked. Welcome to the rehabilitation room, Armeñas Gomez.” the man continues, a teethy smile sweeping across his face. He turns around, and as if on cue, the dim lights of the warehouse light up.

Armeñas sees a figure. Not one figure, but two. Those figures slowly start moving towards the guard and him.

It wasn’t until he recognized the figures that he turned completely pale, and his body froze. The guard must have noticed, because he gave a swift look at Armeñas; an amused look still evident on his gaze.

Armeñas couldn’t breathe. Whether it was from shock, fear, happiness – he didn’t know. His son and daughter were in front of him. -his son and daughter.

Suddenly more guards appeared on Armeñas’ side – almost enclosing him. He was too caught up in the moment to notice what was happening. His children, all grown up, in front of him. As he was going to speak, the man interrupts.

“You see your son and daughter?”

“Don’t you dare touch them, you-“

With a swift nod, the man’s minions grab them, fear evident on their faces.                             

Armeñas panicked. He was absolutely livid. What did he do to end up like this? For his children to end up like this? He tried to break free from the rope restraining his movements, but a malnourished body could only do so much. It was pointless. He could only beg.

“Please, don’t hurt them. I-“

The absolute terror in his children’s eyes hurt him much more than any beating would. He knew they were given orders not to speak, because they hadn’t said a word, but their eyes told him everything. This was all planned by boss.

“Of course, we aren’t going to hurt them.”

“Then what did you bring them here fo-“

“You are.”

Before Armeñas could protest, the man’s minions cut up the rope restraining his arms, and after blinking once, a steel object appeared on the palm of his right arm.

A gun?

No, no, no, no, no.

“You know what to do. Who do you choose, your children or yourself?

Then and there, Armeñas knew why it was called the last level. You would have no choice but to die eventually – boss made sure it would be so.

He knew what to do.

Armeñas turned the barrel of the gun towards himself, and shot an apologetic look to his children, for one last time.

And like that, he became another statistic.

Those who enter the last level never leave it.