Monster Minds [completed]

Chapter 1

It was yet another five minutes before I reached the cafeteria, better known as the prison most chaotic area. Food fights were common, waffles were mostly always stolen, and the occasional rat was placed in peoples chicken soup. Although the place wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, it was one of the only comfortable areas I could talk to some of the prisoners without being endangered. At least seven people guarded the area at any given time.

Uncle George was waiting for me at the far back table, away from prying eyes, casually slurping on a yellow soup. I smiled as I approached him and his head jerked up, already prison guarding his food. His arms relaxed around his food as he recognised me, realising his food was in no harm. I lowered myself into the seat opposite him and my ankle  sighed in relief. The room was already bursting with prisoners, hungry for their afternoon snack.

"Right on time I see," George said as he placed his bowl down onto the small rectangular table. His lips quirked up at the sides, he never showed his teeth when he smiled. His front teeth were chipped and he was missing both fangs from being beaten by both prisoners and the guards. "What are we up to today?" He asked, a knowing twinkle in his dark brown eyes.

"The real question is; what am I not up to today?" I replied with a laugh.

"Answers a question with a question, typical, Emily." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Shifting in his seat, he let out a small chuckle, his shirt matched the grey of the walls.

"What can I say? You know me too well." I said with a shrug. "How are you? Have you spoken to Lila yet?" I asked. His face crumpled and he shook his head.

"No," His voice cracked. "They won't let me till my behaviour 'improves'" His eyes saddened and he looked at the ground. Lila is his daughter, aged 25, and she refused to talk to him since she was old enough to understand what happened to her mother. George was in prison because of the charges held against him claiming he murdered his ex wife and her husband. Those two murder charges left him in prison until his life is taken in execution.

"Oh... are they still holding you responsible for that beating a few months ago?"

"The bruises on my knuckles and my bleeding lip gave them every reason to think so, so yes." He said and slumped into his chair. There had been a beating of a guard a few months back and fingers were pointed at George so unfortunately they had to penalise him. They gave him a beating and no outside communication as a punishment. For a moment, I was angered that my father hadn't done anything -- there was no proof that George did it, yet still they had to blame someone. That same day George had beaten a man who tried to rape him and I assumed that the same man who attempted his rape framed him for the beating.

"So what have you got for me today?" I said, hoping to change the subject. He smiled, probably grateful to talk about something else. He glanced around, looking for prying eyes, before slipping his hand up his sleeve. Out came a piece of paper, scrawled with letters, black ink all over it. It was a page from a book, most likely Shakespeare, but if you looked close enough you could just see the tiny words written between the lines. I didn't read it, but tucked it into the waistband of my skirt.

Once it was out of site I picked the conversation back up.

"Anything that can't go on paper?" I asked. There were certain things we agreed to never put on paper, like names or cell numbers, in case it was ever found or stolen. The words that were written were always coded and to anyone else it would look like gibberish. It was the only way we could really communicate things to each other that we didn't want others to hear. I was currently working gather evidence that would allow him to see his daughter, and I guessed that something on that paper would help me achieve that.