The Prison of Deviants

Chapter 23: The Warden's Past and the Prisoners' Future

We walk into the common vampire administrative hall, where the vampire overseers generally hang out. I still can't come to my senses - Rufus has proposed to Yelen? They have been a couple for a long time, true, but I still didn't expect it to be this serious. Generally, inborn deviants look down on us, so they only hang out with us for amusement.

The vampire administrators (surprisingly, only the raven ones are present) are sitting on the sofas and in the armchairs. The vampire prisoners (who, on the other hand, include the bat-vampires too) are standing. Annabelle and I stand amidst them.

Rufus is on the sofa in the central part of the hall. Yelen is sitting next to him, all flushed-up. I guess she too has a hard time believing the headman of the district has proposed to her.

"Oh, you have brought her, Annabelle?" Rufus smiles, "Welcome, Theo."

"What the hell is going on?" I ask.

"Yelen and I have been dating for long now, so, I wanted to inform all of you prisoners, as well as my colleagues here," he points to all the administrators around him, "that I am going to marry her."

"How come? Yelen is perfect, I agree, but how come you - a deviant - want to raise her on your level? I thought you guys had no heart and just toyed with us."

"Come on, Theo! Rufy has always been sincere!" Yelen pouts. I guess I've hurt her feelings. My question is fully logical, though. All deviants look down on us, and that must include Rufus.

"I've told you once, Theo - ravens mate for life." Rufus frowns at me. "I've always been taking it seriously."

"Nice." I shrug, "So, when's the wedding?"

"We decided it should be_"

Yelen's speech is cut by a loud bang on the door. It opens and the bat-vampires led by Ronald walk in. They are followed by Bob the vice-warden.

"That wedding won't happen!" Bob declares.

"Huh?" Rufus stands up. "Why?"

"Rufus de Corbet, this prison was built to ensure that the infected humans would not devastate our society. If you allow even a single one of them to mate an inborn deviant, impure hybrids will be born, who will, in turn, lead us - the purebred deviants - to extinction. We cannot allow that to happen."

"But_"

"This is the warden's decree!" Bob cuts his speech. "You are not allowed to marry any prisoner!"

Rufus watches Bob and Ronald for a while. He, as well as all of us, can guess that it was Ronald who has informed Bob. It makes me angry, to be honest - a colleague betraying his leader in that way. I can guess that Rufus is just as upset. He retakes a seat on the sofa, all sorrowful and depressed.

"Send these prisoners back to their cells!" Bob orders.

Rufus nods at his raven colleagues. They're about to lead us out.

"It's funny for the warden to have such a rule when he's just as much of an impure hybrid."

Everyone freezes. I guess I've hit the sore spot. Very good.

"Who said that?" Bob turns back with a snarl.

"I did."

"Theo Sinclaire, this is not the first time you're causing troubles." Bob walks up to me. "Remember that now Lord Knut is gone. If you mess up, you will answer to me!"

"I thought the warden was the true boss here. Was I mistaken?"

"He is, but he can't bother with the likes of you," he retorts. "Mark my words - the next time you dare break the rules, you won't get away with it!"