Desperado

Chapter 1

Virgil didn't remember when he passed out, likely sometime during his transport to the prison. The panic had wound up to be a bit more than he could handle, though now he was kinda hoping he'd been awake to see what the place looked like. He'd opened his eyes, squinting against the harsh lights lining the hall, reflecting off the well polished floor. Guards occasionally walked by, following their assigned route in order to keep an eye on everybody. Oddly enough, they didn't seem too concerned, despite the fact that there were angels and demons alike imprisoned here. Suspicious... But he didn't want to stick around to find out why the guards seemed so relaxed at their posts.

Sitting up earned him an uncomfortable crack in his spine, causing Virgil to wince before laying a hand on the bed. His soaked sleeping bag was softer than this mattress, which was a depressing thought. Even with a roof over his head, being on the street was still better. He had to get out of here as soon as possible, without him there the others were likely to freeze to death. They couldn't get by just on begging or scrounging up money for supplies.

Choosing to ignore the ache of protest from his body, the young demon pushed himself off the bed and to his feet, looking past the cell bars for a few minutes just to be sure there was nobody approaching. All clear, time to go. This wasn't the first time people have tried to confine him, so despite the prison setting being new, he didn't expect it to go any differently. With the shadows on his side, he could be out within seconds. Then everything could go back to normal. That's all he wants.

Taking a deep breath in, Virgil held up his arm, bringing that all too familiar plume of inky blackness over his wrist and gradually up his arm. Strange though, why was it moving so slowly? Virgil shook his head to clear his thoughts, but it didn't help. Actually it made things worse, the shadow stopped entirely, then faded away. Each time Virgil attempted the feat again, the same thing happened. What was going on? Had the guards done something to him to dull his powers? If so, that hardly seemed humane.

"That won't work," a dull voice said from the cell across from Virgil. A lanky figure was lying in the bed, shrouded by the darkness of night. "You can't use your powers to get out of this place." That voice had some kind of... monotone quality. It didn't seem to care about Virgil's futile efforts.

Virgil didn't take too kindly to some random voice telling him that his efforts were pointless, not when he'd been so dead set on escaping right away. And that voice... It just sounded so lifeless, as though it were some kind of robot responding to him rather than another person. Honestly, that creeped him out, which usually took a lot more effort.

Try again. Fail. Try again. Fail. Try again. Fail.

The panic within him grew with each failure, which only made it even more difficult to try and get his powers to work. "Why. Won't. This. Work?!" His voice cracked on the final word, but he didn't care enough to be embarrassed over it. Instead, a faint shockwave pushed out from Virgil's body, something that he knew should have done at least some damage to the integrity of the building. He knew he was a particularly strong demon, so why was the only thing to happen a single light dimming for all of half a second before returning to normal?

The demon growled in frustration, a purple glow to his eyes as they narrowed at the cell across from his own. Only the stronger demons were capable of that, yet there he was, still as trapped and helpless as a regular human. "You. Why can't I use my powers here? I should be able to overpower a vanguard or two." Which he's done before, albeit by accident.

There was a faint shifting, and the man in the opposite cell sat up. He was still completely encased in the dark, but it was obvious he wasn't reacting to Virgil's eyes and intimidating low voice. "Try overpowering 16. That's how many vanguards are on this side of the hallway. So I doubt you can overpower the dampening field in here. Besides, they put you with me, and I'm most likely the strongest and most well trained vanguard here, based on the statistics I've gathered from my observations and the lack of attention from the guards." Finally, he sat up from his cot and stood, stretching. "You might as well relax. You'll only cause yourself a panic attack. Or solitary, if you're lucky. You don't want to go to the infirmary."