Jake woke up with his head pounding. He was laying on a cold, stone floor and it was dark. Torches were burning just outside the cell he was in, casting a dancing light that didn't seem to reach all the way into the cell. He was against the back wall. Slowly, he sat up. He felt his head throb where he had been hit, though he didn't really know how long ago that was, and placed his hand against it. To his surprise, the wound seemed to be taken care of. Some cloth was wrapped around it and it felt well done.
The cell was empty except for a grey bundle in the corner right against the bars. It took a while for Jake to realise that the bundle was, in fact, a person. He had his legs pulled up close to him with his ankles crossed. His arms were wrapped around his legs and his head was resting on his knees. He was dressed in grey rags that made him blend into the cave wall and his skin was so pale that it made Jake think he must have been here for a long while.
Jake pushed himself to sit up a bit better and grunted at the effort. The sound woke the guy. He slowly raised his head and looked straight at Jake. His face cracked into a toothy smile when he saw Jake, but it wasn't a very pleasant smile. It looked painfully strained. Jake swallowed and felt unnerved by it. The guy unfurled himself and began to slowly crawl towards Jake. Jake tried to back up, but as soon as he moved back a bit the guy froze. The guy cocked his head and dropped the smile. "Oh," he said. He sat back and put his balled hands against his face, still looking at Jake. "Scared you, sorry..."
Jake frowned. It seemed to him the guy didn't have bad intentions, but also like he didn't have much sanity left. Not to mention he was still unsettling to look at. "It's okay," Jake said with a cracked voice. He was trying to remain on good terms with his new cellmate, and the smile bloomed back onto the guy's face. "Who are you?" Jake asked.
The guy blinked a few times and thought hard on the question. Harder than anyone should for being asked their name. "I think... I could be Ben," he said after a moment.
"Could be?" Jake asked. Ben looked at him and seemed very stressed all of the sudden. Ben squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head a little.
"Could be, should be," he muttered. "I should be, I was, but I...shouldn't, I-" he said, grabbing his hair and scratching his head as he kept muttering. He dragged his hands down over his face and looked at Jake through his fingers. "Don't call me that," he suddenly said resolutely, pointing at Jake. He almost seemed angry as he spoke. "Do not. No, if they hear..." his voice quivered with fear and trailed off as he focussed on the hallway outside the cell.
"Okay, I won't. But I'll remember it," Jake said. Ben relaxed visibly and turned his attention back to Jake, smiling again.
"I'm..." Jake started, but Ben quickly shook his head, cutting him off.
"No, no name. Names are dangerous. You shouldn't tell me. Tell no one!" Ben said pointing at Jake again. Ben seemed greatly distressed over it and since Jake didn't want to get on the wrong side of his cellmate, Jake nodded. That was enough to get Ben smiling again. "I like you," Ben said and he sat down in the same corner he had been in. His eyes wandered outside the cell and he scrunched his brow like he was overthinking something. "You know," Ben said, his voice sounding distant. "I am sorry you are here. I don't think you'll like it here. No one does..." He didn't look at Jake as he spoke and closed his eyes after speaking. A cold chill ran through Jake at Ben's words. He watched Ben for a while, but Ben didn't move again. Jake didn't think Ben was sleeping, he was just shutting out the world.
Now that Ben sat there like that, Jake was able to see his face a little better in the torchlight. He was gaunt and pale, his hair was light grey, almost white, and Ben was a lot younger than Jake had thought at first sight. Maybe the light of the torches was playing tricks, but Jake wouldn't be surprised if Ben turned out not to be sixteen yet.
