EIGHTEEN
Raine sat on the cold, concrete floor of her cell. Her toes were close to the drain, and she sat with her knees up to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and allowed the frigid water to flow over the back of her neck and bare bottom. Her hair was flipped over, laying in strands down her legs. When her chestnut hair was wet, it appeared almost jet black. The cold water washed away the filth of her time there and swirled down the drain. She’d looked up at the camera once, a constant reminder that she was being watched. And a little more closely now since her attempted escape. Though she still couldn’t understand why the Warden was granting her privileges. She also wasn’t sure if she was getting privileges, or if the worst was yet to come.
Even though the water was freezing, it was comforting beating on her back. When her fingers and toes became wrinkly, she reached up and squeaked the faucet off. She sat there and twisted her hair, wringing out the water. She used her gown to dry off her body, slipped it over her head, and made her way to the bed. There were worse things than a damp gown, and by the time it dried, she’d probably be ready for another shower.
The days had run together, and her vision of reality became a blur. She was a prisoner. She lived the life of a prisoner now.
She called out on several occasions to see if any other prisoners could hear her, but there was no response. One of the nasty dayshift guards told her she’d been removed from the others because she was disturbing to them. She’d behave better if she were alone.
As she dozed the alarm blared, though it didn’t surprise her this time, because they were frequent occurrences.
What she couldn’t get used to was what happened when these alarms went off. Somebody was always retrieved from the cages. And nobody ever knew what happened to them when they were taken. Most of the time they’d come back unconscious, or injured, like the time Arie was taken.
She stayed seated on her bed, until she heard cages begin to rattle.
She leaped up and scurried over to the slit in the door. Her eyes darted both ways. There was lots of shouting and talking, and when she saw the guards rounding the corner with a line of inmates, she gasped. She flattened her palms against the metal and pressed her forehead against the door.
One by one the inmates walked around the bend, tied to one another. She searched their faces.
Arie.
“Hey!” she shouted. The inmates didn’t look, except the tall, lanky, boy with blackened eyes. He stole a glance at her cell.
She reached up and touched her wet hair. She was allowed to shower. She was allowed to stand, for that matter. How would the other inmates see her? Would Arie think she’d given herself to the Warden?
She thought she saw a hint of a nod in her direction from Arie before a guard blocked her view, shepherding the line of prisoners.
“Hey, you! Do I get to go too?” she blurted out.
The guard remained with his back to her. When the last inmate rounded the corner, he walked away.
“Hey!”
“Shut your mouth,” he snarled over his shoulder, and slammed the heavy doors behind him.
Where are they taking them? She panicked.
She’d never felt more alone.
NINETEEN
Time was completely distorted inside the concrete walls. She lay on the bed, her head hanging off it, and her hair swayed underneath. Her hair had dried, which told her it had at least been that long since the guards took the rest of the inmates away from the warehouse. She allowed the blood to rush to her head, her temples beating, before she pulled herself up. Her stomach grumbled under her gown, and she tried to massage away the hunger.
The door to the warehouse creaked open, just a crack. Raine leaped up, standing at attention.
They’re back, she thought. Her mind raced. She hurried back to the slot. Just when she thought nobody was coming, a pale petite girl with long, dusty orange hair emerged from the door. She turned and made eye contact.
Raine remained quiet. She didn’t know what to say.
The girl wore a shirt and pants, the same material as the gown, that reminded her of scrubs. She was carrying a glass and bowl in her hands. She had to set them on the floor to turn and close the heavy door. She knelt down, picked them back up, and walked towards the solitary confinement cell.
Raine eyed the cup and bowl, her stomach grumbling. She regretted the sight. How is she going to get those in here? She backed up, her eyes wide as the girl unlocked the door.
“Are you- what’s happening?” she asked. Is she helping me, or… ?
The girl stepped into the cage and locked herself inside, then tossed the keys through the slot, as far away as she could launch them.
“Why’d you… why’d you do that? What the hell!” Anger filled up the emotional void she’d been living in. Those keys were her ticket to getting out of this cell, and quite possibly out of the building. She wasn’t afraid of trying to escape another time, despite what happened the last time. If she didn’t fight, there was no reason to exist. She’d either escape, or die trying.
“Where did you get those keys?” Raine’s voice was frantic.
The orange-haired, freckled girl looked up at the camera, and back at her. “Where do you think I got those keys?” she asked. Her voice was soft and kind, almost like a squeak from a tiny mouse.
Raine spun on her heels and made her way back to the bed, plopping down on it. She did not expect that.
Then it hit her. It was obvious now. Arie had never described what she looked like. But the way this girl carried herself. The way she had access. “You’re Meg,” she whispered.
The girl’s lips tugged up into a small smile. She nodded.
How do I know I can trust this girl? The Warden gave her keys? He trusted her with them. How do I know she’s not helping him, or part of this whole experiment to begin with?
Megan sat next to her, their thighs touching. “I know you haven’t eaten in a while. It’s not much… “
“Thank you,” she breathed. She took the bowl of oatmeal, and water glass. She brought the glass to her lips, and started gulping.
“Whoa, slow down. You’re going to need that to wash down this mush.” She smiled.
Raine stifled a laugh. She was right. The cereal she’d been fed since she arrived here was tasteless, oatmeal-textured mush. Megan handed her the bowl, and Raine used her fingers to spoon it up into her mouth. Mush, regardless, this was warm mush. She hadn’t eaten anything warm since she’d gotten there, and her belly welcomed it. She hardly chewed it before she swallowed, and washed it down with the water.
She felt Megan’s eyes on her. When she finished eating, she set the cup and bowl on the floor, and turned to look at the girl.
She was pretty, dainty and comforting. “He likes you,” she said softly, and brushed a strand of Raine’s hair off her forehead.
Her muscles tightened.
“If he didn’t, you wouldn’t still be here.”
“Maybe that would be better.”
Because of her practice with yoga and meditation, as well as studying the minds of humans, she had a great perception of people’s energies. Megan had soothing energy. She wasn’t threatening.
Just talking to someone was a relief after the amount of time she’d spent in that cell. And the first time she’d seen any people apart from guards was when they were taking them all away. She began to cry, the tears falling helplessly from her eyes.
“Shhh.” Megan soothed her. She guided Raine’s head to her lap, and stroked her hair.
Raine cried into Megan’s knees, and loved the feeling of gentle fingers through her hair. “Meg, he said you were the only other one that’s seen him?”
“Did he hurt you? Did he rape you?”
“No,“ she breathed. “Did he hurt you?”
Meg didn’t say anything. The silence
was answer enough.
Raine felt overwhelmed again at how lucky she’d been. And the circumstances all made sense to her. She wasn’t getting special treatment. Megan was the one that got to wear pants. She was trusted to walk around the prison. He’d even entrusted her with keys. He had psychologically manipulated this young woman, to the point where she was able to have more freedom than the others, but it all came at a cost.
“I’m the first person he ever took. It was two years yesterday.”
“I’m so sorry, Meg.” She was sorry. But just hearing that sucked the hope right out of her. Two years. Could she, herself, last two years in this place? Why had it been so long? Had she attempted to escape? Something kept her here, whether it was her own will, or whether it was the external factor that was the nucleus of all their problems.
The girl continued to run her fingers through Raine’s hair. “I don’t remember life outside of here. And, I don’t think I want to go back.”
Raine sat up and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Are you crazy?” she whispered, glancing at the camera and back again.
“If I went back, everything would be different. I just can’t face that.”
She grabbed Megan’s shoulder and whispered into her ear, “Aren’t you tired of being a prisoner? That man stole your life.”
Megan shook her head.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Raine asked, narrowing her eyes. She didn’t know this girl. She could have been sent in here by the Warden to figure out Raine’s state of mind, to see if she’d be more to his liking.
“Arie and I are so close because we made a connection when he was first brought here. I was the one that calmed him down. When he woke up from the anesthesia, he was thrashing around like a dog with rabies in a cage,” Megan said.
The comparison was almost comical, considering the profession Arie came from. Raine wasn’t sure that Megan made the connection, unless she was just messing with her.
She continued, “I say I don’t want to go back because I can’t have a life out there anymore, but with Arie… he’s a light in this dark place. He reminds me every day that maybe it is possible. His enthusiasm, after being beaten down so many times by the guards, is inspiring. I understand why you’re drawn to him.”
Raine felt bad. Guilt flooded her. “I… “ Drawn to him? Come to think of it, she had felt a connection with Arie, of course. He was the first thing that made sense in this place. She shared private, past experiences with him that she hadn’t even told Marcus. Marcus… If Megan was bringing up Arie now, she must know what they shared next to each other in the cages. “Well, Arie is truly something. But I have a boyfriend.” The taste of the word felt unnatural on her tongue, but it comforted her to think that Marcus had always and would always be there for her no matter what.
“Had. If your boyfriend thinks you’re dead, he’s probably moved on.”
The world came crashing down on her again. Marcus thinks I’m dead. She bawled once more, wiping at her eyes and sniffling.
After a moment of mourning the loss of her own life, Raine collected herself and brought her attention back to the situation at hand. “Where did the guards take everybody?” she asked.
“The yard,” Megan whispered.
“What’s that?” She vaguely remembered Arie telling her about the yard.
“Inmates are allowed to go out to the yard when the weather permits. You’re under strict lockdown because of what happened, so you had to stay here. But the yard is the roof of the prison.”
She soaked in this bit of information. “He takes everyone to the roof? To get some fresh air and sun?”
“Well, sort of. By weather permitting, I mean, we’re only allowed to go to the yard when it’s foggy outside. We can’t see anything past our hand. But it’s nice to breathe in outside air. It’s cleansing really. But most of the time, it’s so disorienting, you can’t even tell where you are. It’s like we’re in the sky.”
Raine listened to Megan’s soft voice. She seemed like such a fragile, gentle person. How has she survived in this place so long? The thought brought her mind back to some of the many clients she’d been able to talk to about their stresses in life. She remembered specifically telling a teenage girl, an introvert who had been through some trauma at her high school, that a reed could survive a storm easier than a tree. Megan had many of the same characteristics as that teenage girl. It didn’t matter what the world saw on the outside. Strength comes from within.
The door to the warehouse opened again. She stood up and squinted at the mailbox sized slot to see if everyone was coming back, she hoped to catch a glance of Arie’s face once more.
But the body that rounded the door was not a guard. It was not an inmate.
His slouched shoulders stopped in the dim light that poured through the doorway, casting a long shadow up to the solid door of her cell.
It was as if Megan could tell who it was from the sound of his footstep. “He didn’t like me talking about the yard.” Megan whispered to Raine, grabbing her hand and squeezing. “Our time here is done.” She stood up.
“Please stay with me,” Raine pleaded. She enjoyed Megan’s company. Her energy was calming. But she already knew the answer. She looked over at him, a glare reflecting off his glasses so it was impossible to see his intentions. He knelt down and picked up the keys Megan had thrown earlier. With the keys jingling at each step, he slowly approached the cell. He had a hint of a smile on his lips.
She felt Megan tense up next to her as she stood. Then the girl walked forward.
The Warden unlocked the door, grabbed Megan by the hair, and pulled her out of the cell. He slammed the door behind her, locking Raine back in. Then, in front of the door, he pulled Megan towards him.
Raine trembled as she watched through the slot, as their lips touched. She saw Megan’s hand behind her back, balling up into a fist as the Warden kissed her.
Raine felt bile rise in her throat. She was frustrated. She was angry. She couldn’t stand watching this man take advantage of them whenever he wanted. And she didn’t understand the dynamic of Megan and the Warden. Megan was his slave, but she gave in to it. Was that the only way she was able to survive here?
And what was going to happen to Raine?
The Warden never spoke. When he was done fondling Megan in front of her, the two of them walked out of the warehouse together, and the door slammed behind them.
But before Megan’s glowing, orange hair left the warehouse, she looked back at Raine in the cell and gave a small nod. The nod was enough to tell Raine that their conversation wasn’t over. That she would be back for more when she got the chance.
That they were on the same side.
TWENTY
Sometime while she was sleeping, the guards brought all the inmates back into their cages. While she couldn’t see anybody else, and their cages were away from her cell, she could still hear faint cries and people talking to one another every now and then.
She heard some shouting, and a guard turned the corner and approached on her cell, keys out.
She rose from her seat. She had never dealt with this guard before. He was a day shift. His evil counterpart, Buck, must have been off busy somewhere. He marched up to her cage and looked through the slot at her.
She stepped back.
“No funny business. I unlock this, you get cuffed. You walk with me to your relocation. End of story, got it?”
“My relocation?” she asked.
“And no questions,” he finished.
She nodded, turned around, and put her hands at the small of her back.
He did as he said he would—opened the door, and clipped the cuffs around her wrists. He pulled her out.
She tiptoed back and then forward again as he guided her down the row of cages.
He walked her back to the cage she’d initially
been in before. The cage next to Arie’s. She saw him come back to the front of his cage.
The guard unlocked the cuffs. “On your knees.”
She hesitated, and then dropped to her knees, a little too hard. Her kneecaps banged against the concrete and she winced. As she crawled into the cage, the door slammed shut and locked behind her. The guard walked off and out of sight before she even had time to turn around.
“Welcome back, neighbor.” Arie called out to her.
She smiled as memories of her whereabouts away from this cage flooded back to her. “I tried, Arie. I’m so sorry.” She pushed her hands out of the bars, next to his wall. There was hesitation, but then his fingers brushed hers.
“I’m not upset. You tried your best,” he said, his voice just barely above an inaudible whisper.
“Why did they move me back here?” she asked, not sure he knew the answer, though he had been here longer than her. He knew the alarm sounds and what they meant, and their frequency.
“Make room for a new prisoner,” he answered. Something in
her heart pricked. “Are you serious? That fast, huh?”
“It’s different every time. This is good for you, though. Means the attention won’t be on you as much. Look, he’s already moved you out of lockdown and back here. That has to mean something.”
“I thought you guys would hate me and think I was getting special treatment. I thought you’d think I gave it up to him, like… well, you know.”
“Like Meg,” he finished. There was silence between them. Arie’s words were hurt.
“She’s doing what she has to, to survive.”
“Did you?”
“What?”
“Did you give it up to him?”
Raine pulled her fingers back.
“I’m sorry.” He seemed to be pressing his face against the bars, as his speech was a little impaired. “You did what you had to do-”
“Hello. No. I didn’t give it up to him, Arie,” she responded. “Though I’m not sure how much of a choice I’ll have if he gets me in his hands again. It was awful.”
The Altruism Effect: Book One (Mastermind Murderers Series 1) Page 10
