Page 64 of Fragments

I cackle even harder.

This is who you are…

Firestarter.

People are screaming, alarms sounding. And I’mgiggling.

It’s all over. I always knew it would end this way.

Just another whore burned at the stake.

My eyes flutter shut, and I fall to the floor. The vague sounds of shouting come from off in the distance.

Someone, a large man in a thick suit, dives into the room. He grabs me, hauling me over his shoulder as I pass out.

Welcome to Hell, Warren.

Satan will see you now.

Today…

“Inever even got to say goodbye to my parents…”

Heaviness lines my tone, the truth of this permanent reality weighing like wet cement.

“I just wish they could have had a normal son,” I go on. “One who liked playing baseball and going to the movies. Instead, I’m… their biggest disappointment.”

“Aren’t we all?” Dash hums in response. “That’s why we’re all here, man. We’re fucking disappointments. You’re not alone. And look, your parents should feel lucky to have a kid like you, because you’re smart and driven.”

He pauses while my lips twist, his words of consolation easing the burden just a bit.

I can’t believe how much I really like this guy already. I know he hasn’t been here all that long, but somehow our personalities just click.

Then again, I’m familiar with bonding infriendship. It’s the other part that still ties me up.

“I spent my entire childhood chasing my father’s approval,” Dash rasps, some clear, painful contemplation in his voice. “Trying to be just like him… And then he ended up leaving me, anyway. Leaving me withher…”

I’m not sure whoheris, but if I were to guess, I’d say it’s most likely his mother. He hasn’t mentioned her yet over the course of our few conversations, but Dash just strikes me as a dude with no shortage of parental issues.

“I guess we’re all fucked in here, huh?” I huff a chuckle, and I hear him breathe out a rumbly one in response.

“You’ve got that right.”

We both go quiet for a bit, just thinking. Individual thoughts in a shared space.

After the basketball incident last week, Dash was in solitary for a few more days. He got out and showed back up in our cell, malnourished and dirty, but a little more refreshed than the previous time he was down there. As weird as it is for him to come back from the hole looking like he just got off a spa weekend, I’m just glad he’s okay.

We didn’t talk much about what happened in the rec room. He asked if Ren was alright, and if we’d talked. And I told him Ren was fine, because he always is.It’ll take a lot more than a black eye and split lip to throw him off his game.But I left it at that, because I don’t really know what to say about Ren and me. It’s all too confusing.

I’d rather think about the computer I’m almost certain I’m going to find a way to make.

Despite him learning to live with his bouts in solitary, Dash is still acting sort of strange, and I’m beginning to see that it’s the way he always is. For the most part, he’s just Dash… My new friend, who stays up talking to me, sings about crimson and clovers, and puts me to sleep with his incessant counting out push-ups.

But every once in a while, he changes. He turns into a jittering, mumbly, panicked version of himself that makes me seriously wonder what the hell is going on in his head.

Tonight, we just got back from the showers and settled in for the night, launching into some more comforting conversation I’ve really grown to enjoy. But Dash seems fidgety and nervous. He keeps looking around, like he’s waiting for someone.

Rather than focus on it—because it’s none of my business—I decided to regale him with the story of why I’m here. I’d hoped being forthcoming might allow him to open up about his own stuff. Not that I’mdyingto know exactly what happened with that bank robbery gone wrong. I’m just interested in everyone’s super villain origin stories.