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It was cold. It was so deeply and immeasurably cold that Lux could not feel anything that was worth feeling. All she felt were the things she didn’t want to feel. But, above everything her body was telling her, it was screaming that it was cold. Too cold. The concrete floors and walls and ceiling of this nightmarish place were not helping. The state had sanctioned thicker uniforms for the guards, but it wasn’t thick enough. They didn’t have heating in this establishment. No governing official was willing to pay for it, or even willing to look for a sponsor.
“Be careful of this one. She’s a biter,” A guard proclaimed as he pulled a cell door closed that Lux happened to be walking by. He laughed at the sight of the poor woman he had just thrown on the floor. His laugh was deep and dark and full of gluttony.
Lux stopped in front of the door and looked in. There was a small, fragile-looking woman collapsed on the floor. She had tattoos and long blue hair. It seemed almost endless. It cascaded over her body and across the concrete floor around her. It looked knotted. Lux frowned. There wasn’t a commissary at this place. It wasn’t for regular prisoners. The woman probably couldn’t get a brush. She probably didn’t get one because she would inevitably fashion it into some sort of weapon. That’s what all the prisoners here were known for.
Next to the cell door there was a number engraved. It read: INMATE 728. Lux recognized that number. This inmate had a history of problems. Lux would commonly be walking the prison’s corridors when her radio would buzz up and announce that this specific inmate had escaped or injured someone.
Lux approached the metal bars of the cell. “Are you okay?” She asked the woman.
In an instant, the inmate shot up. She gripped the bars right next to Lux’s shoulders, and snapped her teeth together dramatically. It made a clacking sound. “Didn't ya hear? I’m a biter.”
The woman’s face was, what Lux could only describe as, a sight to see. It was extremely pale. Inmates only got time outside if they were obedient. Obviously, she was not. Her lips were cracked and looked thoroughly gnawed. There were two deep teeth marks on her bottom lip. As if she had to brace for something. Lux’s vision quickly wandered up the woman’s face. There, she found a swollen black eye.
The woman shoved her small arm and hand through the bars and grabbed at Lux. She backed away, just out of reach. The woman sighed. “Just like all the others. You want a punching bag or somethin’? You want a show? I’m not giving anything.”
When the woman got closer to the bars, the white fluorescent lights that lined the hallway lit her body up. It was bruised like hell. Her prison clothes were tattered. But, it almost seemed like the woman had done it on purpose. The dark blue shirt issued to inmates had been turned into a crop top. The sleeves were rolled up and showing off her shoulders. To be honest, it wasn’t much to show off. She seemed weak. She looked hurt. She was covered in scars and strange-looking skin. There was a bruise on her ribcage that Lux could barely see. But, she could tell it was bad. The woman was hit so hard that the bruise left purple marks shaped like her own ribcage. Her bones had hurt her from the inside, as well as something else from the outside. The shape of her ribs were imprinted on her skin with pain.
“Are they issuing anything for that?” Lux calmly asked as she pointed to Jinx’s side. Appearances were everything with the inmates. Lux was new, and she knew that was a risky position to be in. Fresh blood. She had to act like nothing mattered and she didn’t care. The tricky thing was that she cared too much. Her heart wrenched as she looked at this woman.
The inmate turned her head, confused, and laughed. “That’s funny! You’re funny!” The woman clutched her side and bent over. Still laughing, but also groaning in pain. “I’m Jinx! Stands for Jinx!” She, once more, shoved herself against the bars and gestured out her hand to Lux. As if she was asking to shake hands. To greet like normal people.
Lux stared at the offer.
“No worries.” Jinx retracted her hand. “Last guy that shook my hand found himself in a pretty tricky situation if I do say so myself.” She whiteknuckled the metal bars and smiled at Lux. “What’s your name?”
“Officer Luxanna Crownguard,” Lux stated robotically. It was ironic. Maybe she was meant to be a soulless guard. Afterall, she had it in her name.
“Hm.” Jinx let go of the bars and started pacing around her small cell. “You seem like one of those guards. Are you?”
Lux watched as the inmate paced. As much as she was injured, she moved with a certainty and fluidity that even Lux didn’t have. “I don’t know what you mean.” Sheanswered.
Jinx sighed and stared at a wall. “Oh well… guess you better be going now.” She stood with her chest up and proud, her hands laced behind her back.
“Wh-” Lux began. She was interrupted by the loudspeaker booming.
“ LIGHTS OUT! ALL INMATES MUST RETURN TO THEIR ROOMS. ALL GUARDS REPORT.”
The lights in the hallway shut off immediately after the announcement was completed.
“Shit,” Lux swore under her breath and looked up and down the halls. No other guards in sight. She was probably late. She padded herself down for her flashlight. It was gone. She grumbled softly and took a deep breath. Slowly, the tips of her fingers on one of her hands started to light up. It was a golden, soft light.
Lux heard a small laugh come from next to her. She looked over to find a dim shadow of Jinx standing near her metal bars. Her eyes glowed an unnatural pink. “Yep. One of those . I knew it!” Jinx smiled and happily turned around and disappeared into the darkness of her cell.
~
It was cold. But, that was normal. It was always cold. Always lonely. Always either uncomfortably damp or uncomfortably dry. No in between. Jinx curled into herself in the corner of her concrete hellscape. She hadn’t seen Mrs. Officer Light, Jinx decided to call her, in a few days. It had been months since they first met. Or, maybe it had been months. Jinx lost count. It had been many many times where the lights turned off, then turned back on. That was her knowledge of when days passed. She knew she still had a strong internal clock, but she just didn’t know what the time was set to.
Jinx hugged her knees into her chest and wished that she had socks. Her stupid slip-on shoes were not enough. But, socks could be used as a weapon, maybe. Put a rock in it, or something, now you have basically a mace. It was funny. Jinx could have made so many weapons from so many things by now. Do they not realize that if you tie pants off at one leg they become a giant sock?
Jinx giggled at that thought. It echoed back at her. She hated it. She didn’t want to hear herself.
It was dark. Another day gone by without doing anything. That was how everyday went by, though, wasn’t it? Except when Jinx saw the special officer. She knew something was off about her the moment she saw her. Her face was too soft, her skin too clear, her hair too blonde. She was from somewhere else. She went home to a nice house or a nice room. She was strong and built, Jinx had gathered, but the trained type of strong. Not the live or die type of strong. Jinx was the live or die type of strong. She was skin and bones and muscle and the muscle that was there didn’t wither away out of necessity. Her body knew it was necessary and kept it.
J inx formulated a plan immediately after she had met Luxanna Crownguard. She would, for lack of a better word, seduce the woman. That was her plan, in a way. She had the conclusion, but the means were unclear. This Luxanna would do one of two things depending on her trustability. She would either smuggle things into the prison for Jinx, so Jinx could eventually escape. Or, she would directly assist Jinx in escaping. That was the conclusion. If Jinx had to seduce the lady to make it happen, whatever.
The more she thought about the means, the more it felt unreachable. The more she thought about potentially seducing Lux, the more uncomfortably gitty she got. The more she thought about what their next conversation would be like, the more she caught herself smiling to the darkness. She would never get someone like that to smuggle things for her, let alone help her escape. But, she was different. Maybe Jinx had just been hit in the head one too many times and her person-meter got wonky. Nonetheless, Lux was indeed different. That was easy to tell. Lux would visit Jinx’s room often. Too often for it to be normal. It was the only thing that kept Jinx alive in her misery and torture. Well, besides the fact that she couldn’t kill herself even if she tried.
Jinx heard footsteps echo down the concrete corridors of the prison. The footsteps were slow, cautious, nervous maybe. Sounded like blondie! Jinx sprung to her feet and ran to the metal bars that trapped her. She clung to them and tried to look out. She couldn’t see more than a foot or so to the left and right. Stupid angles.
But, finally, as the footsteps got louder, Jinx could see a small yellow light illuminate the hallway. And, with that, an angelic voice. “Jinx?”
“Welcome back! Just couldn’t get enough of me, huh, blondie?” Jinx giggled. As Lux’s face came into view, she couldn’t help but smile hard. It was genuine.
“Mhm, sure.” Lux responded. How boring of her. It was hard to talk to Lux. Jinx didn’t know what to say. She knew how things were run around here. Jinx had to keep conversation light. She had to pretend she didn’t know Lux at all. If Lux was caught, who knows what would happen? Well, Jinx knew. Lux would be killed.
“Why’re you here, if not just to look at my wonderful face?” Jinx grinned harder. She started rocking back and forth on her heels with excitement. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was excited for. Human connection, maybe.
Lux stared at Jinx for a little bit too long. She blinked at her. “I don’t know… I’m on the night shift so…” Lux stuttered. It seemed that she couldn’t find an excuse.
' So, you really just came to say hello and that’s it? You’re such a sap, blondie!” Jinx flung her arms outside of the bars so they hung loosely. “This is risky, ya know.”
“I know.”
Jinx couldn’t help but stare. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to stare at the warm, embracing yellow magic light or Lux’s face more. They were both so amazing. So inviting. Maybe they could just stand here in silence. Maybe that would be okay. Just to share space. Even if the silence was a little awkward, it made Jinx feel warm on the inside.
Suddenly, another pair of footsteps entered the hallway. Lux waved her hand frantically and the light on her fingertips went out. Jinx stiffened and stood up straight.
“Come here,” She demanded.
Lux softly padded over to Jinx’s cell door.
“You need to yell at me and punch me, or shove me, or something. Or just yell and I’ll punch myself in the face or whatever.” Jinx braced herself.
“What?!” Lux whispered back. Loudly. “I can’t do that to you!”
“For fucks sake…” Jinx whispered. She took a deep breath.
“Whatcha gonna do about it, officer pig?! You gonna punish me? Or are you too weak?!” Jinx yelled and forced a cackle to rise out of her throat. She shoved herself into the bars so Lux could reach her. Lux just stood, staring, her mouth wide open in shock. Maybe in anger, too.
The guard from down the hall heard the commotion. “Hey! Everything okay down there?” The footsteps got faster and louder.
Jinx nodded quickly at Lux and gestured for her to come closer.
Lux walked towards Jinx. She put her hands on the inmates shoulders, whispered that she was sorry, and shoved her backwards. “Stay in your place!” She yelled. Jinx tripped over and fell down. But, she was fine. Lux looked at her with eyes full of sorrow and sadness.
The other guard approached with a flashlight. “What happened? Why don’t you have a light?”
Lux started fidgeting with her fingers. “I forgot it. I have good night vision. I’m still new here, sorry boss. This inmate was just bad mouthing me, no big deal.” Lux gestured to Jinx, who was still sitting on the concrete floor, watching.
“Ah, this one.” The other guard looked at Jinx as if she was a cockroach. “She gives everyone trouble. Don’t be afraid to take out your anger on her. She’s a fun one.”
Jinx growled. The more she was told that she was nothing more than an animal. An inmate. A lunatic. A deranged woman. Or whatever else those fuckers could say. The more they defined her the more she fit her role. She was becoming worse.
Lux, although, looked at Jinx as if she was priceless. Her eyes conveyed emotions that Jinx couldn’t put her finger on. Her words, however, came out of her mouth with a practiced sharpness. “So I’ve heard. Let’s leave her. I have reason to bother.”
~
“Where are you taking J-” Lux stuttered and corrected herself. “The inmate.” She asked a guard that was currently locking Jinx’s empty cell. Ahead of them, down the hallway, there were three more guards that were forcibly dragging Jinx away. She was being dragged backwards. She smiled and waved at Lux.
“You know,” The guard snickered and elbowed Lux in the side.
“No. I don’t.” Lux replied.
The man looked at her questioningly. Then, suddenly, the spark in his eyes reignited. “Oh right! You’re new! Some of the guys like to mess with the feisty ones. We don’t touch her bad or nothin’. But, she likes to talk back, ya know? Makes it a fun game.” The guard chuckled again and walked away, following Jinx.
“Mind if I join you guys?” Lux asked, trotting up behind the group of men.
“You like ‘em like this too, sweetheart?” One of the guys asked. He was holding Jinx up by the arm. Jinx was looking around and obnoxiously whistling.
Lux disliked the connotation of his question. But, she had to play the game. “You know it!”
They walked in mostly silence. One of the guys would make a crude joke now and then. Jinx would decide to randomly thrash, cause a commotion, and then settle down seconds later and laugh at the panic she caused. Eventually, they all made it to a door at the end of one of the many looping hallways of the facility. The door read: INTERROGATION ROOM .
“We interrogate people here?” Lux asked as she opened the door and the men dragged Jinx in.
“Nah.”
Lux entered the room and realized her mistake. The room looked like it had once been for interrogation, maybe. There was a single light fixture in the center of the room, hanging high on the ceiling. The room would, otherwise, look normal. Except, it had been stained. The gray concrete of the walls and floor were stained red. In the center of the room sat a wide metal chair. It had dents in it by the arm rests. Some of them looked like brute force dents, some of them looked as if they were dents from sheer grip strength.
“This has been used for our sort of thing for years now. Not all that blood is hers, don’t worry officer.” The guard laughed and patted Lux on the back. He closed the door behind them all and locked it.
Lux was horrified. A few men threw Jinx down in the chair. Lux could see her shiver as the bare metal touched her skin. Her ankles were chained down as well as her wrists. It was eerily strange how similar the dents in the arm rests looked to Jinx’s hands.
Jinx blew a raspberry. “So…” She squirmed in her chains and yanked just a little, making sure they were tight. “We gonna get on with this or what, fellas?” Jinx made eye contact with Lux. Her pink eyes looked dead.
One of the men barreled forward at Jinx unexpectedly. He punched her. He punched a restrained person in the stomach. Lux swore she heard a crack. She flinched at the sound. She tried to keep her composure. She was fuming. The room was hot. It wasn’t cold anymore. It felt like a thousand degrees and it felt like she was going to explode.
Jinx groaned and rocked back. Her head lolled forward and, for a moment, Lux thought she had become unconscious. “Ugh! Boring.” Jinx slowly looked back up and stared at Lux once more. Her lip was ripped and weeping blood.
“Let me try,” Lux offered. The men laughed and cheered.
She approached Jinx. As she did, the restrained woman pulled at her chains, leaning towards Lux. She looked up at her as Lux looked down. She looked horrible. The bright white light did her nothing good. And yet, she was beautiful.
Lux, softly, put her hand over Jinx’s eyes. Lux heard a small noise of confusion come out of Jinx’s mouth.
Before the men could cause commotion, Lux closed her eyes as well. She focused and she felt hot. She was burning and she was angry and her eyelids didn’t look black anymore, they looked almost yellow. The lightbulb above her buzzed loudly with energy. The men in the room started to yell. One by one, Lux heard bodies collapsing on the floor. Too much light hurt their eyes, maybe. Too much energy burned their skin, possibly. The bulb above them bursted and showered the two with glass.
Lux sighed. Her fire was gone. She felt cool once more. She opened her eyes and Jinx was still sitting there, oddly still. She could have backed up in the chair to avoid Lux’s hand. She could’ve. But, she didn’t. Lux took her hand away and Jinx opened her eyes.
They said nothing for a while. Jinx stared in what seemed to be awe. The men on the floor were all in curled up balls and covering their faces. They were all unconscious and that was probably for the best. Jinx searched the men’s pockets and found too many keys to count. She started at Jinx’s ankles, testing each key for as long as it took.
Initially, everything was looking up. It only took Lux three keys to find the right one for each of Jinx’s ankle bands. She wiggled her legs out from under her and giggled at herself and swung her legs about. Now, it was time for the wrists. Lux began with the key farthest to the left, and would travel to the one farthest to the right.
“Fuck,” Lux swore softly after testing the last key only for it to fail. She threw down the keychain and started pacing frantically around the room.
Jinx leaned back in her chair. She laughed. “So, you went through all that and you’re not even gonna have saved me.” She laughed harder and groaned in pain. She licked her lips that were covered with dry blood. “Can’t you just melt my chains off or somethin’?”
Lux stopped in her tracks. Could she? No. That would heat up the metal so immensely it would burn Jinx horribly. She mumbled to herself and continued to pace. She wasn’t even realizing that she had started to hyperventilate.
“Come over here.” Jinx demanded.
To Lux’s own surprise, her feet walked her over to Jinx’s chair.
Jinx was smiling a toothy, too-wide smile. It was too wide for someone with blood on their face and a life in a prison cell ahead of them. “Why no melting?”
“It’ll burn you. Metal transfers heat all around. Even if I burn the chain farthest away from your skin, it will definitely still burn you really badly. It will practically sear you. I don’t even know what type of metal this is. I don’t even know what its melting point is! Who knows if I can even melt it with my light!” Lux shook her hands in the air to try and express her frustration. Jinx just stared at her.
“Listen, lightbeam.” Jinx started. “Either you burn me, or I stay here forever and you either get sent to a place just like this one or you’re killed on your way out. So, burn me! I’m practically begging you here!” Jinx giggled and pushed against her restraints once more. “Please?”
For some reason, Lux had the urge to hug Jinx. Her body ached. Instead, she fell to her knees in front of Jinx. It hurt. The concrete hurt. She was wilting there, like a sad flower. Lux rested her palm atop the end of the chain that connected both of Jinx’s wrists to the chair. “Are you sure? If I stop the heat won’t just go away.”
“I know how temperature works, dummy. Just go for it, I got nothin’ else to lose now anyway.” Jinx shrugged. She instinctively gripped the sides of the chair. Her hands perfectly fit into the dents.
Lux took a deep breath. Then, she started. Metal is interesting. Metal is hot before it changes color. Then, it turns red. Just as the chain was doing. It turns a dull red and gray mixture. Lux saw Jinx stiffen further in the chair. Then, the metal starts to brighten to orange. Lux watched it happen and watched the color inch up the chain, closer to the cuffs around Jinx’s wrists. Jinx’s hands clenched into the metal. Metal starts to practically glow before it melts. It turns a bright, shining yellow.
And that, finally, was when Jinx started to shake and scream. Her feet banged on the floor and her legs shook uncontrollably. Lux found out that Jinx was, indeed, the person who made the dents in the chair. Her hands gripped the metal and crushed it deeply like paper. Her voice started in a low groan and slowly grew louder and louder until it hurt Lux’s ears. It was faint, but Lux could hear the sound of skin searing.
Metal does not melt quickly. Or with just one dose of heat. It oozes. It turns into goop and it stays there for awfully too long. The skin around the metal bands on Jinx’s wrists even started to visibly burn even though nothing was touching them.
The end of the chain fell away into mush, and Lux looked up at Jinx. She was hyperventilating and her face was streaked with tears and the cut on her lip had reopened from her own teeth. She had snot coming out of her nose and she was covered in sweat.
“It’s done.” Lux said. She didn’t know what else she could possibly say.
Jinx smiled, but it faded as quickly as it started. Lux watched Jinx shuffle to try to stand, keeping her wrist bands and the hot chains that were still attached to them far away. Jinx stuttered. “Help,” She softly said.
Lux leaned forward and hooked her arms under Jinx’s and pulled her up. Jinx completely gave out in Lux’s arms. The hot chains swayed with the movement and grazed Lux’s thigh. It burned. It burned like hell and she could feel layers of her skin peeling off from the heat. It hurt. It hurt even more knowing that Jinx was still feeling this and had felt much more.
“Can you stand?” Lux asked hesitantly.
Jinx slowly shook her head. “Actually, I’m kinda… tired…” Jinx's voice fell away at the end of her words.
Lux stood there, hugging Jinx, for longer than she would like to admit. Jinx had passed out from the pain and trauma. That was good, actually. At least she didn’t have to keep suffering. The only problem was getting out of the prison. She wouldn’t be able to do it with Jinx unconscious.
Lux let Jinx fall, just a little, so she could move and swoop her up. She held her like a bride. Jinx’s arms fell limply beside her. The hot chains dangling in the air. Jinx looked peaceful when she was asleep, here. Lux walked to one of the walls in the room and leaned against it. She slid her back down it and cradled Jinx in her arms. She held her close, comforting her even if she couldn’t hear it. She ran her fingers through Jinx’s hair. She whispered sweet nothings. When she looked at the beaten woman in her arms she felt nothing but love. That was the right word. Love. Lux would sit there with her until she woke up. Even if she was going to be found and taken. She would stay. She wasn’t going to let anyone pry Jinx away from her now. Jinx’s breathing was uneven, but she was going to be okay. Lux smiled. She felt horrible. Everything hurt. Her heart ached from willingly hurting her love. But, still, she smiled. She leaned down and kissed Jinx on the forehead.