by C. R. Jane
"Julian," he said in a voice that reminded me of a velvety night sky. He looked at us both, appraising me with a tilt of his head. I was trying to think of who he reminded me of. Besides the fact that he was scary as fuck, he definitely looked like someone I had seen before.
Suddenly I got it. He looked like that Tom Hardy celebrity that the humans were always going nuts over. Definitely a pretty face. Although I had a feeling that Tom Hardy wasn't nearly as menacing in person as this guy. The prettiest paranormals were always the scariest.
"Warden," said Julian, sounding almost respectful.
I looked at Julian in surprise. And then I looked back at the Warden with renewed respect and fear. Along with stories of Nightmare Penitentiary were always stories of its Warden. I heard he was some kind of demon. He had probably been that thing watching me from the shadows a moment ago. The rumors were that he fed off the prisoner souls, dancing from shadow to shadow as they slept and he gorged himself.
Like I said...menacing.
"Is this my new friend?" he joked, and I could see the appreciation in his eyes as they traveled down my body. Unfortunately for me, I knew that someone like the Warden would be protected by the prison’s magic from whatever energy I gave off that immediately had men begging to be my one and only. I also bristled at the mocking way that he said "friend." What an asshole.
I could tell Julian was torn at that moment. Part of him didn't like the way the Warden was looking at me, but the other part of him didn't want to tangle with a creature who didn't give two fucks that he was the leader of a large vampire coven.
Self-preservation evidently won out, because Julian gave a brisk nod. "I'm sure she will serve your prison well," he finally replied, a hint of a smile peeking out from his face. "She's just been recently broken in."
I flinched in horror, as I realized the connotation in his words. I wasn't just going to be imprisoned here. I was being sent to work here to service the guards or perhaps even worse, the prisoners. The Warden must have seen my terror because he grinned as well. "Well, she is pretty enough. I'm sure the boys will be very happy with her.”
He sniffed the air, his eyes widening as he did so. "You brought me a siren, no less," he purred. "She must've really pissed you off for you to give up one of your special girls," he continued, his voice mild without any of the curiosity one would think would be attached to such a statement.
I saw a tic in Julian's cheek. I had no doubt that he was remembering my betrayal. Instead of answering the Warden, he presented the box to him. "A gift for you," he said, shooting me a satisfied smile.
The Warden’s whole demeanor changed at the prospect of the gift. He opened it up like a kid on Christmas morning, and his eyes lit up as he surveyed the golden ball of light. I had been right. Julian had given him my power.
"That's mine," I growled, the words coming out before I could stop them. The Warden and Julian both laughed like I’d just told a joke.
"I've been searching for one of these for years," he told Julian appreciatively, his manner much more welcoming after the gift.
The list that I was keeping, the one of people I despised, that one that had consisted so far of my mother and Julian...well, the Warden had just been added to it. And I decided right then and there that by the end of this year I would have my power back, or I would die trying.
The Warden took his gift and immediately went to a nearby bookshelf and pushed a few pieces aside to set it down as it continued to glow. I could feel it calling for me, and every piece of my soul wanted to answer its call.
He admired how the orb looked with his collection of oddities. Except, staring at the golden orb that seemed to shift inside like liquid gold, my heart clenched. Julian took my essence… my singing voice, where my biggest power lay. And he so easily gave it away to the Warden. I wanted to scream and collect what belonged to me.
The Warden once again turned back toward us, the movement so fast that once again, I could see how blurred the edges of his appearance were, until they sharpened once more.
"We have her for a year?" asked the Warden.
Julian gave a nod. "We'll see how much is left of her at the end of that year." He smirked, giving me a wink that set my teeth on edge. "I might not even want her back after your boys get done with her," he sneered.
The Warden smiled savagely. “Don't discount what the girls will do to her," he added, his face looking like the idea delighted him.
Sicko.
Julian looked at his watch again and cursed. "I have to go," he said to the Warden, who nodded in understanding.
Julian grasped both of my arms in his and gave me one last lingering look...I could see the longing in his eyes. I realized how much he still wanted me, and how much a part of him hated the fact that he was leaving me here. That longing disappeared after a second though, and all that was left was feverish triumph.
"Do miss me, darling," he purred, before he was out the door, leaving me with the Warden.
I trembled as I turned to face the Warden. Would he demand that I have sex with him right away?
Much to my surprise, the Warden was busy examining my golden orb of power, sliding it around on his bookshelf like he was on some home organizing show. It was like I didn’t even exist...which was not the usual reaction I got from males.
A few minutes passed, and I got tired of waiting. I just wanted whatever was going to happen to get over with. I cleared my throat, and he stiffened, apparently remembering I remained in the room.
“What are you going to do with me?” I asked in a resigned voice.
He grinned, and I shivered because I could see the promise of an eternity of torment in that smile.
“We’ll let you get acquainted with your new home before you start your services,” he said. He reached over and pressed a button on his desk, and then he went back to organizing his shelf, humming as he did so.
A minute passed, and then a guard appeared, dressed in the same uniform as the one’s out front had been. Again, I couldn’t see any of his features, due to the cloak that covered half of his face.
“Take her away,” the Warden ordered without looking at either of us.
The guard strode towards me, and I was tempted to make a run for it...not that I would have anywhere to go. The entrance that Julian and I had come through had disappeared, and even now, standing in the middle of the room, I couldn’t see any exits. Even the entryway that the guard had come through had disappeared.
The guard grabbed my arm before I could take a step and proceeded to march me towards the wall.
“Pleasant dreams,” the Warden called after me.
I gritted my teeth to keep my body from shaking, because the way he said it sounded like a threat. That’s all I needed was for the Warden to take a trip through my dreams.
Just as it seemed as though we might walk right into the bookshelf, an opening appeared and we were through the wall. Next thing, we were standing in a dark, cold corridor lined with cells made of the same black metal that had made up the outside of the prison. A scream ripped through the air, and I jumped.
The guard snorted at me.
I glared over at him. He didn’t bother to respond to my glare, he just kept walking me forward. I was getting really tired of being dragged around.
The same oppressive feeling that I experienced before when I entered the Warden’s office was also present in this hallway. I felt once again, like my energy was being sucked out of me. The guard of course strode along, seemingly completely unaffected.
The hallways were confusing. They reminded me of a labyrinth...and they all looked the same. It would probably be harder to find your way through the hallways and out of the prison than it would be to get out of your cell, if you were trying to escape.
The screams continued as we walked, and they were joined by a cacophony of moans and anguished cries. It sounded how I imagined hell would sound, with the dead bemoaning their fate. I honestly couldn’t imagine hell being worse than thi
s place.
I couldn’t see into any of these cells. I didn’t know if that was because it was lights out already, or if there was some kind of magical setting on them that prevented you from seeing inside. Either way, it was probably a good thing, since the sounds coming out of the cells were already terrifying enough.
As we walked, a tingling slid up my spine. It felt like someone was watching me. I glanced behind me, almost falling as I did so as I tripped over a gash in the concrete floor.
Looking back, I thought I saw someone slipping around a corner—another guard I assumed—and I tried to ignore my unsettled feeling.
I had spent a great deal of time in isolation, studying and training alone in my room. I was used to being alone, welcomed it even, as it meant time away from my evil bitch of a mother. But as we stopped in front of a cell so small that it could barely fit the cot that was stuffed inside of it, I felt more alone than ever before.
“Get in and change. I’ll be back in five minutes. Don’t make me have to help you get dressed,” a gruff voice ordered, and I reluctantly walked inside, cringing as the metal door slammed behind me. I turned to ask the guard a question, but to my shock, he was already gone and there was nothing but darkness behind the bars in front of me.
I wanted to cry, but I held it in and turned to look at my new home.
As uncomfortable as the cot in my cell looked, I was just glad that it wasn’t a bunk bed.
There was no way another being could fit into this room or on that bed, and that itself gave me a small bit of relief. I had assumed that I would be paired up with some dangerous lunatic, so a single occupancy cell was the best thing I had experienced all day.
A red jumpsuit was spread out on the bed. My new uniform I assumed. Remembering the threat in the guard’s voice, I hurriedly slipped out of my clothes, trying to shield my body as I did so. I just hoped that everyone had an inability to see into the cells in this section and not just me. The idea of someone staring at me from the shadows was almost more than I could take.
The jumpsuit fit snug, but it seemed to do a good job of hiding my curves, something that was good, as I was desperate to garner the least amount of attention as possible.
True to his word, the guard came back a few minutes later carrying a tray of grey looking food.
He laughed when he saw my dismay and opened the cell door with a loud clang to grab my clothes and drop off the tray. I eyed the food suspiciously. It looked like congealed slop.
“Better get used to it, princess,” he said mockingly, and it was all I could do not to scream at him. Of course, he could care less that I was in here under false pretenses. I’m sure that all of the prisoners claimed the same.
After sliding the food through, he left. Unable to summon an appetite, I curled up on my cot against the wall, allowing myself to cry for the first time since walking through Nightmare Penitentiary’s gates.
The prisoners screamed and moaned around me. Some of their cries sounded angry, while others sounded broken-hearted. I could relate to both feelings at the moment.
I drifted in and out of sleep, too afraid to allow myself to drift all the way into dreamland.
I was fully woken up by the sound of chains rattling against the floor, and the rough barks of some of the guards. Standing up, I walked to the bars that separated me from the hallway and peered out to see if I could see anything. Unlike before, where all I could see was a black abyss when I looked into the hallway, now I could see what looked like four figures marching towards me, with another figure who appeared to be glowing in the center of them. The sound of the chains dragging on the floor got louder as they marched closer.
The four figures surrounding the glowing one were guards, shrouded in their usual dark navy uniforms. They kept shooting glances at the person in the middle, the one that I could see now had in chains around his wrists.
The one in the middle wasn’t human, but he was in human form with shoulder length blonde hair that was so pale, it was practically white. The light surrounding him was so bright that it hurt my eyes a bit after seeing nothing but darkness the past few hours. It seemed to be emitting from inside of him, and cast him in a golden glow. His skin was a white gold color, and he was tall, taller than the guards around him. No wonder they were continually monitoring him.
He stared ahead of him as he walked, but I could see that his eyes were a brilliant blue, like the hottest part of a fire, that flickered and sparked.
A fae. That’s what he had to be. I had seen a representative from the Light fae Kingdom at one of Julian’s parties. He carried this same glow, although I didn’t remember it being this bright.
He was stunning.
But what was a Light fae doing in this place? The fae were powerful, and had their own laws and punishments that governed their people. I wouldn’t have expected one of them to be here and not in their own prisons.
Unlike my uniform, his was a pale grey color, and he was only wearing pants. Despite my current situation, I couldn’t help but devour the perfect ridges and valleys of his chest and arms. He was lean, but perfectly toned.
None of the group spared me a glance as they walked by, and I wondered again if you could see into the cells. Still staring at them, I gasped when the fae’s back came into view. Unlike the pristine perfection of the front of him, his back was covered in what appeared to be a myriad of lash marks, many of them fresh ones, judging by the blood that was still seeping out of some of them. The new wounds were tangled with the scars of older ones. This poor creature was being tortured, and I let out a faint distressed sound at the thought. Was that same fate waiting for me?
At my sound, the fae’s head whipped around, and our eyes met. Those blue flames seemed to burn even brighter as he stared at me intently, not breaking eye contact until a guard barked at him to stare ahead.
A lonely feeling crept into my heart at the loss of those eyes, and as his beautiful light faded, I felt even more despair about my situation. The screams of my fellow prisoners sounded even louder now, like they were mourning the fae’s light as well. My screams would most likely join theirs tomorrow after my first day of “work.” I shivered just imagining what horrors awaited me. I wasn’t sure that the guards weren’t worse than the monsters that could be found in these prison cells.
It was only nightmares that waited for me when I finally fell asleep.
Chapter 5
“Wake up,” a voice barked as a hand was shoved roughly against my shoulder.
I flipped open my eyes, staring at the black stone wall inches from my face. That starkness and the groaning sound of someone behind me wrenched me back to my reality.
Nightmare Penitentiary was my new home for the next year.
I was trapped here. And today I would begin work as what amounted to a sex slave to the guards and whatever other demented, terrifying fiends the Warden deemed eligible for my services.
I was going to die, and no one would miss me. Terror clutched to my chest. I’d barely woken up, and already, I sucked in shallow breaths, hyperventilating.
The hatred I’d already felt for Julian was multiplied a hundred fold this morning, and I knew right then that I would do anything in my power to make him suffer. If I ever survived this prison, I’d make sure he hurt as much as I did.
“Get the hell up,” a female voice growled. I glanced over my shoulder, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. A tall woman with wide shoulders glared at me, hands on her waist. She wore red prison pants rolled low on her hips and a short-cropped black tank top. Shadows crowded under her dark eyes, and my attention lifted to the stubs of black horns at the corners of his head. What was she?
I started to push myself up from the most uncomfortable cot in the world, my ribs aching, when something sharp pricked my palm. I pulled my hand back from the mattress to find a spectacular teal pyramid-shaped crystal. It glinted in the dull light like something swirled inside the stone. A beauty amongst the darkest of places.
Where had you
come from?
A shuffling sound drew my attention to the top of my bed where a light brown mouse with a white face stared at me. Its little pink nose twitched, beady eyes locked to me, then lowered to the crystal.
“If I have to ask you one more time, I’m kicking you in the ribs. The Warden asked me to show you to the mess hall, now hurry the hell up.”
My fingers quickly curled around the crystal as the mouse spun around and scurried away.
Shoving myself to my feet, I got up. I felt sore all over.
The inmate’s eyes shone pure black, matching her short hair. Demon came to mind, and being this close with one scared me. I’d only heard tales about them having uncontrollable rage, but looking at her hard glare and the way her eyes narrowed on me, I didn’t want to find out if that trait was real.
“Don’t expect a welcome wagon every morning. You’re lucky you get to leave your cell to eat. If you piss off the Warden, that will be gone. You’ll have breakfast, then I’ll take you to his office for your tasks. After that, I don’t give a shit what happens to you.”
My head still felt too groggy to really make sense of it all.
“Thank you,” I offered.
She looked over at me, her lips pinched tight, frustration worrying her brow into a dozen lines. “Look, I remember my first day, and it fucking sucked. So I’ll give you some quick tips. Then you’re on your own, because we’re not friends. Understand?”
I nodded.
“Don’t start fights you don’t intend to win. The scariest sonofabitch in this place is the Warden. And whatever you do, never say no to anyone who asks you for something.”
My jaw dropped open at her words, but then again, could it be worse than offering these inmates sex? Well, unless they ask for my organs? I shuddered.
In truth, it took every ounce of strength to not fall to my knees and cry uncontrollably. I only had enough strength to find the energy to draw oxygen into my lungs.
Outside the cell, the communal area stretched out on either side of me. We headed to the right. Prisoners were everywhere, meandering, but most seemed to be going in the same direction. I stuffed the crystal in my hand into the pocket of my red jumpsuit.
