Lock Down (Supernatural Prison Trilogy Book 1)

by Aella Black

  I mean, seriously. He was cute even in a gray jumpsuit. It wasn’t fair.

  Xander made a beeline for us. When his gaze found mine, my heart rate picked up speed.

  He stopped at our table, openly staring at me. I shifted in my chair, unable to look away but unable to speak either. I still didn’t have the first clue what to say to him.

  Cal broke the spell. Leaning in to Woody, he asked, “Dude, is he okay? Isn’t this your new cellmate? What’d you do to him?”

  “Me?” Woody threw up his hands. “I’m not the one with super strength.”

  “Super strength?” I’d found my voice. Super strength? No way. “That’s why you’re here?”

  Xander blinked rapidly. He looked like a lost puppy, dazed and confused. “I, uh… accidentally threw a kid about twenty-five yards at a game.” Ah, that explains the uniform.

  Everyone gaped at him, including me. “Now, that’s a cool superpower,” Tex said, laying down his deck of cards. He reached for Xander’s hand and shook it. “Name’s Tex. All I can do is turn things different colors.”

  He demonstrated by touching one of the playing cards. It turned from a black spade to a red one. I almost laughed out loud at the way Xander cocked his head, frowning at the card as if it had done something wrong.

  So cute.

  Rocky punched Tex in the arm. I’m pretty sure she meant for it to be playful, but Tex winced slightly. “I told you no cheating,” she said. Then, to my surprise, she turned to Xander and gave him the most pleasant expression I’d ever seen. It wasn’t a smile, but it was devoid of the usual loathing for essentially everything in life. “I’m Rocky,” she said.

  I cleared my throat and reached for Birdie like a lifeline, putting an arm around her shoulders. “This is Birdie. She can talk to birds.”

  “Wow.” Xander stood there, hands at his sides, looking totally out of the loop. I understood. It was a lot to take in.

  “I’m Cal.” He grinned. “I can’t get drunk.”

  “That’s a superpower?” Xander asked. Cal nodded so hard he almost fell over.

  Cathy’s voice edged into our minds, no doubt wanting to show off for the new guy. Anyone could see he put Oscar to shame in the looks department. “And I’m Cathy. Hi!”

  Xander recoiled visibly. I groaned, a sound that was echoed by everyone around me. Cathy waved.

  “What… was that?” Xander asked, turning to her.

  “Chatty Cathy is telepathic,” Woody said.

  She grinned. “But don’t worry. I can’t read minds. Just send messages.”

  Woody rolled his eyes. “And it’s annoying as—”

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” I blurted out to Xander. All eyes shifted to me, curious. They would find out sooner or later that we knew one another. Best not to seem like we were hiding it. Plus, I needed answers—badly. “Do your parents know? Can they help us?”

  All eyes shifted back to Xander. When his face fell, my stomach did too. “I doubt they would do much,” he said slowly. “They already know I’m here.” My happiness bubble popped. “I was supposed to go to Lansing,” he continued, “and they used their get-out-of-jail-free card to get me sent here instead.”

  I heard the bitterness in his voice. Who could blame him? His own parents hadn’t used their collective power to bail him out of a prison he didn’t belong in. If they wouldn’t help us, who would?

  I couldn’t help but think of Rocky and wondered, how many others parents were responsible for their children being here?

  Though I couldn’t personally relate, I felt for them. I really did. All I could feel at the moment though was disappointment. Xander’s arrival here had given me so much hope.

  I realized I was staring. Then again, so was he. Maybe him being here wouldn’t be our ticket out, but he did have the potential to make the time here so much better. My time, specifically.

  “Lansing?” Birdie tilted her head.

  “Yeah, it’s another prison,” Xander informed us.

  That’s right. I was trying to remember where I’d heard of it. Lansing was a notorious Kansas City prison where executions took place, even hanging back when it was common.

  Wait. Was Xander suggesting—

  “There’s another prison full of kids like us?” Tex asked, reaching the same conclusion I just did.

  Xander shrugged. “Guess so. Higher security there, it seems. Maybe where the most dangerous ones go.”

  This new information made my head spin. Another entire prison full of supernaturals? Dangerous ones?

  Why on earth wasn’t Wolf there?

  Xander fixed me with an almost accusatory stare. “Everyone thought you were dead. It was on the news. There was a school assembly and everything. What happened?”

  I opened my mouth to answer, but Woody, leaning in close, beat me to it. “She’s the Phoenix.” He looked at me, as if pleased he had spared me from having to explain myself.

  Xander was going to need more explanation than that, though. I saw the way he frowned, trying to piece everything together.

  I sighed. “Yeah, um, I did die. Then I came back.”

  His face displayed his obvious confusion. I again recalled the too-many-to-count questions I had when I arrived here. And, at least that first day, not a lot of answers.

  I started to help clear things up for him when I spotted Wolf approaching Xander from behind. A warning died in my throat when he gave Xander a hearty clap on the back. Xander turned around.

  “Hey, man,” Wolf rumbled. “What are you doing with the weaklings?”

  My face burned. Were we in high school?

  I remembered what Woody had said about Xander being Wolf pack material. I couldn’t wait to watch Xander tell Wolf and his pack off.

  “Just getting to know everyone,” Xander said amiably. I held my breath.

  “Well, you should come sit at our table.” Wolf extended his hand. “Name’s Wolf.” They shook, and the juxtaposition of seeing my high school crush and mortal enemy shaking hands rattled my brain. “So, what’s your big bad power?” Wolf asked, releasing Xander.

  Birdie spoke up next to me. “Super strength!”

  I put my arm around her and squeezed gently. No need for her to get mixed up in this.

  “That right?” Wolf lifted a thick brow and leaned toward Xander, their faces now inches from each other. “Why don’t you show us?”

  Don’t take the bait, I pleaded silently.

  “No thanks.” Xander crossed his arms.

  I spotted Zapper a second too late. He touched Xander’s neck with his long, spindly fingers, the glee on his face plain to see. “Wrong answer,” he said and shocked him.

  What happened next was almost too fast for me to follow.

  Xander’s arm shot out and hit Zapper square in the chest. The scrawny guy sailed almost all the way to the other side of The Quad. Then he rolled to a stop and curled in on himself.

  The rec area went deadly silent.

  Xander’s wide, panicked eyes found mine. He hadn’t meant to do it.

  “Impressive,” Wolf said with a smirk. “You should know we’re always looking for new team members. You’d fit right in.”

  “See?” Woody whispered. “Wolf Pack material.”

  I wanted to shush him, but my mouth and my body were both frozen in place. Not only was I shocked—and impressed—with what Xander just did, I was also afraid for him right then. And rightfully so.

  Luther rushed this way with another guard. My instinct was to jump in to defend Xander, to get him out of here as fast as I could. But I didn’t have super strength or speed or anything remotely useful for this situation. Or any situation, in fact.

  My eyes darted around, hoping the answer was somewhere to be found. My friends were all silent and completely motionless. Everyone in The Quad was.

  I spotted Oscar standing in the doorway of the library, his lips pressed together. When our gazes collided, he shook his head minutely. Recalling in excruciating detail
the events of this morning, I had no intention of taking my cues from the enemy.

  In the end, Sun Tzu made the decision for me.

  “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.”

  “Rec time is over,” Luther said, grabbing Xander.

  I watched as my old classmate and now fellow prison mate went willingly with him. Luther hardly cared. Any excuse to push and pull and yank and shove, he would do it. I rubbed my hands up and down my thighs while watching him being pulled away, sandwiched between the two guards.

  “Cool friend you’ve got there, Phoenix,” Cal said.

  I barely heard him. I wasn’t even sure I’d processed what I just saw.

  Xander had thrown Zapper across the room with only one hand. Had he always been able to do that?

  Regardless, what we’d witnessed confirmed one thing: Xander Aldrich was a supernatural. Just like me. Just like all of us.

  Right before the guards dragged him out of the room, Xander looked back at me. Our eyes met, and I wished I could tell him it would be okay.

  But I’d be lying. I didn’t even know if that were true.

  18

  “You forgot to mention that you know him,” Rocky grumbled.

  The rest of the group settled back to the ‘Go Fish’ game, but there was no way I could sit here and play after that.

  “You never said his name,” I reminded her. “Plus, I never expected to see him here.”

  That was an understatement. Never in a million years, was more like it.

  Wolf and his pack went off to play basketball. It made my blood boil. Guards allowed him to stay in The Quad because he hadn’t done anything violent. Zapper, at the very least, should have been sent away.

  Recreation time resumed as normal.

  But I couldn’t sit still.

  Xander’s parents knew he was here. They couldn’t get him out, which meant no one could. It was crushing news, but it affirmed for me now more than ever that it was up to us to get ourselves out of here.

  I stood. “Sorry, guys. I don’t feel like playing. I’m going to check out the library books.”

  Tex chuckled. “You’ve read half the books in there.”

  I shrugged. Woody stood beside me. “I’ll come with you.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, I just… I need to be alone for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

  Woody frowned and sat back down.

  Maybe it was just me, but he seemed extra clingy lately. He’d been sitting closer to me than ever while everyone was being introduced to Xander.

  I made my way to the library, where Oscar still stood at the door. “Everything all right?” he asked.

  That was a loaded question. And because he caught me on a day when my emotions had hit every extreme imaginable, I decided to unload on him.

  “As a matter of fact—”

  “Oscar!” a guard hollered. “We need you outside. Some kids are getting rowdy.”

  Unaware he’d just dodged my verbal bullets, Oscar nodded. Turning to me, he said, “Don’t get yourself in any trouble, you hear?”

  I gave him a mocking thumbs-up and ducked through the doors.

  It was the truth, though. I didn’t want to bring attention to myself any more than necessary until I was on my way out the door. To that end, I was going to scan every single book until I came across one that provided a genius plan for getting us out of here.

  I searched the shelves top to bottom. I’d already looked through them a dozen times, and therefore all the titles I’d seen before. There was nothing new. Not even a returned book borrowed by one of the other prisoners.

  And it didn’t help that I wasn’t sure what I was looking for.

  Heavy footsteps entered the library. I didn’t feel like talking to Oscar now and figured nothing good could come from unleashing my fury and frustration on him. Plus, he could be a potential ally, so alienating him wasn’t helpful to the overall mission objective.

  Wow, Sun Tzu was rubbing off on me even more than I thought.

  Not wanting to be disturbed, I wedged myself deeper between the shelves. I listened as someone rustled through the pages of a book. “I know what you’re doing in here,” a voice said.

  I froze. Wolf.

  Crap. Luther, who usually kept an eye on Wolf, left to take Xander back to his cell. Would anyone notice that Wolf had snuck in here after me? Would they even care if they did?

  Oscar should be back any minute, but I needed to get out of here—now.

  I spun around and found Wolf blocking my exit. Leaning against a sturdy shelf, he grinned. “I’ve already combed through the books in here. There’s nothing that’ll help you break out. Thought I’d save you some trouble.”

  I tried to swallow down the panic that clawed its way up my throat. Both because I couldn’t get to the door, and anyone walking in could have overheard him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He sighed, straightening. Then, he dropped all pretenses of appearing cordial. “If anyone’s getting out of here, it’s me,” he hissed. “So stop trying.”

  His words surprised me. “What about your friends?”

  “I don’t have friends, I have followers.”

  I tried again. “If you’re trying to get out, and I am too, why don’t we just work together?”

  He laughed, the sound sending a chill down my spine. “Phoenix, I want you to rot in here. I mean, you can’t die, so what’s a better punishment than trapping you behind bars?” He took a menacing step forward.

  I pressed up against the wall behind me, trying to keep my distance from him. “I’m leaving after I turn eighteen. Everyone is.”

  “Cut the crap.” Wolf puffed out his chest. “You really think they’re gonna let us just waltz right out of here and be good little tax-paying citizens?” If he wasn’t standing so close, I would have missed the way his expression changed. “After what they’ve done to us?”

  The ever-so-slight crack in Wolf’s voice told me all I needed to know. They were torturing him, too. Maybe not the same way as me, but did it make a difference?

  And he spoke the truth. Since that first conversation with Warden Will on my first day here, I think I knew. After testing began, I was certain of it.

  “What do you think will happen?” I whispered.

  “Don’t care. I’m getting out.” He took another step forward, and I looked up at him. Wolf was so tall he didn’t even look like a teenager.

  That’s when it hit me.

  “You don’t have much time left, do you?” I asked. “You’re desperate for a way out.”

  He lunged at me. I tried to maneuver out of his reach, but Wolf pinned me between two bookshelves. There was nowhere to go.

  One of Wolf’s oversized hands covered my nose and mouth, the other clamped around my throat. “The only one who’s desperate is you,” he growled. His face inches from mine, I watched hair sprout around his temples. His hair lengthened before my eyes. “And you’re not going anywhere.”

  He tightened his grip around my neck. Panic overtook me. My hands clawed at his, trying to push them away, but they were like iron. They wouldn’t budge. In fact, his fingers around my neck squeezed tighter. I tried to scream, but nothing came out.

  “I want to see the Phoenix rise again,” he said, his voice dipping into a low growl.

  More hair covered him now. His hands. His arms. His neck. The face glaring at mine was barely human anymore. He looked like a wolf.

  “Wh-what happened to you?” I managed to gasp out.

  Wolf forced me against the wall. “What happened to me? What happened to you? To all of us?” he yelled.

  But instead of answering his own questions, his meaty hand closed completely. My lungs screamed for oxygen, and I couldn’t pull in any air. He was crushing my windpipe.

  Wolf was going to kill me.

  I couldn’t swallow. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything except watch my life flash before my eyes—yet again.


  My dizzying thoughts were everywhere, but one rose above the rest. I’d already died once today. What if this was one time too many? I mean, how much could one body survive in a twenty-four-hour span?

  I didn’t want to find out.

  Kicking my legs with what little strength I had left, I heard a satisfying grunt as my right foot made contact. But that only made things worse.

  Wolf lifted me off my feet, putting even more pressure around my neck. That didn’t seem possible, but apparently it was. And to my utter humiliation, he’d squeezed so hard tears started spilling from my eyes.

  Unmoved, his cold, angry eyes bored into mine as black spots filled my vision. The sound of my heartbeat became deafening in my ears. Over the roar, I heard an animalistic snarl, “You wanna know what happened to us, Phoenix? They did.”

  19

  The beep of a heart monitor echoed in my ears. I gasped a life-giving breath.

  “Approximately thirty-seven minutes,” she muttered. “Time continues to improve.”

  I knew that voice, and I hated it.

  Though it didn’t sound like Dr. Venn was speaking to anyone in particular, I opened my eyes anyway. Dizziness overwhelmed me. I hoped I was seeing things, but I knew I wasn’t.

  I was back in the medical ward. Again. This time, Wolf had landed me here.

  I sincerely hoped he was being punished.

  Nausea made my stomach churn, but there wasn’t anything left after throwing up my lunch earlier. Was that today? It had to have been if I was only out for thirty-something minutes.

  Dr. Venn then confirmed it. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”

  I didn’t respond. My throat burned like the fiery pits of hell. In fact, I felt certain I’d visited there once or twice in the past ten hours.

  Lightheaded, I closed my eyes again. Her next words made them fly back open.

  “Your savior insisted on waiting until you woke up.”

  Savior? I looked across the room at the door where Oscar stood at attention. It was a different look on him than I was used to seeing. Not a romance novel in sight. He looked like the guard that he was.

  When he nodded his head at me in greeting, I closed my eyes in response.