Chapter 34: Prison Brutality (ii)

The common bathroom was barely large enough for the 25 prisoners crammed inside. The air was filled with the stench of sweat, blood, and something metallic. The walls were stained with rust and grime, the flickering fluorescent lights casting long, jagged shadows. The young man—who was dragged by them—was shoved into the center of the circle, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he stumbled, his knees hitting the cold, wet floor.

Xavier stood at the edge of the crowd, his fingers curling into fists. He had a faint idea of what was about to happen, but the reality of it was still too monstrous to fully grasp.

A young werewolf, her icy blue eyes flickering in the dim light, leaned toward Xavier. “You know what’s happening?”

Xavier shook his head.

The werewolf’s lips curled into a grimace. “I got here a week ago. Every night, thirty cells open. We gather. We play. We fight. We chill.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Then the chime rings. And we vote on one of the three cells.”

Xavier’s throat tightened. “And then?”

The werewolf’s gaze darkened. “Then they kill them.”

The young man in the center barely had time to scream before the first fist crashed into his face, snapping his head back with a sickening crack. Blood sprayed across the tile, his nose shattering like glass.

A Draconian lunged next, his claws ripping into the man’s stomach, his intestines spilling onto the floor in a wet, glistening heap. The man gurgled, his hands scrambling to hold his guts in, but another prisoner stomped on his fingers, the bones crunching under the weight.

A Klie grabbed his arm, twisting until the bone snapped, the jagged end tearing through the skin. The man howled, but the sound was cut short as a Zolakian slammed a shiv into his throat, blood gushing like a fountain.

The crowd roared, their voices a frenzied chant as they tore into him.

A cybernetic-enhanced inmate ripped his jaw off, the flesh peeling away like wet paper. Another stomped on his chest, the ribs caving in with a wet crunch.

The man’s eyeball rolled free, bouncing across the floor like a grotesque marble. His tongue lolled from his mouth, severed at the root. His fingers were snapped like twigs, his legs bent backward until the joints popped.

Xavier stood frozen, his stomach heaving.

The werewolf didn’t move either, her face pale.

Then, as suddenly as it began, it was over.

The crowd dispersed, their boots squelching in the blood as they left the mangled remains behind—a crushed skull, shredded organs, splintered bones, all swimming in a pool of blood that seeped into the cracks of the floor.

The werewolf’s voice was a whisper. “Welcome to the Celestial Penitentiary. The ’celestial’ in the name might sound heavenly, but this place is a hell.”

Xavier’s voice cut through the tense silence, his fingers tightening into fists. “The guards don’t do anything? The cells open every night—that means they’re involved. But why?”

A hulking Klie with a chitinous exoskeleton let out a low, guttural laugh. “Because the prison gets paid, kid. Twenty eight of us get ’selected’ every month. Twenty five cells open each night, and we vote on the three that don’t. One dies. Simple.”

A Zolakian with iridescent skin leaned against the blood-slick wall, his voice dripping with cynicism. “And every month, one of us gets the bypass key. This time? It’s Bull.” He nodded toward the cybernetic man, whose glowing eye flickered with cold calculation. “He can open any cell he wants, even if it’s not the one we vote for. So we don’t piss him off.”

The young werewolf’s ears twitched, her blue eyes narrowing. “Wouldn’t the prison have to answer to the higher-ups? The Universe Justice Court?”

Xavier also nodded, but before he could respond, the Klie let out a dry, clicking laugh. “The UJC? Kid, they don’t care. Your report gets filed in 24 hours. If someone pays the prison to kill you?” He leaned in, his mandibles clicking. “They add crimes to your file. R*pe. Murder. Treason. Terrorist. Suddenly, you’re a monster, and the UJC doesn’t blink when you die in custody.”

The Zolakian smirked, his iridescent skin shimmering under the flickering lights. “And if you’ve got money? Just bribe the prison. Your crimes disappear. And you walk free. The system’s rigged and corrupted to the core, and only the rich can live freely.”

Xavier’s jaw tightened.

Someone paid to have him killed.

And he already knew who.

But his report wasn’t ready yet. He still had time.

Because Dominic Hart was coming.

He was simply waiting for his interrogation to start so he could talk face to face with Demonic Hart, and execute his plan.

Once everyone had cleaned with the shower themselves from the blood and stench, they left for their cell.

The werewolf girl walked beside Xavier, her blue eyes flickering in the dim light as they approached their cells—separated only by a thin, reinforced glass panel.

Xavier’s mind was still haunted by the brutality he had just witnessed. He had seen violence before—had even been on the receiving end of it—but this? This was something else. This was sport. He still couldn’t comprehend how one could kill another for no reason. If they had a reason to kill, sure Xavier didn’t care, but why kill for fun?

The werewolf girl glanced at him, her ears twitching. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Xavier nodded, his fingers curling into fists.

She hesitated, then lowered her voice. “Do you want to know what he was convicted of?”

Xavier nodded again.

Her lips curled into a grimace. “Bull said the man r*ped his own five-year-old niece. Then killed her. Chopped her up… and fed her to his family dog.”

Xavier’s expression darkened.

For the first time, he wished he had joined in.

The werewolf girl took an instinctive step back, her wolf senses screaming at her to put distance between them.

Then, slowly, she stepped forward again, her voice barely above a whisper. “There’s no one truly innocent in this world.”

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