Welcome to Hell {Prinxiety}

Chapter 2

Virgil's POV (Age 14)

Instead of the usual hard labor of digging through solid rock, Roman and I were lucky enough to be tasked with cleaning both boys' bunks that day. Of course, going through a bunch of teenagers' and childrens' belongings wasn't fun, but it was a lot easier than swinging a heavy a$$ pickaxe. All of us had an agreement not to take each other's personal items, if we had any. Since no one turned anything in, the guards just seemed to agree that we didn't have anything they might want and never to search our beds themselves.

"Would you rather own a horse or a dog?" Roman asks, breaking the silence.

"Horses scare me because they're freaking huge from what I remember, so dog. That and I remember hearing that dogs can help people with anxiety," Of course, when I first heard that fact I didn't even know what anxiety was, but oh well.

He hums, "Dogs are nice but if I had a horse then I could ride it out of here with you," He says, tucking in the sheets of a bed.

"That's...really smart, especially for you," I remark. The idea of riding out of here on any animal sounds amazing, and I'm glad he actually mentioned me.

"Hardy har har, I was trying to be nice but nooo," He drawls, pouting as he grabs the mop.

We work in silence for a while as he ignores me, still pretending to be upset over my comment. I dry off the floor as he mops, before going off to make the beds and 'check' them for contraband. Deciding that I don't like the silence between us, I speak up, "Would you rather have a hot shower or get a sweet roll?" I ask, vaguely remembering how amazing sugar tastes.

He responds quickly, already forgetting to be fake angry at me, "Sweet roll, definitely. It's been too long since I've even thought about those things."

"Fair enough, but having a hot shower would still be nice," I point out, even though I'd have to agree with him. Sweet rolls are sugary heaven, and all of us down here could use some of that, the heaven part especially.

"Well yeah, all the water down here is freaking colder than ice," He complains.

"That makes no sense," I point out. Even if it's not possible, the water in the showers can't be far off from turning into ice.

He waves off my statement, "You get the point," He grumbles, "Hey look, Georgie's got a mirror. And may I say I look even better than I remember."

"No you may not, and put it back before a guard decides to check in on us," I tell him, trying to push him back to Georgie's bunk.

He ends up stumbling from the push and lightly hits the wall, "I was gonna put it back," He assures me, getting up.

When he gets his weight off the wall a faint click is heard, and small section of the stone opens to reveal some kind of secret room. We look at it, then each other. He sets the mirror down, resolving to put it back later, and we peek inside the small safe. There are a couple small objects that are hard to see in the darkness from our shadows. So naturally, Roman reaches in to grab the items for a better look, and ends up holding up a locket and a small key.

"Since when has there been a wall safe in here?" He asks, apparently more intrigued with the idea of hidden spaces then the strange items inside.

"And who put these in it?" I ask, even though neither of us would have an answer.

I grab the necklace by the pendant to see it better. It has an obvious keyhole on one side, which I'm sure the small key in Roman's other hand will fit in. The locket itself is a circle, with intricate little patterns that almost seem impossible for a human to have made. The key is a basic silver that is hanging on a rope-like black cord, and is too small for any door lock I've ever seen.

"Do we unlock it?" Roman asks, apparently noticing the way they seem to match up as well.

I shrug, it's not like some kind of shadow monster is just gonna jump out of the locket... Aw sh!t, "Eh, maybe. Is there anything else in the safe?" 

He hands me the locket and key before checking, "Nope, nothing," He confirms, closing the safe for the time being.

"Okay..." I gently insert the key into the locket and turn, trying not to break it. It opens up to reveal two halves where you can put in pictures or small gems, but both sides are empty.

"Well that's disappointing," Roman comments, "Ooh I know! We can put a couple bits of paper with our names inside!" He suggests happily.

"Okay??" I say, used to his outbursts, "But why? If a guard sees one of us wearing it then they'll just take it," I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't really see the point.

He shushes me with a finger to my lips, "We can just hide the locket and the key in the safe, and we'll still be the only ones that know it's there," He all but forces me up to my bed to get to the only source of paper we have, my journal, "Are you okay with ripping a piece out?" He asks, concerned.

"Yeah, this is important to you so why not? It's not like I fill every single inch of space with writing," I assure him, ripping out a small piece of paper.

He stares at me for a second before brightening, "Okay!"

I write down 'Roman' on one half and 'Virgil' on the other before tearing the paper in half. He takes the papers and gently puts them into the locket, my name on one side, and Roman's on the other. We look at each other, him smiling brightly, before closing the locket and re-opening the wall safe. I let my own smile slip on, knowing that it'll show up anyway as long as he's smiling too. Maybe Hell isn't all bad. 

A/N: Ahh the fluuuffffff it's too much. Fair warning, I won't be posting on Friday's from now on unless I feel like it because I'm gonna need some pre-written chapters in case my mental health decides to yeet itself out the window like it tried to yesterday