I unenthusiastically observed the uneventful game of football (as in soccer), which most people were participating in. Obviously, I was not. Physical activities were never something I enjoyed, although I was probably one of the weakest and most unfit people here, I did not plan on changing that. Even simply watching it felt worse than the most brutal torture, but I forced myself to do it for my own good.
The prisoners were allowed to play a chosen sport, once a week, on the paved part of the courtyard, but now was the first time I was actually here to watch. On all other occasions, I was avoiding it with Vic, in my cell or at Work Experience. Today, everyone had agreed on playing football and that made me dread the day even more.
Why was I dreading the day, in the first place? Vic would be out of solitary confinement. That was also the only reason why I was on the courtyard in the first place: I wanted witnesses when he would inevitably murder me. It would not exactly help me personally at all, as no one would dare stop him (probably not even the officers and, when he was wrestling Mike, they only did so because they were brothers), but at least he would get what he deserves afterwards. Also, I was afraid of being alone with Vic. He would surely do something reckless and I did not want to be by myself when it would happen.
I felt almost guilty for thinking so badly of someone I had grown to trust, but he was as unpredictable as a wild animal which could prance on you at any given moment. I had to remind myself that Vic was not my friend and that he was out to get me, just like most people here.
My eyes were fixated on Gerard, who was currently swiftly dribbling the ball to the opposing team's goal. His long hair was loosely tucked behind his ear, to avoid obstructing his vision, and there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Just as he was about to score, a man who I recognised as part of the 'troublemakers' group ran into him from the side, brutally knocking them both to the ground with an evident thud. They fell onto the concrete and I winced, almost feeling the impact of the hard ground on my own skin. A whistle was blown and, in less than a couple of seconds, Frank had sprinted across the entirety of the pitch and was kneeling down next to Gee to make sure that he was alright, as the referee approached them. It was sure to leave a bruise or two, but I was positive that Gee would be fine.
Gerard's attacker was ordered off the pitch and the game started up again, as if nothing had ever happened. I was paying so much attention to them that I nearly did not notice a very familiar man exit the building. Nearly. My eyes widened in horror, as I watched Vic speedily make his way towards me with the brightest of smiles on his face, like a child on Christmas day. I pushed myself off the fence and stiffly stood on my two feet, never taking my eyes off him in case he pulled out a knife and attempted to slit my throat. Not that I would have been able to do much about it, with how weak I was, but it was worth a try.
As he finally reached me, Vic outstretched his arms to pull me into a hug (where he would probably strangle me and play it off as an accident), not caring that everyone would see us as they were still afraid of him more than anything else in the world. Usually, I would have gladly accepted it but, this time, I stepped away from the short man, not feeling a tad of remorse when his face completely shattered from a cheerful grin into a heartbroken frown. Vic's eyebrows knitted in confusion and his face showed a look of hurt and betrayal. However, I kept telling myself that it was not real and he was just pretending. Vic would be a great actor.
Of course, it was difficult for me too. I had grown extremely close to Vic and it was painful to just break it off with him, especially after craving his presence for an entire week, but I would rather be safe than sorry. He probably had not changed at all and, if I did not end this, I would end up just like his three previous victims. And I was not ready to die just yet.
"Kellin?" Vic's usually-pained, husky voice held even more sorrow than usual, if that was possible, and for a second I thought that maybe he was being genuine, but quickly shook the feeling off. It was absurd. Vic was a heartless murderer and he did not have any remorse for me in the slightest. "What's wrong?"
"We can't be friends," I said bluntly, but quietly enough so that no one but Vic would hear me.
"What?" He retorted in (obviously, fake) shock, his frown deepening.
"I don't want to be near you anymore," I choked out, looking down at the ground, clenching and unclenching my fists as anxiety plagued my brain like a disease.
"Why not?" He quickly asked, attempting to reach out his hand to me again, but I stepped even further away, leaving a couple of meters between us.
"I know what you did, Vic." For the first time in a while, I fully gazed him in the eyes. He nervously chewed on the corner of his bottom lip. Vic's mouth opened and closed, much like a fish, as if he was trying to form words but was unable to. Finally he spoke, and his sentence just made me scoff.
"I can explain!"
"Explain? What is there to explain?"
"Kellin, please, just listen. I really don't want to lose you, so hear me out this one time."
"Vic, you murdered three people. How am I supposed to-?"
"Two," he cut me off. Seeing my puzzled expression, he elaborated. "Two people died."
"But-" I was stopped by my own gasp, as I watched the football get catapulted into the air and crash into Vic's side, making him clumsily stumble for a second, but he somehow managed to keep his balance. Vic took a deep breath and, with nothing but malice in his eyes, he turned to Ashley, the one who had kicked the ball in the first place. The dark-haired man was frozen in fear.
Vic slowly started advancing towards him and I panicked. As much as I disliked Ashley, I did not want him, or anyone, to get hurt.
"Vic, no!" I cried and jogged up to him, securing both hands on his shoulders from behind, just as he had placed his feet down on the edge of the pitch. The touch almost burned my skin and felt like acid, but I knew that it always seemed to calm him down. All eyes were on us, awaiting Vic's next move. "He didn't mean it, please don't kill him. It wasn't his fault!"
"Why would I want to kill him?" Vic turned his head to look at me, puzzled, but I didn't dare return the gaze. Maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but Vic was unpredictable and, if he wanted to, he probably could have killed Ashley even though the other male was larger than him. "Kellin, I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Then why did you kill those people?" I whispered, removing my arms from his shoulders and, as soon as I did so, Vic clung onto my wrist and proceeded to drag me inside. I struggled against him, afraid for my life, but it was no use as he was much stronger. He lead me through to his cell, which I had gotten very familiar with over the past few of weeks, and shut the door behind us.
I automatically backed into a wall, trying to be as far away from Vic as possible. He looked annoyed with me, but I did not care; I was in a room, alone, with a bloodthirsty psychopath.
"Who told you?" Vic demanded, in a strangely calm voice. I hoped that someone was watching the sneaky cameras at that moment in time, because I needed video evidence in case Vic murdered me, which I was sure he would.
"No one," I bitterly hissed. Danny and I were nowhere near being allied but, once again, I did not want anyone to get hurt by Vic.
"I promise I won't do anything to them, just tell me."
I sighed. Vic was always very stubborn and would probably interrogate me until I spilled everything, so I gave in.
"It was Danny."
"What exactly did he tell you?" He asked, seemingly unaffected by the information I just gave him. "I need to know everything."
"He said that..." I hesitated, but decided to trust Vic on keeping his promise of not hurting anyone, "that you killed three people: your best friend, your girlfriend and your brother." I looked up at him for a reaction, but he only urged me to carry on. "Your shot your friend, stabbed your girlfriend to death, then slit your brother's wrists. After that, he said that you...um..."
Did I really want to say this? I hated talking about suicide, as it was such a sensitive topic and it made my skin crawl. And talking about the suicide attempt of someone I used to trust was so much worse than it normally would have been. I felt extremely uncomfortable, but Vic would not give in and he obviously wanted to know every little detail of Danny's story. I always knew that Vic was very persistent.
"You tried hanging yourself, but the police got there in time to save you. No one else survived though."
Vic huffed out an exasperated breath and massaged his temples with his fingers, as if he was trying to comprehend what I told him. What was there to comprehend though? He was there, after all.
Next came a long wait for his reply. He was probably thinking up the most believable lies to tell me, so that I would not doubt anything he said. However I had already prepared myself mentally the day before, and I built a wall around my feelings which Vic's soft side could always reach out to. But not today.
"It's pretty accurate, but some parts are wrong," he finally spoke lowly, after what felt like a lifetime of piercing silence. I had been unconsciously holding my breath, so hearing him speak was a great relief to my desperate lungs.
"Wrong?"
"Yeah, for instance it wasn't my girlfriend," Vic paused, clearing his throat and closing his eyes, "it was my boyfriend."
"Your what?"
And just like that, I let my guard down. My eyes widened and I was certain that I heard wrong. Boyfriend? No It couldn't be. Victor Fuentes, the most dangerous man in Irongate Prison surely could not be gay!
"My boyfriend," he repeated, slower this time so that he was sure I understood.
"You're gay?" I was in a state of disbelief.
"Yes," Vic gave me a minute to collect my thoughts, although it was nowhere near enough, before carrying on. His voice was unusually dull, almost as if speaking of this drained him of all liveliness. "My boyfriend's name was Jaime. Then there was my friend, Tony. Danny got it partially wrong, because Tony was stabbed a few times too, before being shot in the head."
I nodded and gulped, not really sure which was worse: being shot or being stabbed and shot.
"And here's something I didn't even know about, until last week." Vic gave me a glance, to make sure I was listening (which I, intently, was), then averted his gaze back to the floor. "Only two people were killed. My brother didn't die. Mike was saved too."
The realisation came like a refreshing slap to the face, as everything clicked into place like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. This explained those two scars, that made Mike's arm tattoos look disfigured, which I noticed on his wrists while hanging out in his room. Also, Vic's attack on Mike now made sense. He probably wanted to finish what he had started and end his brother's life right there and then, but the police got in the way and he did not get a chance to do so.
I felt nauseous. A sickening feeling made me want to be as far away from Vic as possible, but I was too scared to move from my place by the back wall of the cell. Heck, I was too scared to even blink and my eyes were starting to feel uncomfortably dry. Vic was a dangerous man with spontaneous tendencies. He was also very sneaky, as I had found out that he managed to steal a roll of tape from one of the officers, so stealing a gun or a knife would be no problem for him.
I gulped, as tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I felt like I had truly lost someone who I cared for. This wasn't even Vic anymore. The Vic I knew was kind and lovely and harmless. This Vic, however, was a merciless, insensitive killer who would, undoubtedly, hurt me in one way or another at the moment I least expect it.
"But Danny got one main aspect of it wrong," Vic carried on startlingly. I thought that his explanation was finished but, obviously, it wasn't. "In fact, everybody got it wrong. Only five people know the truth and you're about to be the sixth because, Kellin..."
Vic took a shaky breath.
"I didn't do it."
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A/N
This was an interesting chapter to write. What do you guys think? I'm ahead of schedule (fucking finally) because I already have the next chapter written, but I'll publish it in 5 days. I can't wait for your guys's reactions on the next few chapters, because some fucked up stuff is planned.
Thanks for reading.