The Prison (Book 1)

Protection Part 2

Okay, since a lot of you guys are getting confused between all five of my primary characters, here:

Schneizel: King of the Prison aka King Satan. Aiden's cellmate.
Schneider: Prince of the Prison aka  King's twin.
Raven: Bad Guy Inmate aka Bar Licker
Cade: Aka The Hulk. The Twins' friend
Gerard: Dead. Moving on.

Protection Part 2

He watched me as my heart started thundering in my chest till I thought it would explode out of my ribcage, a strange glint in his darkened eyes. He cocked his head to the side, still eyeing me suspiciously.

"What do you mean 'I have your protection and I therefore belong to you'?" I demanded, shocked.

"It means I do away with everyone who touches you."

"You mean you killed Raven?!"

The liquid in my spine froze.

"And what if I did? I kinda got the feeling you weren't exactly pals, seeing as he's the one who did that to you." He pointed to the splint.

"You can't just go killing people no matter who you are! It's illegal and so wrong I can't believe I have to tell you that! And I didn't ask for your help! I never asked for your help or for you to kill anyone for me! I never asked for any of this!" I exploded; raising my voice till I was sure the entire cell block could hear me screaming. Frustrated, I tried to get up only for my head to encounter the permanent obstacle presiding over my bunk.

"Ow!" I growled, falling onto my bunk again.

I jumped when I felt his hand and on the top of my head, massaging yet another bump with his palm. I tried to push his hand away but was suddenly shoved into the mattress, my one hand pinned above my head and the other useless to do anything except hang limply by my side. Petrified, I met his narrowed eyes as he bent his body over mine.

"Get off of me." I had intended for it to come out as a growl, but it came out as squeak instead.

"What is a guy like you going to do on his own in a place like this? You don't even belong here; so how are you going to survive on your own?" His eyes bore into mine, his jaw set menacingly.

"How do you know whether I belong here or not? And how the hell would you know if I can make it or not?" I gritted out, somehow summoning enough courage to glare at him insolently.

"I overheard your story. And don't tell me you actually plan to stay in this cell forever."

My lips pursed into a thin line.

His mocking chuckle infuriated me so much that I started wiggling and trying to pull my wrist out of his vice-like grip. He tightened his grip in response and straddled the lower half of my body, his larger weight pushing me into the mattress and killing any chance of escape, although I couldn't have gone far if I had managed to break free. The cell door was closed.

Thank goodness he hadn't crushed my splinted arm underneath him. I suspected he was reluctant to ruin his hard work. But I was finding it very difficult to be grateful for his amazing handiwork glaring at him from my position.

"Would you get off me?" I growled again, my words falling on deaf ears.

Completely ignoring my demand for the boundaries of personal space, he asked with an irritating smirk on his face, "That's your genius plan? To spend your life sentence in this cell? To willingly imprison yourself in a prison cell?"

"Well I haven't gotten to the details yet." I grumbled.

"Don't make me laugh, Aiden." At the sound of my name rolling out of his mouth, I quit trying to gnaw his hand off and looked up. I hesitated when I saw the small smile the corners of his mouth had morphed into, unsure of this sudden change of mood. "You need my protection. And besides, I wasn't asking."

"What do you mean you're not asking?"

He was silent for a moment. To my horror, his eyes started roaming the expanse of my naked chest, his eyes drinking me in as if I were some sort of delicacy.

He finally replied even more cryptically, "You'll understand soon enough." Schneizel eased himself off me and fell to the mattress beside me, and then he propped his head on his hand and said, "Now button up. We've got an announcement to make."

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

The laundry room was quite spacious, equipped with over a dozen laundry machines big enough to squeeze through the round opening into. Possibly a good hiding place?

Huge blue containers sat in the middle that I assumed played the equivalent of laundry baskets.

I remembered seeing movies where various requirements of the inmates were smuggled in through these baskets. Was that how it worked in here as well? Knowing this prison's security though, these 'requirements' were probably brought in through the front door and the guards personally inspected their expiry dates. They most likely even received a percentage of the profits.

In front of me walked Schneizel, tall and muscular and every bit of the dominating alpha he was rumored to be. Once again, just being in his presence reminded me of how horribly out of place and element I was. The contrast between us was almost painful and very, very obvious.

Inside, I was dying to know what this announcement he was going to make was about, but I tried not to show it. What I managed to pry out of him on our way here was so little that it aggravated me more than it relieved any of my worries and suspicions. My imagination was left to run wild. So far, all I knew was that this announcement somehow concerned me and that it was about the protection thing both Schneizel and Schneider had been going on about.

Actually, now that I really thought about it, I realized I didn't know anything at all!

I could come up with a few scenarios though.

Scenario number one was that he was going to announce I was his cellmate from the top of a stage to a group of fierce-looking criminals booing and jeering, and thus I was by holy prison laws or whatever would validate his claims, his protectee and that he was my protector.

Scenario number two was somewhat similar to number one, except in this one I was paying for this so-called protection being 'offered' to me. And since I had no money, I could only think of one other way I would be able to 'pay' with. Scenario number three basically ended with me being gang raped in the back of the laundry room.

I gulped, reining in my imagination before it traversed forbidden ground. I shook my head to dispel the unpleasant images. I was convinced if I didn't think about it, it wouldn't happen to me.

Maybe watching a bunch of prison movies before being shipped here wasn't a particularly bright idea. But then again, maybe it was. At least now I was... knowledgeable in the ways of prison life, or as knowledgeable as one could be in this out-of-the-norm prison.

I was tempted to ask Schneizel why we had to come all the way down here for this announcement, but I suspected he wouldn't even bother replying.

He held a metal door open for me that was at the very back of the laundry room, obscured by stacks of laundry and Tide detergent. I suspected only few people were allowed to come back here. As I passed by him and through the doorframe, I caught the whiff of something very masculine and earthy. I knew very few people who smelled as good as Schneizel did, and none of them lived in a prison.

We entered a room which I immediately identified it as the boiler room. This place was definitely off limits.

Next, I realized that we weren't the only ones in the boiler room.