Page 11 of Dangerous Beginnings

I nod, barely able to get the words to form. My throat feels tight, and the weight of everything that happened is too much forme to carry right now.

Lea gently guides me inside, her arm around me for support as the snow begins to fall, the cold biting at my skin. A guard drapes a blanket over my shoulders, his expression kind but detached. As I pull the blanket tighter around me, I see Nick coming toward me from the corner of my eye. He walks slowly, purposefully, as if he’s been expecting this.

He pulls out a chair and sits next to me, his gaze scanning me carefully. “You alright?” he asks, his voice low and steady.

I give a small nod, but I can’t bring myself to say anything. I’m not sure if I’m okay or if I ever will be again. The memory of his eyes won’t leave me.

“I understand if you want a couple of days off,” Nick continues, his voice softening. “I think that’s best for you.”

I nod again, my mind too clouded to argue. “Yes, I think so too.” I finally let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, feeling the weight of the night starting to settle in my chest.

After a brief conversation with Nick and Lea, they both agree that I need the time off. I stand, gathering my things as best as I can. I walk toward my locker, feeling the heaviness of each step, the cold seeping into my bones. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that something is still wrong.

I change out of my scrubs quickly, hands shaking as I pull on my regular clothes. I feel exposed, and vulnerable, like I’m walking around without a shield. The hallway feels unusually quiet, and the air feels thicker than usual. Something doesn’t sit right, but I can’t pinpoint what it is.

I reach for my keycard and swipe it against the reader to unlock the door to the staff room. The familiar sound of the lock clicking open should be comforting, but tonight, it feels hollow. The room is empty. Normally, there’s at least one or two other staff members changing or finishing up, but tonight, it’s completely still.

Strange.

I glance around, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. The silence is too perfect, too heavy. My pulse quickens as I step into the room, the feeling of unease crawling under my skin. Something is wrong—something more than just the events of the night. But I can’t place it.

I glance over my shoulder one more time before I move forward. No one. The silence hangs thick in the air as I gather my things.

Diable

The passage of time in this stifling isolation cell is a cruel torment. Each minute stretches into an eternity, festering with anticipation and frustration. When the cell door finally opens, I feel a dark spark of hope flare within me, only to be extinguished in an instant. It’s not her. It’s Lea, her hapless friend, who shuffles in under the watchful eye of the guard. The door slams shut behind her with a thunderous clang, a finality that reverberates through my confined space.

Lea’s entrance is marked by an eerie silence. She approaches with an air of reluctant duty, her gaze intentionally avoiding mine. How droll. She’s a mere instrument in my plan, nothing more. She starts to clean and stitch the wound on my arm with cold efficiency, each motion of her hands a stark reminder of my helplessness. I had hoped for Isabella—her presence would have been a far more satisfying element in my grand design. But Lea, with her compliant demeanor and sterile indifference, will suffice.

As she completes her task, securing the final stitch, a dark resolve coalesces within me. The moment her hand reaches for the last binding, I act. With a swift, brutal motion, I lift my cuffed hands and encircle her neck. My grip is unyielding, a cruelly deliberate act of suffocation. Her eyes widen in a silentscream, her body flailing in vain. Within seconds, her struggles cease, and she collapses, lifeless, a mere pawn removed from the board.

The sound of footsteps and a jangle of keys heralds the arrival of another guard. I wait in the shadows, a predator poised to strike. The guard steps through the door, eyes wide with confusion, only to be met with my swift assault. A punch to his face sends him sprawling to the floor, and I seize his gun with grim satisfaction. His desperate pleas, “Please, no. I have a daughter!” ring hollow in my ears. His fear is inconsequential, a mere distraction. I let him crawl away, a pathetic creature unworthy of further notice.

The alarm blares—a piercing wail that signals the arrival of my men. It is a cacophony of chaos and a herald of reckoning. The time has come to reclaim my dominance, to escape the suffocating confines of this cell, and to enact the revenge that has been simmering in the depths of my soul

Isabella

I finish getting changed and throw my bag over my shoulder as I leave the door. I make my way back to the open courtyard space as suddenly an ear-piercing alarm goes off. I freeze in the spot where I am standing.Fuck.

Gunshots are to be heard in the distance as I hear them moving closer to me. I mentally slap myself in the face as I realize I need to run the fuck away. I run back to the changing room as fast as I can. I fumble with my keycard; my hands are shaking like a fucking vibrator. After several tries the door finally lights up with the green light and I can step in. I lock the door behind me, breathing heavily. I lean my ear against the door, footsteps. I can feel my heartbeat almost forming a straight line. The footsteps click through the hall and as they move closer to the door, I feel like this is the end. They will burst through and shoot me. I runto the back of the room and find a locker open and empty. It is the only hiding place there is here, so I have to get in. I try to ignore my claustrophobia as I squeeze myself into the tiny cubicle.

I close the locker and slap my hand on my mouth as the door gets busted in. I close my eyes hoping I disappear through a hole in the ground. Two men enter. I can see them through the tiny slits of the locker. All dressed in black, wearing masks covering everything except their eyes. They check the room and as they move closer to my locker, they speak up.

My eyes widen as a drip of sweat rolls down my neck. I stay as still as possible until they leave the room after having a minor conversation. I cannot understand what they are saying, but one thing is sure; they were Russian.

Once they leave, I carefully open the locker. I can hear my footsteps as to how eerie and silent it is. I carefully walked towards the door; they didn’t close it behind them. I peek my head out to look around, nothing and no one. Where the hell is everybody?

As I make my way down the hall, the only thing I can hear is my shoes squeaking on the floor. I reach down to my foot and take both my sneakers off. My bare feet touch the ice-cold tiles, but at least there is no sound any-more. I throw my bag over my shoulder and move through the hall like a mouse.

Once I reach the corner I peek my head around once more. The alarm stopped, turning the prison into a graveyard. It’s so silent, eerie silent. Once I realize that there is no one around the corner I move forward. Blood rushes through my ears. I walk past a cell complex, and I can see that all the doors are closed, except for one. All the inmates are inside? Something is off, really off.

I want and need to walk in a straight line forward, but something is pulling me towards the open cell. I cannot peek into it and of course, my curiosity gets the best of me. I turn onmy heels and run to the cell, but when I open the door further, I am met with the most horrifying image. I drop my bag to the ground as I scream, immediately clasping my head onto my mouth. Tears fill my eyes, falling down my cheeks. Lea’s lifeless body is lying on the ground. No blood, just a blue neck, and a white skin tone. But she has passed away. I sneak over to her to check her pulse, but it isn’t there. Tears stream down my face as I reach for her hand. I say a mental prayer as I hear a loud bang. I flinch, turning my head towards the door. This door leads to the courtyard. I wipe my face as I take one last look at Lea, ice filling my veins.

I need to get out of here and that door is my escape, so I thought.

Diable

My men cleared most of the place out. Since it is a maximum prison, it isn’t large and therefore easily managed. As snow falls down my coat another guard is brought outside in the courtyard. Every guard is lined up in front of me. One line with men and another with the women. The men are worthless, the women are a different story.

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