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It takes dedication to find this page hidden deep within the Tagonist Knights Website.

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Congratulations! 

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!!!WARNING!!!

--- SPOILERS AHEAD ---

!!!WARNING!!!!

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Where the some Easter Eggs and hidden references are like what you will find on other secondary book pages, many do not follow this pattern. Each of the links connected to one of the thirty two encounters that Avita endures is meant to provide help, assistance, and hope in coping with mental and emotional trauma. Having experienced depression and suicidal thoughts in his past, the author treats these topics with respect. This book is meant to provide insight to these issues.

“Life is more than just survival. It is about staying true to who you are and finding hope when it feels as if there is no reason to continue.” - Mysterious Voice

Fan Favorite

A scene selected from the book.

Prisoner of Silence approaches the idea of a horror genre story with "nightmare fuel" or leaving mental scars on a reader who has to cope with what they visualized while experiencing what is occurring within the pages of the novel. One of, if not the worst, is this creature that has the body of a fully mature spider. Where its head would be is this deformed skull of a newborn baby, but if it was a zombie, a horrific monster. What the author does here that is truly disturbing is taking something so innocent and sweet, like a newborn baby nursing, this cute cooing noise of happiness and turns it into this terrible moment. This disgusting creature makes this cute sound while eating its mother's brains.

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“Failure can be a teaching tool if we use lessons learned correctly rather than allowing it to crush our hope.”  - Mysterious Voice

Relevant Images

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“I’m glad that there is at least a spark of hope still buried underneath all of that pain, that you haven’t given up yet.” – Mysterious Voice

Origin Story:
Back in College

The author wrote a story called "64" when he was in college. The idea was sixty four people with super powers. Some evil, some good, some neutral. There was also thirteen "demons" invading their world. One would lose their powers or get killed (more often they died), and then someone else with unique abilities would vanish. When thirty two individuals remained, suddenly they came back. When they did, the outer boundaries of reality shrunk in size. The Universe was smaller.

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This happened once more as thirty-two became sixteen. This continued from sixteen to eight, eight to four, and finally the last two remained. Each time the larger Universe was reduced until all that was left behind was a small circular space of land. The last surviving hero is confronted by a man named "Mr. X". This mysterious figure transforms into a teenage boy. The hero represents hope. The former "Mr. X", now a boy, represented his depression and he wanted to destroy the world he had created in his mind. It was his way of extinguishing his last remaining reasons to live. He wanted to commit suicide.

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That is the origins of Prisoner of Silence. That's why there is a number at the beginning of every scenario. It is a representation of the current human population on Earth that when halved, will eventually lead down to two. It was one of many elements that reflected the psychology of the central character, Avita. The author originally chose that name since this was a narrative about someone choosing life. The realization that it wasn't her real name didn't come until much later.

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Origin Story:
A Horror Story

When Tagonist Knights Publishing first began, there was a need for a horror story to go with Raven, Knight of Shadows. Being the first writer to work with the company and help it launch, the author dug up this concept from "64" and took a new approach with it.

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The author refused to write the book until he knew its purpose and its ending. That's why he typically didn't like the horror genre. The blood, gore, and pointless death left him feeling hallow inside. That was an issue he had with "64" until its end. So, he began there. When he first began writing the book, he knew it was going to be about a woman struggling with depression. She had led the worst possible imaginable life. Where nothing went right for her. Everyone in her life stole from her, abused her, and did everything they could to destroy her.

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He began with 8,589,934,592, the closest number to the global human population that was also derived from 2x2x2x2 and so on. He proceeded to add up how many times it would take to reach 2 by dividing by 2 at a time. That gave the author the number of scenarios he would be working with. Then he began making a listing of events this woman endured and how he could have a symbolic scene concerning that trauma. For example, a drunk woman representing her mother. A man on drugs representing her father. Fading away to nothing due to memory being symbolic of her grandmother's Alzheimer's disease. This was one of many elements to represent that these events reflected the internal conflict she was struggling with.

Origin Story:
A difficult path...

Originally Avita would wake up in a prison of sorts and see other people in other cells nearby. The "voice" she speaks to is a man in the space next to her. That idea was removed to make it more of a mystery. Who is this voice? What's going on? Since there was only one main individual that was the focus of the story, the author wanted someone for her to interact with. He provided her the ability to communicate with outside of herself, allowing her to explore her thoughts.

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Going into the book the goal of the story was that all of this was her confronting her past and the trauma she endured. Moments when she finds happiness like flying for instance, reflects her embracing reasons to find joy in her life, to live it fully. The group referred to as "they", the ones punishing her, is her nightmares, negative emotions, and self-hatred that is threatening to kill her.

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Before writing the story, the author knew that she had been involved in a car accident, that all of this was in her mind. He inserted misleading information in the form of "she thinks maybe... that this is true." The unreliable narrator in that she doesn't know what's going on and is only guessing. It was a method that the author was using to mislead and confuse the audience without lying to them.

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The author wasn't aware that the male voice that she was interacting with was dealing with attempts to cure his cancer. It wasn't until nearly the end of the novel that there was a realization that he was near death himself, struggling to live. Both Avita and "the voice" are ready to die when this begins, and each are providing the other a way to survive. To find the strength to choose life. It gave a deeper meaning behind his presence in her life and hers in his.

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Origin Story:
In the end...

The original title was "Countdown". Prisoner of Silence reflects that that Avita stuck in her own mind, torturing herself as it is mentioned at the end of the book. The goal was to create horrifying images to leave psychological scars in people's minds much like she endured.

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The author typically doesn't know the conclusion of a book before he begins. This novel was an exception in that he needed to know where the story was going to go before starting the project. The book was built towards a final revelation and resolution to her suffering. 

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An original ending was Avita moves in with Edgar and they start a new life together. The author discarded this concept in that he felt it took away from her empowerment. She needed to do this on her own, to prove her strengths as an individual without relying on someone else.

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It was the hope of the author to help those who haven't dealt with depression to have an insight to the struggle someone is going through. It's an internal battle in fighting one's innermost nightmares, their past trauma, and memories that haunt them each day.

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The story is meant to be about hope, being able to overcome these internal threats and to find the strength to endure. Lastly, this is a story of empowerment. Avita has had everything taken from her. In the end, she finds the strength to take on the world again, hope rekindled, and a yearning to take on the challenge that is life.

“When hatred becomes all-consuming, you lose yourself in it. It slowly destroys you from the inside out.” – Mysterious Voice

Easter Eggs and Inspiration

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Avita means "life". Originally that was her real name, but it was later changed to be symbolic of her want to live.

Mother Smiling With Newborn Baby

Encounter #1

Avita lost a baby after being attacked by her boyfriend. This is revealed at the end.

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Encounter #2

The "spider-demon-baby" is her fear that a potential child may grow up to be just as evil as those who tortured her.

Rifle Bullets

Encounter #3

Avita is haunted by memories of when she was babysitting a little boy that accidently shoots himself with his father's gun.

Swimming Pool

Encounter #4

Memories of being shoved into a pool by a bully, nearly drowning, is reflected in this encounter.

Senior Woman

On page 26, the voice's story about his grandmother dying is based on the author's memories.

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Encounter #5

The muscular man represents the multiple men in Avita's life, including her mother's boyfriends, who hit her.

Pitbull Portrait

Encounter #6

The boy killing animals reflects Avita's memories of her brother doing something similar to pets.

Black and White Kitten

The voice's memories of his cat dying in his arms, is based off the author's memories.

Vaccine

Encounter #7

The man eating the pastry is a reflection of her father's drug addiction that killed him.

Wine Bottle

Encounter #8

The woman drinking who shoots at Avita, represents her alcoholic, abusive mother.

Garden Soil

Encounter #9

Waking in a coffin, being buried alive, is a reflection of her Claustrophobia, a fear of being trapped in a limited space.

Crying Doll

Encounter #10

The animated doll is connected to the only doll she had as a child, one that she found.

On Fire

Encounter #11

Based on a memory of a friend of Avita's brother who was killed in a fire, her brother scarred. This is revealed at the end.

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Encounter #12

The corpse she encounters is derived from a memory of when her brother showed her a dead body of a homeless man.

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Encounter #13

Avita's roommate committed suicide by hanging herself, inspiring this event.

Kids Running

Encounter #14

This reflects her yearning to grow up quickly, only to realize she was miserable as an adult.

Tapas with Ham

Encounter #15

The invisible creatures are symbolic of Avita's yearning to cut herself, often in attempts at suicide or self mutilation.

Reflection

Encounter #16

Avita hates looking at herself in the mirror, a lack of self esteem, her self confidence stolen.

Skeleton

Encounter #17

Avita hates her outer appearence, so strips away everything but what remains underneath the surface.

Young Woman

Encounter #18

Avita feels that she is constantly being asked to sacrifice a part of who she is just to survive.

Skydivers

Encounter #19

Avita's fear of heights, of falling to her death, is personified in this experience.

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Encounter #20

Waking up with amnesia is due to her grandmother having Alzheimer's and losing her memory of Avita.

Dark Ocean

Encounter #21

A return to Avita's concerns of drowning, and the confrontation with a scenario that makes her feel trapped by those fears.

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Encounter #22

Avita often feels alone in a crowded room. Even surrounded by others, she feels isolated and unwanted by them.

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Encounter #23

This is based upon her memories of having only paper dolls to play with, no other toys when she was a child.

Statue of Mary

Encounter #24

Those coping with depression often feel paralyzed, sleeping often, a lack of energy, an inability to move around much.

Grilled Steak

Encounter #25

Avita realized she was taking, never giving back, from those offering her help. It is symbolized by a hunger.

In court

Encounter #26

As she mentions, she could have lied and saved her brother, or tell the truth as she did, to help the victim of his crime.

Security Guard in Uniform

Encounter #27

Avita has spent a lifetime being guarded, protecting herself from threats. Being like that can be exhausting long term.

Sitting at a lake at sunset

Gwidon means life, just as Avita does. It is a reminder to the audience that these two people are struggling to stay alive.

Video Game Developers

Encounter #28

This experience reflects her yearning to escape reality through online gaming.

Lorries Parked In Line

Encounter #28

Being in a truck, driving at high speeds, ending in an accident, is a reflection of how her uncle had died in a similar way.

Runway

Encounter #30

Avita is put on stage and treated like an object, which she feels men often treat her as, nothing more than a sexual fantasy.

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Encounter #31

A broken heart inside of a chest. A play on words being that we, humans, have our heart in our chest. Her heart is healing.

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Encounter #32

This is Avita confronting who she could have become, a dark, twisted, hate filled psychopath. The "evil" version of her.

Fictional Character

Thana is short for Thanatos, which is a name for "death". Avita means life, Thana is her choice to embrace death.

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Annabel gets her name from Edgar Allan Poe's Poem of the same name. It is said he was speaking of his lost love.

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Edgar is named after Edgar Allan Poe, an author well known for his horror stories.

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The woman doing the interview with Annabel is named after Lois Lane from the Superman Comics.

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“I have it on the highest authority that he’ll be alright.” is a reference to a quote from the movie: Date With an Angel.

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The personal trainer, Clarence, is named after the angel from the movie: It's a Wonderful Life

Spider-Corpse-Baby or Spider-Demon-Baby was inspired by a close friend of the author. When asked what she fears most, her response was three things: Dead bodies, evil children, and spiders. He combined those three fears into a single, horrifying image which was not in the original draft. It wasn't added until the second version of the story.

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“They repeat that phrase for you over and over, training you to believe in what they are telling you, that the rules they have given to you are restraints you must exist by. What if you didn’t have to?”  - Mysterious Voice

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