Hellbound

Chapter Eleven

I watch while he moves around the room before going into the bathroom and showering. My eyes start to flutter to the sound of the running water, the bed warm from West's body temperature.

I wake briefly as West says goodbye with a kiss before I hear the front door close.

*

It's been a week since Hex found out we're Darlings. I had done my best at avoiding him and to be fair I'd done a damn good job.

Whenever Josie asked me to help her with taking the inmate's in and out of their cells I made the excuse that I wasn't comfortable handling them yet and that last week had cemented that. She accepted it and asked no further questions.

As for the Rec Room, whenever I saw the guard's leading Hex in on the cameras I stayed in the tower until he was lead back to his cell. Multiple times I had seen his eyes wonder up to the tower while I watched him. I knew he could feel my eyes on him but the tinted windows stopped him from viewing me.

I had no way of completely avoiding him though. Josie and I stand around the Yard watching as inmate's are lead from inside to outside. Colin stayed in the tower, Josie said he likes to strictly stay on the I.T. side of things and not get physically involved with the inmate's.

My heart rate picks up everytime a new inmate walks through the doors, I know he'll be here soon. I just have to show him he has no effect on me.

Our backs are against the brick wall as we watch the inmate's; multiple other guard's stand around the Yard, including Reg.

There's a basketball court and an area with gym equiptment, everything is securily screwed into the ground for safety reasons. An open grass field stretches along the fence with tables as well.

"How long will they be out here for?" I ask Josie. I had grown to learn the schedule but I had never been outside while the inmate's are in the Yard.

She shrugs "I don't know" she looks to the sky, squinting her eyes in the sun "it's the first nice day in a while so probably longer then usual" she answers.

I know he's here. My body picks it up as soon as he walks out the door and into the Yard. My skin prickles and my sense's come alive, wanting to seek him out.

He hasn't seemed to spot me yet; it could be because I'm never out in the Yard so he doesn't expect me to be here. For the time being, while he doesn't know I'm here I'll take my fix of him.

I watch as the guard's uncuff and unshackle him. It's the first time I had seen him fully uncuffed. I wonder why but then it clicks. If anything were to happen in the Yard, he would be able to protect himself, I don't know about the other inmate's safety though.

"If he's in Solitary Confinement, why is he allowed out here?" I ask Josie as I nod my head in Hex's direction. She follows my eyes and takes a second to answer.

"He's in there because he wants to be, not because he has to be" she explains "he still gets Yard privileges if he wants them". I nod, makes sense, I guess.

Hex is the only one from Solitary Confinement to come out onto the Yard.

As soon as the guard's uncuff him he makes his way over to a table that resides on the grass field. It's away from everyone else as they play basketball and excerise on the gym equiptment. He sits facing everyone, his back to the fence to the outside. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it, the smoke flying around him.

I look away once his eyes start scanning the area, knowing he's about to see me.

My brand jumps and I know he's eyes are on me.

The sun's hot as we stand outside with no shade, the heavy guard uniform doing nothing to help.

It's fine for the first hour. Until it's not. A man bulky in appearance with tattoos covering most of his body including his face starts a problem with one of the other inmates.

Josie stands straighter, her posture ready to spring into action.

"What's happening?" I ask, even Hex's gaze has been redirected from me to them as they start to shout.

"That's Aaron Briggs with his little army" she says, not taking her eyes off him.

"He looks mean" I reply. She nods.

"He is".

He gets in the face of the other man; his words can't be heard from here. His group of three other men stand behind him, they're smaller then him but I'm sure they'd still be able to do serious harm.

A few more words are passed between the two before Aaron shoves the man in the chest and that's how it starts.

"Hey!" Reg shouts over the chaos as the whole Yard erupts. The two men end up on the ground as a circle forms around them, the scene reminding me of a high school fight. The other inmate's hoot and holla, showing their support for the men.

My eyes zoom to Hex, watching as he stays seated at the table.

"Grab your pepper spray" Josie says as she pulls out her own and starts towards the brawl. I follow her, watching as other guard's get there first, attempting to break them up. There's already blood everywhere, staining the ground.

"Get on the ground!" John shouts as he sprays pepper spray everywhere. I can see the particles flying in the air.

All the inmate's get on the ground, their hands on the back of their heads.

John and Reg get it under control quickly; both the men are cuffed and pinned to the ground. Multiple inmate's are grabbing at their eyes from the pepper spray.

"Poppy" Josie rubs her eyes as she reaches for me. Seconds later I feel it too. The burning attacks my eyes and my throat as I breathe it in. I grab at her arm too, my eyes becoming too hard to open.

"Rob!" Josie shouts for one of the guard's in a panic. I wipe at my eyes trying to clear them as I cough when my throat becomes tight.

I flinch when I hear footsteps running up to us thinking it's an inmate but when a hand is wrapped around my arm, holding me I know it's a guard.

"C'mon girls" he leads us both away from the scene. I can hear Josie sniffling as my eyes water so much it looks like I'm crying. I can't bear to open my eyes or pay attention to anything else as I try to breathe through the pain.

I trip on my feet but am caught by Rob's hold on my arm.

"Stay down, Rose!" Rob shouts over my shoulder. My body doesn't even react to Hex as it's only focus is staying calm.

We're lead inside, the temperature dropping from the outside heat instantly. Rob takes us down a few hallways and around a couple of corners before we arrive at the nurse's office.

"Liv!" he knocks on the door, her heels can be heard before the doors unlock.

"What happened?" her voice sounds sweet as we're lead inside.

"Pepper spray" he answers "inmate's will be in here shortly" I hear his voice fade as he leaves.

"Come here, girls" we're lead to a sink where water is flushed into our eyes, the coldness bringing instant relief and my throat starts to let up.

"What happened out there?" Liv asks from somewhere behind us. I can hear her rustling through things, probably to prepare for the inmate's.

"Fight" Josie mumbles from beside me.

Five minutes later and I can final take the water away from my face. I can hear inmate's being treated in the next room, a lot of them are cussing out the guard's for pepper spraying them.

Josie pulls her face away from the water too. I find a roll of hand towel and hand her some to wipe her face as I do the same.

"Fucking hell" she grumbles as she wipes the snot from her nose, making me chuckle.