Faded Grey

Chapter 3

This is how I imagine Leonardo to look like!

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When he woke up this morning, he was completely disoriented until last night's memories came back and he remembered that he was in prison. He had probably ended up falling asleep, exhausted by everything that took place. 

Elias had also forgotten he had a cellmate until a loud snore startled him. He stood up from his bed, mindful not to hit his hand on the bunk above him, and took the time to stretch. His muscles were sore from the hard mattress he had been provided with. 

He sneaked a glance at his cellmate who appeared to be sleeping. Given his attitude yesterday, Elias doubted he could make friends with the guy. Not that he wanted to get to know people here anyway. He didn't want to get looped in the illegal activities that most likely took place throughout the facility. 

The most important rule he told himself was to never reveal he was a lawyer to anyone, because he had no doubt he would end up dead within hours. He just prayed that he had never encountered any of the inmates in court that could possibly recognize him. 

The shouts from the guards outside told him that it was probably chow time, as the guard had referred it to yesterday. As much as Elias would prefer to stay in his cell away from the other prisoners, he knew he had to keep his strengths up. So reluctantly, he got out of his cell and took the time to observe his surroundings.

As he looked over the rail, he saw some inmates already taking trays of food from the cart that had been brought by prisoners employed in the kitchens. He pushed off the rails to head for the stairs but ended up bumping into some guy. The man stopped, turned around and glared at him. Elias felt his blood turn cold for a second.

"Watch out." He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when the man walked away after one last cold, piercing glare. 

Elias tried not to seemed nervous, but he couldn't help but be hyper aware of his surroundings as he went to get a tray. With his food in hand, he avoided any eye contact and went to a table which was luckily empty. 

The food was surprisingly decent despite what he had heard, but he barely paid attention to it. He was much more concerned about the stares he could feel on himself. 

A few minutes later, he watched as three inmates approached him and sat at his table. The guy who sat in front of him had his head shaved, and several tattoos were drawn on his scalp. He crossed his muscular arms on the table with a smile that appeared much too friendly to Elias. 

"So, you must be the new guy. What's your name?" Elias stared at him and the other guys for a second before replying.

"Elias." 

"Well Elias, what' you in for?" He figured he wouldn't gain anything by lying, especially if people discovered his story was false, so he told the short story.

"They got me for Stealing money." The guy seemed to wait for him to elaborate, but when he didn't, he scoffed and chuckled a bit.

"You're a man of few words, eh?" Elias didn't reply and continued to eat. His indifference seemed to irritate the guy because he slammed his fist on the table, which made him look up.

"Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you!" There was a lull in chatter following the man's agressive tone. He saw from the corner of his eyes that some people had gathered around to watch the altercation. 

Elias looked up with a cold stare. He wouldn't let himself be intimidated by another inmate on his first day here, he had to show he wasn't someone you could mess with.