If No One Else

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ²

2. n e w   b l o o d
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"Is this the grimy cell you were talking about?" I question wearily as I anxiously watch him place the key in the lock to unlock the desolate room.

"I'm sure you'll feel right at home considering what you just did in the middle of the road," he replies back sarcastically as the lock finally clicks. "Go inside." as he swings the door open, his hands motion towards the entrance of the small cell while he stares down at me impatiently.

It hadn't changed one bit. The feel of the cold air feels freezing as it grips onto my skin and wraps me in its algid hold, until every hair is standing on edge and goosebumps begin to develop atop my flesh.

I find myself unable to move as the stale smell of the room wafts through my nose, reminding me of all the bad I'd done.

The memories leave me paralyzed in my spot as if I had forgotten how to walk. My feet feel too heavy and my heartbeats sound so loud in my ear that I can't even conjure up a command from my brain to tell my legs to move.

"Go!" He urges loudly, growing annoyed at my hesitation.

I look up at him and force a tight-lipped smile to rise onto my lips to hide the shivers rattling my teeth, "Imagine how peaceful our night could've been if you had just taken the money," I mutter under my breath after finally getting the courage to even glance inside the enclosure that stands open before me.

"Yes, I'm sure it would have. Now go inside before I have to force you," the officer's words grit out angrily as his jaw clenches and his eyebrows draw together low on his face.

His patience is wearing near to none by now, and no matter how much I want to run, he had gotten his intended outcome way before I even had a chance to fight against it.

I was stuck.

I quickly roll my eyes and force everything in my body to get my feet to move into the tiny holding room. The floor crunches beneath my shoes as the cement crumbles due to age and wear, and I instantly feel as if the room would collapse and bury me alive.

Somehow the walled prison seems even colder and muskier than the bigger room I had just been standing in mere seconds ago. The air feels suffocating, taunting me with the slim chance of leaving this place alive.

I feel my stomach start to tumble violently, threatening to explode with anxiety. I suck in a breath of air, trying my best to try to tame the panic rising within in, but to no avail.

I just know death would be calling my name tonight.

"Hands," his gruff voice brings me out of my brief panic and back to him. His fingers are pointing down to a small hole in the door just big enough to fit a pair of hands.

I walk back over to the barred partition, then turn and lift my bound hands into the opening. I almost immediately feel one of his rough hands begin to toggle with the cuff's lock, while the other grips onto my hand to keep them in place.

His touch is a stark contrast to the freezing temperature of my skin. His are warm, nearly hot as if he could never get cold. The warmness brings comfort to my mind for the few minutes it takes for him to release me.