by Aella Black
There was that hope.
“I don’t just want to escape anymore,” I said, my throat closing up as I choked back a sob. “I want to find my dad.”
“But we can’t find him from here, can we?”
I forced myself to look at his bruised and beaten face. I gently touched his cheek. “I’m so sorry they did this to you.”
“It’s not your fault.” Oh, but it was. “Don’t worry about me,” he said, carefully wiping away a fresh tear that had fallen.
Xander was so selfless. He was always there for me, no matter what happened. My heart filled to overflowing with how grateful I was to have him in my life.
Tracing a thumb over his bottom lip, I leaned in, pressing mine to his. He softened at my touch, and I felt his hands take a gentle hold of my chin.
I squeezed my eyes closed and more tears leaked, falling on his face now instead of mine.
After a moment, he pulled away and his hands fell from my face. Then he frowned. Not what a girl wants to see after she kisses a boy.
He reached up and touched his face. That’s when I noticed the bruises fading, and his lip was sealing where, only moments ago, it had been torn open.
How could I have forgotten? I’d been mourning the loss of my dad, as well as thinking about all the reasons why I wasn’t mourning the loss of my mom. Somehow the new knowledge of my power had slipped by mind.
Both of Xander’s eyes were visible now, and they were full of confusion. “Wh-what just happened?” he asked.
Shrugging, I said, “Come to find out, I can heal.” I told him what my parents said yesterday about my power—or rather, powers—and how I’d healed my dad and brought him out of a coma.
Xander stared at me like I’d grown a second head. Finally, he said, “That… that’s seriously cool.” Then his eyes flicked to the doorway. “But, Phoebe, I think we should keep that between us.”
I nodded. He was right. My mother’s reaction yesterday was a good indication that the SCC would be interested in knowing I could heal. If there was one good thing that happened, it was that she didn’t have the chance to tell them.
Xander took hold of my hand and gently rubbed the back of it with his thumb. Just like my dad did yesterday.
I looked down at our hands joined together, and then back up again when Xander cleared his throat. “Phoebe, there’s something I need to tell you—”
An announcement sounded over the prison’s intercom system. “Lansing inmates, you are to report to the main hall to meet your new warden in five minutes. Each inmate will have their own escort. Thank you.”
Disappointment—and maybe relief?—filled Xander’s face. He helped me to my feet. “I guess let’s go see what fresh new horrors they have in store for us.”
The guards separated us then, but not before I heard Xander’s “escort” say he’d be back for questioning later. Mr. Bowman would just have to wait.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the cavernous room where I’d first come face-to-face with my mother after years of not seeing her. I spotted our friends huddled together and headed in that direction.
Inmates all across the room shuffled nervously, and I had a serious sense of déjà vu. “Maybe it’ll be Warden Will,” I heard a Leavenworth inmate say hopefully.
I was almost certain it wouldn’t be him.
And I needed to quit thinking of us as Leavenworth versus Lansing inmates. We were all in this together, no matter what color our prison uniforms were.
The large doors opened, and a man strode through. I squinted. Was that…?
No. It couldn’t be.
But it was.
Mr. Fletcher, my former neighbor, my father’s friend, the father of the twins I’d babysat for years, was our new warden.
Of course he was. Why did anything surprise me anymore?
He stood tall, regal, his salt-and-pepper hair styled to perfection. His lips curled into a smile—the kind a tyrant gives right before he issues the order to kill.
The new warden’s gaze snagged on me and his grin spread even wider. I glared back.
Mr. Fletcher addressed the inmates. “Hello, boys and girls. You can call me Fletcher. It appears I’m your new warden… and I do believe I’m going to enjoy this.”
I felt sick to my stomach. Did his wife know he was here? Did he abandon his kids too?
“I’ve been sent to take control of Lansing,” he continued. “Which means, there will be some drastic changes around here. I will give you one warning, and one warning only.” A pause, which I assumed was for dramatic effect. “I am your last hope. If you do not obey every order and command, if you even think about disobeying… Lansing will be closed. For good.”
The other inmates looked around at one another, as if the news he’d just delivered was too good to be true. That’s because it was.
Lowering the gavel, Mr. Fletcher said, “And no, that doesn’t mean you’ll be set free.” A row of SCC guards moved behind him in an intimidating show of force. One that he controlled. “You will be eliminated.”
Eliminated.
The word somersaulted through my mind, deadly as a knife.
The message was clear, though I was still stuck on the messenger.
Mr. Fletcher was the reason I was here. I was sure of it.
In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he set fire to his own house to expose me.
He and my dad had been friends. If the SCC killed my father, it would be entirely on Mr. Fletcher’s head. As far as I was concerned, Mr. Fletcher was the SCC.
Revenge wasn’t something I often craved, but the red-hot anger that boiled through my blood demanded it.
Mr. Fletcher would pay, and I would get my freedom.
One way or another, we were going to break out.
The End
Continue reading Phoebe and Xander’s story in Break Out, available for pre-order now. Best part? You won’t have to wait long!
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About the Author
Aella Black is the new pen name for an author who may possibly have multiple personalities based on her predilection for a plethora of pseudonyms. She likes alliteration (obviously) but works hard to limit it in her everyday conversations.
She loves dogs—who doesn't love dogs?—and wants to save the world one rescue at a time. When she's not world-saving, Aella feeds her other obsession: books.
Writing them, reading them, smelling their musty old pages or brand new out-of-the-box pages. She happens to love the electronic pages too, since a whole host of stories can be transported easily wherever she goes.
Aella hopes you'll want to take her stories with you wherever you go...
To find those stories, follow her Author Page on Amazon https://amzn.to/3da80t7 or her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/aella.black.