Page 5 of Dangerous Beginnings

As I step outside, the cool morning fog hits me, the fresh air filling my lungs. I take a deep breath, letting it steady my nerves before getting into my car. The drive home feels endless, but I’m too tired to think clearly.

All I want is sleep.

Unknown

Four walls, four concrete walls. One toilet, more likely just a hole you can piss into, and one bed which is as hard as the concrete walls. I am building up with anger as these four walls lock me inside like a goddamn animal. I am planning, planning the right time to leave this hellhole. It is time for me to go home, to take a fucking clean shower.

I have already set my eyes on the weak link,her. I have many allies here, which means I have eyes everywhere. All the men inside here either owe me a debt, their life, or are terrified of me.

I was arrested on Saturday, and it’s now Tuesday, and my impatience is growing. I sit 23 hours caged like an animal in mycell and 1 hour I spent in the court outside in another fucking cage. In a slightly bigger cage outside is where I’m allowed to have my one hour of recreation. When I want to shower, I get a full body check, then I am permitted to shower. But only for 3 minutes, with ice-cold water. The food is dreadful and monotone. And as if it couldn’t get worse, I am forced to wear a prisoner’s suit and stripped of my belongings. My hands feel empty as they lack all the rings I usually wear. Now the only cold steel I feel are handcuffs. How come the room is so empty and yet my mind is still so full? Maybe because of the number of drugs I snorted a couple of days ago.

I don’t know what time it is exactly but when I hear the keys ramming into the lock of the cell, I know it’s time for my lone hour of fresh air. The guard opens the hole in the door, I reach my hands through it, and he cuffs them, same old same old. I am brought through the steel doors towards the court outside. When we finally reach my open-air cage, I am locked inside and uncuffed. When you are locked up 23 hours a day it is important to keep your mind sane, but how can I do that when I am far from sane in any other situation? I take a deep breath of fresh air as I observe my surroundings. The man in another cage next to me is working out, but as soon as my eyes lock on his he stops immediately. He stands as he bows his head to me, out of respect or fear, I cannot tell.

I spent my hour working out, sweating everything out. As I finish my work out my mind can’t help but to wander off, to wander off toher. Young and innocent, working in a high maximum-security prison. Put one and one together and it is not hard to realize that she is a weak link, a weak link that I am going to put to good use.

Isabella

When I finally reach home after my drive, I’m extremelyexhausted. I grab my bag, get out of the car and immediately take off my shoes after opening the front door. I lock the door and walk to the fridge; I decide to have a small breakfast. I grab my favorite, coconut yogurt with nuts and fruits. Once I finish making my breakfast I sit down at the dinner table. My apartment is small, but it has everything I need. I need to keep motivating myself to work harder to keep it. I hope my landlord ‘suddenly’ gets hit by a car or something.

My mind drifts back to what happened tonight,him. I can’t stop myself from wondering about the incident. I need to shrug off this feeling I have, I know I’m just overthinking the situation. I guess that’s what you get from working in a maximum-security prison—suspicion. I decide it would be best to take a hot shower and then try to get some sleep, as I need to go my day job at the café in a few hours.

I am woken a few hours later by the sun. The clock reads 11:30 AM.Shit,I curse to myself as I jump out of bed. I must be in town in half an hour, and I look absolutely like hell. I run towards the bathroom and try to fix my face with a tiny bit of make-up. I put on my work clothes: black skinny jeans and a black shirt. I shove my easy lunch into my mouth as I try to put my sneakers on. I collect my bag and house keys and twist the keys into the hole to open the door. Before I know it, I’m sprinting down the stairs of my apartment building. I speed down the pedestrian, almost sprinting towards the café.

In the process of doing so I can’t help but to notice a black Mercedes with tinted windows. The man inside wears a pair of sunglasses and stares at me. And there it is again, the eerie feeling, that familiar eerie feeling I had last night. I quickly turn my heels and make a run for it; besides the eerie feeling I am almost too late to work. And somehow that bothers me more. I storm through the door as I am met with my boss.

“Hey, busy bee!” she smiles at me. “Another busy night shift?”

I smile back at her as I inhale a deep breath.

“Yes, but I slept fine, and I’m full of energy to work again, Miss Harolds.”

She hands me my apron. I have been working here since my 16thbirthday, and I can’t be more grateful for my relationship with her. Miss Harolds has been like a mother to me and has been nothing but good to me over the years. She knows I work three jobs to keep up with my rent. She always shifts me in whenever I have time. I tie the apron together and smile at Miss Harolds.

“Amazing sweetheart, good luck and let me know if you need anything.”

I give her a nod before walking off to the kitchen. While serving food to the customers, I grab a croissant for myself as well.

My workday goes by quickly, and I am lucky with the tips today. As I’m clean up the last plates I feel a few shivers run up my back again. At this point I feel that I’m paranoid for no reason. The café is empty, and I am the only one closing it today—it’s almost 6 PM. It’s dark outside and little snowflakes are falling from the sky, the sun has set and is nowhere to be seen. I stare at my reflection in the glass as I see headlights moving. While the car passes the café, I immediately recognize the build, the same black Mercedes. Yup, I am going insane.

Unknown

I’m escorted back inside after my workout session. I have men outside, loyal to me, bound by their hearts to me. Loyalty is what drives my men, an eye for an eye and respect for respect. I have eyes everywhere—not only in prison, but outside as well.

As I’m brought back up the stairs again, I spot a pair of eyes on me, and these eyes are not from one of my men. Of course, I not only have men loyal to me, but I have many enemies too. Manymen who want to take me down, take my place. The pair of eyes slowly approaches me from the back. The men dragging me back to my cell do not even notice him, but I do. I notice everyone.

It’s to their advantage that I am a smarter person. I wait until the timing is right. I am escorted back into my cell. The loud bang of the steel door closing is the last thing I hear for the next 23 hours.

Chapter 3

A Match Made in Hell

Isabella

I lock the café and make sure to turn the lights off. I close the zipper of my coat up to my neck, it’s freezing. I tie my scarf around my neck as well before stepping outside. A small layer of snow lays upon the cars that are parked outside. I make my way towards my apartment and notice that I am looking back a couple of times, paranoid. This time, there is nothing suspicious, and I can’t spot the same car anywhere.

I make it home safe and make sure to lock the door. As soon as I step inside, I take off my jacket and sneakers. I fall on the couch, exhausted from a long day. The temptation of calling off work is huge, but I need the money. It’s 6:30 PM now and I have to be at work again at midnight. If I get to sleep within an hour, I’ll at least be able to sleep a little; not enough but it will have to do. My job at the prison hospital department pays the most, and I can’t lose it.

After my shift tonight, I will be free for an entire day. The thought is enough to keep me going, even as exhaustion weighs heavily on my shoulders. I drag myself into the bathroom, the cool tile floor a welcome relief under my aching feet. I freshen up quickly, wiping the tiredness from my face, trying to make myself feel human again.

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