2. Chapter 2

2

Rory was still alive in the morning, but he’d not had much sleep. For hours he lay awake, waiting for Sebastian’s arms to shoot up from around the bed and clutch him or for a pillow to be pressed to his face. He imagined Sebastian’s hot breath against his ear, telling Rory he knew who he was, why he was there.

Nothing happened, and eventually he drifted into an uneasy sleep only to be awoken by Captain’s scream of terror. It echoed around the whole wing, and the bed shook as Sebastian threw himself upright, cursing under his breath. It took twenty minutes before the night officers managed to rouse Captain from his nightmares.

In the morning, Rory stayed on his bed while Sebastian got ready. There was barely enough room for them to stand in front of the bed together, and Rory felt oddly safer off the ground, being as quiet as possible.

Rory stole glances at Sebastian’s physique. He was tall, strong, and darker hair grew from his chest. He looked good, but then when he attached his gaze to Rory, any good feeling vanished and fear rose up in its place.

“What are you staring at?”

Rory flipped onto his back. “Nothing.”

Sebastian pulled on another tight white T-shirt and smart black trousers. He wetted his hand, then stroked back his hair. He tested the length of his stubble with his fingertips as he looked in the mirror, then nodded.

“How am I looking?”

Rory struggled to find words—he didn’t know what was acceptable. He settled for ‘good’, but Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

“Good?”

“Ready to face the day,” Rory tried.

Sebastian sighed. “Nine months… Nine months with you.”

The door clunked, then swung open. Sebastian strolled out and disappeared around the corner. Rory pressed his palms to his face. He rubbed his fingertips into his eyes until a galaxy of colour bloomed.

On paper, it sounded simple—go into the prison, make friends with Sebastian, and over the course of a few months, he reveals all his secrets.

Job done.

But Sebastian didn’t want to speak with Rory, and the way his eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into a sinister grimace whenever he glanced Rory’s way set alarm bells off in Rory’s head.

There was real, unfiltered hatred in his eyes, and Rory had no idea how to fix it.

Captain looked worse than the day before, and his prediction had come true. The other inmates looked at him with a mixture of pity and fear. Captain’s cellmate serving breakfast couldn’t look him in the eye when he held out his tray.

It wasn’t the burned toast and watery eggs of the day before, but a thick, bland porridge that stuck Rory’s teeth together. He slapped his lips noisily as he ate, and his taste buds cried out for sugar.

Captain ate his, then tapped his spoon on his tray in a repetitive manner. “I woke you?”

Rory hesitated, but a glare from Captain made him tell the truth. He nodded before quickly adding, “But it’s not your fault—”

“It is my fault; that’s the problem.” Captain dropped his spoon and pressed his forefinger to his temple. “I deserve to feel like this.”

“No, you don’t—”

“You don’t know the shit I did and didn’t do when I was serving overseas.”

Rory lowered his gaze. “I know I couldn’t have handled it.”

“Neither could I.”

Captain’s eyes were red and watery, and his huge body slumped forward, defeated by his nightmares. Ollie poked his head out of his cell, and Rory waved him over with a small smile. Ollie slipped into the chair opposite him, and Rory looked him up and down.

“Are you okay?”

Ollie hummed. “Yeah, Teddy didn’t try anything. How about Sebastian?”

“He clearly hates my guts but left me alone. Says if someone else maims me, he won’t give a shit.”

“Nice… Well, at least we survived the first night on the wing,” Ollie muttered.

Captain laughed. “You’ve only got thousands more to go.”

“Way to piss on my parade,” Ollie mumbled.

“We get an hour for breakfast before we’re banged up again.” Captain checked his watch. “If you hurry it up, we can get down to the gym and start training you up. I’ve heard it’s not as busy in the morning.”

Rory nodded. “Sounds good.”

“And you are looking good, sweetheart!”

Rory dropped his gaze to the table and ignored Pauly’s taunt. He forced down the porridge, hoping his admirer would lose interest.

“Don’t pretend you can’t hear me…”

Captain breathed harshly through his nose, then turned around. “He can hear you, and he’s not interested.”

“How does he know he’s not interested? He’s not given me a chance; he needs to hear me out…”

Rory looked back. “Okay. What do you want?”

Pauly leaned back in his chair as he stroked a slow hand over his thinning hair. He wore the same T-shirt as the day before and had porridge on his chest.

“You.”

“No, thanks—”

“Hey,” Pauly snapped before Rory could turn around. “You need the specifics. I want you…your body, and in exchange, you get my protection.”

Captain tensed. “He doesn’t need your protection.”

“You’re a big guy.” Pauly eyed Captain appreciatively. “But you can’t watch your girls all the time…”

Captain snorted. “My girls?”

“Yeah, let me take one off your hands. He’ll be safe, and all he’s got to do is get down on his knees once a day.”

“Not going to happen,” Rory mumbled, turning away, putting an end to their conversation.

“If you know what’s good for you,” Pauly said. “It will.”

Rory spotted Teddy coming towards them. He wore joggers and a vest, both the same colour as his black beard. He held a tray of breakfast in each hand and placed one on the table in front of Ollie. Rory widened his eyes at his porridge serving, a mountain in comparison to his own, and also something on top that looked like brown sugar.

Ollie gaped, blinking comically, “You…you didn’t have to do that.”

He grinned, but Teddy didn’t return it, he grunted instead. Rory looked at the tray Teddy held and could see where he’d sacrificed half of his own porridge to give Ollie more, then remembered what Sebastian had told him.

Teddy felt responsible for his cellmates. He got attached.

Teddy moved towards his empty table and ate his breakfast while staring at one of the many gates. He looked at the bars like they were his enemy, not the justice system or the officers dotted about, but the metal bars of restraint.

“You don’t think he’s done anything to the porridge, do you?” Ollie asked.

Rory frowned. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. It looks like sugar, but what if it’s not?”

Captain reached across the table with his spoon and tried some.

“It’s sugar.”

The whole prison went deadly silent, and Rory darted looks around for the source. Their table had attracted everyone’s attention, even Sebastian’s, who looked over with amusement clear to see on his face.

Rory heard growling; it sounded like a revving engine, getting louder and louder. Teddy was making the sound, and his furious expression was targeting Captain. He remembered what else Sebastian had said; Teddy got protective over his cellmates.

“Guess I shouldn’t have tried your sugar,” Captain muttered.

He got to his feet and puffed out his chest. He no longer looked defeated but stood like a gladiator ready for a fight, proud and certain of his ability. The officers got twitchy, waiting for the atmosphere to explode. Rory saw one remove his baton from his belt and another clutch his radio.

Something was about to go down—

“Teddy,” Sebastian said from his table, holding up a placating hand. “Ease up, yeah?”

The growling died off. Teddy looked at Sebastian, then huffed, and went back to eating his porridge as if nothing had happened. The prison resumed breakfast, and the officers sagged in relief.

Captain sat back down, but straighter than before, alert to danger. Ollie hesitated, then started on his porridge. He hummed in pleasure, and Rory looked over at Teddy. He was stealing secret glances at Ollie, and his lips twitched—not a smile, but closer to a smile than a grimace or a snarl.

“That was interesting,” Rory mumbled.

He could smell the sweetness of Ollie’s porridge, and his gut whined with jealousy. It was worse trying to eat his when Ollie’s smelled so good in front of him. Ollie offered him a spoonful, then snorted when Rory narrowed his eyes.

“Do you want me to get pummelled?”

“Not yet, but after a thousand days, I might change my mind.”

“Screw you.”

Ollie laughed and licked at his spoon like he was enjoying it too much. He was doing it to annoy Rory, but it got the attention of a few other inmates. They looked at him with hunger, and as soon as Ollie noticed, he ducked his head and dropped his spoon on the tray.

“I think I’ve had enough,” Ollie murmured.

Rory shook his head in disbelief. “No kidding, that guy across from us is masturbating under the table.”

“No, he’s not.”

The man in question’s body was shaking, and his right hand was hidden beneath the table. His body shook more violently, and his eyelashes fluttered. The officers didn’t intervene, they pretended they hadn’t noticed, but Teddy revved back to life.

He launched from his seat, near enough flew over the table, and smashed the guy onto the floor. Teddy punished the inmate for enjoying Ollie’s teasing display. His fists rained down, cracking against bone, and blood speckled the floor. Teddy was an unchained beast, snarling and spitting, and the inmate at his feet curled into the foetal position to protect himself.

“Jesus,” Ollie whispered, then covered his face with his hands, peeking through the gaps in his fingers. Rory watched with wide eyes, but Captain shook his head.

“We’ll have to put our gym plans on hold.” Captain sighed.

An ear-splitting siren started, and officers rushed into the room. They demanded the inmates return to their cells and tried to break Teddy and the masturbating inmate apart.

“That’ll teach you for teasing the guys in here,” Captain directed at Ollie. He stood up with his tray and took it to the designated trolley. Rory squeezed Ollie’s shoulder, and he was quick to follow Captain’s lead. The inmates all began grumbling as they trudged back to their cells.

Rory followed Captain up the first set of steps. Captain’s cellmate quivered like a leaf and darted help-me glances to his group of friends. Sebastian hung his arms over the railing on the top landing, watching everyone scurry back to the cell. His gaze lingered on Rory as he paused on the top step, then he rubbed his chin, smirking.

One of the officers pointed to him. “Even you, Sebastian.”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

Sebastian went into the cell first, and after a deep breath for courage, Rory followed.

The door shut on Rory and Sebastian, and he immediately bolted to his bed. Sebastian moved to the mirror and re-wetted his hair. A stray strand at the back stuck straight up, and Sebastian cursed, cupping more water to flatten it down.

“You think he finished?”

Rory blinked. “What?”

“That your favourite word, huh? Is there anything actually going on between your ears? I said, ‘Do you think he finished?’ It was a joke.”

Rory forced a laugh, and Sebastian flung his hands up in the air. “Forget it. I’m disappointed. I thought there’d be more to you.”

“More to me?”

Sebastian pressed his chest to the bunk. He stared up at Rory, and although Rory was higher, the intensity of the glare shrunk him and pinned him to the wall. Sebastian took a long time to speak, and Rory resisted the urge to tug his knees up to his chest.

“Eight years, right?”

Rory blinked. “Right.”

“Thought there would be more to you. No one will start on that Captain—he’d surely finish it. That Ollie kid has won Teddy’s affections instantly, so he’ll be well protected, but for you…there’s nothing. You’re in trouble. You have victim written all over you.”

“I’m not a victim.”

“Give it a week.”

“It’s… This is my first time inside. I’m—I’m trying to get a grip on things.”

“A grip on things?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Don’t go saying that in front of Pauly. He’ll see that as a solid invitation.”

“All I want to do is keep my head down and do my time.”

Sebastian leaned away. His rumbling laugh made Rory shudder.

“Keep your head down? Don’t go saying that outside this cell either.” Sebastian snorted. “If you’re still here on Friday, I’ll be surprised, really surprised.”

Rory frowned. “Where else can I go?”

“The morgue.” Sebastian smirked. “Now there’s an idea…”

He sat on his bunk, out of sight. Rory tensed as he lay down and bit his lip as he waited for Sebastian’s arms to shoot up from beneath and strangle him.