Chapter 2: Chapter 2-Dungeon

Ameni opened his eyes in a daze, he was seated on a cold, hard surface, with his back forced straight by what seemed to be a stone wall behind him, his body was in a sort of dull, throbbing pain, the kind that got your attention, but was not enough to make you really notice. He began slowly taking in his surroundings, he was in some kind of dungeon, with solid stone walls that sported exposed bricks and concrete surrounding him in a tight, neat cube, that was just barely wide enough for Ameni to raise both arms to either side, and was just barely long enough for him to be able to comfortably take two medium-sized steps, in other words, claustrophobically small, the air in the dungeon was musty and still, as if no-one had disturbed it for years.

 

Ameni coughed a little from the dusty embrace of the air, then rubbed his head, attempting to comprehend where he was, and why he had been brought there, playing back everything that happened that day.

 

He put his head onto his hands, and started to quietly sob, he did not understand what was going on, where he was, why he, someone how, through bloodline alone, should be guaranteed a deal with syphon of commerce, was instead sent to some random one, what the entity he met meant about wanting his body and about what it did when it forced itself down his throat.

 

Due to his crying, Ameni did not notice the sounds of slowly advancing footsteps that echoed down the hall, nor did he notice the newly appeared shadow of a figure that darted right onto him.

 

“Boy”, a familiar voice rang out.

 

Ameni opened his teary eyes and slowly looked up at his father, he took on an imposing figure standing against the light, with his grim face. Ameni bolted up and ran to the bars of his dungeon, a relieved expression covering his face.

 

“Dad!”, he exclaimed, holding the bars that separated them, "I am so glad you're here, I thought I had been kidnapped, let me out…".

 

“Shut up”, the man grimly said, “Boy, I want you to answer truthfully for once in your life, What. Did. You. Do ”

 

Ameni tilted his head in confusion, his relief gone, slightly perturbed by the odd look of his father’s eyes, they were cold and calculating, the same look the boy had often seen his father employ with particularly scummy customers in their family business, yet also a angry, with what seemed to be a deep feeling of betrayal.

 

“What in the world is he talking about”, he thought out loud, “What did I do? What does that mean? I don't remember having done anything particularly bad, anyway why have the discussion here, I’m in some sort of dungeon for god's sake”.

 

“Don’t even try endearing yourself to me”, his father suddenly screamed, “What did do you”.

 

Ameni, aghast, and, surprised at his fathers tone, slowly paced backwards, as if he was dealing with some kind of wild animal, and placed his back against the wall, cowering.

“What do you mean”, he said in a weak voice, all the relief and reassurance he felt in his father’s presence evaporating, getting instead filled with yet more confusion and fear.

 

“The syphon of commerce”,his father barked,” Why were you not accepted by the syphon of commerce”.

 

“What godforsaken crime did you commit to not be accepted by the bloody syphon of commerce”, he continued, his voice getting louder and more aggressive the longer he spoke, till it reached a point where it physically hurt Ameni, “You have two generations worth of family devotion behind you, your place under our lord's grace was guaranteed, but then you come back from the day of syphoning with some random hill-bily syphon”.

 

“Dad”, he slowly said, his voice breaking in fear and sadness, deep confusion evident in his speech, “I did not do anything”.

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“You mons-”, his dad screamed, reaching between the bars and grading ameni by the throat, and beginning to strangle hi-

 

“Rysserd stop…”, a determined and cold female voice called out.

 

Ameni looked with hope at the direction of the voice of his mother, “She’ll understand, she’ll knock some sense into dad, right? Right?”

 

“There's no point filthying your hands by touching it”, his mother barked.

 

Ameni blinked, processing what she just said, his hope for his mother dissipating as fast as it appeared, his eyes widening into what almost looked like perfect circles. 

 

 “Listen here, I don’t know what you did, but it was definitely something inhuman, so I don’t care”, his mother continued, coldly looking at Ameni, ‘twas a look full of hate and aberration, one without a trace of sympathy or empathy, “I don’t want you to talk to me, your father, or your sister ever again, in fact, don’t even consider yourself part of our family”.

Ameni felt the pit in his stomach grow as he heard those words, part of him refused to believe that these were his parents, they couldn't abandon him so quickly, without anything other than circumstantial evidence however part of him knew that this was happening, and , worst of all, that this was genuinely true.

 

“Bu-”, Ameni attempted to protest, however his mother interjected, “No nothing, if you truly loved your family, you would know that associating yourself with us would harm us in the long term”.

 

Ameni grimaced for he knew this to be true, the society he was born in was one where reputation and purity were king, if he continued associating with them as someone who has at the very least been suspected of horrid crimes, their family business would get boycotted or even lynched, he then put his head in his hands again and wept.

 

“But-t I-I a-am i-inno-cent”, he sputtered out.

 

His parents stared at his pathetic display, the traces of a smile appearing on their faces, “Sure ye’ are”, his father bellowed, his jovial tone contrasting heavily with the image of his former-son crying his eyes out inside a dungeon, and, trying to stifle a laugh, motioning to his wife for them to leave.

 

“By the way, the guards told me to inform you of the fact that your court trial is in a week, also since you are no longer a part of our family, we will not be providing you with a lawyer”, his mother said in a matter of fact tone.

 

“Actually why don’t we deny the public defender too, I don't think you’ll particularly need it, since you're an open and shut case”, she added, smiling sadistically to the look of disbelief her former son gave her, then turning and leaving with her husband.

 

Ameni stared on at the retreating shadows with tears dripping down his eyes,  his mind a maelstrom of doubts, implications, disbelief, confusion, and grief, he thought about how his father yelled at him, how he tried to hurt him, the cold looks he got from his parents,  the way his mother called him an 'it', the implications of him being  booted from his beloved family, how they planned to deprive him of a public defender, a horrid pit of anxiety growing in his stomach as he asked himself those questions, constantly beating himself up for letting this happen, for embarrassing his family, for letting them down, for being such a failure, for getting in their way, and in the dark frame of mind he was in, he fell asleep.

 

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