by G. Bailey
I scratch at the glass in an attempt to reach out and touch her, my own tears flowing silently down my cheeks. My step-father, without even looking at me, pulls her from the box and takes her away, leaving me alone, falsely accused and convicted of a crime I did not commit.
“Izora, do you accept your fate?” the Grand Warden repeats, his hammer ready to knock again.
“Yes,” I finally answer as they drag me out of the room.
Dying is a luxury in this world and people like me don’t deserve it. At least, that’s what I’m told by the Shadow Warden dragging me out of the carriage and into the grounds of Shadowborn Prison. No, sentencing me to death would’ve been far too easy. The Grand Warden wants me to suffer as my victims did.
My victims.
A hollow numbness racks through me as I follow the warden through the wrought-iron gates. The prison building is even more terrifying than the rumours. I guess it would have to be since the words etched into the gates are ‘only the dangerous thrive’. Really sets the tone for the next four years of my life here, doesn’t it? I’m sure many who stand in front of this prison feel guilt, regret, or possibly like me, the need to escape before they’ve even stepped foot over the threshold. It’s a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling. But it’s also my life now.
The prison is one large concrete building with towering electric fences and stone towers on each corner. Bright beams shine and move around the prison, illuminating every tiny crevice, cementing the fact that there’s no place to hide. Not even the shadows are safe anymore. The building looks like a castle straight out of a horror movie, complete with a cemetery at the front entrance. Everywhere I look, I see guards walking around with tasers and guns, and I have no doubt they are well-trained wardens, if not Shadow Wardens themselves.
Only the dangerous survive Shadowborn Prison. The rest are nothing but stones to stand on.
My mother’s words come back to haunt me, and a chill sweeps through my body. I look up at the highest point of the prison, where the tip of the spire gleams against the crescent moon nestled in the twilight sky. It looks almost beautiful and that wasn’t what I was expecting. Beauty hidden in dangerous lies.
“Hurry up, sweetheart!”
The Shadow Warden pokes me in the ribs again with his taser. Despite my best efforts not to show any signs of weakness, I hunch over and let out a sharp hiss, tears stinging my eyes from the electric shock.
I want to shove that stick up his arse and see how he likes it.
I actually contemplate doing just that, but I wisely convince myself otherwise. While pissing the guards off on day one is tempting, it’s not a smart move and I need to be smart to stay alive. I have no idea what or whom I’m up against here, and one thing my messed-up family taught me is to be strong no matter what. I’m innocent and the only way I’m going to prove that is by doing my time here and then getting out so I can find out what really happened to me, why my dark magic isn’t working anymore and why I remember being turned into a light fae. Until my time is up, I need to play it safe if I want to make it out alive.
Lifting my head and ignoring the hands that cruelly seize my arms, I step into the prison, leaving my pride and freedom at the door. I guess I won’t need them here. I have a funny feeling my self-defense lessons and combat training at Shadowborn Academy will come in useful. I may look like a tiny girl who slightly resembles Tinkerbell, but by Selena I can fight when need be.
I’m pushed through security and strip-searched for the second time today. I try to forget every single second of it, digging these memories into the back of my mind so I only have to relive them in my nightmares. My handcuffs are unlocked, and I sigh a breath of relief which one of the keepers merely laughs at.
“Smile, Izora. You aren’t as pretty when you frown.”
The Shadow Warden’s comment only makes me want to attack him, to show him I’m not just a pretty face that he can bully. I push down that urge, knowing it’s not going to do me any good.
A female keeper steps forward, holding a heavy metal collar that glows sapphire like the tips of the tasers, with a bold number engraved on the front. 4399. I know straight away that this inmate number is now my only identity here. I fear the collar before she even presses it to my neck and activates the magic. I’ve heard shadowborns talking about this like it’s a joke and parents threatening to use them on their misbehaving children. Magic collars serve only one purpose: to suck the powers out from shadowborns’ souls when they dare to use them, and from what I remember my mother telling me, to feed the magical walls of this prison.
Once I’m stripped of my clothing, the wardens and keepers talk amongst themselves as if I’m not even here. I pull my thick, silver hair out of the collar, letting the wavy strands fall to my waist and cover me up a little. I’ve never once cared about nudity, but this is different. I can feel their eyes on me, and I can’t escape them.
I’m not in control anymore.
How can I go from being a damn good student at Shadowborn Academy to the new arrival at Shadowborn Prison in the space of a week?
They take me into another room, and a rush of cold dread fills me when I spot the showers lined up against the tiled wall. Thankfully, only two female wardens come into the room with me, not that it makes this process any easier as I can guess the next step. Tears sting my eyes from the sheer indignation of it all, standing here naked, collared like some beast.
Ice-cold water sprays over my body as the female hoses me down. I gasp at the coldness and try to hide my body from them but it’s pointless. I eventually give in, lowering my arms and letting them wash away my tears with the water. Once they are done, the wardens dump a pile of plain black clothes into my soaking wet arms.
“You’ve got two minutes to get dressed before the next lot arrive.”
With that, they leave me in the silence of the shower room. I’m thankful for the limited time alone. My mother always said it’s horrible to be on your own, that we are destined to be around other shadowborns and fae. Social creatures and all that bullshit. I always told her that being alone is the only time I feel safe… and safety is something rare in this world.
I stand there for a moment in complete shock, shivering and cold, before pulling on the clothes. They smell like lavender but they feel cheap and rough against my ivory skin. The bra and panties are a size too big, but they’ll do. The socks feel good against my feet until I wobble a little and put my foot down in the water, getting my sock wet. Grumbling, I pull the black combat boots on and hug myself. I rub my arms, fruitlessly trying to put some heat back into my numb body. The tears I’ve been suppressing threaten to roll down my cheeks, but I bite my lip, refusing to let them fall. Now isn’t the time for tears. Now is the time for survival, and soon enough, revenge. I’ve just got to get through my first day.
Outside the room, the female who hosed me down is whispering into someone else’s ear.
Warden Luke. He is handsome, alluringly so with his glacier-blue eyes and copper hair that curls at the ends. Topped with his sexy as hell body, he’s every girl’s dream. Many at Shadowborn Academy followed him around like lost puppies, desperate for any little bit of attention he would throw their way. The only issue with Warden Luke? He’s an asshole like most of the wardens in this world. Wardens are stuck-up guards with shit loads of power to protect the Enchanted Forest and everything in it. I don’t think I’ve ever met a warden who didn’t think Shadowborns were below them and useful for nothing more than pawns in their game. It’s true that Shadowborns are the lowest of the magical society, with fae being at the top, but you know what they say about an underdog?
We come out fighting.
I used to really like this guy, at least when he worked at the academy and happily came to our parties. Then he got promoted and I knew he was transferred here. Now he’s a typical Shadow Warden, all pretty boy looks and light magic that makes him feel superior to Shadowborns like me. I can see it in his gaze, the smugness, the ‘I’m better than you
’ look. His dark eyes never leave my own as he steps forward with his taser at the ready. At least the other Shadow Warden is gone.
“You’ll meet your induction officer soon. Until then, I’ll go over the basics and show you to your cell.” Luke walks over to the door at the other end of the room, and my blood runs cold in my veins but I’m too exhausted to put up a fight.
In all honesty, I just want to curl up into a ball and die. It’s not like there is much in my life to go back home to now. I’m not even allowed to see my family or friends after I’ve served my sentence. Every part of my life I planned out is now impossible. I don’t know who I’m meant to be at this point.
“Don’t I get to call my family?” I ask quietly, looking between him and the female keeper. It’s a long shot but it’s worth it. However, their silence speaks volumes, and a nervous lurch cleaves through my stomach. There’s nothing I can do but follow him into the dimly lit hallway.
Everything is suffocatingly quiet. The steel doors lining the grey-pitted walls are an imposing sight, each of them containing a vertical slot where I suspect food trays and other items are slid through. The cells must be soundproof, too, because I can’t hear a thing from the other side. You’d think the lack of screaming would put me at ease. It doesn’t. It makes this place feel more like a morgue than a prison block. Gods, it gives me the creeps. I already can’t wait to see the back of it.
“You’ll find Shadowborn Prison harsh but fair,” the warden informs me, not bothering to glance back as he leads the way. “Follow the rules set in place and you’ll survive just fine. Break them and you’ll be placed in solitary confinement until the governor deems otherwise. Further black marks against your name and, well, you’ll find out just how harsh this prison can really be. Understand, jaybird?”
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Who is the governor, Shadow Warden?”
“You’ll meet him soon enough. If you want to survive here, follow the Governor’s rules. Lockdown is from six p.m. until eight a.m., and your ass stays in its cell within those hours. Outside of them, you’re free to roam wherever you want so long as you remain on prison grounds.”
That surprises me a little. I guess I thought they’d be keeping us cooped up in our cells all the time.
Luke swipes his access card down the reader on a set of electric doors. They peel to the side, unveiling a spacious grey room with an enormous steel cage in the middle of the white padded floor. There’s nothing inside the cage apart from a small single bed, a steel toilet and a sink. Talk about bare necessities. It takes me a moment to realise that this cell—this cage—is meant for me.
“A cage?” I glance between the cage and the warden. “Why? I’m not exactly a threat to anyone.”
The edge of the warden’s lips twitch. “Who said you were the threat?”
My heart sinks into the pit of my stomach, but before I can say anything, he’s removing my handcuffs and shoving me into the cage. My feet sink into the padded floor and my heart lurches into my throat. It’s worse than the glass dock back in the courtroom. And this is my home now. My life. My punishment for a crime I was forced to commit in self-defense.
“There’s an emergency call button in there should you need it,” Luke says, pointing to the red button on the other side of the gate’s metal lock. “Just don’t waste my time, you hear? I’m not your goddamn therapist. I don’t give a fuck about how you feel or what shit’s keeping you up at night. My job is to make sure you stay alive and follow the rules of this prison. A daughter of a High Warden, who put most people in here, isn’t going to be unnoticed.”
He slams the gate, and the steel bars hum around me, activated by whatever magic binds me here. I watch him walk away. Without even a backward glance, he says, “You’re in here for your own protection. Endure and die here, jaybird, or fight and thrive. It’s entirely up to you.”
I sink to my knees and push my back against the iron bars, pressing my fingers into the cushioned floor. Tears of rage quickly replace the tears from before. Rage at being convicted of a crime I never even committed. Rage at the injustice. Rage at the fact that they think I’m going to accept my fate here without putting up a fight.
I’m from the House of Dawn.
We do not surrender easily.
When Luke turns on the light and bangs at my gate, an urge to throttle the handsome warden consumes me. I barely got a wink of sleep last night, and after finally drifting off for what feels like only seconds, here’s my own personal demon arrived to make my life hell all over again.
I lie on my back, my eyes closed against the cruelty of the blinding light in here. It’s funny how I miss sunlight bursting through the windows to my room at Shadowborn Academy and how my roommate used to snore. I even miss the bedsheets which always smelt like magic and cotton. This bed smells like stale soda. In those few moments after waking up, I almost forget where I am or what happened yesterday. It’s like when you’re awake but not quite, still lost in your dream while the real world ceases to exist. But just like with my dreams, the illusion quickly slips through my fingers, and reality dawns on me.
I’m not home or at Shadowborn Academy.
I shoot my eyes open, my pulse spiking as the panic kicks in and fills every vessel in my body. The metallic glare of the ceiling bars gleams down, confirming that this wasn’t an illusion. I really am imprisoned here, caged like a bird whose wings aren’t broken, just her spirit.
“Time for breakfast in Hell, jaybird.”
My stomach recoils at the thought of eating. “Shockingly, I don’t have much of an appetite. I think I’ll pass.”
The warden huffs under his breath. “They all say that. The food here ain’t nothin’ to write home about, but after what you’ll see today, you’ll be glad you ate somethin’. Not many bring themselves to eat for a few days afterwards.”
I sit up in bed and scowl at him. “You’re so comforting, you know that, warden?”
He slides his taser along the bars of my cage, the rattling sound like nails on a chalkboard. “Get movin’.”
I watch him leave, glaring at the back of his skull in an attempt to throw literal daggers at him. But nothing happens. There’s just an empty feeling in my gut that reminds me of the collar binding my magic. I understand why they force us to wear them. The governor had to do something to control the powerful inmates of his supernatural prison. I just can’t shake the gaping hole in the pit of my stomach. It’s like a hunger I’ll never be able to satiate without my magic.
By all accounts, I should be glad that I can no longer use magic after the ‘accidents’ I caused in my youth. That’s what my mother called killing my nanny and burning various buildings down to the ground, including our summer house in Helios—all accidents.
Funny alternative for the words murder and arson.
To this day, I’m still haunted by Emma’s screams as she burned alive and how I could do nothing but cry and scream for someone to help her. I turned into a shadowborn when I drowned in the river near the burning summer house as my stupid seven-year-old ass thought I could swim to the other side of the lake to get help. Since the river connected to the Faerie Pools, where all magic in our world begins, my body adapted in the only way it could to save my life.
The magic pulsing through my dying little body darkened.
I became known as a shadowborn—dark magic users that are considered the dregs of society. My mother never wanted to admit this, so she turned a blind eye to my shifting abilities. Goddess forbid the rest of the Enchanted Forest found out a Grand Warden’s child had become a shadowborn and not a pure-blooded light magic like I should have been. No, my mother thought that by hiding me, nobody would catch on and we could live a normal life.
That didn’t work for long.
My shadowborn magic loved to burn things down too much. By the time I was twelve, it was even more out of control and could not be hidden. First, it was little things like a tree by our houses. Then it got worse, endangering th
e lives of more people. Eventually, my mother had to admit that it was me who burnt the summer house down and got into the lake, dying and becoming a shadowborn. Apparently, it was a massive scandal at the time. But I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t allowed to leave the house. This was also the time she met my step-father and step-sister and thought a new family would help ground me.
It did the complete opposite.
Am I the least bit thankful that my mother lied for me, all these years later?
I glance around the cage, soaking up the confines of my newest prison.
Not really.
Sighing, I push off my bed and look around for the clothes I dumped on the floor some hours ago. I’m surprised to find them folded next to a large plastic bag by the gate. When the hell did someone come into my cage? I rummage through it and drag out clothes that definitely do not belong to me; white and grey tank tops, tee-shirts, sweatpants, a pair of black jeans, socks, and panties, followed by some meager bathroom necessities that include a hair brush and floss. I wonder if I can strangle myself with the latter.
Pushing that thought from my mind, I grab fresh underwear, a grey tank, jeans, and start to dress. I’m just pulling on my own tattered leather boots when Warden Luke opens the door.
“Time to go,” he says, swiping his pass against the gate. They buzz open and he steps inside, his eyes locking with mine. We are both silent for a second, then he tilts his head to the side. “I remember you from the academy. You used to sneak in with Willow to our parties, right? Thought you looked familiar.”
I throw my braid over my shoulder, scrunching my face up at him. “It’s a bit creepy that you remember me, don’t you think?”
His expression turns cold and I regret my words straight away. Dammit, I need to make friends and turn my resting bitch face off, as well as my sharp words. “Watch it, jaybird. I’m the only one in this joint who’s gonna be protectin’ your sorry ass, so don’t go pissin’ me off. Move.”