Revelation

-Forty-

Kennywood

"Enjoy your stay," is the last thing Raylea and I hear before the obnoxious sound of the metal door sliding behind us rings in our ears. We both turn around simultaneously to see the Warden one last time, giving us a smirk as the door closes. The sound of the door locking reminds us that there is no way out.

We stay there for a couple of minutes, with us staring at the metal door and our backs to our prison, not sure of what to do next. Maybe the both of us are still hopelessly hoping that the Warden will realize that this is all a misunderstanding and will open that door again to release us.

But the grey shorts and t-shirt given to us with our own individual numbers engraved on the upper back of the shirt says otherwise.

Raylea is number 98,989

I am 98,990.

These are our prison attire, a symbol that there's no going back.

We're trapped.

Still absentmindedly staring at the door, I hear Raylea take a long deep and wary breath, attempting to calm herself down. Her body is still suffering from Vex's unfaithfulness. I still haven't been able to tell her that and I don't think I can take another minute staring at this wall. "Well," I say, the first out of the two of us to speak since we entered the dome, "shall we go exploring?"

Again, Raylea and I turn simultaneously turn to face each other. I'm giving her an amused stare while she's giving me a confused one. "Did you just suggest we go exploring?" She asks me, unsure if she heard me right.

I give her a slight nod and a warm smile, hoping to dim her nervousness. "What else are we supposed to do? Stare at the stupid, and not to mention ugly, door? Sorry Ray-Ray but I don't want to waste my precious time on that!" I say, over-dramatically, trying to ease the tension. It's not rocket science to realize that Raylea and I are still in shock at what happened. I mean, it's not everyday you end up at the world's top prison thanks to your best friend and in Raylea's case, mate.

I expected Raylea to roll her eyes like Nat would always do or even give me some sort of smile but I did not expect this. Halfway through my talking, I see Raylea cringe at my words, pain evident across her face.

"What's wrong?" I ask anxiously, looking over her from top to bottom to see if she acquired some sort of injury during the duration I was speaking. I'm usually oblivious to my surroundings when I talk. It's something Nathena told me that proves that I apparently have a cocky personality to which I would always reply back with saying how she's only saying that because she can't resist me.

Raylea brings her attention to the ground and moves her foot around to form circles with her big toe. Our shoes were taken from us when we were forced to change into our prison clothes. "That was Vex's nickname for me," she softly murmurs.

Oh...shit!

"Okay, okay," I quickly say, frantically trying to figure out how I can cheer her up. "I won't call you that. That name is reserved for Vex. He'll call you that when you see him again!" I tell her cheerfully.

Raylea appears to be even more sad as her shoulders and head slumps even more down. "But we're in a prison with no escape and Vex doesn't even remember me. He'll never come for us."

Double shit!

Mentally, I slap myself in the forehead for my stupidity. It's just like Nat said, I really do have a way with words. Man, I need to fix this but how? I don't think cracking a joke would be good at this time. I need to try being some sort of supportive friend so I cautiously place my hand on Raylea's shoulder and give her a slight nudge.