I felt like a pet animal, being enclosed in a cell with only a bench inside. I peered through the steel bars at the two guards-they were fully armed and looked as if they had been bodybuilding all their lives. I clasped my hands together, and closed my eyes, whispering a silent prayer.
Was I ever going to get out of here, without being charged? Was I ever going to be set free? Was prison going to be my home for the rest of my life?
“Jared,” I heard Bane’s voice in my head. I could feel his presence-he was nearby, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. “You’ll be released real soon. And when you do, you’ve got to find the people who exposed us.”
“How can you be so sure that I will be released? If they let me free, you and Raphael-you both should be released too. We’re all in this together, remember?”
“I can’t promise you about Raphael and I being released. We committed murder, and that is a crime. They’ve got us, and they won’t let us go that easily.”
“Unless they’ve got nothing against us,” Raphael interrupted us. “They’ve got no proof against us, man. Those people who died, they were killed by animals, not humans. The headlines-they said animal attack, not murder.”
“Raph-” I started to say, but Raphael didn’t seem to hear me.
“We’re innocent. We don’t kill human beings. And even if we do, we don’t do it intentionally. This is all an accident. We don’t deserve to be in here. Those sons of hell don’t have anything to prove us wrong. Stupid fools!” I could picture Raphael shaking his fists and yelling heatedly.
“Let’s just hope they can’t find any evidence to use against us,” Bane said. “But then again, there is a very slight possibility of that happening. These people-they’ll do anything they can to prove us guilty.”
“There might be a chance for us to get out of here. Jared, we need your help,” Raphael said in a serious tone. “When you are released, you’ve got to help us get out of here, right away.”
“How…how do I even do that?”
“It’s actually pretty simple,” he said. From the tone in his voice, I knew there was something up Raphael’s sleeve, something he had been planning for quite some time.
“What? What do you want me to do? And why are you so sure that I will be set free?”
“All you have to do is destroy all the evidence,” Raphael blurted out. I was shell-shocked.
Destroy all the evidence? How the hell was I supposed to do that? How was I even going to do that when I was still trapped in this filthy jail cell?
“How can I help you when I’m-”
I stopped when a massive-chested, army-material guard came over to my jail cell, and stuck a rusty key in the lock.
The heavy steel door swung open, bringing a very incredulous expression to my face.
“Jared Simmons, you are free to go.”
###
“Take me to him,” Kora demanded. “I want him to know how much I hate him. I want to say it in his face,” she began to stomp away, but Jacque took her hand.
“Hey, hey. Slow down,” he made a soft chuckle. “You’re sounding ridiculous,” he said, and smiled when she avoided his bright blue eyes.
“I just want to let it all out, you know. He destroyed me, destroyed every living part of me. Sometimes, I really don’t know what the point of living anymore is. I…It hurts to be thrown aside, you know?” her body tensed up. “I suffered for months, not being cared for, and not caring for anyone. I don’t want that to happen anymore, Jacque. It hurts, it really does.”
YOU ARE READING
HUNT, OR BE HUNTED
Mystery / ThrillerHe was always blacking out, always confused, losing control of his actions. And when he did, he would have no memory of it. What he didn't know was that there was a monster inside him, a monster that he couldn't control. Once it took over, not a sin...
