Conquering The Darkness

Chapter Eight

Harsh footsteps can be heard making their way towards Lorna's bunk. Fear overwhelms her as she recognizes the sound of those shoes. The closer he gets, the more her body quivers. She's somewhat glad that Nicky and Red are still there with her—at least he won't try anything, she hopes.

Nicky feels the light tremoring of Lorna's body against hers and gazes down into her eyes. "Calm down, kid. He's not laying another finger on ya. Ma and I are right here—we're not letting him hurt you. Ya gotta trust us," she calmly says, running her hand up and down her back in soothing circles.

"What do we have here?" Mendez's voice gets louder as he walks into Lorna's cube.

He glares at the three women. "Nichols, Reznikov, if you don't get the fuck outta here and to your own bunks, you're getting shots! And as for you, Morello, you're coming with me. We have work to do, inmate!" He yells, yanking her roughly out of Nicky's arms—his strong force causes her to fall flat on her face. "Get the fuck up!"

This time it's Red who speaks up to him, after helping the distressed Lorna off the ground and wrapping her in a protective embrace, with a strong amount of anger in her tone. "And what work do you have to do with her at this hour?! It's nine o'clock at night—all work shifts are long over by now!" She glares darkly up at the officer, not caring what trouble she gets in—there's no way she will let him anywhere near Lorna again.

"Ain't none of your business, inmate! Morello, get the fuck over here right now! Don't fucking make me talk to Caputo. Get a move on, we don't got all day!" Mendez barks, walking closer to Red—eyeing Lorna menacingly.

Red's arms don't loosen, only pull the fearful brunette closer. She continues to stare at the officer. "You're not touching her, Mendez," her voice low with venom. "I'm not letting you put another filthy hand on this poor child."

Mendez gives her a cold stare. "Are you telling an officer what to do, Reznikov? Do I need to remind you who the fucking criminal is here? I give the orders, and you will let go of that fucking vile inmate." He makes his way close, forcing Lorna out of the Russian's strong hold, and starts to head toward the exit with her.

Rage at a boiling point, Nicky guards the front of the cube. There is no way she's going to allow his malicious escapades to continue. "Lorna is anything but vile—leave her the fuck alone! She is a fucking human being, not some object that you can toy around with," she growls, punching her fist into the wall.

Meekly, Lorna looks at the raging redhead and gives her a broken smile. She shakes her head. "It's fine, Nicky—he can do what he wants to me...I-I – not like I have a reason to go on with my life, the one thing that meant most to me is six feet under the ground. I'll be fine; don't worry bout me, I ain't worth it," she nonchalantly says, giving one last sad stare, before obediently following Mendez out of the room.

Nicky's rage grows—she grabs the pillow on Lorna's bed and throws it harshly at the wall. "Fuck! Fucking fucker!" She kicks her feet over and over at the medal of the bed, then looks over at Red. "We need to fucking get Mendez caught—I'll follow them and you go find Caputo. This shit ends tonight, ma! I can't fucking stand to watch that sweet girl suffer like this..."

The minute he closes the closet door, he roughly throws Lorna to the floor. He slaps her so hard across her cheek that it leaves a very clear handprint. "You dumb piece of shit! I fucking warned you not to say a word about our arrangement, did I not?!" Mendez brings his hands to maliciously wrap around the petrified woman's neck and squeezes it hard.

"P-p-please s-stop," Lorna sputters out, trying to push his cold hands from her neck. It's starting to hurt her to breathe. Her head feels light—as if she might pass out.