MYSTERIOUS CELLMATE

Jeremiah picked himself up and then returned to his previous post, which was sitting on the welded steel bench inside the holding cell.

One after another, he watched the other detainees get their bail paid for and leave their holding cells and each time, the fear in his heart grew because he knew what was installed for him at the end of the night.

He wasn't going to be bailed out. Instead, he would be sent to prison to rot for as long as his sentence would last and, because of the severity of the crime he was being framed for committing, a target would be placed on his back the moment he stepped his foot into the prison.

That was what Jeremiah was most worried about. Not only would his freedom be taken away, but he would be trapped in a cage with unlawful individuals who he had no way of reasoning with.

He was basically being sent to a death sentence where, if he survived, then he still had other types of abuse to worry about.

More time passed, but then something happened in Jeremiah's mind.

There was a switch.

Instead of fear, what grew in Jeremiah's heart became hatred for the entire Prescott family members.

He had tolerated their abuse for years, but now they had taken things too far.

The Prescott family had committed the crime and also framed him for it and all he could think of was getting revenge on every single one of them.

The only one spared from his wrath was his mother and if the opportunity to destroy the family ever presented itself, he was going to take it with full force and not look back.

Finally, the police station closed and Jeremiah, being the only detainee left and was put under the supervision of a single officer, plotted.

He thought of specific ways to get revenge on each family member, and they were all terrifying.

He had been watching them since the day he and Michelle moved into the family estate. A member of the family by blood but never one in the true sense of the word, and, as such, he had to manage by observing them from afar.

Now, those details he'd observed over the years were going to be the deadly weapon he used to send them to their graves.

"Just you wait. I'll be back and all of you are going to regret ruining my life. That I promise" Jeremiah promised, then the night ended.

The next morning came and Jeremiah's eyes were red and puffy. He hadn't slept a wink.

The adrenalin pumping through his veins from the rage he felt wouldn't let him lay his head down in peace.

Since he sat down on the bench the night before, he hadn't stood up to move around and exercise his body.

He just sat and plotted until afternoon came and, finally, he was taken to the prison to await trial.

The prison was a couple of hours away and by the time he got there, it was nighttime again.

He had spent his first twenty-four hours outside his home in police custody, but Jeremiah didn't care. He only cared about one thing and that was revenge.

The moment he stepped his foot outside the bus that transported him and walked into the prison, he could feel the impression that everyone had about him. Both the inmates who saw him and the officers he was taken past saw him as fresh meat.

The first thing he did there was get his mugshot taken and, after that, he was given his uniform which had his prisoner number and the badge that represented the crime he was arrested for.

His was the red badge for murder.

He was taken to his cell by two very mean-looking officers.

As he thought, aside from being the new inmate, the crime he was framed for committing had given him a massive target on his back. However, the target wasn't from the other inmates locked up with him, but rather the police officers.

There were certain crimes one would commit to receive the harshest treatment from the upholders of the law and murder was the highest on the list.

No one cared to know if the murder happened by accident or not. All they needed to know was that the uniform had a red badge on it, and they would treat the inmate as badly as they wanted.

"Get in, you asshole!" said one of the two police officers, who had taken Jeremiah to his cell, as he pushed him through the open cell door.

Jeremiah staggered inside then, by accident, tripped over his feet and fell forward.

From behind, he started to hear the two officers laughing.

Jeremiah looked behind at the two officers, frowning that they could treat him like that.

It was like he was less than human in their eyes, but he couldn't really blame them because it was all the Prescott family's fault for framing him.

"That's what you get, murderer," said the officer, who had pushed Jeremiah, as he sneered at him with absolute disgust.

The other officer pointed at Jeremiah, then he pointed at another side of the room, which prompted Jeremiah to look in that direction, and saw that there was another inmate in there who looked very rough and haggard.

"You two are roommates now. You can kill each other for all I care, but what I don't want is to hear a single noise coming from this room. Understood?!"

Jeremiah glared at the officer, not feeling the mood to answer back after what the two had just done to him, but his cellmate nodded his head energetically.

"Loud and clear, Officer Mark. Not a single noise will be heard from this room", Jeremiah's new cellmate said, then gestured that his mouth was sealed.

Both officers scoffed.

"Monkeys" Officer Mark rolled his eyes, then closed the door shut and both officers left.

"Stupid bastards", Jeremiah smacked his tongue at the closed door and tried getting up.

However, before he could get up on his own, his cellmate rushed to his side and offered him a hand.

Jeremiah looked at the rough-looking hand that his cellmate was offering, then he looked at the man from head to toe.

He was hesitant about getting help, not just because it was from someone he had just met in prison, but he was also getting very strange vibes from the man.

Why would the man want to help him up when he could just stand up on his own? Jeremiah thought as he stared at the enigmatic man's stretched hand.

Suddenly, he saw the man smile innocently, and seeing that it was genuine, Jeremiah gave him a little trust.

Next, he looked at the man's uniform badge and saw that the crime that had sent him there wasn't that bad, which made Jeremiah give him a little more trust.

Jeremiah sighed, and then, going against his better judgment, he accepted the help.

"Thank you," Jeremiah said as he took the man's hand and was being helped up.

"My name is Jeremiah Steel, by the way. What's yours—?" He asked but wasn't able to finish when something strange happened.

His cellmate went from gently helping him up to grabbing his two shoulders when he had gotten to a certain height, and then he pulled him up aggressively.

"What the hell?! What do you think you're—?!" Jeremiah complained but was cut off.

"I've been waiting for someone like you for a long time, and now I can finally be free," the cellmate said, and Jeremiah grimaced.

"What the hell are you talking about?! As a matter of fact, who are—?!"

"We have to hurry! I can't take the voices anymore! They are always talking and won't let me rest in peace. But you, you'll have to take my place and I know you can. You have what they want in you. I can see it" the cellmate rambled, then reached down and grabbed the bottom of Jeremiah's uniform shirt.

"Take this off!" the cellmate instructed, then started stripping Jeremiah off his shirt.

Jeremiah's eyes widened, and then he frowned and tried fighting his cellmate to stop him from doing what he was doing to him, but he couldn't.

The cellmate's actions were just so chaotic that anything Jeremiah tried to do to stop him didn't work.

The cellmate was also strong. Inhumanly strong.

Within a second, the man had taken off Jeremiah's shirt and suddenly they both heard the cell door getting knocked on.

Both Jeremiah and the cellmate looked at the door, but their two expressions were completely different.

Jeremiah was curious about who was knocking, but he was also happy because it meant that he had help to deal with the maniac next to him. The cellmate, however, looked scared.

"They're here! I have to hurry before I'm forced to do it all over again" the man said hurriedly, drawing Jeremiah's attention back to him and seeing that he had taken off his shirt too.

Jeremiah's eyes widened.

"Hey, what do you think you're trying to do?! Why did you take off your—?!" Jeremiah stepped back, trying to get away from his cellmate, who, for whatever reason, wanted the both of them shirtless.

Unfortunately, he couldn't get far.