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“Please just- please leave me alone- I don’t want any trouble with you or anyone here-”

The man must have been in his mid forties. He pulled his long salt and peppered hair back with his thick hands and retied the band that held it all in a neat ponytail. On the right side of his bearded face, at the corner of his lip was a long jagged scar that ran towards the base of his ear. Were it any lighter it would have looked like sharp teeth.

“Trouble? Only trouble I been spottin’ is YOU havin’ trouble shoveling snow outside on the main road.”

I drew my arms in and held them under the table on my lap, bowing my head. It was suppertime, but I wasn’t very hungry despite all the work I’d done today. Every part of me ached.

“Ain’t seen ya here recently. Did’ja just come in the day before?” He reached over and pulled my tray of food towards himself, picking at it with a plastic fork.

The inside of the cafeteria was warmer than the outside by far, but despite that I still felt cold, something Veldren Prison was infamous for.

“Well?” He gave me a sharp nudge with his elbow.

I swallowed hard, trembling and avoiding eye contact. “…Yes. I haven’t been here for very long.”

“Mmm… what did’ja get caught fer then? If ya don’t mind me asking.”

Shakily I reached for my nose and rubbed at it with the back of my hand. Then I took a deep breath. “…I was…” My voice caught in my throat before I reluctantly continued. “I had been harboring traitors, in the chapel.”

“Chapel?”

“Yes… I am- …I was the pastor.”

He gave me a strange look, maybe one of surprise, a lot of surprise. “No shit? Wow… Them southerners goin’ after their own priests n’ such now, huh? Suppose I ain’t surprised either way but…damn.”

I smiled nervously and nodded. “Erm…yes. But, it was my fault for being found out in the first place. I wasn’t careful enough was all.”

“I take it ya aren’t liking it here much, ‘specially with yer new cellmate n’ all. He’s a real winner. Don’t worry, ol’ Wyatt ain’t gonna do nothing to ya. Yer scrawny and shrimpy enough as it is, I kinda feel bad fer ya.”

An immediate sense of dread washed over me and I shuddered hard in my seat. My palms were sweaty and I felt sticky and disgusting.

“…Er- well- I din’t mean anything by it just-”

My heart started to pound in my chest and it felt like there were gross hands all over me again. My ears felt hot and I couldn’t hear anything except for this strange buzzing sound.

“Hey- ya ok?” Wyatt reached over and shook me by the shoulder gently. I snapped out of it.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine,” I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath the entire time.

He didn’t respond for several minutes, and then he inhaled and sighed through his nose. “…I’m sure ya could request a transfer or somethin’… Yer not a northerner, the wardens’ll probably take ya a bit more seriously than someone like me. Or, ya know, it could be the complete opposite, I dunno. Never had a cell mate before; they’ve always kept me in isolation.”

In my head I started to count slowly. My stomach churned like the ocean and I felt like vomiting the more I thought about going back to my cell. The world started to spiral and go quiet again, the same buzzing sound returning.

“Priest- hey-”

Wyatt shook me out of it again. Instead I stood up quickly and stepped over the bench, nearly tripping over it. “I’m sorry- I have to go-”

“Wait! Ya don’t have to go rushin’ back! I just-”

“I’m sorry-” I shook my head again. “Please just leave me alone.”

I left my tray with him and bolted for a hallway. There was nowhere to go in this place; it was on an island for pity’s sake.

As soon as I stepped through, one of the prison wardens took me by the arm and led me back to my cell. I tensed up as the door slid open, revealing it to be empty. A wave of relief came, but it wouldn’t last long.

The grey metal walls rattled as he locked me in again, a loud echoing slam behind me. I paced around in a small circle, trying to calm down. My cellmate would be back soon; I wouldn’t have much time alone. My head kept telling me there was something I could do, somewhere I could go, some way I could defend myself.

But there weren’t any solutions to this.

Slowly I sat down on my side of the tiny room, on my cot, head in hands and still shaking. The silence was becoming maddening, even though it had only been a few minutes.

The ‘solace’ didn’t last long; the door slid open once more and in walked that savage brute. He was looking straight at me in the eyes, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“So redhead, y’ ready fer round two of yer welcomin’ party?”

I stood up and immediately pressed my back to the wall, sliding down into a sitting position, staring up at the big beast of a man helplessly. My mouth moved and I tried to speak but nothing came out.

“I’ll take that as’a yes.”