Page 95 of Shadowman

Keeps to himself, sits alone in the cafeteria. Stares a lot, but that’s probably theleaststrange thing an inmate here could do. As far as I know, his cell is outside the first two rows of Gen-pop. It’s odd, but again, not exactly evidence of any wrongdoing.

Look at fucking Darcey, for example. Apparently, he lives in some fancy bedroom off the East Wing…And he’s murdered two inmates since he’s been here!But everyone is all gaga over him. It makes no sense and is more than contributing to my growing irritations with just about every asshole in this joint.

As lunch comes to an end, and we all get up to toss out our trash, I watch Trevel Fenwick. Standing from the empty table near the front where he usually sits—byhimself—he dumps his tray, then lines up. Waiting for Rook to give us the okay, all the while with his face aimed at the floor and nowhere else.

I’m not saying I feel bad for the guy or anything, because that doesn’t sound like me. I just wish I understood what the others are seeing that I’m not.

Joy said Trevel came inabruptly. Not sure what that means, but she made it sound like the newest inmate since Dashmight’ve been brought here for purposes other than simply being locked up forever.

I’ll be honest, I find it all more intriguing than suspicious. I’m curious to know if any of the speculation is true; if Trevel Fenwick really is some sort of covert spy, planted among us by The Ivory. Or if he’s just another poor sack of shit sentenced to life in hell and is being ostracized for it by his prisoner peers, simply because he’s a loner with nothing to say.

If the latter is the case, then I could surely empathize.

“Psst.” Someone nudges my arm, and I know right away who it is. “Want some?”

I peek at Joy, who’s holding out a bag of Skittles. I frown at them. “Regular?”

“Listen, we all know Tropical are superior,” she mumbles. “But can you really afford to be picky?”

She has a point.“Touché, asshole,” I mutter, snatching the bag from her.

She chuckles while I dump colorful candies into my hand and pop them into my mouth.

Yum. Artificial fruit.

I go to hand it back to her, but she waves me off. “You keep ’em. Happy Halloween.”

“Wait… is it??Really?!” My face contorts in devastation.

Joy shrugs. “How the hell should I know? It’s been the same year for ten years.”

“Another good point that’s depressing as fuck,” I grunt, and she huffs.

Winking at me, Joy stomps ahead to join Rook, the two of them smiling at each other, whispering and laughing while I sullenly munch my Skittles andtryto be fuckinggratefulfor the small, insignificant distraction.

Maybe thinking about this candy will give me something to dwell on for the rest of the day… You know, other thanhowbored angry sad lonely depressed horny exhausted hungry moody frustratedI am.

The thing is, I know I should just get over the wholeLuthor and Ren sticking up for Darceything. Yes, that bitch-boy killed my friend, and he’s still just skipping around here without a care in the world, boning his doctor, being Alabaster Pen’s resident lovable lunatic. Andyes, my so-calledfriendsare falling right under the spell of his charms, while completely disregardingmyfeelings on the matter. Still, I can’t deny that life would sure as shit run a lot smoother if I just moved the hell on.

There’s just one problem, though… I don’twantto.

Because loyalty iseverything, and friendship goes both ways.

I’m sick of being the goddamn after-thought to these people.

When’s it gonna be my turn, huh??

“Taste the rainbow,” a deep voice rasps by my ear, scaring the shit out of me.

I jump so hard, I spill a few Skittles onto the floor.

“Jesus…” I breathe, slapping my hand over my heart while I gawk up at the culprit.

“Oof, sorry, mate.” Trevel chuckles, raking long fingers through his jet-black hair. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” But the tone of his voice and the curve to his lips directly contradict those words.

Kinda makes me think he liked it…

“Sheesh. Talk about sidling up out of nowhere,” I mumble, blinking at him.