Page 105 of Babalon

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Officer Pierce?”

“I find it a little strange that you got back to campus a day or two ago and now inmate Patton is nowhere to be seen. Do you care to shed some light on that?”

“Now why would I ruin the surprise?” he replies with a Cheshire smirk.

I can’t stand this mother fucker. I don’t mind most of the inmates in here, even the AB isn’t as annoying as Lucien is. He’s like that person on public transit who leaves their leg out in the aisle and makes you step over them just to get by. Or the neighbor that will mow their yard and throw all their clippings into yours. I can even attribute him to a little sibling that will take something of their own, hide it, then forget where they put it and cry to your parents.

He knows exactly how much to push someone to make their retaliation look excessive. Unlucky for him, excessive could be my middle name. He learned that the hard way when I beat the shit out of him. I’m not scared to drop his ass again, fucker.

Tapping the baton on his cell door a few more times, I lean my head to the left and give him my own shit eating grin. If we were going to play, then I was going to give him exactly what he was asking for.

“Surprise me then, Lucien.”

He claps his hands together and pushes up from the bed. I can still see some of the blood that dripped from where I struck him, crusted at his hairline. He changed his clothes and gave himself a whore’s bath when he should have probably sat in a tub of bleach.

He’s disgusting.

“Let’s go! I love a good field trip.”

Stepping back, I give him the berth he needs to exit the cell and leave me out of arm's length. I follow him but from a safe distance where I can subdue him if he decides to lunge for melike he did Kace. Watching that shit unfold infuriated me. I was in the middle of a short briefing with Zurita when it popped off. I moved on instinct, the need to protect Kace and take out a threat simultaneously.

The odd feeling of acceptance afterwards was different but I brushed it off, even when Kace pointed it out.

When we make it to the block's exit, I wave over to a group of other officers. Showing them that I was following Lucien, grabbing my mic, I press the button to speak to them across the distance.

“Give me ten. Call NORA if I don’t surface.”

They nod and I follow the creepy fucker ahead of me. He walks with determination at first, then slows, patting down his pockets like he’s forgetting something. When I clear my throat, he whips around and shrugs, like he forgot what he was supposed to do—I scowl.

Unable to make out what he is saying, I can hear his voice rumble through short sentences and whispers but nothing is clear enough for me to decipher.

This guy is a nutcase.

Coming up to the stairs that lead down to solitary, we step inside and close the metal door behind us. Instead of heading down the stairs, Lucien stops and takes a few steps back, almost walking into me. Staying quiet, I watch him when he starts feeling and digging his bony fingers into a few of the cracks of the stone that made up the stairwell wall.

When his digits get the right spot, the whole damn wall moves just wide enough for him to squeeze through. Pulling out my flashlight, I flick it on and point it into the gap, seeing an open door on the other side. My eyes widen when I realize what in the hell I am looking at.

Holy shit, a pit access.

I follow him without question. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but I have to find Kace.

I can smell the pit before I can see it; the scent of stale earth, mold, and still water fills my nose. My boots make soft thuds on the stone stairs as I slowly descend them, the ray of my flashlight scanning back and forth for safety. I’ve never been down here before, I know it stretches the entirety of the prison, but I didn’t realize it sat just below solitary. In other areas, there had to be more space between the prison's main floor and the hallways of the pit to remain undetected for this long.

Taking the last step, I look down the empty dilapidated corridor not seeing a fucking thing but an empty hallway.

Where the fuck is he…

Lucien reaches out, curling his cold hand around the back of my neck and pulls me to him. Wrapping his long arms around me as we stared down into the darkness. The back of me pressing inappropriately against the front of him while he shifts.

“He’s in here somewhere. You have a very limited amount of time to find him before he disappears again, Babalon,” he sepaks, his voice quiet and entirely too close to my ear.

I’ve heard him call me that before but thought nothing of it. Chalked it up to his weird religious obsession. Thrashing against him, I dislodge myself from his hold and take a few long steps forward. I don’t care what happens between now and then— I’m going to do everything to find Kace. There is only so much space in the pit that I can search.

“What the fuck did you do!” I turn, snapping at him.

“The thing you should have done a long time ago, Nadia. I removed the distraction. Now you can focus on what we need to take care of.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind, tell me where he is.”

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