KING

一 02

An incessant pounding echoed in her head, causing Rina to shift in her sleep, opening her mouth habitually to groan, only for no sound to escape her lips. Her eyes fluttered open, staring at the same grey ceiling, still scratched from the one time one fo her cell mates sneaked in a weapon to kill her and use her body as a ploy to get the guards to open the cell door long enough to escape.

That hadn't really worked out, considering how Donghyuck found Rina sitting innocently twirling the blade in her hand while the woman lay face down, unconscious.

The amber eyed boy was one of two guards who'd befriended her during her time in prison. He was also the one who'd come to wake them up. She squinted at the man who stood on the other side of the bars, the metal groaning under her weight as she sat up.

"Both of you, get up and go. It's your time to go out into the backyard." Donghyuck called out, tapping the butt of his long rifle against the stone floor impatiently.

"What?" Mark asked sleepily, as Lucas groaned and got up, rubbing his eyes.
"Come on, I don't have all day." Donghyuck opened the door letting the two men out, Rina watching them wistfully.

A few days had passed since they'd come- two or three? Time blurred, the days and weeks just all blended together after a while.

So far, however, she'd been safe. They didn't try to do anything to her.

She'd never been let out for too long, the azure skies she used to see when she was free now replaced by the dull ceilings of her cell.

Donghyuck and Jeno would take had her out on very rare occasions, usually during those periods when she didn't have cell mates to worry about, and the other guards were asleep, but for majority of her time in prison, she'd only seen the same cemented walls and metal bars.

The guard turned back and gave her a pointed look, ignoring the looks of confusion Lucas and Mark were giving him.

Jeno, he mouthed. Later.

Her lips curved upwards into a grateful smile, and the edges of his eyes crinkled ever so softly when he returned her smile, before turning away and locking the door.

She sighed, leaning back and staring at the bare ceiling. She was going to be alone for the next hour, until her 'friend' would show up, with his bright smile and brighter blades, his belt heavier than him in weight with the weight of the weapons slung onto it.

But at least she was getting to breathe freely today, and that was more than enough. So she shifted to her side to watch the shadows of Donghyuck and her new cell mates become longer in the dim light of the prison, until the sound of a door shutting cut off the dark figures moving on the floor.

Absentmindedly, her eyes examined the empty cells that lined the corridor.

For as long as she could remember, her cell was always the only one occupied. It was always very rare they found someone who committed a truly horrifying crime, one that was deserving enough to be locked in the last level of the prison, the one with the most torture and highest security. It was usually men thrown in there, more specifically, straight into her cell.

Of course, the guards were well aware of her gender, as well as her disabilities, and of her innocence. It was the only reason she escaped unscathed when the time for punishment arrived. The criminals would either die, go crazy or were carted off to other high security prisons, ones that were not right underneath the palace of the King, but not before attacking her at least once.

In fact, she was sure the guards threw them in with her, knowing they were unstable and hoping, praying that they would kill her.

Not all of them were heartless souls who used their weapons in times of boredom, however. There were two who took sympathy on the plight of Rina, choosing to become her only constant companions in this hellish situation.