Rift

Chapter 11

Kingston Penitentiary was the oldest prison in Canada at over 180 years old. It looked almost like an old fort, or a stately building in some faraway place that was much older than Canada was. While it looked beautiful on the outside, it had been home to some of the most dangerous criminals in our country's history, such as Paul Bernardo, Clifford Olson, Russel Williams, and even at one point, the patriarch of the infamous Black Donellys. After it had closed in September 2013, all of the prisoners had been moved to various institutions, the only prisoner still held on the grounds was one Thaddeus Flint.

We arrived at the gates shortly after 9 in the morning, where we were greeted by two people, one male and one female, I assumed were guardians just like Chris and Dr. McKinnon. The woman, who introduced herself as Aubrey, was tall, dark skinned and muscled, but not so much that they were bulging, and a voice so smooth I imagined it was made of melted butter. The man, whose name was Neal, was as tall as Aubrey but much broader and stockier, built like one of the dwarves from Tolkien's universe but with the height of an elf; his hair was almost the same color as mine, but slightly brighter and much curlier, cut just to his shoulders. After the introductions were finished, we started our walk through the grounds.

"We made sure that they closed the prison for tour groups today to give you as much time as you need, Henry. You'll be accompanied by myself, Neal, and two other guardians," Aubrey said. We were approaching the largest building sitting directly in the middle of the grounds.

"Who else will be joining us?" Chris asked.

"Gordon and Hunter, sir," Neal replied.

"What happened to Farrah? I thought she had been assigned to this," Dr. McKinnon asked.

"He got to her, sir. She got curious, didn't think he was as dangerous as we said he was, and he killed her. Thankfully we got to the body before he had a chance to take too much time, but it was enough to make him stronger," Aubrey explained.

"That must be why he's able to reach me so clearly," I said. Aubrey and Neal both stopped in their tracks right as we reached the doors to the main prison building. It felt like their stares were burning through my skin.

"Henry, you didn't tell me there was a connection. This could be extremely dangerous," Aubrey said, pulling Dr. McKinnon off to the side.

"She needs to see him, Aubrey. Don't you remember how bad the nightmares were for you? Now imagine what Sawyer is going through, with her memories coming back but clouded by Thaddeus Flint's influence," Dr. McKinnon said.

"I don't like it, Henry. I don't like it at all. If the connection is that strong, they shouldn't even be in the same room," Aubrey came back to the main group and pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and unlocked the large set of doors in front of us.

The inside of the building was just as beautiful as the outside, but in a much darker way. It looked exactly like every prison I had seen on television in one of the many crime shows I watched, but it felt much more sinister, even if nobody but Thaddeus Flint was kept here anymore. The second we walked through the doors I could feel it hit me like a ton of bricks, causing me to stumble a bit and grab onto Luca's arm. He held on to my hand as I righted myself and we continued through the building.

Aubrey and Neal led us most of the way through the building before veering off down a small hallway that I wouldn't have seen if we hadn't been looking for it. We came to an old door with no keyhole, but Aubrey only had to gently push on one of the stones in the wall before a panel appeared and asked for retina and fingerprint scans. One after the other, each of the guardians present took turns at the machine before the wooden door opened, revealing a winding staircase that seemed to go down forever.