Chapter Three -- Is it not an Angel's job to heal and protect the weak and the sick?
The first week of my imprisonment passed faster than I had thought it would. Just like sand falling in an hour glass, the days trickled by in a continuous pattern. So did the opportunities for me to quench my eternally insatiable thirst for answers.
As the days had passed, more questions went unanswered. I spent most of my waking hours outside of the cell in the company of my only actual friends in the prison: Killian and Sebastian. When they were unavailable, I stuck with Jason. Through the passage of the week, I had learned nothing more about my mysterious cell mate. He had made many more deductions about me, though. Jason Demier literally tore through any lies I tried to feed him - which was surprising, given that I was very accomplished at masking any lies I told.
Jason had not been wrong in proclaiming himself a genius. Which made me even more confused as to why that man was in here.
If he was so smart, how did he get caught after whatever he had done?
Had the spider really caught the elusive fly? Or had the fly ensnared the spider in a web of its own?
Ever growing riddles surrounded me. That, and ever growing approaches from inmates. I mean seriously, how desperate did they think I was?The entire week through, I had been propositioned by every kind of man one could find in jail. Except for my three allies....my two friends and cell mate. Killian and Sebastian seemed to have a decent amount of respect for me. They would not try anything with me. As for Jason - I was not very sure. He certainly held no real respect for me, nor did he really seem to care, which confused me further. What were his ulterior motives?
I fiddled with my fingers as I stared at the white ceiling of my cell. The cell doors were still open, given that it was around midday and the inmates were allowed to wander around now. Not unsupervised, just without orders.
For me this meant little. Sebastian spent most of his free time in the library, Killian hung out with him. Jason apparently worked as an assistant in the infirmary. That, among very few other things, was all I knew about the blond man that I shared a cell with.
I listlessly drummed my fingers against my stomach. Was this how my life was to play out? 19 years, locked up in a large cage like a bird? I was bored out of my mind. As much as I loved reading, the prison library was severely lacking in all categories. It had a modest collection at best, but everything that was available for reading consisted mostly of law and prison rights to name a few.
I felt my eye lids drooping and in a moment of weakness, I succumbed to the darkness.
xxxxxx
A quiet house...bathed in dark.
No lights, no movement, no sound. Silence. A still black form rests on the couch, slowly breathing in...and out...
The television is off, the black screen reflecting the impenetrable darkness of the room. Silence.
One rushed set of footsteps...hurrying down the hallway. Sound...
The figure on the couch remains asleep, slowly breathing in...and out...
A shadow looms over the body, a dark shadow of dark intent. A knife, already coated in crimson, rises. The a light reflects off the cold blade, before darkness once again overcomes it. Drip...drop...the soft patter of liquid hitting the floor and other surfaces. Drip...drop...clink...the blade makes a noise as it touches down on the glass coffee table.
A gloved hand, shrouded in shadow, reaches out for the figure on the couch. Drip...drop...liquid life spatters on the sleeping face. Bleary eyes flicker open.
Darkness...Silence.
No one is there...no one, not a trace, except the blood coated weapon resting peacefully on the table.
xxxxxx
My murky blue eyes fluttered open. I rubbed my aching temples, groaning in pain at the sudden headache.
I looked at the window...the sky was slowly reddening. How long had I been asleep?
I clumsily stumbled out off the top bunk, my sleep addled mind completely blocked and incapable of functioning.
I landed roughly on my feet and I froze, pain firing straight up my legs as my feet burned. I was never going to learn, was I? My still-not-quite-awake mind processed the feeling and I fell onto the floor, my aching legs giving out. "What am I doing?" I grumbled, placing my hands flat against the cold floor and pushing myself up.
A deep chuckle. "You know, I was wondering the same thing myself." My blue eyes shot to the source of the rumbling voice. My secret-keeping cell mate was back. His arms were crossed over his muscled chest and his lips were quirked in an odd grin. He was leaning against the..door frame, watching me through amused eyes. I could easily read the mirth that flowed through his usually cold orbs.
"If you are going to mock, then please, do so softer. I have a killer head ache." I muttered, successfully pushing myself up onto my knees. I bent over and groaned again as I tried not to be sick during the dizzy spell.
Another laugh. Distantly, I heard footsteps against the laminated floor. Apparently they were not all that distant as i felt hands lift me up under my arms. I wriggled, but was too tired to fight back with any real spirit.
"What...are you...doing?" I moaned, pain buzzing around my skull and ricocheting off the back of my vision. Try as I might to see, all that processed was a hazy blur of color and black spots. I suddenly felt a soft surface under me. I felt around, only to notice that I was lying on my cell mates bunk.
"Nng...I can...get up...just let me....go." I croaked, my voice rough from fatigue. I did not understand..I had slept for goodness knows how long, why was I still tired? And better yet, why was I feeling sick?
"No." A firm voice breached my ears. "Lie still." The voice ordered again. What was Jason doing? My mind did not register anything for a while, until a cold towel came into contact with my head and my eyes. I lowered my eyes lids over burning blue orbs as I absorbed the soothing feeling of the wet cloth. A sigh escaped me as the pain and heat slowly ebbed away, leaving behind a cool and hopefully collected mind.
"Thank...you." I breathed out, unsure of whether or not my cell mate heard me, let alone if he was even still there.
"You're welcome. Now, take these with your dinner and you should be fine by tomorrow." Two smooth capsules were placed in my hand. Jason's warm hand curled my fingers around the tablets.
I nodded a bit. Neither of us said anything.
"Can you stand?" The blond asked. I nodded once, praying that I would not make a fool of myself again.
My limbs felt insanely heavy as I slid towards the edge of the bed. I curled my legs over the side of it and slowly pushed myself up with my arms. It felt as if all my physical extensions had turned to lead. My legs felt lame, my arms even worse. As I stood up, I could feel myself losing the small grip I had on my balance. Thankfully, before I could topple forward, Jason grabbed my arm and slung it over his shoulder.
Just like that, he practically dragged me to the canteen. My head was slumped down and my feet moved slowly.
Demier unceremoniously dumped me on the bench beside Sebastian before disappearing again. I did not even question his vanishing act. Instead, I turned to Killian, who sat opposite me now, and opened my mouth.
"So..how was your day?" I asked lowly with a small smile on my lips. Killian kept staring at me with wide eyes. "Uh, hello? Earth to Killian Horragin?" I waved a hand in front of his face.
That seemed to snap him out of whatever he had been thinking of. "Ah, this and that...hung out with 'Bastian, did some reading. Still trying to find a way to get my pal out of here." Killian tilted his head to the side and looked at the raven haired man next to me. Sebastian graced him with a minor smile.
For as long as Killian had been friends with Sebastian, he had been trying to find a way to prove that Sebastian's crime was not truly that and that his friend did not deserve to be in prison. I still did not know what Sebastian had done. I had my guesses, but what good were they without any solid answers?
No good at all.
I could feel my head heating up as I began to over think things. I groaned and slumped against Sebastian. The man's onyx colored eyes widened. He looked down at me. "I'm sorry..." I mumbled, "I have a headache...don't feel good."
As if by magic, a plate of food materialized in front of me. It took my pain blurred mind a few moments to figure out that the food had been put there by Jason. The man regarded me for a moment, before he sat down and slowly pulled me into an upright position and off the still-in-shock Sebastian Ravensdale. Jason shook his head at me.
"Hikage." He said. I did not answer. "Hikage." He shook me this time, not roughly, but enough to bring me back to earth.
"Neh...wha-?" I slurred. I felt his hand over mine again. Slowly uncurling my fingers, I allowed him to take the two pills that I had, by some stroke of luck, not dropped. His hand left mine, along with the pills.
A few moments later, I felt something small pressing against my mouth. I opened my eyes - when had I closed them? - to see Jason pressing one of the small tablets against my lips. I relaxed my mouth and allowed the small capsule to slip in. I then swallowed it.
"You should drink something with that - wouldn't want you to choke, now would we?" Jason...joked? I blinked in surprise, my mind suddenly fully aware. Whether it was the medicines or just my brain inducing the placebo affect, I had no clue. Or maybe it was the shock.
My stoic, self-proclaimed genius cell-mate had actually joked. At the expense of my life, but still. A joke was a joke.
I digress.
Feeling much stronger, I lifted my hand and took the next tablet - this time with water. Already feeling much better, I straightened further and began eating.
"Thank you..." I mumbled into my food.
Without question, Jason seemed to know that I had directed that at him. A single nod was all confirmation I got that he had heard me.
I looked down at my food as I mulled over my thoughts. I tried to recall my dream, but it remained hedged on the dark edges of my mind. I could not recall everything, just darkness and blood. I stared into the depths of the unappetizing meal on the plate in front of me. My mind wandered to my information reserves.
Killian Horrigan...nothing important. Sebastian Ravensdale...nothing that I knew yet. Jason Demier...nothing at all. I shook my head. All that I knew about the man was that he was a blond haired genius. And in my own mind an Angel. He treated me as if I was a boy, but he also looked after me as if I was a girl. He asked me questions, but not many. He pulled me apart, mental piece by mental piece, using his eyes and his own mind. I could see it, every time he was looking at me. He was tearing apart my soul as he saw it and rebuilding the puzzle in a way that made sense to him.
But that still did not answer why he was caring for me? Or perhaps my earlier theory, about him being an angel in disguise, was correct. Maybe he was in here for some mistake, just like me. But that brought on more questions than it answered.
If he was falsely accused, then why was he in the Western Wing? From my assumptions, if he was here long enough to instill fear in the other prisoners, then he had to have been in the slammer long enough to have gotten into one of the other wings...when the jail was emptier.
Clink - clink - clink.
I nearly jolted out of my seat as I was awoken from my mind palace. I looked around to notice Jason pulling my tray away from me and standing up.
I shook my head. I was seriously far too distracted than was good for me.
"Come along, kid." Jason tugged my sleeve. Sebastian and Killian were already standing and apparently in the middle of a heated argument. Something about more and more fist fights occurring in the yard. I blinked. Then I realized; I had not been outside since I had arrived at the good-for-nothing dump that Mr. Fancy-Devil-wears-red had gotten me into.
I had no evidence of that fact, but I had my intuition and intellect had never led me wrong before. Never.
I slid off the bench. I was going to test a theory. I allowed my eyes to roll back in my head as I slackened the rest of my body. I slumped backwards immediately. Before I collided with the floor, warm arms closed around me. I blinked my eyes open, employing my ace acting skills.
Jason's face was inches away from mine. I could feel his body heat. Awkward. "You should really get some rest." He whispered, before standing up, with me still mostly in his arms. Awkward - oh, wait, I said that before.
With my upper body supported by Jason's strong frame, I walked alongside him to our cell.
For the short walk, I allowed my head to stop questioning things. All my questions just...fell away, as I enjoyed proper human contact.
I quietly nodded my thanks as Jason pushed me down onto his bunk and stopped me from climbing up onto mine. I could not, for the life of me, understand what had happened that had made me so..under the weather. One thing that I understood was that I could not let anyone see any more of it. Jason aside - my personal protector for now - no one in the prison was allowed to know that I was sick. If anyone figured it out, then not even a Guardian angel would - or could - keep me safe from the grabbing hands of the horrible people I shared an entire prison with.
I moaned as I rolled over. I felt Demier pull the blankets up till my shoulders.
The bed smelt like him. I then realized that we had forgotten to switch our bedding. Well oops. At that moment, with my mind hanging onto the thread that separated sleep and awareness, I couldn't care about anything.
I just let go and fell.