Happiness in the Darkness

He writhed in pain and screamed as he lay on the ground, with the police piled on top of him after being shot in the leg.

The officer who had branded Teyat a murderer didn't care about the pain of the alleged killer. He quickly slapped handcuffs on Teyat's wrists.

The police hurriedly dragged Teyat, limping from the wound, towards the police car.

They had already branded him a killer.

This was because, after Teyat had left the cabin, the police, who had come to this forest searching for the girls abducted by two men, stumbled upon the cabin. It was mostly unburned and had not yet been reduced to ashes. When they entered to check for civilians, they were met with a horrifying scene. The still-intact weapon and the iron rod were quickly scanned for fingerprints, revealing the damning evidence. This was the reason Teyat had been branded a murderer.

In this way, the police had killed two birds with one stone.

•

A stern-faced officer forcefully shoved Teyat into the police car without any mercy.

Despite all the pain he had endured, despite his dreams being crushed, he still smiled.

But hopelessly.

Teyat now understood what was happening.

With a slight smile, he said, "Truly... I am the unfortunate slave of fate."

After a long, excruciating ride filled with cruel and harsh insults from the officers, they finally arrived at the police station.

As soon as he got out of the car, journalists, reporters, and a large crowd awaited him at the door. As Teyat stepped out, wincing from the pain in his leg, the crowd stared at him with nothing but hate in their eyes.

Teyat was surprised, but deep down, he mocked them.

"Hah? So now it's your turn to insult and talk nonsense, huh?"

Two officers grabbed him by the head, forcing him to bow down as they led him toward the station doors.

Suddenly, the journalists and reporters began shouting in unison.

"Why did you brutally murder your family?"

"Are the allegations true?"

"Why did you kill your family? Didn't you feel any guilt when you killed your sister?"

"Why did you do such a horrible thing? What did your father do to deserve this?"

Ignoring the biased and empty words, he kept his head down, closed his ears to their questions, and continued smiling as he was led to the entrance.

Teyat had always hated prejudiced people. They spoke too much without knowing the real truth. Who would want to talk to such narrow-minded people?

In short, Teyat had always despised foolish people. He put prejudiced individuals in the same category. However, in a way, these people worked to his advantage. He used them for his own benefit, manipulating them with his appearance or his sincere and charming words. People always danced to Teyat's tune.

It didn't matter whether it took a long or short effort. Stubbornness, paired with selfishness, was one of the magnificent rewards given to him—along with his intelligence.

And Teyat was never bothered by this because, if the people he deceived were smart, they wouldn't have fallen for his fake actions or judged someone based on their appearance. To Teyat, compassion and judging by appearances were ridiculous in this meaningless thing called life.

For example, at least most people tried to destroy the nature that gave them food and drink, either knowingly or unknowingly polluting it. They made excuses to cover up their mistakes and acted hypocritically. As a result, even though most people had eyes, they couldn't see reality. Even though they had ears, they didn't want to hear the truth. Instead of confronting reality, they chose the easy way out, hiding behind God—a being they didn't even properly know—placing all the burden on Him. Teyat saw most of humanity as a virus, sticking to the world and causing harm like bacteria.

Bacteria that reproduced every day.

This was Teyat's view of people.

•

After a while, as he continued to face insults and prejudiced questions, Teyat turned his back to the crowd, giving them a mocking smile.

"Well, I'm just like you. The only difference is I put my hobbies above people."

Hearing this, the crowd began shouting at Teyat, cursing him angrily.

The police, hearing this, rushed him inside and viciously beat him.

His face was covered in blood, his clothes stained red. Teyat's expression was that of someone who had given up on everything.

But he smiled...

Teyat was taken in for interrogation, and the only thing he said during the questioning was:

"I killed them all."

No, he hadn't killed them all, but even if he said otherwise, all the murder evidence, including the fingerprints on the weapons, pointed back to him.

He had no other option.

Eventually, Teyat was sentenced to life imprisonment by court order.

After the journey to the prison, the place Teyat called prison was nothing but a small, dark place with steel doors and solitary cells.

After enduring heavy insults and beatings, two officers threw him into a cell, a small room with nothing but a filthy pillow and a thin blanket on the floor, a place where no human could live.

As soon as the officer threw the killer into the cell, he slammed the steel door shut, cursing him with vile insults.

Teyat was pleased. He was happy to be in a cell filled with darkness.

At that moment, the officer spoke harshly.

"You'll go to the toilet once a day, eat once a day, and go to the yard once a year. You'll rot here alone for the rest of your life, murderer."

Teyat smiled sincerely.

"I've always been alone."

Suddenly, the officer grew angrier.

"I'm sure you deceived the people you killed with that friendly smile. Rot here, scum."

And the soul, belonging to darkness, remained alone in a cell mostly taken over by the shadows.

As always.

Instead of moving toward the light, Teyat took the pillow and blanket and sat in the darkest corner.

He smiled.

He was at peace... because he was in the dark, in his own space.

But he was also sad. He was sad because he had never truly lived his life to the fullest.

Yet the peace he now felt outweighed the sadness buried deep inside.