The Edge

Blood, so much blood, red and dark. It was everywhere. Enough to make a man sick, to make him weak. Cody was more than a mere man though; the sights and sounds never made him feel ill. Instead, he felt exhilarated, energized, alive and immortal.

He pulled his knife from the now dead man at his feet and kneeled to take a look at his handiwork. There were two of them, a man and his wife both dressed in expensive (though now torn) clothes.

The mangled bodies were barely recognizable, and he doubted even people who knew the couple well would be able to tell that it was indeed them. He felt a smirk form on his lips as he took in the sight

As he was looking at the body, he cleaned his blade and heard a commotion down the hall. Cody stood from his position and moved to investigate, catching himself in a large mirror.

He looked over his slim frame covered in an expensive suit. Black shoes so shiny, with just a little bit of blood, splattered on them. Slacks that were so dark you almost couldn’t see the patterns of red. In contrast, his white button-up shirt was brilliantly covered in beautiful poolings of liquid. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows showing off his well-toned arms. His black gloves dripping, as was his dark blade.

He used one hand to straighten his tie and then used it to smooth back his raven dark hair. Some of his thick locks refused to cooperate. He let out a sigh of annoyance, before continuing down the hall.

A woman was panicking at the door trying to get it open. He felt his laughter escaping his mouth as he stalked toward her. He had made sure that it wouldn’t be opened before he had gotten started. She saw him approaching and began to beg and plead with him.

The image of terror on her face thrilled him. He lunged towards her, she tried to dodge past him but his arm shot out and his fingers closed around her throat. He pulled her to him, both of them now facing another mirror. Her face was stained with tears, his with blood. He held her tight as his blade sunk into her from behind, he watched as she watched. He shared that moment with her, a moment no one else could ever see, the moment she watched herself die, as her killer lovingly held her.

“Steel. Get up.” the sharp voice cut into his mind and chased the memory away. He opened his eyes to the same gray ceiling he had woken to for the past year. He got off his metal bunk and gave the guard waiting for him a smirk.

“Move it asshole.” The guard barked.

“Oh? Are we going somewhere?” Cody asked with his most charming look. In response, the guard moved forward and brought a baton down on Cody’s head. He let out a curse as he fell to the ground. He glared at the guard. It was no use, they were always completely covered, and with voice modulators, it was impossible to tell anything about them let alone try and intimidate them.

“I said move asshole!” Another strike, then another. It was almost a ritual at this point. Every time he needed to be moved, he went through the same motions. He was pretty sure it was the same guards too.

One would come in and beat him, before dragging him to his feet and putting the arm restraints on him. Then he would be shoved out of his cell where the other was waiting. They would direct him to wherever they were going, and give him a strike along the way whenever he slowed or sped, or if they just wanted to.

If he ever got out of here, he would kill these fuckers, their hidden identity just meant he would have to kill every one of them. As usual, he was shoved out of his cell to be greeted by the second guard and was then directed down a hall. They passed countless cells before heading to a secured elevator.

Oddly enough the elevator was a bit rundown and often moved slower than it was supposed to. It also seemed to be breaking in some areas, and had pieces fall off it now and again, including a rather sharp jagged piece of metal, seemingly unnoticed by his escorts. Once inside, the guard’s set their destination, while Cody noticed something they did not.

“Hey, heading up… are you guys finally letting me go?” Cody asked as they ascended, working on an idea that had suddenly bloomed in his mind.

“Shut the fuck up.” Was the only response he got. Well, that and a smack to the back of his legs with the baton. As he fell to his knees he gripped the piece of loose metal he had noticed when he had entered.

Cody stood suddenly, yanking it up. The guards had some tough suits, but nothing was invincible. He had watched every time they moved and found the soft spots. Now he put the knowledge to work. He drove the metal past the first guard’s gun and into the inside of his elbow. There was just a little bit of spacing that allowed the guard to move his arm in that suit, it was all Cody needed.

As blood started to spray and the guard started to scream, Cody ducked under the panicked second guard as he attempted to secure him. Cody, now behind the guard slammed into him with all the weight he could muster. As one guard fell into the other, both tumbled to the ground.

Cody kicked the relatively uninjured guard onto his back and jumped on him, driving the metal into the spacing between his neck and chest. The guard swung his arms wildly as his blood began to spurt out like a twisted fountain.

Cody took a moment to bathe in this fresh blood, to allow himself the pleasure he had been denied for so long. As the guard slowed to twitching over struggling, Cody pulled the metal-free and jumped on the other guard.

Before he could move, the doors opened and several new guards leaped in, swinging their batons. As the strikes rained down on him Cody couldn’t stop his hysterical laughter. He wasn’t sure how many strikes hit his skull but soon there was nothing but black as he faded from the awakened world.

…

“Inmate 334, you’ve had a big day so far.” A voice suddenly pulled him back to the world of the living and dull. He could feel that he was strapped down in a chair. He opened his eyes to see a man in a suit. It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t as good as what Cody was used to.

“You know who I am?” The man asked. Cody let out a snicker and shrugged. He was rewarded with a strike to the face from a guard he hadn’t noticed. Once his head stopped ringing he noticed there was a second guard, one on either side of him.

“I am Warden Glover. You killed one of my guards today.” Glover spoke without looking up from some papers that were on his desk.

“Did I? Odd… I was aiming for two.” Another strike for the remark but it just made Cody giggle, after he spits out a wad of blood of course.

“Normally 334, after a stunt like that I would let you out into the yard, shut the doors, maybe forget you were out there. The heat without water… can play hell on a man. There are certainly better ways to go.” The Warden continued.

“Like a piece of metal to the neck?” Cody asked in his most serious voice before bursting out into laughter. Before another strike could land the Warden held up a hand. Cody looked at him in surprise before asking

“So why don’t you? I can’t imagine you're going to just forgive and forget. Especially knowing I’ll be trying again, the next chance I get. So? What makes me special?” Cody couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he spoke. He knew something was going on, and he doubted it had anything to do with his family connections.

“This…” Glover held up a piece of paper “This here is a letter from… Well that doesn’t matter. Not to you. See they have requested your presence and have offered a substantial amount should I make that happen. Make no mistake, this is not good for you. Sometimes we get… requests for prisoners to come to do dangerous work. Work that is far too dangerous for good honest people, and far too risky for expensive robotics.”

“So… I’m going free after all…” Cody spoke quietly, almost to himself. He could already picture all the fun he could have when he got out, and his sister… he could picture her too.

“No 334, you will be dying I assure you. You will be loaded up into transport as soon as you leave this office, you’ll be taken to some unknown part of space, and you will die. No one will mourn you, no one will fear you. You will be forgotten.” The Warden spoke smugly, sure this would cause anger. Cody merely smiled at the man.

“Good.” The Warden looked surprised and confused by the response. “No one will expect my return. When I do return Glover, I’ll stop by your house for a visit, and say hi to you and your family.” Cody smiled at the man across from him. He could see the anger on his face, but he could practically taste the man’s fear.

“Get him on that fucking transport.” The Warden said, eyes still on the killer in front of him. Cody burst into laughter as the guards dragged him off. Even after he was long gone, even after Glover left the prison and made it home, after he greeted his children and wife, he could still hear that damn laughter.