Problems in prison

In a vast, seemingly endless field, Lilith walked among the flowers and grass. The weather was beautiful, and she hummed a tune happily as she strolled. From afar, she noticed a boy sitting beneath a tree. His features weren't clear due to the distance. She ran toward him, a bright smile spreading across her face. When she reached him, she saw that his face was entirely blacked out—no features at all. She leaned in with a smile.

"What are you doing?"

The faceless boy lifted his head and replied:

"-------"

Lilith placed a hand on her chin and said:

"Interesting. Can I sit with you?"

Before he could answer, she leaned against the tree beside him. Both stayed silent for a while, then Lilith spoke again:

"You know, I don't want to go back to the lab. The scientists there are awful, and the mothers don't love us. What do you think—should we run away, you, me, and my brother?"

The boy remained silent, then said:

"------"

Lilith lowered her head and said:

"You're right... we can't just leave everyone and escape alone."

Suddenly, she stood up with excitement.

"Alright then! In that case, let's all run away!"

She turned to him, extending her hand.

"Come on, let's go back and tell my brother!"

*********

Lilith woke up, lying on an uncomfortable iron bed, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. She got up with a groan and began stretching.

"Seriously? The bed in our rusty base was better than this one."

The cell was very small but could fit two people at most. On the bed across from her, another girl lay on her back wearing a cowboy hat. Did she think they were in some kind of Wild West movie?

Lilith left the cell, looking for Nir. She had to find him—and a way out of this place. She headed straight for the male ward, avoiding trouble along the way.

The prison was divided into two wings: the right for males, the left for females. She passed through a large hall filled with men and women—it appeared to be a shared meeting area—then reached the entrance to the male section, where a guard blocked her.

"Step back. You're not allowed in here!"

Lilith protested:

"But I really need to go in, please!"

The guard looked her up and down, then said:

"I can't let you in. But if someone's inside, I can call them for you."

Lilith smiled for a brief second before her face turned serious.

"Is there… any kind of deal?"

The guard laughed:

"Haha, I was gonna do it out of kindness, but since you brought it up… a few touches should be enough."

He reached toward her, and Lilith recoiled in disgust. She slapped his hand away and walked off quietly. Behind her, she heard him muttering:

"What a filthy bitch. I was just trying to help, and she rudely turned me down!"

Lilith returned to the hall and sat on a bench, resting her wrist on the table and leaning her head into her hand, lost in thought about the dream. She'd heard from Lisa that dreams carry meaning—so what could that dream have meant? What was fate trying to tell her?

As she pondered, her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't eaten. She made her way to the food distribution area, picked up a tray, and headed toward the counter. On the way, she bumped into someone carrying a tray of food.

She turned quickly to apologize:

"I'm sorry—"

But stopped when she saw it was Nir. She grabbed him by the collar.

"Where have you been, you idiot?!"

Then she noticed the bruise on his face.

"What happened to your face?"

With his usual calm smile, Nir replied:

"It's nothing. I just fell… Can you let go of me now?"

Lilith quickly released him, paused for a second, then asked nervously:

"So… anything new? Did you find a way out?"

Nir gently shook his head.

"No. I didn't find anything."

Lilith sighed deeply.

"Then what are you doing here anyway?"

Nir replied:

"Oh, I came to eat. I'm starving—kinda obvious, isn't it?"

It was obvious, but Lilith didn't have much else to say, so she asked anyway. Nir sat at a nearby table while Lilith remained standing. He placed a large tray in front of him containing what looked like mashed potatoes with some sort of sauce.

Lilith pointed at the plate.

"What is that?"

Nir stared at the food for a moment, then replied:

"I have no idea... maybe... yeah, definitely no idea."

He grabbed a plastic spoon and took a bite. Lilith watched in disgust. Was he seriously eating something that gross?

"Oh! It's delicious!"

He took another bite, then looked at her excitedly.

"It's really good! You should try it!"

With a disgusted look, Lilith stepped away from him as he eagerly devoured the food.

While he was eating, someone approached. He held a plastic cup filled with some drink and stopped in front of Nir.

"You must be new here. Liking the food?"

Nir ignored him and kept eating, as Lilith watched silently. The man grew annoyed but tried to stay calm.

"Did you not hear me? I said, do you like the food?"

Nir finally looked up.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you. Can you repeat what you said?"

The man, now furious, poured the drink on Nir. Nir sat there stunned, saying nothing.

"Listen here. You're new, so I'll let this go. That was your first warning."

Nir remained silent.

Lilith grabbed the man by the collar.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Nir held her arm.

"No. Leave him."

Confused, she asked:

"But he hurt you!"

Nir responded with a cold, dark look:

"I said leave him… because I'll take care of him myself."

Lilith noticed the change in his face and pulled back in unease. The man, trying to assert dominance, grabbed Nir's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm so scared. What are you gonna do? Tell your mommy?"

Without a word, Nir grabbed the man's arm. The man chuckled.

"Haha, you think holding my arm like that will make me let go? Shoulder hurting? Want me to ease the pressure? Haha."

Nir didn't respond. He placed his other hand on the man's arm too. Lilith remained tense and silent. In a swift motion, Nir flipped the man upside down and twisted his arm behind his back.

The man didn't know what hit him—too fast to react. The pain kicked in quickly, and he realized the situation. He turned to see Nir's terrifying face.

"P-please… I didn't mean it…"

The pain grew worse, like his arm was tearing apart. Among the watching crowd stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with yellow hair and dark skin. He and Nir exchanged a long, silent gaze. After about a minute, Nir released the man without further harm.

The man dropped to the floor, clutching his arm. But worse than the pain was the humiliation. He staggered up and glared at Nir.

"Don't think I'll forgive you! You'll regret messing with me! I'll be back—you'll regret it!!"

Nir calmly returned to his seat.

"Yeah, yeah. You'll be back. I'll regret it. Just go away."

The man clenched his teeth and stormed off, shouting:

"You'll regret it!!"

As the crowd dispersed, Lilith slowly approached Nir, awe in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Nir answered calmly:

"Yeah... just my shoulder hurts. His grip was strong."

"Good…"

They were silent for a few seconds, then Lilith spoke:

"I've trained in many martial arts under many teachers, but I've never seen skills like yours. I'm… impressed!"

A small smile crossed Nir's lips.

"Looks like my teacher was better than yours, then."

Lilith tilted her head and replied:

"Hey, this isn't a competition!"

*******

That night, deep in the men's ward of the prison, the sounds of beatings echoed:

/Slap/ – /Punch/

A trembling voice begged:

"P-please, I'm sorry… /cough/ I—I'll get revenge, I promise…"

The tall blond man had the previous troublemaker by the hair, staring at him with glowing yellow eyes in the dark.

"Who said I wanted revenge? All you had to do was stop bullying people and showing off. If you go near that red-haired boy again—I swear, I won't spare you!"

The man wet himself out of fear. When the blond noticed, he threw him to the ground in disgust.

"Disgusting!"

The men behind him burst into laughter:

"Haha, baby wet himself!""Haha, he wants his mommy!""Make him lick it off the floor! Haha!"

They chanted:

"Lick it! Lick it! Lick it!"

The man broke into tears like a child, begging them to stop—until the blond shouted:

"SILENCE!!!"

The room went silent. No one dared speak. The blond continued:

"I didn't bring you here to mock this guy, but to make him an example for anyone who touches that red-haired boy. He didn't know, so we went easy. But anyone else… your punishment will be ten times worse."

Some inmates swallowed nervously. Others remained silent, fear showing on their faces.

A bald, bulky man spoke:

"But James… why do you care about that guy so much?"

James looked down, thinking, then raised his head.

"Jerry, that's none of your business."

James's expression was dead serious. Jerry shuddered and stepped back.

"I'm sorry…"

James rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"You guys are tiring me out.…"