Last Breath
He could not see his hands, even though they were only inches from his face. The darkness of the room consumed him and locked him in a world of isolation. His mind was numb from the endless waiting for death. He closed his eyes and attempted to imagine a better world, but it did not make a difference.
The weak breath passing through his lips was barely felt on his arms, which were wrapped around his knees, pulling them up to his chest tightly. His whole body was suffering from a dull pain that he had become accustomed to. The entire world around him seemed to be slipping away with each passing breath.
A thrashing noise jolted Kalin Kessler up from another restless night. The security guards outside the cells normally banged on the inmates' bars at random times in the early morning for their own amusement. The guards were anything but the heroic public servants the people of the city saw them as, especially towards Kalin. Since he was charged for multiple crimes against Sector Security, the guards wanted nothing more than to destroy whatever life Kalin had left in him.
The banging on his cell bars stung his ears and sent shivers up his spine. Kalin bit down on his bottom lip and prayed it would all go away. He wished the guards would just leave him the alone for one night. Kalin's cell swung open and two men walked in. They did not say anything, simply presenting smirks on their faces. Kalin looked down at the ground and tried to pretend they were not there.
Suddenly, he felt a hard pull on his arms, followed by the guards dragging him out of his cell. They forced him down the halls of the Maximum Security Center, pushing him against walls and kicking him in the knees to make him walk faster. Kalin looked up as he entered a small, bare room. The guards pushed him onto a bed in the center of the room and strapped his legs down.
Another man walked in, dawning a white lab coat and holding a stuffed folder. The man calmly told Kalin that he was just going to give him a standard examination. Most likely an examination to ensure that he was not going to survive in that cell for much longer. The young man was then requested to take off his prison clothes, which he had no choice but to obey.
Looking down at his throbbing body, Kalin realized how much the guards had screwed him up with all of their nightly beatings. There were cuts and bruises running all along his chest, stomach and legs. He was never an overly healthly kid to begin with, but the state he was in now was horrifying.
Kalin looked up at the blank ceiling with his tired eyes, trying to zone out the situation. The man said something to him, but Kalin did not bother to listen. Suddenly, a sharp needle penetrated Kalin's arm, causing him to scream out. Kalin glared at the man in anger, as blood was being drained out of his arm. After a few more tests were conducted, Kalin was walked back to his cell. The metal door slammed shut behind him and he fell on the cold bed in exhaustion.
Early the following morning, Kalin felt a stabbing pain in his stomach and a pounding sensation in his head. He figured it was probably because he had not eaten anything in a number of days. However, that was partially his own doing, not necessarily the guards'. The pain was unbearable though. Kalin could not get out of his bed. He desperately tried rocking his body and pressing his arm against his stomach to make the pain subside, with little relief.
One guard saw Kalin suffering from this pain and agony, but simply walked away with no intention of helping the inmate.
Kalin finally managed to stand, shuffle himself to the opposing wall and bang his head against it, still holding his stomach and pressing on it harder. He slid down to the cold floor and sat in the same corner, like he did almost everyday. After sitting down for some time, Kalin felt the pain slowly fade away. He did not even care about his body anymore. It was only a matter of time before it shut down completely. His mind already had.
The young man began to drift and imagined what life would be like if he somehow escaped these cell walls. He would be free. He would be able to roam the streets of Satellite, like he had done countless times before. The only difference now would be he did not control the island anymore. People used to fear him, but now he was nothing. And it was all thanks to his former teammates.
If Kalin ever was able to get out of prison, he would hunt his so-called friends down and make them pay for betraying him. All starting with that bastard traitor, who sold him out to Security: Yusei.
Suddenly, a wave of numbness fell over Kalin's body. It became increasingly harder to breath and to keep his eyes open. The world around him went completely black. It was like his soul was being ripped out of his body. He knew what must be happening to him. He was dying, at the old age of seventeen.
Kalin Kessler, hear my voice. I have come to tell you of way for you to be free from this prison, to obtain great power through dueling once again and to take revenge on all who have opposed you. All you have to do is except the mark of a Dark Signer.
Kalin knew this was it. He was finally losing the last bit of his sanity. That voice was not really there. It was all his mind trying to ease his passage.
Do not try to convince yourself that I am not real. This is your destiny, Kalin. Take the power that is rightfully yours and use it to have your revenge. Now, will you except your destiny?
If this was the only way to end the suffering, to end his misery and to end his life, he would take it.
"Only if I am able to take revenge on one person. I will..."
Kalin stopped speaking and let out his last breath.
He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. Standing a short distance from him was a tall figure. He sat up, not taking his eyes off the mysterious man, who was watching his every move carefully.
"Glad to see you have finally woken up, Kalin." The strange man walked over to him.
"Who are you? Wait, what happened to me? Where am I?" Kalin was very confused now. He could not remember what happened to him, or how he got outside. His all of his memories seemed to be blurs.
"I am Roman. You are here because the darkness has chosen you to bear the mark of a Dark Signer and you were willing to accept your fate." Roman went on to explain to the younger man. "You have been brought back from the brink of death to take revenge on the person who betrayed you. You will stay with us until it is time to join together the rest of the Dark Signers and to defeat those pathetic Signers."
Kalin still did not understand much of what this man was saying. The one thing he did understand was that Roman was trying to get Kalin to go with him. He wanted him to join the rest of the Dark Signers. Join?
"No freaking way! I am not joining any team or Dark Signer gang or whatever you call yourselves! I am done with people, so you better get your ass out of my way!" He thought he lost his fighting spirit back in the Facility, but there seemed to be a new fire burning inside of him, wanting to fight.
"Kalin, you are a Dark Signer, now. You are one of us."
Kalin turned a saw a reflection of himself in a glass window from on old building besides him. Kalin almost fell back at what he did not recognize. His eyes were completely black and a dark mark ran down his face, where his security mark was supposed to be. Then, he noticed a strange pattern on his right arm, like a birthmark of some kind. He did not know how to take all of this in. Roman stepped forward and put a hand on Kalin's shoulder to calm him.
"Come with me. I will take you to our hideout. Then, I will explain more of your destiny and when you will be able to take revenge on Yusei Fudo."
"What?"
Roman lead Kalin through dark streets to the secluded hideout, but Kalin was more focused on trying to comprehend what had just happened to him. Roman had mentioned Yusei's name and that Kalin was free from the Facility. This was everything he wanted.
If he knew earlier that dying was the way to achieve what he desperately wished for, he would have killed himself months ago. Kalin was going to have his revenge, freedom and power.
He took a deep breath in, filling his lungs with the polluted air of Satellite, and smiled a wicked grin. He never would have guessed that taking his last breath would get him everything he ever would have wanted.
