𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪
With each step I take, I feel the fear consume my heart from the unknown of what awaits us behind this prison. So many possibilities, yet all I can hope for is that we will survive this.
Although fear rushes through me like the blood in my veins, I never show an ounce of fear for these bastards. I keep Jungkook's encouragement in mind and keep my head held high.
As we walk through the entrance doors, cops come up, shoving us in a straight line as we walk through the inner gate.
One second I'm standing in the front of the line, almost protecting the others behind me, and the next I'm being shoved into a room all alone by the female cop who was holding me back earlier and am forced to strip myself.
Then cold water is poured on top of my bare body in filthy buckets over my head, and I scream from the teeth-chattering temperature of the water. They force me to use lice shampoo and wash my hair as well as other parts of my body.
When I'm done cleaning, one of the other female guards pushes me against the wall, telling me she's going to perform a search.
I feel her gloved hands roam my body, checking every part of me to make sure I'm hiding nothing. When she goes down there, I have to bite my lip from the pain her roaming fingers cause me.
When she clears me, I quickly grab the grey prison suit one of the other female guards tosses at me, but I don't miss the bloody gloves the other guard throws away in the trash and the blood smeared around my thighs from her roughness when checking me.
And like that, a form of my innocence will forever be gone. The brutality of this prison is dehumanizing.
They hardly give me time to dress, but when they return my underwear, I quickly slide them on and hook my bra in place. The last thing I need is to be walking around here with no underwear. Afterward, I slip on the grey suit and put on the matching grey sandals.
Once I'm dressed, they bring me over to a stool and forcefully cut my hair. I feel them cutting it all off, watching long strains of hair fall and hit the floor.
When it's over, they pull me up and push me to the side of the room while they clean up for the next girl.
My hands come up to my hair, feeling how short it is. It's cut unevenly with certain pieces of hair sticking up. It doesn't hang at all. I can hardly rake my hands through what's left of my hair.
Then, before I can fully take in what I just went through, one of the guards grabs my arm roughly and pulls open the door, and shoves me outside to the line of girls.
They all look at me in horror, eyes wide with fear as they see the braveness I force myself to keep. Some of them cry when they see me, but I don't when I look at each of them.
All of a sudden, the female guard grabs what she can of the remainder of my hair and makes me walk out of the building. She makes me walk past everyone who's lined up, and they all stare at me, but I keep my head forward.
However, when we make it to the boy's line, I see Taehyung looking and not recognizing me for a second.
Only after a few more steps, my eyes meet Jungkook's, and his eyes drift right past me to the cop holding me by the hair. If his looks could kill, this woman would be on the ground.
"This," the woman yells, pausing to yank my hair which causes me to wince, "is what you're going to look like. Get a good look at this girl, boys because soon every one of your friends is going to be looking just like her. You can start fucking each other once we separate you, considering this slut right here could pass off as one of you men with this haircut." Suddenly, she shoves me into the line of boys who luckily catch me from falling.
They hold me up until I'm on my own two feet, and Jungkook watches from his spot, not being able to move to catch me himself.
"There's something you're forgetting. This is our family, and we will always be there for each other. We may not always know each other, but if they're a member of our true crew, then nothing will stop us from being there." I hear Taehyung's voice speak up as he steps out of line to confront the woman.
"You have no right to treat us like this. We are human beings," Taehyung walks up to the guard where we watch her pull out a taser gun from her side belt and pull the trigger which tases him instantly.
He drops to the hard ground and shakes uncontrollably, but when Jungkook steps out of line, the woman looks at him next.
"You take one more step, and you're next—"
"You're going to kill him you fucking bitch!" Within a second, I see Twix run past me and tackle the female guard. Twix punches her hard in the face where she drops the taser gun, and Taehyung can finally breathe despite the pain.
I watch other guards come running up to grab Twix, but instead, I run forward and reach Twix before they do. I pull Twix back from the cop and watch as the other guards stop running as they watch me.
I hold Twix back, despite her elbows hitting hard into my ribs and her kicking my legs as hard as she can for me to let her go. After her painful hits are too much, I throw her to the ground behind me.
"Enough, Twix!" I shout over her, wiping my bloody nose from where she head-butted me. "It's enough, and you're making it worse. Everyone listen, this is not helping. I know you're angry, and I know you're frightened, but trust me, acting like this isn't going to help us one bit. It's unfair and it's inhumane, but we are helpless here. If we want to survive this place, no matter the shit they put us through, we have to endure it because we don't have anything to defend ourselves with." I watch as every single person has their eyes on me.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm encouraging you to listen to what I'm saying. We don't know what awaits us in this hellish place, but doing this," I throw my hand to the cop on the ground who Twix just tackled, "isn't going to get us out of here. I hate them and trust that whatever vile thought you've had about these people, I've had them, too. I know you don't follow the rules, but for once in your life, follow them here as if your life depends on it because, at this point, I'm pretty sure it does."
Despite how I know people are probably pissed at me for stopping Twix, I see the silent nods and looks of approval in the crowd.
Without waiting for anybody, I quietly walk ahead toward the front of the line where one of the guards comes up and wraps her arm around my shoulder.
Surprisingly, she thanks me for stepping in as she guides me into the prison once the other guards start resuming their work of cleaning the women.
"I hate the cops here," she admits, softly shaking her head in shame. "Do you have someone you would like to bunk with? I don't have a high position here, but I can help as best as I can—"
"Why? So you can beat me, too? I'm fine with whoever I end up bunking with—"
"Vee, trust me," she urges, but I look at her worried.
"How do you know my name?" I ask, watching the way she opens one of the doors and leads me into a large room full of places to sleep with of course bars to accompany us.
"Let's just say that I'm a friend of a friend you haven't met yet," she guides me up the metal stairs while pulling out a key and sliding the black bars to the side once we make it to the second floor.
"What does that mean?" I ask once I step into the small room that has two beds, a toilet, and a sink.
"Tell me who you want to bunk with, and I'll tell you. Once we can trust one another, then we can start talking." She says while sliding the bars to the side and locking me in. She stands on the other side waiting.
She could tell the others, but seeing as we're already in here, I don't see what trying could hurt.
"Barbie. I want Barbie to bunk with me, but don't let them search her. She's pregnant. She wouldn't tell them because she doesn't want to appear weak." After I admit that, she nods.
"I'll keep an eye on her, and I'll have her bunk with you. I won't let them touch her. I'll sneak her in without being searched." I nod and wrap my hands around the black bars.
"Thank you. Now tell me, what do you mean by you're a friend of a friend who I haven't met yet?" I ask, but she looks behind her, then grabs a white envelope from out of her shirt and hands it to me through the space in the bars.
"Read this; it's important. It's from someone who's been watching you for a while. That's all I can say for now, but we'll talk later. I have to get back before they pull Barbie into the examination room."
As she walks away, I find myself looking down at the white envelope. I walk to the bed where I sit down on the edge.
Turning the envelope over, I read my name written on the front cover. As I carefully open the envelope, I pull out a letter.
Slowly, I unfold the piece of paper and begin reading the note. As my eyes scan the words, they suddenly start widening.
"Hello Vee,
We haven't formally met yet, but I've heard a lot about you, and I'm sure you have of me.
I've been in hiding, but we'll have time to get caught up with everything later. I know you must have a million questions, but know that I'm someone you can trust.
For now, I need you to gather any witnesses you can against the mayor. Do that, provide the evidence of him abusing his power, and then we can arrange a meeting.
Until the next time,
—A Friendly"
I hold the letter tightly in my hand, eyebrows narrowing as I take in the words of this supposed friendly stranger.
𓆩・༺ ꔫ ༻・𓆪