Chapter 18

+laurel's point~of~view+ "And we make this new religion To escape what we've become your signal's fading so let's go And we make this new religion As the program showed us To escape what we've become..." ~ Orgy, "Re-Creation" I paced in my cell, which is pretty hard to do in this ridiculously small restraint I call my second home now. I sense something evil is about to happen, but that feeling always comes and goes. One night, I heard Jayden scream from her end of the corridor. It was a frightening, bloodcurdling scream. Later that night, I heard Lee give a mourning cry. This mulled me. Around supper a few days later, I heard Rita declare, "You call this food?! I want better, sluts!" This made me laugh. I heard nothing from Nicole and this is oppressing me now. "She's fine," Amir said, breaking my deep thoughts, "Alania is too fucking cowardice to kill anybody in this place. But, she ain't afraid to hurt..." "Hurt?" "Yes. I know this because she hurt one of my friends. Atrociously. Now, he is not his regular self..." "Oh, God. What did she do to him?" Amir raised his head and looked at me. His expression was obscure in a mixture of lacerate and grief. I grew weak in the knees whenever I saw him in this state of mind. He was so fragile looking and so handsome. His restraints rattled underneath his movement as he slid down the wall until he was in a sitting state. I sat down on my bed carefully so I wouldn't get stabbed with one of the loose metals on my cot. A teary glaze was over his eyes and he said, "About three centuries ago, four friends and I managed to escape these walls and ran away. As far away from here as possible. Then, we all went our separate ways, but agreed that we were to never get captured. A year never passed until I got news that two of my friends were caught and sent back here." Amir paused and tugged slightly at his neck chain before continuing, "My other friend, his name is Paige, moved on and attempted to forget the past. I knew that was impossible to, but I also tried to. However, my other partner in crime Jay, was caught and thrown back in here. Jay's aura was strong, indomitable. Mine was nothing compared to his. Alania was jealous of how he could handle everything she threw at him, so she destroyed his mind. Presently, he is scared shitless of Alania and he thinks that he cannot survive out there in the mortal world. But, he can, but he lost all faith in everything..." Tears then exploded down his cheeks. Horror took over my face and I managed to choke out, "Oh, God... Amir... I'm... sorry..." Amir buried his face in his hands and continued sobbing. Slowly, I came up to the side bars and whispered reassuringly, "Shh. It will all be okay." Amir raised his head and his bottom lip started quivering. I slipped my right arm through the bars and reached out to him. Slowly, his hand slid into mine and he gripped tight onto it. The black lace of my long sleeved shirt covered up about a third of my hand, but I did not get annoyed by it. Then, he came closer to me and the intoxicating aroma of him and his hair dominated me and I tried to keep myself from fainting. "Thank you, Laurel," Amir whispered. I tilted my head slightly, in query of what I was being thanked for. "Thank you for being there and caring for me ever since I arrived here." "It was nothing, 'Mir," I replied, "Anything for you." Then, our lips touched and this took me by surprise. The shock passed over me and I indulged in the kiss... to be continued...