by Aella Black
I pulled the slightly crushed flowers from my pocket and presented them to her like a bouquet. She stared blankly at them, and then at me. “What’s this?”
“Flowers. For you,” I said, smiling.
Phoebe’s face lit up in a way it hadn’t in weeks, and she gingerly took the “bouquet” from me. “Thank you. They’re beautiful.” Her mouth formed a smile, but her eyes still had that haunted look in them.
“How are you?” I asked, preparing myself for the understatement to come. But she surprised me.
“Honestly, not good,” she said, stirring her soup around but not eating it.
It took me a few seconds to recover. “Anything I can do?”
She shook her head, smiling sadly. “Not unless you can crawl inside my head and fix whatever’s broken.”
The nightmares must have been getting worse. “Did you talk to Lucy about her offer?”
It was obvious Lucy wasn’t Phoebe’s biggest fan, but her comments seemed more jealous in nature than an intense dislike of her cellmate. “She seems to want to help,” I added.
“What she wants is uninterrupted sleep,” Phoebe said without hesitation. “And so do I. But I don’t want her inside my head.”
It sounded like Phoebe had made her decision. I needed to respect that. Especially since she knew her cellmate better than I did.
Cathy’s voice put the period in our conversation. “Guys? I’m on my way to the cafeteria, but guess what I just found...”
Phoebe and I locked eyes and listened.
“The note must have been left during breakfast, because I didn’t see it this morning. It said to keep an eye out for an important message this evening. I probably didn’t even need to tell you guys that, but I was just excited to get another note. Which I ate, of course. Turns out, paper isn’t very filling and I’m starving. Save me some food, and I’ll see you in a sec.”
“That’s it?” came a deep voice from behind me. Rocky, Tex, and Birdie all appeared and sat at the table.
“Why not just tell us the important message now?” Rocky asked.
Good freaking question. This definitely supported my theory that Fletcher was the one behind the notes. It would be just like him to tease us like this.
“I wonder what it is…” Birdie mused.
And I was more interested in who sent the messages.
My gaze caught on Cathy rushing through the cafeteria door. It gave me an idea. She’d said she thought someone left the note at breakfast, which made the most sense. Although the guard presence was heavy during mealtimes, there were far more who weren’t in here, and far more of us who were. If another message was being delivered this evening, that could mean dinnertime. And Cathy managed to come in late without getting in trouble…
I placed my palms flat on the table. “I’m going to catch him.”
Phoebe looked at me and frowned. “What?”
“The messenger,” I said. “I bet he delivers the next note during dinner. I just need to be in that cell block during dinner so I can catch whoever it is in the act.”
Phoebe looked around at the dozens of guards surrounding us. “Do you think that’s necessary?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I do. We need to know who’s helping us, so we’ll know if we can trust him. Or her,” I added.
There were only a few female guards—none of which we knew—so I didn’t think it would be any of them. But who knew? I had thought no one would bother helping us, period. And maybe they weren’t.
“I agree,” Rocky said. She had serious trust issues, so I should have known she’d be on board with this.
Tex chimed in. “You know I’m game for whatever, but any chance you could blow their cover? If so, we lose our one ally in this place.”
He had a point, but ensuring our “ally” was legit seemed worth the risk. And if it turned out it was Heath, this would be the perfect opportunity to talk to him.
“Be careful, Chief,” Birdie said.
I gave her a reassuring smile. “I will.”
Phoebe looked like she was going to say something else, but Cathy sat down and started talking a mile a minute. It was obvious these notes were giving everyone a much-needed dose of hope. That made it even more important for me to make sure someone wasn’t just yanking our chains.
“…someone said Anthony too.”
“Oh, man. We cleaned offices with him, right, Chief?”
Tex’s question drew my attention. “Cleaned with who?”
“Anthony,” Tex clarified. “I forget what his power was, but he’s a good guy.”
“And what about him?” I asked.
Cathy’s voice dropped low like it did every time she had gossip to share. Why she didn’t use her telepathic power was beyond me. “He’s one of the kids who went missing,” she said.
My chest constricted. “Somebody else went missing?”
All eyes were suddenly on me. “Who do you know that went missing?” Phoebe asked.
It had been well over twenty-fours since they came and took Venom. I hadn’t wanted to assume the worst, but apparently, I should have.
“My cellmate. Venom,” I said.
Now everyone’s eyes were big and round, including Cathy, who usually had the scoop on everyone. “Who took him?” she asked.
I shrugged. “A couple of guards.”
Cathy nodded as if she’d already known the answer before she asked. “Yup, sounds about right. That’s what I heard about Anthony and Micah.”
“Micah too?” Birdie sounded like she was going to cry. “He was so nice to me.”
Was.
Birdie spoke like she’d never see him again. And the way things were going, who knew if she would? It was another reason I had to see the messenger. If it’s Heath—and he truly was on our side—he’d know where these inmates were. I just needed to figure out how to catch him in the act without getting caught first.
By the time lunch was over, I had an idea how I could pull it off. Cathy provided some valuable intel, and though the plan wasn’t foolproof, it was solid. The fear in Phoebe’s eyes told me that “solid” wasn’t reassuring her in the least.
When the guard arrived to open my cell for dinner, I crouched by the bed, pretending to tuck in the bottom of the sheets. I’d already extended them to cover my hiding spot.
The guard moved on to the next door. Instead of merging into the flow of inmates headed to the cafeteria, I dropped to the floor, pulled the sheets back out, and shimmied under my bed. There was barely enough room for my body, but “barely enough” was all the space I needed.
Then I lay perfectly still and listened. After several minutes, the sound of footsteps and the murmur of voices diminished. I kept waiting. And waiting. Then my waiting paid off when I heard two guards talking loudly as they made their way down the block. They were checking the rooms—as I’d suspected.
I tensed as they passed in front of my cell, but they were too busy discussing a camping trip to notice anything was amiss.
Camping.
I had almost forgotten such a thing existed. Because it didn’t—here.
I’d never been camping, since my father wasn’t exactly the outdoorsy type. But I was. And if I ever wanted to try it, I was going to have to get out of this prison first. This—what I was about to do—was the first step in making that happen.
When all was quiet again, I scooted out from under the bed and crawled to the door. Peeking out, I saw the coast was clear, so I stood and walked quickly in the direction Cathy had said to go.
It was a strange sight seeing all the cell doors open with no one inside them. Cathy had told me her block emptied at mealtimes too, so I figured they must divide the rotations between the blocks. Made it easier for the guards to keep up with everyone.
I listened carefully before turning the corner that led into the girls’ block where Cathy’s cell was located. Then I counted. 1… 2… 3… 4… 5…
There.
Sixth cell on the left.
I immediately entered through the open door and headed straight for the bathroom. The darkened space was the perfect place to wait. Pulling the door closed behind me, I left it slightly ajar so I could get a clear view of our mysterious messenger.
While waiting for someone to approach, I couldn’t help but notice that this bathroom smelled different from ours. Sweeter somehow, and far less sweaty. Did all girls’ bathrooms smell like this? Did Phoebe’s?
I imagined sharing a space with her. A house, a bathroom, a bedroom—
The sound of heavy footsteps was a necessary shock to my system. There was no room for error here, and therefore, no time for daydreams.
Heart pounding, I exhaled slowly and silently as the steps grew closer. And closer. And even closer.
Then the person I’d been waiting on entered my field of vision. My throat went dry. Hot, angry blood rushed through my veins.
This was no benevolent benefactor. And it wasn’t a wolf in sheep’s clothing, either.
This was just Wolf.
My gaze dropped to his hand, and sure enough, a small, white piece of paper was curled around his finger. He glanced around the room as if trying to figure out the best place to hide it. Unfortunately, in doing so, his eyes skimmed right past my hiding spot… and then did a double-take.
Wolf’s eyes widened, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he looked afraid. In fact, his face probably looked a lot like mine right now. But that couldn’t be—
The bathroom door burst open, knocking me backward, my head slamming against the concrete wall. Wolf was on me so fast I didn’t have time to recover. One of his meaty hands covered my mouth, the other now held a weapon. And though my vision blurred, I was fairly certain it wasn’t a taser.
“Don’t say a word,” he whisper-shouted in my face.
Dizziness, combined with the sour stench of his breath, made me want to vomit. Then I realized I was going to vomit.
Once I started retching, Wolf realized it too. He leapt backward out of the line of fire. Luckily, there was a toilet nearby. I made it just in time.
After throwing up the contents of my stomach, I slid to the floor, uncaring if it put me in a vulnerable position.
Wolf was a guard… with a gun. I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, and I knew his secret. Plus, I could barely see straight. It didn’t get much more vulnerable than that.
He kicked the door shut, closing us both in a bathroom barely big enough for one. And it reeked of vomit. “Ugh. Why did you have to be in here?” Then he slammed the lid down on the toilet.
“What? You didn’t want me seeing you do Fletcher’s dirty work?”
“It was a rhetorical question!” he snapped.
Wolf could have very well been whispering, but my ears were ringing, and in this space, everything sounded loud. And loud was really bad right now. “Shh…”
The look on his face would have been comical under any other circumstances. “Did you just tell me to be quiet?” Before I could respond, he said, “And did you say Fletcher?”
“Yeah, you know, evil overlord determined to make all our lives a living hell,” I said through gritted teeth.
I’d had a concussion before—once, during a football game—but I must have been hyped up on adrenaline because I did not remember it hurting this bad.
Wolf was staring at me, looking genuinely confused. Then he said, “Nah, man. You’ve got this all wrong. The notes have nothing to do with Fletcher.”
“Why would I believe a word that comes out of your mouth?”
He looked me up and down, making me feel as pitiful as I felt right now. “Because you don’t have a choice?” Then he sighed. “Look. You’re still pissed I killed your girl. I get it. But you and me? We’re in the same boat. I’m just as much a prisoner here as you are. All of us guards are.”
I barked out a laugh. “Except you’re the ones with the guns, remember?” Wolf looked down at the weapon as if he’d forgotten he was holding it. But he didn’t put it down. “We may be in the same ocean, but your boat looks nothing like mine,” I said.
“It might in a couple of months,” he shot back. “You think we have a choice? We’ve got families too, you know.”
What was happening in a few months? My head was fuzzy, so the only thing I could think of was my birth—oh.
“Listen to me,” Wolf snarled. “They were going to kill me. Will—Warden Will… he’s the one who saved me. Convinced the top brass I’d make a good soldier. I didn’t understand why he’d do something like that, but then he called me in to meet with him and told me his plans.”
His plans? I hadn’t seen Warden Will since we left Leavenworth. Rumor was, he’d been relieved of his command, and we hadn’t seen or heard from him since. Could he have been the one behind the notes?
Wolf listened at the door and then continued. “Will doesn’t agree with what’s going on. He signed on to this gig, thinking he was going to be looking after rogue, dangerous supernaturals… not every supernatural ever created.”
My mind tried to wrap around the words he was saying. Wolf used the word “created,” which was a fairly accurate description based on what Phoebe’s parents told us. And my gut feeling had always been that Warden Will wasn’t evil… not like Fletcher anyway. Could he have just gotten in over his head?
Wolf kept talking a mile a minute. “Will’s working with a few others in the SCC who feel the same way. They don’t want a bunch of kids locked up for no good reason. Plus, some of them are their kids. Now they’re in communication with some parents, trying to get the feds involved. It’s tricky, though, because, technically, the SCC is under government supervision. They needed somebody on the inside, so Warden Will gave me my marching orders.” He held up the small slip of paper like it was evidence he was one of the good guys.
Could he be? What would he gain by lying? I wished my head didn’t feel like it was going to fall off my body so I could sort through all of this.
“Cathy was our best bet to communicate with you guys,” Wolf said. That I already knew. “The first few messages were tests to see if it’d work. This one was supposed to be just for you. Fletcher hasn’t caught on yet, but he’s getting suspicious, which isn’t good for any of us.”
That I knew too. He’d seemed paranoid during my interrogation, and now I knew why. But I still wasn’t sold on the fact that Wolf, of all people, was trying to help us.
I shook my head. Ouch, that hurt. “Warden Will trusts you? Sorry. I’m not buying it.”
Wolf scowled. “Like I said, I hate it here. If I try to run, they’ll kill me. Trust me, I’m not exactly doing it for the good of all mankind. I’m trying to save my skin too, you know.”
That sounded more like the Wolf I knew. Which also meant, if questioned, he was more likely to betray us. Why would Warden Will risk putting so much trust in this guy?
I nodded at the paper in his hand. “What’s it say?”
Wolf handed it over. “Your parents are coming tomorrow. Fletcher couldn’t hold them off. And since he didn’t have a choice in the matter, he’s not a happy camper. You have to do everything you can to make sure they see you.”
“Isn’t that the whole reason they’re visiting?”
Wolf glanced at the door. “I don’t have time to explain everything. Just make sure you meet with them. Tomorrow afternoon. And don’t mess this up, Chief. For all our sakes.”
For all our sakes.
He was talking like he was one of us. And I supposed if Wolf hadn’t been given the choice to be here, maybe he was. Maybe they all were. I certainly had no intention of becoming a guard after my eighteenth birthday. If the only choice was between that and death, that wasn’t really a choice at all.
I looked at Wolf—really looked at him. He appeared more nervous than I felt right now, and it was difficult to fake both mannerisms and speech. Though I loathed to admit it, my instincts told me he was telling the truth.
“All right, so what do we do now?”
&n
bsp; “We’ve all got our parts to play. Yours is being the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fancy Pants.”
My eyes narrowed. “I meant right now. How do we get out of here?”
A vicious grin spread across Wolf’s face. “Now, I get to be the guard, and you get to be the prisoner,” he said, grabbing me roughly by the arm and yanking me up.
The room spun, and I doubled over.
“Whoa, bad idea,” he said. “How about I just get you back to your cell so you can sleep this off?”
Did the dude know nothing about concussions?
“Sure, whatever.” I wouldn’t be sleeping for a while, but I needed time to sort through all of this new information.
Wolf escorted me back to my cell, and oddly, it didn’t feel like a guard was escorting me. He told me about the other guards and went on about all the differences between here and Leavenworth, while I concentrated on not throwing up.
It wasn’t until I was lying in my bed, looking at Venom’s empty bed beside me, that I remembered I hadn’t asked about the missing inmates.
And was it my concussion-induced imagination, or did Wolf refer to Phoebe as my girl?
11
Phoebe
Something prickly scratches my arms. It feels rougher than the blanket on my bed, so I open my eyes. I’m not in my bed.
An acrid scent fills my nostrils. I sit up to see what it is and find I’m in a forest of dead trees. Another nightmare.
I squeeze my eyes closed. “Please, wake up,” I whisper.
Nothing happens. Nothing good, nothing bad… nothing.
Opening my eyes again, I look around at the hundreds of tree trunks with bare branches stretching to the orange sky. The setting of this dream isn’t terrifying, but it is ominous. Something bad will happen any minute now, I just know it.
When nothing does, I stand up, the brown grass crunching beneath my feet. I inhale a deep breath. The air smells like smoke, but there’s no sign of fire. That’s unusual. Most nights there’s fire in my dreams.
A branch snaps behind me, and I whip around. Nothing there.
