PAW Patrol: Incubus

Chapter 9- The Golden Gates

It honestly could've been worse, Chase told himself. He could've been killed, or worse, and what remained of his family would be abandoned without his protection. Perhaps being locked in a giant freezing dungeon was the better option here, but his mind still prickled with worry. He was perched up on the peeling bed, essentially a mattress-sized bag made of polyethylene stuffed with old cotton. It was annoyingly misshapen, just small enough to convince the sleeper that it would fit them, only for a limb to barely stick out over the edge. It wasn't time for "lights out" yet, as Rome explained, but clinging nervousness kept Chase from joining the rest of the crowd.

Everest could hear Chase tossing and turning above her, and she leaned out of the bunk bed. "You know, if we weren't childhood friends, I'd beat the shit out of you for making so much noise."

"I'm just trying to get comfortable up here." Chase was mildly unnerved by words.

"I take you've never been to jail before. We have unspoken rules here, just like Rome said."

"Everest, I used to send people to jail."

Before he could say anything else, Everest scampered up the bunk bed and clamped her paws around Chase's muzzle, forcing him quiet. "Do not say that out loud." She hissed, staring into his eyes with a panicked expression. "Lord, Chase. Seriously, don't let anyone..." she paused to look around, checking for eavesdroppers. "Do not let anyone even think that you were once a cop." The shepherd blinked with widened eyes, emitting a muffled word within his shut mouth.

She released him with a pained sigh, sitting down next to her old friend. "Life in here... it's hard to get used to. You have to talk different, think different, and be prepared for anything. The real problems happen when dogs get too bored and start making their own fun, with ways that get the guards called on us. Then you just sit back and watch as someone gets beat nearly to death."

"How do you live in here?" Chase said, frowning at her friend's resignation. The husky he knew was always full of life, laughing and taking life head-on with not a moment wasted. To see her broken and defeated brought a weeping feeling in his chest.

"You don't." Everest shrugged. "The others will say they do, and I honestly don't know how they can. You have no identity here, and everyone's just... fine with it?" She looked at him with quizzing eyes. "I don't know what kind of lives these dogs had, Chase, but they don't seem too concerned about their future."

She pointed her ears at the group of inmates laughing over a competitive game of cards. "We come from many places, all from different histories. It's interesting to learn about them."

"Rome told me you all pissed off Archline in some way." Chase said, feeling more comfortable in the presence of an old friend.

"Did he? Well, that's not actually the case, he just said that to make you feel better." The husky watched the group, scanning each dog. "Some of us are actual prison inmates, sold to the Archline Foundation to be used as test subjects. But they never take them right away, they just keep them in here in the event they're needed. The last dog we saw get dragged off was roughly a few months ago."

"So there's..." Chase lowered his voice. "Actual criminals here?"

"Rome -his real name's Roman, for starters- apparently broke into someone's home." Everest began, tucking her paws under her fur. "He was too laced on drugs to see the owner coming downstairs. An altercation ensues; the owner gets killed, a house pet gets assaulted, and he flees the scene."

"He's killed someone?"

"Yeah, and so have a lot of other dogs in here." She tilted her head at the shepherd, her voice fading off with astonishment. "That's the thing. Whenever you hear about criminals like that, you'd be terrified at the thought of them, and reasonably so. But when I was first dumped in here, and everyone saw me come in... do you know what Rome did? He didn't hurt me, didn't rape me, didn't mock, tease, or even put me on the spot. He simply helped me up, smiled, and asked my name." She shook her head, unable to understand the life she was living. "He introduced me to the rest of the inmates... and that was it."