The Thirteenth Face

Submitted into Contest #219 in response to: Set your story in a type of prison cell.... view prompt

14 comments

Drama Speculative

This story contains themes or mentions of suicide or self harm.

What's the use in space if there's nothing in it? I could walk and walk and never reach the edge of my cell, never even know where the edge is. I have everywhere and nowhere to go.


They put me here at the end of my trial, without a verdict. I was blindfolded, suddenly and unexplainably, left drifting on what felt like a wave of snow, then - Here. In this endless White, where I can't feel my feet against the floor as I walk. The same as before, as if I never moved at all.


I sit on the floor and cross my legs, the absence of seating making me feel like a child at nursery. Any moment, the teacher will appear and I'll be told to put my hand up if I know the answer to any questions. If only my nursery was a place for questions to be answered.


Looking up, I can't see anything. Clear Whiteness, like the floor underneath me and the air around me. Everything is White, not bright, not dark, not anything. Just White.


There's something - No, there can't be - There's something in front of me. Standing right in front of me, blending in, barely visible.


I hear a voice. I don't hear it through my ears, or my brain, I just hear it.


"Come. The jury has not yet decided your verdict. You will be used to help while they consider," it says, it's voice far above my head, and suddenly I'm not in the White anymore. I'm in a gigantic hall, millions of small two-walled 'rooms' to my left and right, stretching as far back, forward and up as I can see. The missing walls of the rooms are facing to and away from me, and I see one person in each 'room'. They don't see me, even the ones staring in my direction.


"They are each in their own 'Whites', as you call it," my giant guide says, reading my mind. It leads me along the seemingly endless corridor.


Most are sitting, but some are standing, even - walking. Stationary walking, but their legs are moving back and forward, just not going anywhere.


I wonder how long they have been here, each of them, and why they came.


My guardian leads me onwards, forever onwards towards an end that I can't see. I gaze to each of my sides, looking up, still wondering who the prisoners are. What crimes have they come here to pay for? What familys have they left behind to mourn their passing, never knowing, never guessing what their loved ones are facing beyond the grave?


There's something ahead. At this distance I can only guess what it might be - Perhaps another court, perhaps the same one I was tried in.


As we draw closer, I see it for what it is. A room, empty but with clear walls and roof. I move to one of the walls and put out my hand, giving a sigh of relief as my hand comes into contact with it. Solid.


There are two more giants of White waiting for me inside the room. They glide towards me and take my arms. I can't feel afraid of them, somehow.


They sit me down in the middle of the room, on the floor, and start to speak together.


"You will not move from this spot." I try to move my head upwards to look at them, but already I'm paralyzed. "We will leave, but do not be afraid. We will return soon." They are already gone, and I didn't see them leave.


The White of the room is growing bright. Brighter, or was it always like that? The light is growing, expanding, and I feel it digging into me. My mouth opens with its own will and the light rushes through it. It tugs at me, pulling me, pulling something out of me -


Something tall, and entirely white stands in front of me, dragging me to my feet. I look around. Where am I?


The room is pure white, with no definition between floor and walls, walls and ceilings. The creature in front of me - Not human, surely - almost blends in with the room.


Suddenly it speaks. "You will come with me." I don't hear or even think its voice. It simply speaks.


"Who are you?" I ask. "Who - who am I?" Who am I? It should be a simple question. I should know.


I look down at myself. They've covered me - or maybe I've covered myself - In clothes of white, white gloves and white shoes included. I can't see any of myself, I can't even be sure that I'm human. How do I know that humans are common? Maybe these giant white creatures are normal.


"You are human, and you are - 'normal'. That is all you may know." It read my mind. These creatures can read minds. "Follow."


My eyes shut by themselves and for a moment I feel like I'm drifting on a cloud of snow. When they open, I'm in more endless White.


The giant thing is speaking again. "You will be shown the trial of Alexandra Tamara Whitehall with the charge of unnecessary suicide. This trial took place before you appeared, and the jury has been hesitant to decide the verdict. It is up to you."


"Unnecessary suicide?"


"Using your limited vocabulary - You must decide whether the woman was appropriately driven to suicide, or if hope was left in her world for a bearable life." A tall order indeed. How am I supposed to judge, given that I don't know the woman, and don't even know myself?


"If you do not judge, we will not restore your memories," the thing says. I stare at it, open-mouthed. It has my memories. And it's keeping them.


"I'll - I'll judge," I stammer.


The accused - Alexandra - appears in front of me, together with twelve others - the jury. Am I another member of the jury, the unlucky thirteenth?


The trial plays itself in front of me. I hear the woman, her voice slightly blurred, declaring herself 'not guilty', seeming barely aware of where she is. I hear a distorted, deep voice that I somehow recognize as my own, questioning her.


It comes out that her husband was an alcoholic, and her only son dead, and I feel sorry for her. But then all is revealed and I hear that she drove her husband to drink and didn't love her child, neglecting him and feeling only hurt when he died.


After the trial, I am asked for my verdict. I consider for a while.


There may or may not have been a bearable life ahead for this woman, but she could've prevented it. She could've been good to her husband, she could've tried to love her son.


"Guilty."


My memories flood back and I fall to my knees. Now I know why the woman on trial seemed familiar; I see her in the mirror every day.

October 11, 2023 15:40

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14 comments

Karen Corr
00:48 Oct 29, 2023

Very sad. She judged herself harshly after realizing the error of her ways too late to change things. Regrets. It’s the human in us. Sigh! Thanks Khadijah. (;

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Michał Przywara
20:35 Oct 17, 2023

The idea for this prison, especially as it's described at the beginning, is quite terrifying. Nothing but endless nothingness. It gave me a sci-fi vibe - like maybe some kind of implant that locks people in their own mind - but then that shifted later on when the guide and the other cubicles appeared, to more of a purgatory thing, especially once dying was mentioned. The way the protagonist is guided through this Byzantine court case, without any real explanations of things, was reminiscent of Kafka's Trial, though of course the finale is ...

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10:52 Oct 18, 2023

Thank you! ❤️ Kafka's Trial? Never head of it. I have to find out about that now! Unnecessary suicide sounds like the most faulty charge ever created, because it relies more on psychology than facts. If it were a real charge, at least 50% of the verdicts would have to be unjust. The main studies of the cases would be the quality of the victim's life (and how it would've continued if they didn't commit suicide), mainly, and that would be entirely relative, wouldn't it? A normal person's life might seem faultless to someone living in complet...

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Tom Skye
09:18 Oct 16, 2023

This was a very enjoyable read. I read from the comments it was a sequel. I didn't read the first (yet), so apologies, but this stood well on its own. I had a feeling the MC was going to be judged in some way, but for some reason i had assumed the MC was male so the full nature of the situation caught me by surprise on the final reveal. It played out a bit like the music video "Smack my bitch up" by The Prodigy. Check it out :) Again, this was great work. The world in which it played was described beautiful and felt like an eerie purgator...

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12:18 Oct 16, 2023

Thank you! 😊 You can read or not read the original, it doesn't really matter. Also thanks for settling my mind on that, I wasn't sure if it held together as a story in itself. I didn't think of people regarding the MC as male... Being in first person, it would've been hard to specifically state that the MC was female. I had a sort of purgatory in my mind while writing this, nice to see that it came through! 😁

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20:31 Oct 14, 2023

Oh wow this is the first of your stories I've read but now I have to read more! Loved the mystery here and the otherworldly resolution. I see this is the continuation of another story?? Must check!

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10:27 Oct 15, 2023

Welcome to the Khadija Short Story Library. Please inform us of your favourite genre so we can direct you to a suitable story. Joking aside, there's only 12. It shouldn't be that hard to find the 'write' one! 😁 (I know, it's a terrible pun...) But just in case you want the original without having to look, here's the link: https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story/0tjaxk/ 😁 And thank you so much for your support! It means so much to me. 😊

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09:18 Oct 14, 2023

I really enjoyed the continuation of the original story. 🙂 Removing her memories and placing her in a position to judge herself was very poetic.❤️ As was the verdict. Thank you for writing 😊 Well done Khadija. 💪

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10:31 Oct 15, 2023

No, thank you!! ❤️ This story's been in my head for so long, it just had to come out soon, and this prompt was perfect! It might seem a bit similar to 'Nothing Can Make You Forget', but that's because I thought this wasn't going to come out, so I put some of the ideas into the other story. Hope it isn't too similar. 😁

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12:47 Oct 15, 2023

Nah man I get it. ❤️ Believe or not Stephen King did the same thing right throughout his career. 😎The Dark Tower story haunted him, and it ultimately bled into every other story he wrote until he was able to finish it. You are doing great!

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Michelle Oliver
15:04 Oct 13, 2023

I had a feeling that she would be called to judge herself. Take our feelings out of a situation and look at it dispassionately and our perspective is very different. An emotion filled reaction is perhaps not the best one, as you have shown in this story that she will judge herself very harshly for her actions. Quick pick up, hoping you have time to fix- Everuthing is White, not bright, not dark, not anything. Just White.- missing the y

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15:55 Oct 13, 2023

Thanks for liking and commenting (on all of my stories :)) And thanks for commenting fast enough for me to fix the typo :)

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09:21 Oct 12, 2023

Sequel to 'Into The White'. ✨😁

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Mary Bendickson
20:35 Oct 11, 2023

Hard to judge one's self. Thanks for liking 'When Falls The Night' And my cookie story.

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