Chapter Five

“What’s your name, kid?”

I’d been leaning against the stone wall, trying my best to be invisible to the twenty or so other inmates in the prison yard.

I’d noticed the pair of men walking toward me, but I had kept my cool. Now that they were in my personal space, though, pretending to ignore them would only piss them off.

I turned to the man who spoke. He looked to be around thirty years old, but the curly blonde beard and faint layer of grime hid the details of his facial features. He was a head taller than me and just as skinny. I clenched my jaw so as not to reveal my disturbance at his right eye. It was shut closed and bulbous, like a frozen water balloon. Between his nasty eye and a shark smile that exposed a dozen broken teeth, the guy reeked of a predator whose glory days were behind him.

“I asked you a question,” he grunted. “You a mute?”

I pulled back the baggy sleeves of the tattered, black shirt they had forced me to wear. “What do you want?”

He scrunched his unkempt eyebrows and turned to his friend. “Buzzer, you hear this kid? He wants to know what we want.”

“He’s holding back,” the friend—Buzzer, I guess—said quietly and…eagerly. The little guy’s fingers, feet, and neck twitched sporadically, and squeaks accompanied his ticks. As Buzzer took another step towards me, I noticed a burn mark running angrily from his neck up through his left cheek.

I felt his quick breaths tickle my face. “It’s too bad you can’t grow a beard like your buddy,” I said to Buzzer, looking into his dark, darting eyes. “Whoever did that to your face really did you dirty.”

He squealed again and took a step back by the larger man’s side. “Mmm, he’s scared, Chopper,” Buzzer said in an eerily clinical tone. “Doesn’t like us. Wants us to go away.”

Chopper laughed towards the sky, arrogant and having the time of his life. “I’ve never seen such a youngster in this here prison. Not old enough to be a gang leader.” He hacked and spat onto the dirt. “You a gang member, or somethin’?”

“I’m a Soldier,” I answered forcefully. “We put gangs down.”

Chopper whistled and opened his palm to me, revealing a tattoo of a stack of curved, dark red lines. “Look here, Military. Recognize this?”

“The Wayward gang,” I said. “You trying to scare me? What are you gonna do to me? I’ve got five days in here, and then they’re putting me to death. I don’t care about some wannabe alpha dog sticking his cock out for me to drool over.”

Chopper grinned and put an arm around his fidgety buddy, never taking his one eye off me. “Soldier kid’s got a mouth on him, don’t he? I like that. What do you think, Buzzer? Think we should take him on a date in the shower stalls?”

Buzzer cocked his head back and forth. “Hmm, not sure yet, not sure!”

“You’re not bad-lookin’,” Chopper said, eyeing me up and down. “Bet you looked cute in your little Military outfit. Protectin’ Polygon from people like me, yeah? Well. Look where that got you.”

“Boss,” Buzzer whispered. “He has a necklace on. Could be valuable.”

“Oh yeah?”

I looked towards the three stone towers interspersed across the middle of the dirt field. At the top of each was a small platform on which several men with guns stood very still.

“They ain’t gonna protect you, Military,” Chopper said. “In prison, there is no Law.” He took a step towards me. I held my ground as his hands turned to fists. “You see, here,” he whispered into my ear, “I can do whatever I want, to whoever I want.”

I drove a fist into his gut.

Chopper groaned and took an instinctive step back. “Buzzer…” he grumbled, and I grinned knowing that I’d done damage.

The little fella pounced on me with surprising speed, but I’d been expecting it. I dove away from him, rolled over the dirty ground, and sprang back up to my feet in a fighter’s stance. Buzzer turned to me with a baffled expression and didn’t come closer.

“Get the hell away from me,” I spat.

“Buzzer, Chopper, who’s the new guy?” a deep voice thundered from behind me.

I turned around to find another tall man in the same rags as the rest of us. Unlike the two prattling idiots who’d attacked me, this one was just built enough to not be classified as skinny—barely.

It dawned on me that, in the few hours since I’d arrived at the First Prison, I hadn’t seen a single fat prisoner.

And they hadn’t fed me yet.

“What’s your name?” the newcomer asked me, his bellicose tone matching his brutish facial features.

I slowly stepped sideways so that I could keep an eye on all three men. I quickly noted that Chopper was recovering, and that Buzzer had scuttled back to his side.

The new guy shot me a forced smile. “It’s alright, kid. I won’t hurt you.”

“That tattoo,” I said. “You’re a Hurricane.”

He fingered the turquoise tears that decorated his throat. “I’m the Hurrican, that’s right. I’d still be leader on the outside if a bunch of bootlicking punks like you hadn’t tossed me in here.” He dropped his fake smile. “I heard what you said to these two. You’re Military. I was transferred to this unit a few months ago. Been wondering why.”

I refused to run. Besides, I was trapped in this goddamn sandbox with these animals. This was day one. If I showed fear now, the next few days would be hell.

“You see,” the man continued, “out there, in civilized society, we Hurricanes live good lives by the Ocean. We take care of our own. And I’ll admit, I had my problems with the Waywards. ’Course I did. Two little black empires are bound to squabble, eh?” He chuckled and gestured towards Chopper and Buzzer. “But here, young Military, we got nothing to fight over. And you and yours are the reason we’re called Enemies of Polygon.”

“No,” I said firmly. “You violated the Law. I know how you make your money.”

“Gotta say, I admire the confidence. So certain you are our better. How’d that work out for you? Seems to me you’re an Enemy of Polygon just like us now.”

“I didn’t do it.”

He laughed and opened his arms. “Hear that, fellas? Military’s innocent.”

“Yeah,” I spat angrily. “I didn’t smuggle drugs and gold into Polygon.”

“And why’s that?” he asked mockingly. “Because the Law says so? We do what we want, damn the Law and damn you sanctimonious bootlickers for trying to stop us. I’m sick of hearing this boy talk. Buzzer, Chopper, do—“

I socked the prick in the face.

He stammered backward, but I knew what would come. I turned to face the other two criminals, who were rushing towards me. Buzzer was the quicker of the two. He tried to tackle me to the ground, but I managed to sidestep him and push on his back so he’d fall over himself.

My vision went white as a blinding pain stabbed at my head. It had been fast, but Chopper managed to land a head-butt as I’d finished taking care of his little friend.

I kept my fists above my head, but my damn vision took too long to return. Someone struck a painful blow to my back, and then my thigh.

I was on the ground, hands over my head as blow after blow rained down on me.

Someone pulled on my arm. I tried to resist, but after another kick to the stomach, I was in too much pain to stop them.

“Stop, already,” the newcomer said. “Hold him down. There it is.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I was on my knees, struggling to breathe as Buzzer and Chopper held me in place.

The former leader of the Hurricanes wound up a fist and clocked me.

“Pick his face up.”

They didn’t have to. I spat blood and turned my head up to the gangster. “You’re pissed. I get it. You’ve been stuck in here while the Hurricanes go on their merry way without you. You don’t hate us because we stand in your way.” It hurt to speak, but the arrogance on his face had been replaced by something more primitive, more vulnerable.

I had him.

“You’re pissed because we made you irrelevant.”

With a fiery howl, he punched me in the face again.

Before I could recover, he kicked me in the stomach.

“Keep talking,” he spat.

I tried, but now I really couldn’t.

He cupped my bloody face with his hand and leaned down so that we were face-to-face. “Yeah. I thought as much. Gentlemen, take his shirt off. I want that necklace.”

I would’ve fallen over had Buzzer and Chopper not been keeping me still. I tried to keep my arms down, but they overpowered me embarrassingly easily.

“D-don’t,” I breathed faintly.

They pushed me down, and I felt the damp, cold dirt against my bare back. I managed to swing my right hand onto the talisman at the end of my necklace. A faint but homely comfort tickled my mind as I fingered the familiar obsidian crescent.

They’d already taken my Solider’s pin. And my hammer. And, for all I knew, I was already officially banished from the Military. But at least those had only been parts of my life for a short while.

My necklace, on the other hand, had been with me since as far back as I could remember.

And these dirtbags wanted to take it from me as casually as tearing a branch from a tree.

“Leave him.”

The soft pounding of criminal boots against the ground ceased. I didn’t move a muscle. Hell, it hurt to move, anyway.

“Star!” the Hurricane said with disdain. “Look what arrived at our doorstep. A Military!”

“Walk away, Fin.”

“Or what?” Chopper asked.

“You know what.” The man spoke softly, but his voice carried an authoritative certainty as implacable as the bars of my prison cell.

I heard Chopper spit on the ground again. “You don’t have the stones. Those goons in the tower’d kill you dead.”

“Try me.”

I tried to turn over and get on my feet, but I just fell over and coughed.

I heard the three gang members laugh mockingly.

“You’ve had your fun. Go on. Leave.”

“How far you’ve fallen,” Fin said. “From the greatest act of defiance to protecting the boot on your neck. I’ll see you around, Star.”

I remained still until the footsteps faded in my ear. Then I tried to get up again, but a firm but delicate hand pressed on my shoulder.

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

I felt his arms wrap around me and pick me up, but by now there was too much blood in my eyes to see anything.

After a little while, I heard the creak of a door opening and then felt rough wood under my back.

“You’re safe here.”

“Where...” I rotated my jaw a few times. “Where are we?”

“It’s a stall. One of several in the yard. It’s where you can shower, if you want. Don’t expect a change of clothes, though. Here.”

I heard a faucet, and after a few seconds, I felt something rub against my face. The warm, wet cloth stung a little bit, but after it was gone, I could see again.

I was lying on a wooden board with a basic shower curtain on one side and a sink and toilet on the other. I looked up in dismay at the completely open ceiling.

I was locked away from the world, yet privacy had still been taken from me.

“Shirt,” I breathed.

“I didn’t grab it. You’ll get a new one tomorrow, when we all receive fresh clothes.”

I groaned in pain and slowly sat up with my back against the wall. The man standing in front of me had sharp, bony features. His bald head, crooked nose, and intense lines on his forehead and cheeks gave him the appearance of a weathered warrior.

The man’s eyes were small, steady, and wore flecks of silver in the irises.

“Relax. Won’t hurt you.”

“You threatened them,” I said. “It worked. Why?”

His gaze fell upon my necklace, which I instinctively grabbed. “I’ve been here longer than them. This place is a hierarchy, and I’m the old guy. And they know what I can do.”

“You still have your Godlet.”

“They tried to take it from me, early on. Still try, from time to time.”

“What do you want with me?”

He stared at me and took a long while before answering. “Who gave you that necklace?”

“I asked first,” I said.

“I told you. I’m not here to hurt you. Smart not to tell them your name, by the way. They have connections on the outside.”

“So your real name isn’t ‘Star’?”

He shook his head, holding the same stolid expression. Then he put his hand down his shirt and pulled out a necklace. The chain was long and made of thin, sparkling alloy.

Just like mine.

The talisman dangling from his chain was a black marble, perfectly round but colored in patches of deep blacks and purples.

“I know you don’t trust me,” Star said. “I don’t blame you. I don’t know who you are, either.” He extended a dirty hand that was missing half a pinky finger.

I thought back to Chopper’s eye.

And Buzzer’s burn mark.

They tried to take it from me.

I took his hand.

“Thanks for that, before,” I said. “But don’t think I owe you anything.”

“You really are Military,” Star replied.

“Not sure, anymore.”

“Your necklace. There’s a divot along the inner crescent. Shaped perfectly for my stone.”

“You saw it when they took my shirt off.”

Star shook his head and held up his own chain. “Doesn’t matter. I saw the necklace and knew what it was.”

I swallowed. Between the pain and burgeoning vertigo at the realization that our necklaces were connected, I nearly keeled over again. “I’m so confused.”

“Let me help.”

I rubbed my temple. A Wolf whom I’d never met had threatened my family. I’d just been tossed into the Seventh Ward of the First Prison for a crime I didn’t commit. And now some inmate seemed to know more about my necklace than anyone I’d ever come across.

All I had ever wanted was to defend Polygon.

This was too much.

I had to take a chance.

“I’ve had it my whole life,” I said quietly.

“Did your parents give it to you?”

I grimaced. “I was...” I shook my head. “No, they didn’t. But I don’t know who did.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can’t say more. Not yet. I’m sorry. Who gave you yours?”

Star crossed his arms but seemed to accept the information I’d offered. “My teacher.”

“Where’s he now?”

“Gone.”

“Quit the riddles. Is he gone, or dead?”

“He was banished to the Ocean decades ago. Probably taken by Sharks. He was already old at the time, anyway.”

“What did he do?”

Star looked at me again as if he were trying to see a part of me that wasn’t visible at first glance. “You’re Military, and yet you’re in here.”

“I was framed.”

Out of embarrassing desperation, I hoped he believed me. But I couldn’t tell.

“For what?”

“Do you keep up with the goings-on outside prison?” I asked.

“I don’t receive visitors,” he answered. “And I stick to old books for reading material.”

“I won’t ask. Well, a couple of Wolves came to the Capital recently and...they think I killed one of them.”

“Someone set you up, and now here you are. In exactly the right location for me to discover you.”

“Yeah. Looks that way.”

Star took another long moment before speaking. “My real name is Darius.”

I frowned. “Darius...”

My jaw dropped.

“You’re the terrorist,” I whispered. “We learned about you. Darius, the boy who attacked the Palace. You and—“

“Alfred,” Darius replied. “The former First General, yes. But I’m not a terrorist. I’m not a traitor.”

“That’s why they call you ‘Star’. You brought a comet down on Polygon’s most sacred institution. You’re not just a terrorist. You’re scum. Worse than those idiot gangsters.”

Darius shook his head but took a defeated step backward. “You claim to be innocent. Is it not possible that I had reasons for doing what I did?”

“Raining hellfire down on our leaders? Murdering innocent people in cold blood? Screw this.”

I hopped off of the board and struggled to stand on my feet.

Darius rushed over to me. “Slow down. You’re hurt.”

I tried to shove him off, but my right arm felt like it had been shot. “Get away from me,” I seethed quietly.

“I’m on your side.”

“I don’t want a terrorist on my side. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, I broke the Law. But I’m no terrorist. Isn’t there anything in the world you’d protect, Law be damned?”

His demeanor was so calm, so...unguarded.

I thought of Kara, and hearing my mother’s name leave her mouth.

I thought of her letter in my shaking hands.

I thought of her threats against my family.

I grabbed my side with one hand and put my other against the wall. “This conversation is over. Get out.”

He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “Get the hell out!”

He turned around and headed for the door. Just before he left, and with his back to me, he said, “Guards will knock at the end of our free time in about thirty minutes. When they tell you to come out, do it.”

He left me alone in the stall, half-naked and covered in dirt, blood, and fresh bruises.

I laid back down on the wooden plank and closed my eyes.

My body was broken.

My world was spinning out of control.

And the only person who wanted to help was one of the most dangerous Enemies of Polygon in recent memory.