19. Lea
19
LEA
Three months later
A zapping sound stirred me from my restless sleep.
My eyes opened to the dimly lit dungeon that had become my home.
I pried my face from the damp stone floor, wiping away the dirt on my cheek.
My eyes followed up the stone walls as if they were trying to claw me out of here.
I dreamt I had left here… I knew it was too good to be true.
Disappointment weighed on my soul.
My nose filled with unsavory smells.
The thing I had to combat the smell was my small mint plant growing out of the crack in the wall.
My ears filled with the sounds of moaning prisoners and the dripping of water from the ceiling. They were sounds that I had become accustomed to by now, but there was one sound that I could never get used to.
The loud zapping sound that woke me up ripped through the stone walls again, causing me to jump. It was the sound of the guards' torture prods.
I was so used to the feeling of them that even just the sound caused my body to react. I stood stark still, not even allowing myself to breathe as the guard walked past my cell, dragging his torture prod against the metal bars.
Only after he left did I relax.
“Good morning, Lea.” A soft, sweet voice came from the shadows of the cell where most of my cellmates still slept.
I knew right away that it was Dineta.
The stale breath I held in left my lungs as I whispered, “Morning.”
Dineta was my saving grace in this hellish life I was forced to live. She was my closest companion, although I had become close to most of my cellmates and even the people of my neighboring cells.
“Did you see they brought someone new in last night? Threw him in our cell. As if we have the room!” She struggled to keep her voice down as she expressed her exasperation.
“They threw someone else in here?” I was surprised that it didn’t wake me up. I was usually a very light sleeper.
“Man, were you really that knocked out last night?” she questioned before someone else stirred awake in the cell.
“Where am I? What am I doing here?” The man speaking wasn’t someone I recognized. It must have been the newbie.
I slowly brought myself to my feet and looked in their direction, crossing my arms to assert authority. “Welcome to cell 386. My name is Lea. What are you in for?”
I also heard the man shuffle to his feet and saw his face.
He was a younger man with dark brown eyes, but that was all I could see in this dim light.
“Damn, I guess that means they finally caught me.” He seemed to mumble to himself more than to me. Once he collected his thoughts, he looked back up and approached me. “My name is Miller.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering why he failed to answer my question about why he was there. I wouldn’t trust him until I knew what kind of person he was. “What is your crime?”
Dineta jumped to her feet and laughed off my curt interrogation. “Don’t mind Lea, she’s been here long and is very cautious. You’ll be safe here with us for the time being. Just don’t do anything to piss off the guards. There won’t be anything we can do to help you if you do.”
“Why do you want to know what my crime is so badly? We’re all in the same prison, which makes us all monsters.” Miller chose to keep his focus on Lea and ignore what Dineta said.
I took a step closer to him and crossed my arms tighter. “We might all be in the same prison, but not all the same. There are people here who deserve to be here. Though it isn’t very many, it does happen. I need to know if I must watch my back with you.”
Miller raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, it’s better to stay on your good side. So I’ll tell you. Let’s just say I angered a wealthy and powerful man. I was framed for writing illegal potion recipes and thrown in here without trial.”
“That’s very similar to what happened to Lea.” Dineta volunteered the information despite my glaring look.
“Not just me. There seems to be a lot of people in prison here, framed for things they didn’t do… People who opposed the rich and powerful.” I moved the conversation away from me.
“I heard rumors of such things happening, but I had never experienced it firsthand until now. That would explain why so few people from poorer towns will visit the capitol. There’s even been a drop of people pursuing potion writing or mixing.” Miller raised his hand, rubbing his chin with his pointer, finger, and thumb. “I never imagined it would happen to me. I thought, surely the people who ended up here deserved it.”
The air went stale and silent between us.
I can’t believe it. This entire prison is overrun with people who didn’t deserve to be here. It’s even common knowledge that this is happening, and no one has been able to stop it. I don’t even know if anyone’s trying to.
My mind is filled with thoughts of my loved ones.
They’d been waiting all this time for me to come home, but it doesn’t look like I’ll ever come home.
I was trapped in here like some kind of purgatory all because of that monster…
Jaricn Ransom. If I ever get out of here, so help me, Lunaira, I will hunt him down and kill him for what he’s done to me.
“Nadir!”
I was so distracted with Miller that I didn’t realize one of the guards had approached the cell.
My heart leaped into my throat as I stood at full attention.
“Your advocate is here again,” He snapped derisively at me as he opened the cell door.
I knew he was waiting for me to move, but I couldn’t seem to pull my feet from the ground.
When these meetings with my advocate first started, I was happy. I knew Zane and Mema were fronting my advocacy from the outside, but I could only say what was allowed here.
“Get a move on then!” The guard shouted at me, and Dineta pressed her hand into my lower back, urging me forward.
“It’ll only be worse if you postpone it. I’ll be here for you when you get back,” she whispered before pushing me out of the cell.
I could see the guard’s teeth as he smirked before grabbing my neck and leading me down the hallway like a dog.
Once we were out of sight from anyone else, he threw me into a wall and pressed his hand into my chest so that I couldn’t breathe. “You know the rules, Nadir. No mentions of the Jaricn or Diesel Ransom. You seem to have forgotten the last time we had this meeting, so just so that it doesn’t slip your mind again?—”
He grumbled in his hoarse voice as he unsheathed the dagger from his hip and slowly sunk it into my side under my ribs. “You could make this all go away if you just confess your crimes.”
Should I confess to a crime I didn’t commit or continue this torture for the rest of my life?
The pain of the slick, cold metal in my side was unimaginable.
It ripped through muscle as it dug a crevice.
He always made sure not to hit any major organs.
That way, I wouldn’t have to go to the medical office.
I bit into my bottom lip so hard that the taste of copper flooded my mouth.
“What a shame. I love to hear you scream.” He laughed before ripping the knife out.
I knew better than to cry out even with the amount of pain.
He would have just stabbed me again for good measure.
I leaned over, pressing both of my hands into the wound, feeling the warm liquid drip out. To distract myself from the pain, I wondered how much money Diesel, or maybe even Jax, was paying these moles to keep me quiet in here. I was willing to bet they wished they had just killed me months ago.
The guards sat me down in an empty room with only two chairs and a steel table in the middle. He stood behind me so that he could monitor everything closely.
Then, the door to the small room opens, revealing Zane and his cousin, Ferlin Amour.
He didn’t have any power or money, but he had connections. His cousin was a lawyer and was willing to help with my case.
That gave me hope for a while, but Diesel would ensure I never got out of here.
After these last few months, I wondered when Zane would figure out it was a fruitless effort.
Zane stood before me, and the light faded from his big brown eyes. His face dropped as his eyes scanned over me. “What the hell is this?”
He rushed for me, but the guard stepped in between us. “Please do not touch the prisoners, sir. She’s dangerous.”
“What have you done to her?” Zane snarled at the guard, who seemed unaffected. “Get her clean bandages and a new shirt… Now!”
The guard gritted his teeth so loud that I could hear it from here. He gave one stern nod before marching out of the room.
Zane took this time to kneel before me, holding my trembling hand in both of his. “Lea, talk to me. Tell me what I can do to help you.”
I didn’t realize I was shaking until I parted my lips, and my chin quivered.
Globs of tears dripped from my eyes, but I refused to crumble in this place. “They’ll never let me go, Zane. There’s nothing you can do. Please just leave this place and never return. They’re only going to continue to torture me for as long as you try and get me out.”
“Who are they ? Just tell me who did this to you,” he pleaded with me, but the door to the interrogation room opened again, cutting the conversation short.
“Tell them, Zane… Tell them that it was me who tried to transport the illegal potions. They won’t stop until I’m convicted.” My head hung into my feet as I began to lose consciousness.
I could hear shouting on the other side, but it became faint. I hoped that after I closed my eyes, I could dream of my home again… Of my family, but there was nothing for me on the other side of my consciousness—only darkness.