Chapter 16 Chapter 16
"Some doors unlock without keys, only consequences.”
Their short-lived escape from Saint Ridge ended faster than either girl wanted. By the time the shuttle dropped them at the gates, the reality hit.
"Visiting Day" was only two days away, which meant hell for every worker on duty.
The compound buzzed with tension. Inmates were louder. Guards were sharper. And Clara and Trinity were thrown right back into chaos before they could breath.
The hall used for the annual visit was enormous; empty, dusty, forgotten for 363 days a year. Today, it waited like a beast hungry for labor.
Clara scrubbed the floor with stiff, aching hands, her mind slipping back to that morning.
Jason’s knuckles… bruised.
His breath… smug.
His words… dripping with threat.
"Think of a way to pay me back for saving your life, sweetheart. Unless you want me to take what I’m owed… the way I always take overdue debt.”
The memory made her shudder. Jason never made empty threats, if she couldn’t come up with a payment method....anything at all.... He was definitely going to come for her.
She imagined him dragging her to the altar like he'd always said or him breaking the news about the nature of her work to her father.
Both scenarios were not good at all
A broom smacked her leg suddenly.
“Clara.” Trinity’s voice was sharp. “Something’s wrong with this place. I swear this place is shady”
Clara blinked out of her thoughts. “What is it Tri?”
Trinity gestured around the hall. “Our dormmates changed. Again. And there’s still only four of us, Nobody told us anything.”
Clara shrugged. “Maybe they quit? Maybe Rome recruited replacements like he'll do when we decide to quit".
Trinity’s glare was sharp "When we talked about quitting, Did you see the look on his face?. How come everyone else is allowed to quit except the both of us"
Clara sighed "Tri you might just be thinking too much. I know you have a thing for spy shit and theories"
“No, This is serious ” Trinity snapped. “Listen to me. There are still twenty-five inmates. Clara… three died in that fight remember??. I counted. Twice.”
Clara froze, the mop dripping onto her boot. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Trinity hissed. “Something is seriously off. How is it possible that there's Twenty-five inmates when three died. Where are the three replacements coming from?"
Clara inhaled slowly, forcing calm she didn’t feel. “Even if something is weird… we’re government recruits. We’ll be fine.... right?.”
Trinity narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to convince me… or yourself?”
Clara didn’t answer. She didn’t have to.
After hours of cleaning, they were released back to their dorm. Trinity dug through her things, muttering about headcounts and conspiracies.
Clara waited until her friend was absorbed, then slipped out silently.
She needed answers.
She needed to see him.
Her feet led her automatically to Ward 5.
She slipped through the dark hallway, her breath shaky as she reached Hale’s cell. The second she stepped in, she collided with a wall of muscle.
Except it wasn’t a wall.
It was him.
Hale’s chest was solid heat and iron, his body towering over hers. His scent hit her first...clean sweat, steel, cold air.
His voice was low. “You have a way of announcing yourself through pure clumsiness.”
Clara’s face flushed instantly. She cursed her own nervous hands.
“M...maybe you should put a warning sign on your chest,” she muttered, trying to recover.
He didn’t smile. Not even a flicker.
“Why are you in my space?” he asked flatly.
Space. The word stung.
“I… I wanted to talk,” she whispered.
Hale turned away, dismissing her like she was nothing. “Leave.”
The single word punched straight into her chest. She stayed frozen.
His shoulders tensed. “I said leave”
Something inside her cracked. “Why are you suddenly cold to me?, Did I do something wrong?”
He paused. His head tilted slightly, but he didn’t turn around.
“I don’t owe you answers. Now. Leave. ”
But she didn’t move, she could not bring herself to believe he really wanted her to leave. Surely he was itching to touch her or missed her like she missed him.
Clara stepped toward his worktable, more out of hurt than defiance. She reached toward a metal tool
She didn’t even touch it.
Hale moved faster than a flash of lightening.
His hand clamped around her neck, slamming her back against the concrete wall so hard her breath burst from her lungs.
Air vanished. Her vision spotted.
His face was inches from hers, eyes burning with a fury she didn’t understand.
“I have no patience” he growled, squeezing tighter,
“for stubborn girls.”
Squeeze.
"P..p..please" She croaked, her eyes bulging out of their socket
“Girls who don’t listen.”
Squeeze.
“Girls who think rules don’t apply to them.”
Her nails clawed weakly at his wrist. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, couldn’t even think.
Her vision blurred. Her legs buckled.
Then.....
He let go.
She dropped to her knees, coughing violently, desperate for air. Her throat burned, tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably as she scrambled away from him.
Hale turned his back to her again, voice emotionless.
“Don’t come here again. Not for work, not for anything ”
Clara staggered to her feet, fear wrapping cold chains around her spine. She stumbled out of the cell, gasping, her neck throbbing where his handprint was already forming.
She didn’t remember walking back. She didn’t remember pulling the dorm door open. She didn’t remember the collapse of her composure until Trinity’s horrified voice cut through the fog.
“Clara?” Trinity dropped her towel, eyes going wide. “What the hell happened?”
Clara couldn’t speak. The sobs made her chest hurt.
Trinity stepped closer then saw the bruise on her throat.
Her entire expression changed.
Slowly. Darkly. Lethally.
“Oh, hell no.” Her voice trembled with rage. “He did this to you?”
Clara wiped her cheeks, unable to meet her eyes.
“Trinity, please...”
But Trinity was already storming toward the door, fury radiating off her like heat.
“I’m going to give that psycho bastard a piece of my mind,” she snarled. “And if he ever touches you again, I swear to God I’ll rip his fucking spine out.”
The door slammed behind her, and Clara stood there trembling, hand over her bruised throat…
Terrified of what Hale might do next.
Terrified of what Trinity might start.
And terrified that something inside her still didn’t want to stay away from him.