Life in prison

Chapter 13

Shadows.

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Silence. Such a depressing silence hung between Alayla and the Iris.

As she walked up the stairs, the little prisoner decided to break the silence. With those words... The words her daddy always said when he wanted to know why she was crying.

"Ala... Do you want to talk about it?"

"What? No. Shut up. And follow me in silence." - the guard said with anger in her voice.

Alaila was seething with anger. But at the same time, she wanted to rush back to Richard. To kiss him, to comfort him. To tell him she wasn't angry and forgave him! Just to have him with her. She wasn't ready to give her boyfriend to Miles.

But part of her mind told the young guard that her relationship with the prisoner would not lead to anything good.

Guards and prisoners are not supposed to be in a relationship. But Alaila couldn't help it! She was head over heels in love with Richard. And until today, she believed that Richard loved her too.

The guard's face contorted into a sick smile. She was in pain.

Anika said that maybe Richard's imbalance was due to some kind of trauma. Or maybe he was really emotionally and mentally ill enough to think he loved the sergeant. Anika also suggested that Shadow's possession of Richard's body wouldn't lead to anything good. Perhaps... This mental state of Richard was a consequence of Shadow's actions.

No matter how much she believed Shadow, no matter how much she loved him as a father, it always seemed to her... That he was killing them all. Slowly and painfully. First by exposing their vices, their sins! And then working on them mentally and emotionally. All those changes in their personalities, the cruelty... None of that was peculiar to them in the past, she thought.

But also Shadow's actions were helping them through their psychological traumas.

But...

Still...

Before she knew it, she was standing near the hatch to Miles' cell.

"Oh, that was fast."

All it took to get into the idol was to open the hatch.

Alayla sighed and started climbing the ladder to open the hatch. She had to put a lot of effort into opening it. How she knew it was Miles' cell was simple. On each bottom of the hatch, was written the cell number and in marker the name of who lived there.

The Iris noticed these writings, 4 more names were scrawled along with Tinky's name. She watched sadly as the guard opened the hatch. As Alayla pushed the hatch open, she almost died.

In the cell itself, a hatch opened in the middle of the room. It was a place that had purposely never been put beds or nightstands. And that hatch was very hard to see, because it only opened inside, not outside, so the prisoners wouldn't try to escape.

Sitting down on the edge of the hatch Alayla helped the IP up into the cell. It wasn't heavy and compared to the hatch, the Iris was a mere fluffball.

Alayla then climbed out of the hatch herself.

"So... Shall we wait for your father?" - Ala asked as she began to stretch her body.

The IP nodded and ran towards Miles' bed, flopping down on it very amusingly. Alayla laughed when the Iris sneezed because of the dust and feathers she picked up.