She didn't reply. Now that I realized why I felt bothered by him, I suddenly got an urge to question him. Was it possible we'd met before? He certainly didn't seem to know me, nor I, him. Could it have been he'd been in Daofen before? He didn't seem familiar with it.
"Where's Lucas?" Zelda hit my arm, getting my attention, "I haven't seen him."
Instantly, I searched the courtyard for him. He was on my level, so he should've been here, but he was nowhere in sight. "I don't know," I said, "maybe he got held back for something." It was not uncommon for a prisoner to be held back by the guards. If they upsetted someone, or acted the wrong way, punishment could be losing out on an activity. And Lucas wasn't always the "rule-follower".
Across the yard, a loud bell clanged, signaling our outdoor time was up.
"Get in line, get in line! Hans, stand quietly!" the guard barked out. My stomach rumbled quietly. It was meal time, but it got pushed off because some idiot was messing around. Cedric stood beside me, as the inmates that shared cells had to line up together. His glare was fixed on the guard, as if trying to memorize his face for later. I nudged him, not because he could get in trouble for such a defiant glare, but because I could get in trouble.
"Stop staring!" I hissed.
He looked at me, and blinked once. As if he wasn't aware he was glaring.
"Since you gits acted stupidly, your meal time is shortened. By ten minutes." his dark eyes bored into each of ours.
Fury built inside me. We already missed ten minutes! Ten more would mean we only had fifteen minutes left! I glanced around to see if anyone else reacted, and I wasn't disappointed. A quiet buzz of murmurs.
"Now get goin','" the guard ordered. It took all my willpower not to stick my tongue out at him.
The cafeteria was a massive room. You could've fit at least thirty cells in it, and still had room left over. A room that big, of course, had a lot of guards. A security and reassurance in a strange way.
In rows and columns, metal tables with benches attached were placed. It was always a rush to get to the middle or back ones, for some reason. Ultimately, it didn't matter because the security was all over anyway.
Meals were the one time a day the levels mixed, meaning that you could sit with whoever you wanted. Most sat with their inmate friends, and I was no exception. There were certain cliques. The bigger men with the bigger men. The more cautious with the more cautions. Then, there were the weirder cliques. Like bullies with idiots. Actually, they're pretty much the same thing.
After getting my food from the counter, I scanned the room for possible places to eat. Zelda was across the room, eating with her cellmates. They were new too, and I searched my memory for their names.
The blonde girl with her hair somehow knotted into a low bun was Silesia. She was nice, but pretty stupid. The one next to her was Kayli, but she had been with Zelda for more than a year now. And finally, Baenu, a new attractive young man.
On the other side of the room was...my parents. Hard pass.
"Where are we supposed to sit?" Cedric asked, looking somewhat embarrassed. Whether he was embarrassed to ask me, a girl, or that he was new and ignorant, I didn't know. But my ego pulsed smugly.
"You sit where you want," I said snidely, "I'm sitting there." I started over at Zelda's table.
A hand grabbed my arm and swung me around, making my food slide around on the tray.
"Hey! Watch it, you–"
"Dashing young man?" a mischievous voice asked.
A massive, silly grin broke out on my face. If anyone could make an awful day better, it'd be Lucas, my older brother by three years.
"I was going to say 'you bumbling fool', actually," I said.
He rolled his eyes, though a smile remained on his face. "Sure," he drawled out, "sure."
I slapped him playfully in the arm and pulled on him a little, urging him to sit with me, but he didn't budge. "Come sit with me," I laughed.
"After that insult?" he joked back.
Once we settled down at our table, he instantly started questioning me. "So who's the new guy, little sister?"
I shrugged. "New cellmate. Somewhat...mysterious." That was the best word I could think of for Cedric. But then again, most new inmates were secretive. Most still were.
"Mysterious?" Lucas said, barking a laugh. You make him sound like your lover."
I did a double take. He was far from being my lover. I didn't even know him! "He's not, Lucas. I've just met him. Besides, maybe 'mysterious' was the wrong word. He's more of a fool."
"Well those descriptions changed drastically. Perhaps he's a mysterious fool?" Lucas brushed his hair out of his face in a mocking handsome motion.
"You're an idiot," I said.
"You're a fool," he responded.
"Bog Breath."
"Worm Eater."
"Short."
"I am not short!" Lucas protested. "I'm average."
"You're right about that," I say, nodding slightly.
Talking with Lucas was like breathing fresh air after being cooped up. Every second of being with him was precious. I wondered how I would be without him. Then my anxiety took over and I shook the thought out of my head.
I was eating fast. Partly, because I was hungry, and partly because my level didn't have much time left. Only eight more minutes.
"Numaer's stars, you're wolfing this down," Lucas said, scrunching his eyebrows together, "and this isn't even good. Yesterday was much better."
With my mouth full, I gave him a stare and an eyebrow raise.
"Am I wrong?" he asked.
"Yesterday's food was literally the same thing," I said after swallowing.
He played with his food and looked down disparagingly. Then, in a wistful voice, said, "Yeah."
I laughed. We ate in silence for a while, then only talked in short conversations.
"Mysterious fool alert," Lucas hissed, elbowing me.
I looked up and saw Cedric walking over to me. He had no tray in his hands, so I guess he had finished already. I raised an eyebrow at him and he copied my action. Arrogant idiot.
"Can I sit with you?" he asked. His tone was surprisingly gentle and apologetic. I scrunched my eyebrow disapprovingly.
"Actually–"
"No problem," Lucas interrupted. We had a small stare-off, but he won.
"Thank you," Cedric said. I noticed he was fidgeting. Maybe from the first real day in Daofen. Maybe from asking to sit with us. But either way, I'd never seen him fidget before. True, I'd only been with him for a day and a half, but still.
"What stops us from throwing a prison riot?" he asked unexpectedly.
I was so taken aback, Lucas had to answer for me. "Well, there are guards everywhere, crawling the place. And even if you cut them all down, there are hundreds of guards above, escape would be–"
"I didn't ask about escaping," Cedric interrupted, "I asked about a prison riot."
Lucas and I exchanged a glance. What was Cedric getting at? He'd been in Daofen for less than two days. If he was thinking about prison riots this early on, either he was incredibly stupid, as someone as ignorant as him, or he was extremely dangerous. In a smart way. Dangerously smart.
"Prison riots are for reasons. They:re protests. To have one usually implies that the people throwing it demand to be let out, or change the system of the prison somehow. But for us, people who've been in Daofen for years, know that a prison riot wouldn't work anyway," I said.
"So the people here haven't ever even thrown one?"
Lucas intervened. "No, we've had them before. But they were shut down quickly. Daofen is a high security prison. And high security includes discipline. The longest prison riot lasted only five minutes before it was shut down."
Cedric did not respond. He bit his bottom lip in thought and looked around the room. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but I couldn't yet. I needed to get more of a feel before I asked that type of question.
I caught Lucas's eye and had a mental conversation in the span of seconds. It went something like this:
What do you think he's asking for?
No idea, but this fool is going to get me in trouble.
Don't you mean 'mysterious fool'?
Shut up, idiot.
Just as the silent conversation ended, it was time for my level to leave.
Lights out was the ninth hour of the day. You didn't need to be lying down, ready for sleep, but you definitely needed to be in your cell. You always had to really. Lights out just meant that the torches got blown out, all except for a few on the walls, every couple of yards or so, and that you couldn't talk loudly.
Cedric groaned when the guards began to blow the flames out. I rounded on him and gave him a look. I couldn't figure out why he got on my nerves so much. I've had new inmates before, but Numaer's earth, he was annoying me. And it wasn't like he even talked that much or did anything with me! He was just...there. Like someone always watching me. Studying me. But then again, I was doing the same to him. And the people here are always watching you. So why did I feel this way?
"What's wrong with you?" I snarled quietly.
"Nothing."
I pursed my lips but said nothing more. That is, until Cedric groaned again.
"You sure about that?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch slightly.
"Yes."
"Then stop moaning," I said grouchily.
Not two minutes went by before Cedric emitted a low moan. I couldn't resist. I swung around, my arms raised above my head and cursed. Something's wrong so tell me!" I ordered in a loud whisper.
In the dim light his dark eyes were like holes in his head. His face was in shadow. With the flickering of the low light, his face appeared to be shifting, almost...fluid. I didn't like the image.
"I'm cold. I'm hungry. And for Ilka's sake, I'm in a top security prison," he said, coughing a bit.
Empathy for him rushed through me, but nothing showed outwardly. I knew what he was feeling. I just got used to it like everyone else. "Who's Ilka?'' I asked. I had never heard of the name before.
"A deity. Of the Rukbars."
I tilted my head. I'd heard of the Rukbars before, but never met one. They were a religion. "Are you from them?" Then, realizing that was a confusing way to phrase the question I tried, "I mean, are you a Rukbar?"
He gave a small chuckle. "No, I'm not. But my father is and he always said it."
"Oh," There was nothing else to say. For a moment, I wondered if I had a "family saying" like that. Then I realized I didn't because I wasn't quite on speaking terms with my parents.
Cedric shifted on his mattress. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly.
"Here, take my blanket," I offered, handing it to him, "it'll make you warmer."
Without looking at the blanket, he asked, "what about you?" a hint of suspicion was in his tone. I sighed.
"I have the warmer clothes. Daofen didn't give them to you yet, but by tomorrow they will. Also, I don't want a sick cellmate." Privately, I thought that wouldn't help my anxiety levels.
He nodded his thanks, something I found quite patronizing. Was it so hard to say the words "thank you"?
The night went slowly. It had been a couple of months without a cellmate, and getting used to one again was hard, not to mention annoying. Thank Numaer he didn't snore.
But I woke up several times, my anxiety rising. What if he wasn't trustworthy? I couldn't sleep with him, my guard down!
But I had to take a breath. Nothing would happen, and I knew it. As much as Daofen was a jail, it was a well guarded one and that included safety of attacks. There would be no way for Cedric to harm me before guards noticed and did something about it. In an uncomfortable sense, Daofen was the biggest security and comfort I had.
Finally, I slept soundly, and when I woke up, I was delighted to know I didn't dream. For once.
Three weeks went by quickly. Cedric stuck to me like a piece of gum. Not that it was his fault, Doafen always made cellmates do the activities together. But that didn't stop me from getting annoyed.
He was also new, and I understood his feelings. I wasn't and it was only natural to follow every rule and stick with someone who knew the rules. That was me.
The only time I finally shook him was at mealtimes. I'd grab a table with Zelda and Lucas and some other people, making the table full. Those were my thirty minutes of bliss.
But as much as Cedric followed the rules, he wasn't very big on respectfulness. Several times he nearly got himself and I (because we were cellmates) in trouble. He'd curse under his breath and give disrespectful looks at the guards. That may have seemed small, but any movement that could be taken the wrong way could earn you punishments. And honestly, I wasn't interested.
"Listen, you idiot,'' I said once as I shoved Cedric up against a wall, "I don't really care for you. For all I care, you could get yourself killed, it won't matter to me. But don't get me involved. So do me a favor," my voice dripped with poison, "behave while you're with me. Don't act like a snob and throw disrespectful looks and phrases out. Not while you're with me. I've had enough punishment. I don't need you to add to them."
I shoved him to the ground and walked away, leaving him scowling.
It was the fourth week since Cedric arrived that my life started to get interesting.
We Reached the end of chapter one! Sorry that I'm posting the chapters in peices, Wattpad won't let me post so much at once.