The inmate licks his lips several times. “Tell Whytes they’re time is bestin A-Wing.”
“They’re time is bestspentin A-Wing.”
“They’re time is best spent in A-Wing.”
Sinn'ous nods, releasing his hold, and the junkiescurries away to fulfil the request.
The darkly concealed back corner of A-Wing is the best vantage point when you want to stay hidden and still monitorthe room. The second set of cells acts as a blocker for the ceiling lights. Casting shadows Sinn'ous lives for.
When the junkie returns he seeks Sinn'ous out like a blood hound, honing in and crowding close. Sniffing at Sinn'ous’s heels.Ready and waiting on his reward for good behaviour in delivering a message.
Not yet, he needs the junkieto carry one last message. In due time.
The Whytesfile in and congregateat a table by the corridor, they gather in a shavengroup of bald badgers turning the heads of other men who are scattered throughout the room. Glances are exchanged and the disgust at seeing this gang walking on turf uninvited by the resident A-Wing gangs is quickly over-ridden by curiosity.
The gathering causes the air to change, charged by the growing hype before the storm. The few lingering residents are alert, they can feel the rising atmosphere. The crackling of a fight to come.
And it arrives.
Jasper makes himself known. Bright orange flirting down the stairs. A small smile gracing his lips.
Why does the expression send a twinge below his ribs? Sinn'ous rubs the place and promptly ignores it, grounding himself by rubbing his fingers over the razor stuffed into a slit in his waistband. The twitching man beside him watching every movement of his hand, a dog waiting on a treat to be pulled.
Jasper enters the corridor and theWhytes pullin behind him. Sinn'ous follows suit, as do the other A-Wing inmates. Creating a peeping party by the corridor’s mouth.
Every mocked word, jeering taunt and jab by the Whytes to rile Jasper up is met with polite caution. And the bald white supremacy eat it in. Closing the distance and invading the boy’s space.
Sinn'ous instructs the junkie still clung to his sideto inform Reni of this developing fight. Not once taking his eyes off Jasper while the conversation escalates. Jasper attempts to flee and is promptly caught, lifted off his feet, and thrown to the floor. Then the bald attacker lays into him, the rest standing around wearing large grins.
Jasper kicks out, surprising Sinn'ous and his attacker with his strength. The man stumbles back, loses his footing and ends up joining the boy on the floor.
Jasper flips to his hands and knees, once again trying to flee. The three Whytes waste no time laying into him with their feet. Kicking him in the stomach, sides, head. Anywhere they can get at they kick and stomp.
Tension grows in Sinn'ous and he flicks his eyes down the corridor. While it has filled with inmates taking bets and yelling encouragements to fight, Reni is not among them. This is a very unmatched fight, itwasswift and itisbrutal.
Sinn'ous steps into the crowd. They’re all too engrossed in the entertainment to take noteas he pushes in towards the centre. He reaches the break at the front edge lining the make-shift fight ring, his razor in hand to deal with the Whyteshimself—
Reni and Zidie crash out the other side, and hit the other men like line-backers. Reni takes one down, and they both hit the ground in a grapple for a dominant position.
Zidie is right on Reni’s heels, decking one in a single slug. The Whytes gang member drops like a sack of potatoes, unmoving. Zidie takes on the next two, trading jabs and elbows.
The grunted sounds of fighting and flesh hitting flesh fills the corridor. Clashing with the growing enthusiasm of excited voices.
Reni attainsdominance, his face twisted into a snarl as his fists fly. Blood is painting the floor all around them, and splattering over any onlookers who venture too close.
And Sinn'ous’s prey? He is shakily righting himself, spitting out blood, and using the wall to drag himself to his feet. Face already beginning to swell, colours darkening his cheeks.
The prison’s alarm system crashes into their fight club, and guards stream in. Yelling orders and dispersing the crowd. Just like that, the chaos is over.
Inmates are shoved down and cuffed. The Whytesgang members, three conscious and one unconscious. Reni and Zidie. All restrained and dragged away to The Hole. When a guard, Cunningham, steps over to take Jasper, Sinn'ous moves forward catching the guard’s eyes behind Jasper’s back. Cunningham gives Sinn'ous a weary look, and theindiscernible shake of Sinn'ous’s head pulls the guard to a stop.
It would be counter productive for his prey to be placed into The Hole. The junkieon the other hand. Sinn'ous snaps his shoulder forward in a quick move to forcibly nudge said junkie, sending the twitching addict careening into Cunningham. Who promptly cuffs him, much to the junkie’s dismay. Who kicks, and squirms, and swears the whole way down the corridor. He’s still vocal even after they round the bend out of sight.
Sinn'ous couldn’t have planned this better. Taking down three birds by one accurate swing of a stone. Throwing out two irritations, and isolating his prey. Hittingthe boy with a dose of reality to give him a raw taste of prison life. Where Sinn'ous can step in and begin carving out a place in the boy’s subconscious.Have him completely reliant and in need.
Speaking of. His prey is wobbling on unsteady feet in the now cleared corridors. But unlike what a prey animal should do—retreat back to home ground in the cells. He continues to stumble deeperinto the corridors. Turning a corner in the directions of the showers.
Intrigued, Sinn'ous trails behind the smaller inmate. Flowing over the cold concrete as a breeze would, no sound, no trace. Tracking an injured doe to a place to consume it.
