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Chapter twenty-nine

Nadia

I t’s 1900 and though I didn’t set a rendezvous point with Kace, he’s late. He’s never late, not like he has anything else to do but be here. I’ve gone from the cafeteria, where I last saw him, to the library, his cell, gen pop, the rec yard, and even checked in with Cindy at the medical bay before she left for home. No one has seen him and I know the fucker isn’t slick enough to get past me by simply walking.

Something is wrong and every little spidey-sense in me is screaming to hunt him down.

In a last-ditch effort, I make my way over to Matias’s cell and call out to him. I don’t want him thinking I am intruding in his space when I have held nothing but respect for this man the entire time I have worked here. He’s kept Kace safe after all, despite the run-ins with the AB.

“Ayala, get out here.”

“Aye, kitty-kitty, what is it?” he responds, his thick Hispanic accent hugging the words while they flow from his mouth. His bulky frame moves just inside before appearing before me, at the threshold of the cell bars.

“Have you seen Patton today?”

“No, mama, I haven’t. Last I saw him he was getting dragged off by that deranged guy before you molly whopped him. Why?”

“I’ve not seen him either and it’s unlike him to be MIA like this.”

“Have you checked the showers?”

“Yes, I’ve gone to all his usual haunts, Ayala. Please tell me you know something about him that I don’t.”

“Lo siento, I don’t.”

“Fuck me. Okay, thank you.”

“Hey, when you do find him, can you tell him I said thank you?”

“For what?” I ask, arching a brow.

“He’s been working on some legal stuff for me. Smart guy, he is. I turned it over to my lawyer today, going to see if I can get sprung from this joint.”

“Good luck to you, I’ll let him know what you said.”

Is that what he has been doing in his classes this whole time? I thought he was just bored, trying to keep the time passing, until he gets tired and grows old. I didn’t know he was being helpful, that’s a little admirable.

Unsure why I sound surprised, he wasn’t placed here because he lives life dangerously or continues to hurt people, he made a mistake. Right now, the dread that settles in my stomach, makes me feel like I have made one too.

Marching over to Lucien’s cell, I take my baton out and tap it on the metal bars to rouse him.

“On your feet, inmate.”

He shuffles momentarily then sits up; palms pressing back into the bed he’s lounging on when he responds with an amused look on his annoying face.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Officer Pierce?”

“I find it a little strange that you got back to campus a day or two ago and now inmate Patton is nowhere to be seen. Do you care to shed some light on that?”

“Now why would I ruin the surprise?” he replies with a Cheshire smirk.

I can’t stand this mother fucker. I don’t mind most of the inmates in here, even the AB isn’t as annoying as Lucien is. He’s like that person on public transit who leaves their leg out in the aisle and makes you step over them just to get by. Or the neighbor that will mow their yard and throw all their clippings into yours. I can even attribute him to a little sibling that will take something of their own, hide it, then forget where they put it and cry to your parents.

He knows exactly how much to push someone to make their retaliation look excessive. Unlucky for him, excessive could be my middle name. He learned that the hard way when I beat the shit out of him. I’m not scared to drop his ass again, fucker.

Tapping the baton on his cell door a few more times, I lean my head to the left and give him my own shit eating grin. If we were going to play, then I was going to give him exactly what he was asking for.

“Surprise me then, Lucien.”

He claps his hands together and pushes up from the bed. I can still see some of the blood that dripped from where I struck him, crusted at his hairline. He changed his clothes and gave himself a whore’s bath when he should have probably sat in a tub of bleach.

He’s disgusting.

“Let’s go! I love a good field trip.”

Stepping back, I give him the berth he needs to exit the cell and leave me out of arm's length. I follow him but from a safe distance where I can subdue him if he decides to lunge for me like he did Kace. Watching that shit unfold infuriated me. I was in the middle of a short briefing with Zurita when it popped off. I moved on instinct, the need to protect Kace and take out a threat simultaneously.

The odd feeling of acceptance afterwards was different but I brushed it off, even when Kace pointed it out.

When we make it to the block's exit, I wave over to a group of other officers. Showing them that I was following Lucien, grabbing my mic, I press the button to speak to them across the distance.

“Give me ten. Call NORA if I don’t surface.”

They nod and I follow the creepy fucker ahead of me. He walks with determination at first, then slows, patting down his pockets like he’s forgetting something. When I clear my throat, he whips around and shrugs, like he forgot what he was supposed to do—I scowl.

Unable to make out what he is saying, I can hear his voice rumble through short sentences and whispers but nothing is clear enough for me to decipher.

This guy is a nutcase.

Coming up to the stairs that lead down to solitary, we step inside and close the metal door behind us. Instead of heading down the stairs, Lucien stops and takes a few steps back, almost walking into me. Staying quiet, I watch him when he starts feeling and digging his bony fingers into a few of the cracks of the stone that made up the stairwell wall.

When his digits get the right spot, the whole damn wall moves just wide enough for him to squeeze through. Pulling out my flashlight, I flick it on and point it into the gap, seeing an open door on the other side. My eyes widen when I realize what in the hell I am looking at.

Holy shit, a pit access.

I follow him without question. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but I have to find Kace.

I can smell the pit before I can see it; the scent of stale earth, mold, and still water fills my nose. My boots make soft thuds on the stone stairs as I slowly descend them, the ray of my flashlight scanning back and forth for safety. I’ve never been down here before, I know it stretches the entirety of the prison, but I didn’t realize it sat just below solitary. In other areas, there had to be more space between the prison's main floor and the hallways of the pit to remain undetected for this long.

Taking the last step, I look down the empty dilapidated corridor not seeing a fucking thing but an empty hallway.

Where the fuck is he…

Lucien reaches out, curling his cold hand around the back of my neck and pulls me to him. Wrapping his long arms around me as we stared down into the darkness. The back of me pressing inappropriately against the front of him while he shifts.

“He’s in here somewhere. You have a very limited amount of time to find him before he disappears again, Babalon,” he sepaks, his voice quiet and entirely too close to my ear.

I’ve heard him call me that before but thought nothing of it. Chalked it up to his weird religious obsession. Thrashing against him, I dislodge myself from his hold and take a few long steps forward. I don’t care what happens between now and then— I’m going to do everything to find Kace. There is only so much space in the pit that I can search.

“What the fuck did you do!” I turn, snapping at him.

“The thing you should have done a long time ago, Nadia. I removed the distraction. Now you can focus on what we need to take care of.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind, tell me where he is.”

“He’s here… somewhere, but you better look quickly, Nadia. Anything can happen.” He says tilting his head side to side like some sort of amused clown.

I watch him closely, his movements twitching and awkward but he seems calm. He stares down at me, following me as I walk back up to him. The steps that lead out of the pit and back up to the solitary entrance, scream for me to race up them. My heart begins to pound against the back of my ribs as I look this devil in the eye. Like walking past a hungry beast, I squeeze by him, thinking he will bite but he doesn’t.

The back of my boots hit the bottom stair and I whirl around, bolting up the slick rock, missing a step closer to the top where I scramble to catch my balance. Flying through the concealed door, I rush through the open wall and out of the metal door that leads to solitary.

I race down the hallway and look around, noting the scarcity of guards and inmates alike. It feels like I am living in a horror movie. When you need someone, no one is around to help. Skidding up to an alarm pad, I break it with the butt of my flashlight and yank it down.

Sending the prison into emergency lockdown.

The halls go red, flashing lights blinding me off and on, sirens screeching in time with the oscillation of red and white. I can see the prison's perimeter lights focus on the outside of the windows, lighting the whole campus up like Fort Knox.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Nadia.”

I jump at Lucien’s voice next to my left ear, whipping around, not seeing him anywhere near me. Only an empty space and the lingering aura of death.

“You set something into motion that you will not survive, stupid girl.”

Hearing him again, I spin the opposite direction to see more of nothing.

Where the fuck is he coming from?

That’s when I realize my headset is in my left ear. Fuck me, he has a guard’s radio where he can hear everything and stay ahead of the game. Taking off in a sprint down the hallway, I move over to C Block and head for the guard station. The new officers inside look up from their gear preparation, unsure what to make of the sudden lights and sirens. Stepping inside, I pull the door closed and lean over to look over the computer.

“Officer Pierce? What is going on?”

“Missing inmate. Don’t worry about it.”

On cue, my stomach drops when every lock disengages on the monitor. The mouse flits across the display and clicks various buttons before it blue screens. My heart sinks at how fast everything is changing. Grabbing the keyboard, I slam it against the computer screen, breaking the flimsy plastic until square keys fly across the small room. Anger is not the word I would use for this shit, we are fucked, and it only seems to be getting worse by the second.

Looking up, we all peer out of the thick plexiglass window into the waiting eyes of the very inmates that we watch over day in and day out. An unwelcome chill races down my back, dread settling in the pit of my stomach at the notion that we may not make it out of here. The inmates stare at us, their dark-heartless glares calculating our every move.

Waiting.

Watching.

Hungry.

Their chests rise and fall, shoulders rolling along with a few tilts of their heads. If it was not for the glass between us and them, everything would be over in the matter of minutes. One inmate slowly moves to the front of the whole pack, leaning in uncomfortably close to the glass. His hot breath fogging up the clear barrier as they stare at the other officers and I like food.

This is bad, so very fucking bad.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Get your riot gear on, hurry.” I advise the new officers. Unsure if it is going to help but I know any hope is better than none.

To the right, I see Pyro beginning to grin, which is never a good thing. I follow his movement as he walks over to the door and with a single finger, he pulls it open. I know the damn thing latched when I shut it, that only means someone unlocked it from a different computer. My heart thunders while the critical seconds tick by, exposing my new officers to a violence they have no clue how to handle.

If there is anything I remember from training is that you’re never prepared, no matter how much you train. Your logic kicks in or you die.

Even in their riot gear, the new guards can’t keep the inmates off them. They pluck the officers out of the box like toys in a coin operated claw machine. One right after the other, all three disappearing into the sea of red and white lights. I can hear them screaming, as I watch out of the window. Other inmates join me and forcefully wrench me around. Slamming me back against the desk and crowding my space.

“What a damn shame, Officer Pierce. Losing your little team before the big bad wolves could get in here and get you.”

That’s inmate Tonken, he’s here for multiple counts of the production and distribution of snuff films—from movie stars, to normal everyday people, men, women, and children. It didn’t matter; he posted it all over the black web for predators to find.

“A shame for her, maybe, but it’s going to be one hell of a treat for us.”

Inmate O’Brien— conspiracy to commit espionage that led to the shootings of United States congress men and a standoff in Washington, Virginia following a Department of Defense gathering at the Pentagon.

The last one to enter the guard station with me is the one I am the most afraid of. Huge guy, quiet, with hands I have watched choke the life out of men just as big as he is. Seven feet tall, three hundred and forty pounds of pure unadulterated hatred. When he takes a step back, and looks out the open door, his head turns to the side, and I see all that I need to.

Fucking lightning bolts.

Inmate Shaver— Also known as the Bone Collector. Having a house full of corpses means nothing to him when he accumulates the very pieces that hold our bodies together. Everyone from women and children to men littered his Nebraska homestead. Where he processed his kills like wild game and saved their pieces, some for trophies, others for gifts to unsuspecting persons.

He didn’t get caught until someone dropped live prey off on his property. A young woman, around twenty-three, abducted from California left in a cage on his front porch. When he let her out, she took off running and he gave chase. She was heard screaming from miles away as he ripped her in two, in a way no one deserves. I didn’t get to see the crime scene photos, but he did things to her that gave me nightmares when I first started at Darkwater. Her body mutilated so bad that she started ripping between her thighs from the brute force. Now here he is, staring at me, daring me to make this night worthwhile.

Don’t run, don’t run, don’t run.

If he doesn’t chase me, I might come out of this alive.

“Grab the girl and let’s go, Nate is waiting.”

“W— what? You’re taking me to that clown?” I ask, almost disappointed that they will let someone as insignificant as Nate to take the lead.

“No, he’s transporting you. You’re going to Ulrich.”

“The hell is Ulrich?”

“You’ll see. Tonken, grab her.” O’Brien orders.

Oh, fuck no, I’m not going down without a fight.

When Tonken tries to grab my wrist, I slap his hand away and immediately retaliate. My free hand grabs a pencil sitting behind me on the desk and when he gets close, I stab him in the face. I keep doing so even as he screams and fights against me. The pencil breaks in my fist but I don’t stop. Blood coats my skin in smears and splatters when O’Brien wraps around me like a vice— trapping my arms to my sides.

I scream as loud as I can, his stronger mass leaning back and lifting me from Tonken where I thrash with all the weight I can muster. Being pinned like this, it’s hard to get out of unless you disrupt their hold and that is going to be a struggle when inmates spend their time working out and I am nothing compared to them. My legs kick every which way while he walks me backwards out of the guard shack.

Once outside, with more room to move around, I thrash harder, throwing my head back to knock him in the face if needed but he holds on strong. From the right, a fist collides with my temple and it instantly dazes me. My body falls limp, my eyes fighting to stay open, my mind struggling to remain conscious. Looking around, my head lolls to each side as I turn it, catching glimpses of bodies strewn everywhere.

My officers!

One was face down on the floor, looking my way. Big green eyes slowly darkening while he bleeds to death, if he isn’t already gone. Another in the background is cuffed to the table by his own restraints. His baton shoved violently into him and— oh God, Pyro was holding a lighter to his scrotum. His sadistic cackling drowning out the man’s screams.

There was a moment, several days ago, where I thought inmates didn’t hide who they were, that what you see is what you get, but I was vastly mistaken. I believed the men I have observed for years were not the violent creatures I am now seeing before me; how fucking wrong I was. I don’t know how I am going to make it out of this.

I know that if this block, one of the milder ones, is in utter chaos, then the others are worse off. I just hope Matias and the kinfolk are able to get a hold on the AB because it sounds like they may be the ones who orchestrated this.

Pulled down the hallway, my head still in a mess of fog and pain, I can see the red and white strobing lights shining off the white walls each time I open my eyes. The urge to close them and take a nap, a dirt nap if I’m not careful, beyond alluring.

The walk felt like it takes forever but O’Brien keeps a good hold on me while Shaver follows up behind us. The dead look in his eyes has always been an indication that there wasn’t an ounce of humanity in that man. It’s truly heartbreaking to see what happens to people when they give up on the good things in life and start doing the shit they do.

I— I am no better; I am headed down a similar road. Distributing drugs, being abusive towards inmates, assaulting Kace the first time we did anything together, burning my dad’s house down, beating Lucien with the baton, now stabbing Tonken in the face. It doesn’t matter if you commit acts of violence out of necessity or not, that dark stain blackens your soul. My darkening may have started when I bit through my abuser's dick but it catches up to you.

You’re nothing like these animals, stop grouping yourself in with these people, Nadia!

I scream at myself internally, feeling the last remnants of my consciousness starting to fade.

Coming into a room, I am dropped onto the floor, amongst a handful of other guards— ones that work inside the prison with me, not the outside perimeter guards, they’re safe. These ones are bloodied and beaten to a degree, some much worse than others, but all still alive. For now, anyway.

As the goons stood around us, I hear the flicking of a lighter and the sharp inhale and exhale of someone smoking. When I look up, it all came into view. Instantly I feel sick and enraged all in one swoop.

Clark.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“Shut your fucking mouth, Nadia,” he snaps.

He sits up at the front of a lecture room on a desk, his legs crossed and looking at the glowing red end of his cigar, like some pompous asshole. I would say ‘I should have known’ but that would be one hell of a lie. I thought nothing of his involvement throughout the prison, but it started to make sense the longer I think about it.

Kace’s cell checks were always on the days where Clark was on shift, never the days where it was only me or Zurita. Then the pipeline disruption when I first started; eventually letting me take control of the drug needs within the population. The influx of new guards, my change in posts, overcrowding C Block, the fights across campus that he never broke up.

The inmates are letting him run rank for the AB. Now, here he sits, his nose turned up at me as if I am the lower life form.

“What do you want, Clark?”

“You, of course.”

“I’m not your type.”

“You’re right, I like ‘em compliant but there’s something about you that I can’t shake. You have gumption, drive, a fight, and a smart fucking mouth. You demand respect among the inmates, to where only the most deranged and unhinged would even dare come near you. It’s actually quite impressive and I want to break every last strong-willed notion in your body, then donate the pieces to my men.”

“I appreciate you pointing out my good qualities but I’m not up for negotiation.”

“Oh, but you are. See, when you started playing with good ol’ Kace, you put a target on your back. The girl he killed, the Governor's daughter? Well, he is a high ranking official in the KKK.”

He drags on the cigar he lit a few times, the cringy attempt to blow smoke rings taking up time that they didn’t have. The longer the prison was in emergency mode, the closer the state Correctional Emergency Response Team gets. He knows that, he has to, but still he stalls.

“What in the fuck does that have to do with me, Clark? I’m fucking an inmate and keeping your racists bitch boys high. I don’t see where that has any ill effect on you or the AB.”

“Curiosity killed the cat Nadia, but I am glad you asked.”

“I’m not that interested so I wasn’t going to but I’m tired of kneeling here.”

“An eye for an eye. Kace killed his daughter, so we’re going to kill you.”