I wake with a start, jerking my head from my folded hands, hands now numb from resting on the small metal desk, numb and very cold.
There's something that doesn't feel right, the lights flicker like morse code some are out completely leaving ominous shadows where once was a hallway. It's not the lights or cold that cause the goosebumps to erupt on my arms and cause icicles to creep down my spine, it's the smell. It smells damp and fusty there's a rotten almost vegetable smell underneath the other odours, trying to hide.
I glance around the small cell the door is wide open, the lack of any sound seems to indicate that the rest of the inmates are not around. raising from the hard metal seat I wander out of the cell and see along the hallway that the rest of the cell doors are wide open, I check inside each one and get the same result, empty.
As I continued my search of the prison the officers were gone and with every minute that passed the lights seemed to dim even more. I was on the last set of cells when I started to hear a slight whimpering sound coming from one of the rooms, as I got closer I could also hear someone soothing the crying girl, I looked into the room and saw a young woman roughly 18yrs old holding a doll under her right arm frantically stroking it's head with the other hand, rocking backwards and forwards all the while sobbing very softly only letting out a few choking whimpers at a time. The woman that was trying to comfort her was around the age of 40 yrs old, she had one arm around the girls shoulders and the other hand was stroking the wet matted hair from the young girls eyes.
'Hello dear' the older woman said.
'Hi, I didn't think I would find anybody still around, everybody else seems to have legged it.'
'Not legged it' sobbed thegirl, 'Not run off' she was shaking her head from side to side when she spoke emphasising the negative meaning in her words. 'shush now Naomi, try and calm yourself, mam's here, shuuuuuuuuuush' the old lady rested her head on Naomi's and continued rocking with the young woman.
It was then that I realised who they were, newly convicted Naomi and Jennifer Clifford. They were incarserated because they killed someone, they pleaded self defence, that was their whole defence but when you kill a priest, and not just kill him they completely butchered him, juries don't tend to believe self defence. I could feel myself stiffen on realising who they were, I wasn't an inmate, I was a nurse doing the daily rounds when a strange feeling came over me making me want to throw up and run away I remeber feeling like I was being smothered, then I woke up in that cell.
'Well I'm going to get out of here and find out whats going on.' I backed up as I was speaking finally turning round towards the open door, nearly out, nearly away, but then I felt Jennifer grab my hand tight, so tight it felt as though the bones were being crushed. 'You take this lovey' she thrust something into my hand, I left the cell and opened my hand and looked at the object now hanging from my fingers. It was a necklace with a strange pendant hanging from the end of it.
The tear drop pendant was about 2inches in length and an inch at it's widest, it was also the deepest blood red that you could ever imagine, and right in the centre if you squinted hard enough you could just make out a small lock of hair. The red had a deep shimmering almost liquid consistancey, mesmerising in it's beauty yet something about it filled me with a feeling of utter revultion.
