The Cage (Book 2)

Flight Risk

Chapter 'Escaped Convict' is already up on Ritoria! 

Flight Risk

I reached down and plucked the first prison-issued shoe off my foot, then the other. I tossed each of them in opposite directions, took off my socks and buried my toes in the sand, just like I'd wanted to. A contented sigh escaped my lips. I used to hate the feel of sand on my skin. For some reason, powdery and sandy substances like flour and sand gave me goosebumps and felt absolutely revolting on my skin, so I used to make a point of never willingly stepping on rough sand. But at this moment, I didn't care about my self-imposed constraints. I wanted it to feel it all.

Eyes shuttered, I breathed in the clean island air. Luckily for me, it was the time of year when the weather was not too humid and not too breezy, the sun casting perfectly-warm rays over the island. It was just right. Back when I was still a gainfully-employed member of society, I'd always wanted to take a trip to Fiji or the Bahamas. But I'd always put it off in favor of the next big case. The last time I took a vacation was over four years ago when I was still a junior lawyer, and it had been more of a compulsory family visit rather than an exotic getaway holiday.

Well, now I had all the free time in the world. I was the taxpayers' problem now.

I opened my eyes and stared at the blue ocean. Foaming waves rolled lazily onto the beach, mudding the sand. In the corner of my eye, I spotted a white-and-orange crab scuttling along the shore over pebbles and seashells.

The water sparkled all shades of tempting blue, beckoning me to it like a siren's call.

If I was going to commit things to memory, I might as well commit swimming in the ocean too.

I began to undress down to my underpants. As I was pulling down my pants, I abruptly recalled that I was not alone. It was an easy thing to forget as a small figure standing on a big beach. Alas, I had been accompanied here by none other than Schneider.

I turned my head in his direction and our gazes collided. When I saw the cool appraisal in his pewter gray eyes, I became conscious of my state of undress. I almost started putting my clothes back on again.

It's not like he hasn't seen you naked before, a voice in my head reminded me. Yes, how could I forget our visit to the prison showers together?

"I'm going for a swim." I didn't know why I felt the need to explain myself to him, but I did it anyway.

Schneider was looking at me rather strangely. Like he was trying to figure a puzzle out. Then, his expression grew shuttered abruptly. He nodded his head once. "Be careful. The water is deeper than it looks."

"I'm an excellent swimmer." I proclaimed with a confidence that surprised even myself. Well, I wasn't really excellent, but I could swim well enough in deep pools.

As I stepped into the ocean, I started grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. An ecstatic feeling washed over me; it had been eleven years since I last swam in a sea or an ocean, and I'd forgotten how fundamentally different it felt than swimming in a pool. The water was just the right temperature; not too cold, not too steamy. I waded into the ocean, immediately wanting to submerge myself. Also, I wanted to stop stepping on the seabed littered with prickly seashells and jagged pebbles.

When I buried my face underwater, it was like stepping into a new world. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the casual sting of the salty water and I spotted the coral in the distance, the experience became ten times better. A turtle -an actual sea turtle- swam past me lazily, not sparing me a single glance. Not too far away from where I was, a school of pink-colored fish swam in perfect unison around the yellow, green and red coral reef. I couldn't believe I was seeing an actual coral reef; I'd always envisioned diving and seeing one, but it was that type of thing you always filed under 'In the Future'. But here I was, actually seeing one, and a spectacularly-vibrant reef at that.

I resurfaced when my oxygen levels depleted.

"Julian." I heard Schneider yell my name the moment my head popped out of the water.

Once I'd wiped the water off my face, I looked to where he was standing on the beach and saw that I'd somehow swum about a hundred meters away from it. I was surprised. Somehow, I'd been so distracted by the underwater experience that I'd drifted far away from the beach.

Sure enough, Schneider yelled again, "You're too far."

I chuckled inwardly. "Are you afraid I'm going to swim off the island?"

Oh, if only I had the physical aptitude to swim all the way to the shore on the horizon.

"Julian." Schneider warned, his voice echoing like the crack of a whip. He was now standing at the very edge of the beach, his shoes soaking in the rolling waves. His stance was rigid, the look on his face rather foreboding.

He looked like a man whose prize position was going to swim away while he watched.

"What?" I said defensively. I hadn't done anything to warrant this level of suspicion. He was acting like I was a flight risk, and it offended me greatly.

I watched him for a long time, bobbing in the waves. Naturally, the current drew me farther away from shore.

"Julian, get back here this instant!"

"I'm not doing anything!"

"You're literally swimming away!"

"It's the current!'

"Julian, it's too dangerous to be so far!"

"I can take care of myself!"

The devil was whispering in my ear to do the unthinkable; just so I could get away from Schneider. Swim to the shore? I'd drown not even a quarter of the way there.

"Julian, I'm warning you for the last time."

A muscle ticked in my jaw.

Fuck this.

Wordlessly, I submerged myself under the water and swam in the opposite direction. 

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Do you think what Julian is doing is wise? 

Thanks for reading! If you're looking to read ahead by 20+ chapters and find out what's going to happen to Julian, consider joining my Patreon for weekly updates, NSFW exclusive short stories, NSFW The Prison Series artwork and other content! You'll also find my Patreon-exclusive new story, The Djinn Prince's Captive.