There was no one else around, so Scarlen got out of her wet things and slipped the garment over her naked body. At least it was dry, and some warmth entered her at last.
The guard pulled a key from the long chain attached to her belt and unlocked the door. ‘In you go.’
It wasn’t the kind of cell Scarlen had expected. There was standing room only, with a hole in the floor and one in the ceiling, both the size of the food bowls in the canteen.
‘That’s right, there’s no way for you to sit,’ said the guard. ‘Though some lean a little.’
Scarlen entered the confined space and faced the door, numbness creeping along her spine.
‘The next time this door opens will be in three days,’ said the guard. ‘Just the flap will be used from now on.’
Scarlen reached her hands for the opening as the door closed her into darkness. ‘Does this stay open?’
‘No,’ replied the guard, snapping it shut. The sound of her keys rattling in the lock was the only noise before footsteps stomped, then faded.
There was nothing to see, not even her hand before her face, which she could just about move, as the space was so cramped. In three days, surely everything would cramp.
‘All right in there, Scars?’
‘Bear?’
‘Yep. Just next door.’
Scarlen sighed with relief upon hearing his voice. ‘I’m sorry I took your top and that I passed out.’
‘My choice to offer the sweatshirt. My choice not to move you while you were down.’
‘And you shouldn’t have joined in my fight.’
‘You hadn’t started, so fair game.’
She twiddled her fingers, wishing she could reach for him. ‘You saved me after I’d told you I hated you.’
There came no reply.
‘Thank you, Bear,’ she whispered, her throat feeling clogged with emotion.
‘Have to take care of my girl.’
She couldn’t help but smile at the jest in his voice.
A long moment of silence sat between them, some muffled footsteps at one point filling the air, then a faint rattle of something tinny coming from above.
‘Take a breath,’ warned Bear.
But before she could ask why, a whoosh of cold water poured down through the top hole, soaking her through to the bone. ‘Argh!’ Shivering, she banged her fist low against the wall in a fit of temper. ‘What the fuck was that all about?’
‘It’s part of what happens here. Three times a day, they’ll soak you, so you’re always wet and cold.’
She turned to the closed flap. ‘They won’t let us dry?’
A huff of a laugh came from his cell. ‘They don’t even let us out to use the toilet chamber.’
‘They give us a bucket?’
‘Do you see room in that flap for a bucket?’
She could barely see the flap at all; it was that dark.
