Paint it Another Colour

Chapter 13

Feliciano glanced around his small cell. It was dark, and cell like with bars across the front so he could see out, and people could see in. And put things through the bars if they wanted to. If anything, that was the bit he wasn't too happy about. He knew the counterparts, but so far, none had come to see him. The only one he'd seen was Luciano when he'd caught him. He still felt a little breathless from then.

He sighed and stared at a wall. That was all he really did now. Stare dismally at the wall. It wasn't like it was an interesting wall either. It was grey, dark in some places, lighter in others with moss in between the cracks between bricks, a little mould here, a blood stain there. It wasn't a nice wall, but it happened to be directly opposite the bench he'd been given to sit down and lie on, so it was the wall he stared at.

To be fair to them, it was nice for him to have a bench. In most movies he'd seen, books he'd read and war camps he'd already been locked in, there hadn't been anything in apart from the floor, walls, some hay and a bucket. Of course, that was all here still, although the hay was missing. But at least he'd been given somewhere to sit that was a little bit cleaner than the floor. Even then though, it wasn't all that much cleaner.

Outside there was a rattling noise and he glanced out from between the bars, scooting to the edge of the bench just in case it was a counterpart, and they were here to throw something nasty at him. He'd have more chance of avoiding it if he was far enough away.

A man appeared at the bars fumbling about with a ring of keys and muttering to himself. He noticed Feliciano staring at him and dropped the keys as though he hadn't expected him to be in here. He had short, strawberry blonde hair, red eyes that almost looked soft and wore a red military coat.

At first glance, Feliciano was going to leap forwards. He was being saved! He was being smuggled out of this place, and Berwald was here to help. But then he looked again, and he took in the eyes and the coat and the nervous look on his face that made him look as though he was going to had a panic attack at any given second. He was shorter as well. No where near as tall as Berwald, but more his own height, or maybe Francis'.

He unlocked the door after finally finding the right key and smiled as he opened it. "Hello, my name's Bernard Oxenstierna, but you can just call me Bernard. I've been told to come and collect you for something or other. I don't know what, no one trusts me with anything since I seem to tell everyone everything" he giggled. "So, are you coming?"

Feliciano greatly wanted to say 'no', to take his chances with Bernard, who just had to be the counterpart of Berwald, but something told him not to. He had the same kind of feeling about him as Oliver, and that couldn't be good, so instead, he took a couple of steps forwards towards the door.

Bernard grinned as he came out and cuffed his wrists. "Sorry, I've been told that I just kind of... you know... have to. Don't take it personally, we just need to sort you out first, you being boss' counterpart and all."

"Boss?" Feliciano stared at him.

"Yup" Bernard nodded. "Lovino's our boss. We call him our psychopath though, which I believe was the name you first had him referred to by."

Feliciano didn't say anything as they walked out of what had to be the prison block. The rest of the cells were empty, which made him uneasy. He was sure more people were missing than just him. And what had been meant by 'sort you out?' It had only just occurred to him the menace behind the words.

They got onto the long, clean, white corridor, which Feliciano had to remind himself belonged to who Alfred referred to as their 'evil sides'. It didn't seem like it matched them at all. Half way down it, he checked behind him. Nothing. Well, he couldn't wait to be rescued himself could he?