The Assumption (The Hypothesis of Giants Series, Book One)

Chapter 9: Candlewick Prison

Candlewick Prison was a fortress, a large, circular structure made of iron with the highest security systems in the world meant to keep their prisoners in and the world out. Nobody had ever seen any media coverage of the prisoners' trials or their executions. The only one seen by the masses had been the public execution of David Xiomy by the hand of Inspector Herald.

Officers Woolchuck and Pelican roughly led Aurora, Boreas, and Mrs. Xiomy into an elevator and then down into the deep sepulcher. It was dank and cold as they walked down a long narrow corridor lined with tiny cells, and it smelled of urine and feces. Putrid yellow fluorescent lights flickered madly above them, and Aurora felt dizzy as she followed the footsteps before her. They passed cell after cell filled with prisoners, each in a cadaverous state, and Aurora recognized the emaciated face of Joshua from Joshua's Laundromat who had disappeared one week earlier. His hollow eyes followed her as she walked past, and Aurora felt both appalled and frightened.

They were thrown into an empty cell, most likely a transitional until they were tried and pronounced with sentence. As the cell door slammed shut, Aurora immediately felt the severity of the situation sink in.

Mrs. Xiomy paced back and forth examining the stone walls of the prison cell. "I told you to stay still and be quiet. What part of that didn't you understand?"

Aurora slumped down onto the floor, her hand about to reach out to the prison bars but Boreas smacked it away. "It will electrocute you. Believe me, I know."

Aurora quickly pulled her hand back. "I am so sorry. I know you both must hate me, but I couldn't let my parents take the fall for me. I just couldn't."

"So you instead have us take the fall with you," Boreas remarked severely. "Next time can you please warn me of your impromptu kindness? Because it seems to be benefitting everyone except me!"

"Blaming me is not going to get us out of here," Aurora cried out.

"Get out of here?" Mrs. Xiomy laughed deliriously. "Aurora, there is no getting out of here. We are prisoners for life. You think Inspector Herald is going to let you go free, especially now that he knows who you are? He may not be a genius, but I think he can figure out that you are the two from the prophecy. He is going to use you now to get to your giant, if he even exists. And me, well, he is never going to let me see the light of day again, I assure you."

Aurora's mind was whirling in a million directions. She ran over to Boreas. "I think this is a good time for you to tell us how you escaped from here. You have to tell us the truth."

Boreas looked up at her, fear ensconced in his eyes. "You want the truth? The truth is—"

A loud buzzer sounded and interrupted their conversation. Footsteps echoed from the corridor, and Aurora felt the tension in the cell heighten. She feared it would be the Inspector but was hopeful it could be her father come to release them. She was not expecting the face of Jonathan Stockington on the opposite side of that prison cell.

He stood there, his blond hair tied in a ponytail and his big turquoise eyes staring intently back at them. His eyes moved from hers to Mrs. Xiomy until they finally settled on Boreas, who was just as surprised to see him as Aurora was. She felt so humiliated that he was there seeing her in the lowest point of her life. She tried to fix her hair but realized there was no point. He wasn't here in the depths of Candlewick Prison to see her.

Boreas finally called out, "What are you doing here, Jonathan?"

"Dad sent me," Jonathan replied coldly. "He wants you to know that he is not able to save you this time. He warned you that if you got into trouble again his hands would be tied. Inspector Herald did him a favor the last time you violated the Sacred Hour. He cannot intervene again."