Page 69 of Babalon

Shaking off the past hour, I stand at the door and cross my arms as a group of AB saunter up. I know they are making movesto gain power amongst the inmates and as much as I don’t care, I can’t let them do the shit they want when it comes to Kace.

A little bird told me, a while back, that they tried getting details on Kace from the homies, even the kinfolk, their enemies. Why, I don’t know, but I have a feeling it has to do with the reason Kace is here to begin with. I won’t admit it but I did a little digging when I was first hired and encountered my inmate— yeah,mine—which I found a few interesting things about good ol’ Governor Barclay. But that is a different issue for a different day.

“Where do you boys think you’re going?” I ask. “You should be at chow.”

Nate takes a step forward, always the idiot speaking for others. I would not be surprised if the AB beats submission into the lower ranking guys.

This chump is going to end up in a hole in the pit if he keeps on. There are only so many trips to seg an inmate can take before the prison demands more, like it has a machine down in the bowels that devours men one soul at a time.

“To get some fresh air, hot stuff. Want to join us?” he teases as a few of the other inmates come up behind him, snickering like children. He leans to the side, pushing one arm up to the top of the door frame as if his assumed charm can trick me into doing anything willing with him.

“You’re in prison, inmate, you don’t get fresh anything. You got five minutes to get the rest of your rec time in before I hit the alarms and you cause the whole prison to go on lockdown. I’m sure if there is a shakedown that comes along with it, you’ll be spending the night in seg again.”

Schooling my features, I blink at him with a blank expression, the smug little smirk he is wearing deepening as he steps up and closes the distance between us. His tongue passes over his overlychewed bottom lip, looking more like a wild animal than anyone attractive, causing my face to contort into a look of disgust.

“It would be one hell of a shame if something, or someone, happened to you, Officer Pierce. There’s only a few things in this shithole that is keeping us from breaking you.”

I blink, unimpressed, at him once again. Following with a bored sigh.

“All bark, no bite. You want your pipeline to remain open, I suggest keeping your mouth shut, inmate. Unless you want to lick my boots clean again.” I offer him one of my own smug smiles.

“You remember that, don’t you? The first time you crawled on your hands and knees for me, begging? You were so desperate for a hit that I was able to pour your precious powder on my boot, and you used that disgusting tongue of yours to lick up every granule. I did enjoy the spit shine, pup.”

His eyes flare when I finish speaking, he used to be such a whore for cocaine. He also doesn’t respond well to embarrassment, and when his eyes flare, his brows furrowing, I know I’d hit the mark with him. Nothing like making him appear the lesser man before his subordinates.

Giving him another mirthless smile, I motion to the door for him and his cronies to walk through. Just so they could get the hell out of my sight. Nate has never approached me like this, at least not in a public setting, so I have a feeling something was about to switch up.

What that is? I don’t know.

Chapter twenty-one

Lucien

Past

“Get back here!”

No chance was I doing anything remotely close to that. I have been doing this long enough to know that if I give any sort of surrender then I am going to end up in some piddly county jail, when I have my eyes set on a bigger prize.

I want to be in max.

People may consider me a little insane; well, a lot, but that is beside the point. I have my reasons to get into Darkwater and I’m not going to delay the matter anymore. Where the Lord calls me is where I will go—the problem is getting there. I typically keep my kills under wraps, but I need to go on some sort of spree, and leave a trail of corpses to garner the attention of thestate government. The world needs to fear me, rightfully so; that way I can secure my place.

You may be asking why it’s so important to be thrown into a facility that I likely would never escape from, and all I can say is, the wicked thrive where the wicked sleep. Punishment is nothing when you receive free food, room and board, and any other basic necessities you require. Those who make up the inmate population benefit from being incarcerated, and while I keep my focus on the blasphemous individuals of the flock, God wants me to punish some I’ll never get access to outside of prison.

Besides, many orderlies don’t process their reports when there is prisoner-on-prisoner crime. I would, simply, be doing them all a favor. A resident meat grinder if you will, churning out their worst while flying stealthily under the radar.

Right now, however, I’m running from the security officer that mans the neighborhood I just decimated. There are four prominent families in this community with children who thought they could take over the world. Each leave their own brand of destruction; all of which, are able to escape punishment due to their parents’ influence.

Unlucky for them though, there is no amount of coverage they can receive that absconds them from my Father’s wrath. Silly kids—their lives snuffed out in only their early twenties. I’m sure they had some potential, but the only thing they will amount to now, is leading to my successful arrest. Which should come right after I make it away from this guard, and run through the surveillance path of every camera in the neighborhood I mapped out a few weeks ago.

I want them to see me before discovering the extent of what I have done.

The sound of my boots slap against the dirt and rock, joining with my heavy breaths. While I’m not a big guy, and I am fairly thin, I usually don’t find myself running like this. It’s apparent,from a stamina standpoint, I am out of shape. I guess, once I get locked up, I can fix that.

I hope they have a decent rec yard—county’s was abysmal.

Sprinting as hard as I can, for as long as I can, I run in and out of the glow of street lamps once I exit the neighborhood, well outside of the security officer’s jurisdiction—so much for observing and reporting. He can’t do anything to me if he could have caught up anyway—a limitation on his behalf. The state supported citizens’ arrests, but the act itself usually leads to civil lawsuits. Companies don’t like to deal with them, therefore it’s better to avoid them altogether.

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