Angel Falls

Chapter 6

Ryou stared at me for a moment, a surprisingly friendly smile on his face, unlike the others. He was wearing glasses this time. He was shorter than Jaden, but still taller than me.

''So, your Paich Nikadi, the new kid, right?'' he asked sympathetically. Yesterday he sounded really mad during the play, but now he was very caring for some reason.

I have no experience when it comes to social situations, so I just said nothing. I expected him to hurt me in someway, but he just smiled once again. ''Don't worry, I'm not offended. When you're stuck in a place like this you don't stop to say hi.'' he joked. ''But seriously, though, I'm Ryou Ortega. Nineteen years old. Prisoner here for four years. Member of the Fallen Angels.'' He held out his hand, and I remembered when Jaden held out his hand to give me a handshake. I obliged. He then started bursting out laughing.

''What's so funny?'' I threatened.

He managed to hold it in, but not without letting out a few giggles. ''Sorry...it's just...you hair.'' he giggled.

''What about it?''

He tried to suppress his laughter. ''It's just, your hair makes you look like a seven year old girl!'' He burst out laughing again. If only I had my knife with me..

''I mean, it's just, so, long.'' he continued. 'Is hair that long even humanly possible?' He was laughing so loudly that everyone was staring at him, except for one kid rolling on the floor whispering 'Mama.' He then stopped laughing, and looked at me for a second. Suddenly in an instant his face became riddled with concern.

''Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, oh god, I'm such a bad person, are you alright?'' he muttered frantically. I just nodded. Ryou hid his face in his hands. ''I shouldn't have made fun of you.'' I really didn't know what to say.

Nate suddenly arrived. ''Sorry about that, he has very extreme mood swings, and they've gotten worse since he came here. Don't worry, he won't kill you or anything.''

Ryou's face fell, and he looked as if he was going to cry. He just smiled again and said: ''Oh yeah, that's Nate Garrett, the awesome emo-guy.'' Nate was blushing, and I could tell, since his skin was as pale as mine. He was wearing makeup, I knew because of the black around his eyes, but I thought only girls did that, at least that's what Raul told me. ''So anyway, what brings you to this hellhole?''

I paused for a moment. ''Ever since my parents died I stayed at an orphanage. When I was acting strangely they had me tested and I was diagnosed as insane. Since I was too old to stay there, they decided to bring me here.''

Ryou examined me, and then ruffled my long shaggy hair. His light-hearted face turned into a very serious and angry one. ''That's too bad. Anywhere is better than this. It's not like we can just waltz out here. Here, you're trapped not only in a cage, but in your mind. Your hurt until you can't think rationally anymore. And we are just used. Used as sex slaves, strippers, dancers, performers, anything that will give them pleasure, and money. They don't even take proper security measures, because we just can't rebel against them. Since all patients are classified as mentally ill, they can't do much to begin with. However, they never kill us. Because deep down, we all want to die. It's the only way out. They take extreme safety measures to ensure that nothing happens to us. They starve us, so we remain slim and beautiful, they try to cover up the bruises and cuts, so we look desirable. We are just objects.''

I couldn't help but gape in awe at his heartfelt speech. Nate started applauding along with the others. The security guards around us ran towards Ryou and started to beat him. Ryou tried to resist, but it was no use. I had to admire his courage. I felt a wave of fury when no-one tried to help him, other than Nate, who looked absolutely fuming.