The Theft Under Cover Of Night Ch. 4

By: Asa Montreaux

Chapter Four: The Descent into Darkness

Elias Reed lay on the thin, uncomfortable mattress of his prison cell, the coarse fabric scratching against his skin. The walls, painted a grim gray, seemed to pulse with a kind of malevolent energy, an embodiment of the hopelessness that had settled into every crevice of his soul. The cacophony of the prison—distant shouts, clanging metal, and the occasional wail of despair—was every bit an unwelcome consequence of his actions.

His cellmate, a hulking figure named Raymond, snored loudly, oblivious to Elias’s brooding. Elias, however, was far from content. His mind was a storm of dark thoughts and existential dread. He had never truly believed in the inherent goodness of humanity, but his recent experiences had solidified his cynicism. Life, as he saw it, was a series of random, brutal events where the strong preyed upon the weak, and the veneer of civilization was nothing more than a thin disguise over primal savagery.

Elias’s life had always been shadowed by a pervasive pessimism. From the moment he first held a knife, it felt like the beginning of a profound and inevitable journey into darkness. His crimes, once understood as having a sense of misguided purpose, now seemed like the natural extension of his belief in the futility of existence. The world, in its cruel indifference, had merely confirmed his darkest suspicions. All of his evil work gave him nothing.

He stared at the narrow window of his cell, its iron bars casting a lattice of shadows across the concrete floor. The outside world seemed both tantalizingly close and irretrievably distant. He thought of the brief moments of freedom he had once enjoyed, how fleeting and hollow they now seemed. The outside world had always been a cruel mirage, promising much but delivering little.

Elias’s thoughts drifted to the Thomas family, the innocent family who had been caught in the crossfire of his and Victor’s malevolence. He had never truly understood the concept of guilt, or at least not in the way it was presented by society. To him, their suffering was just another part of the cosmic joke, a further illustration of the absurdity of human existence. He saw their terror and their eventual recovery as nothing more than a symptom of the world’s capricious nature.

The prison, with its relentless routine and harsh conditions, was a microcosm of all this that he despised. Every day was a repetition of the last, a relentless cycle of bleakness and brutality. The guards, with their condescending smirks and indifferent brutality, were instrument of the world’s harshness. They seemed to take a perverse pleasure in the suffering of the inmates, reinforcing further Elias’s belief in the inherent cruelty of existence.

In the rare moments of solitude, Elias would ponder the nature of his existence, the reasons for his actions, and the futility of it all. He had never believed in redemption or atonement. To him, the concept of moral redemption was a delusion—a way for people to cope with the inherent meaninglessness of their lives. He had embraced the darkness within him, and now, in the cold confines of his cell, it seemed to consume him completely.

The thoughts of escape, though, began to flicker in the recesses of his mind. They were not motivated by a desire for freedom, but by a deeper, a more primal urge—a recognition of the futility of remaining imprisoned. To Elias, escape was not a path to a better life but an act of defiance against a world that had continuously sought to break him.

Victor Kane, his erstwhile partner in crime, was the only person who could truly understand Elias’s worldview. Their shared descent into darkness had been a mutual agreement, a pact sealed by their disdain for a world that had offered them nothing but pain. Victor’s absence from the cell, due to a separate conflict, was a palpable void for Elias. Their twisted camaraderie had been a source of dark solace.

The days bled into each other, and Elias found solace only in his darkest musings. The prison, with its oppressive atmosphere and relentless monotony, had become a reflection of his internal landscape. Each passing day was a cruel echo of his own despair. The thought of escape, though, became a beacon of sorts—a way to transcend the ceaseless grind of his current existence, even if it was only an illusory hope.

His dark reveries were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching his cell. The guard, with a sneer etched into his face, slid open the metal bars. “Reed,” he barked, “you’ve got a visitor.”

Elias’s heart skipped a beat. The visitor could only be Victor. Their conversations, though sparse, were the only reprieve from the crushing monotony of prison life. As he walked down the narrow corridor to the visiting area, Elias’s mind raced with the possibilities of their meeting. He wondered what new depths of darkness Victor had uncovered during their separation, and what plans they might hatch together.

In the visiting area, Victor sat on the other side of a thick, glass partition. His face, though weary, retained its cold, calculating demeanor. Elias took a seat opposite him, and they exchanged a silent, knowing glance. Words were unnecessary between them; their shared understanding of the world’s cruelty spoke volumes.

Victor leaned forward, his voice a low, gravelly murmur. “Elias, we have to get out of this hellhole. There’s a way.”

Elias’s eyes gleamed with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. “What’s the point, Victor? We escape, only to find ourselves in another version of this existential nightmare.”

Victor’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not about finding peace. It’s about taking control, asserting our will in an environment that’s determined to crush us.”

Elias considered Victor’s words. They resonated with his own dark philosophy. The idea of escape, though not a path to redemption, was a way to reclaim a semblance of control. The world had shown them no mercy, and perhaps their escape would be a final act of defiance, a way to thumb their noses at the universe that had so cruelly forsaken them.

As the conversation continued, the dark undercurrents of their plan began to take shape. The prospect of escape, though fraught with danger, offered a glimpse of rebellion against the bleakness of their current circumstances. For Elias, it was a chance to transcend the dreariness of prison life, if only for a fleeting moment.

Edited by: Asa Montreaux