Page 8 of The Rat

Rory kicked his trousers aside, but a firmfinger wag from Sebastian had him reaching for them. He folded themup, along with his T-shirt, and placed them in thecabinet.

“Better.Night, Rory.”

He didn’t say good night inreturn. He climbed up on the top bunkand lay down. Sebastian Claw was beneathhim, staring up at his mattress, burning holes in it with hisintense glare. Rory knew he wasn’t going to be sleeping that night.He couldn’t hear Sebastian breathing below him, there was noshifting of the bed, or rustle of a pillow. Sebastian wasunnervingly quiet, and Rory knew he was lying awake, staring up,but where Rory stared up with panicked eyes, he imaginedSebastian’s narrowed with cruelty.

ChapterTwo

Rory was still alive in themorning, but he’d not had much sleep. For hours he lay awake, waiting forSebastian’s arms to shoot up from around the bed and clutch him, ora pillow to be pressed to his face. Nothing happened, andeventually he drifted off only to be awoken by Captain’s scream ofterror. He called out for twenty minutes before the nightguardsroused him.

Rory stayed on his bed whileSebastian got dressed. There was barely enough room for them tostand in front of the bed together, and Rory felt oddly safer off the ground,being as quiet as possible, curled in a ball at the end of his bed.Rory peeled looks at Sebastian’s physique, he was tall, strong, anddarker hair grew from his chest. He looked good, but then when heattached his gaze on Rory, any good feeling vanished, and fear roseup in its place.

Sebastian pulled on another tightwhite t-shirt and smart black trousers. He wetted his hand, thenstroked back his hair. He tested the length of his stubble with hisfingertips, then nodded.

“How am I looking?”

Rory’s struggled to findwords—hedidn’t know what was acceptable. He settled for ‘good’, butSebastian raised an eyebrow.

“Good?”

“Ready to face theday,” Rorytried.

Sebastian snorted. “That’s thekinda rubbish they’d put on a cereal box.”

The door clunked, then swungopen. Sebastianstrolled out and disappeared around the corner. Rorydropped back down on his bed and pressed his palms to his face. Onpaper, it sounded simple—go into the prison, strike up conversationwith Sebastian, and over the course of a few months, he reveals allhis secrets.

Sebastian didn’t want to speakwith Rory,and the way his eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into asinister smile set alarm bells off in Rory’s head.

****

Captain looked worse than theday before,and his prediction had come true. The other inmates looked at himwith a mixture of pity and fear. Captain’s cellmate servingbreakfast couldn’t look him in the eye when he held out histray.

It wasn’t burned toast andwatery eggs of the day before, but thick bland porridge that stuck Rory’steeth together. He slapped his lips noisily as he ate, and histaste buds cried out for sugar.

Captain ate his up, then tapped hisspoon on his tray. “I woke you?”

Rory nodded. “It’s not yourfault—”

“It is myfault, that’s the problem.” He tappedhis temple. “I deserve to feel like this.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You don’t know the shit Idid, and the shit I didn’t do when I was servingoverseas.”

“I know I couldn’t havehandled it.”

“Neither couldI.”

Captain’s eyeswere red and watery,and his huge body slumped forward, seemingly defeated by his dream.Ollie poked his head out of his cell, and Rory waved him over. Heslipped into the chair beside him, and Rory looked him up anddown.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, Teddy didn’ttry anything. Howabout Sebastian?”

“He clearly hates myguts, but left mealone. Says if someone else maims me he won’t give ashit.”

“Nice… well at least we survived the firstnight on the wing,” Ollie muttered.

Captain laughed. “You’ve onlygot thousandsmore to go.”

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