Sinners 01 - Branded (20 page)

“What are you doing?” I freak out.

His eyes jump open. “It’s not how it looks. Please let me explain!”

“I think you better!” I yell in anger.

“You were screaming in your sleep.” He sits up and turns. I hear a click and the room
lights up. I groan, wondering what happened in the room that I missed. The sheet looks
like confetti thrown all over the floor. Zeus has slivers stuck to his chin.

“Zeus pulled your sheet off and ripped it to shreds. I’m guessing he thought it was
attacking you. You scared the hell out of me. I tried waking you, but you kept screaming.
I thought maybe if I held you it would help. I didn’t know what else to do.” He leans
away from me with both hands in the air as if pleading his innocence. “I swear, Lexi.
I’d never ever take advantage of you.” Zeus starts howling. “
Shut up
, you idiot!” He throws my pillow at Zeus, hitting him in the head. Zeus picks it
up and whips his head left and right while growling. “Now it’s the pillow’s fault,”
Cole says, throwing his arms in the air.

“Stop!” I sit up. “Don’t be mad at Zeus. Look, I had a bad dream. I’m not mad at you.
I just freaked out when I opened my eyes and your face was an inch away.”
Whew.
His jaw loosens as he flips around to face me. I don’t move. He looks at me and hesitates.

“What were you screaming about anyway? It was terrifying,” he says.

I knew he’d ask eventually. “Please, not now. I’m fine—really I am,” I say, but he
persists.

“No, I’ve never heard you scream like that, ever. Not even when you were branded.”
I push away from him, stunned.

“You saw my branding? Why didn’t you tell me before?” My face flushes red with the
humiliating memory. I want to run out of this room and never look back. He grabs my
hands. I shake them away.

“Just listen to me for a second,” he says.

“Just stop. Not now, I just want to rest. Please, just leave me alone.” I curl my
legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

He leans forward. “Just let me say what I need to say. Then I’ll shut up, okay?”

“Okay,” I say with hesitation.

“I’m a guard. You’re my assignment. I had to watch you from the moment you came into
the compound. It’s an order, and I had to follow it. I didn’t know you then. I only
knew of your sin and that I was your escort.” I don’t take my eyes off the wall. “It
wasn’t my choice. I know you won’t believe me, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I
saw the pain they inflicted on you and I have no desire to watch anyone go through
that again. It’s sickening. When I joined the guards, I thought things would be different.
I had the impression that what I was ordered to do was for the best. I was ordered
to come, ordered to do my job, so I did.” He bites his lip and then continues his
passionate rant. “I believe there was a reason I was placed here. I know there are
good people here. Innocent people. They shouldn’t be here. Lexi,
you
shouldn’t be here.” My heart thaws, letting him in. “I have to act as if I don’t care.
The other guards, some of them watch, and
he
watches. The commander has hidden cameras—” I hold up my hand to stop him.

“Wait, he watches us? He records us for his pleasure? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“You were a prisoner, so I didn’t tell you, but everyone knows. He has cameras hidden
in the streets so he can watch. He loves the power and some of the guards get off
on it. Thankfully, he can’t bug every room since there’s too many people in the Hole.”
He slides over, taking my chin. He lifts until I look at him. “Promise me you won’t
say anything. Not only would they kill you, they’d kill everyone you have contact
with here,” he says with disgust.

“Including you and Zeus?”

He nods his head. “Yes, including us.”

“Does he have cameras inside our rooms?”

“No, he only watches the streets. People would find ways to damage cameras if they
were obvious,” he says. We hold each other’s stare for a few seconds until Zeus barks.
We both jump and look at him, but he’s asleep.

“You should sleep.”

“Like that’s possible now,” I say with sarcasm. My mind runs a marathon. He stands
up to move and I grab his shirt. “Please don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving, just going back on the floor. I’ll be right here if you need me,”
he says, but I don’t release his shirt. I lift the blanket up. He looks at me, and
knows what I’m asking him to do. He climbs in, turns the light off, and rolls on his
side with his back toward me.

“Cole,” I whisper, “for some reason I believe you. You haven’t really given me a reason
to distrust you.”

He reaches back, grabs my hand, and squeezes. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

The piercing siren blares outside Cole’s window, reverberating through my temples.
He faces me, eyes open and my right arm lies across his chest. Sometime during the
night, I’m guessing I pulled him toward me.
Or he just realized what happened.

“I better get ready. I still have training,” he says as he backs away.

I feel like a line was crossed last night, but maybe I’m wrong. “What on earth am
I supposed to do while you’re gone?” I sit up on one elbow, fearing the thought of
being alone.

“Well, Sutton asked Bruno to stand in my place whenever I have to be away from you.
We both agreed that leaving you alone for even a split second is way too risky. Everyone
seems out to get you, but I promise I won’t let that happen.”

“Wait a minute. Who’s Bruno?” I sit up and see the mess Zeus made of everything last
night. He didn’t just shred my blanket—he completely annihilated it. “Zeus, what did
you do?” He looks up and I can’t help but laugh. Pieces of cloth hang from both sides
of his head and he gives me a guilty look. He’s busted.

“He’s a friend of Sutton. They go way back and since Sutton trusts him, so do I.”
Cole goes into the bathroom and closes the door. “He should be here any minute.”

I guess I should change too. I feel like a sweaty mess. At first, my muscles are taut,
but as I move around, they loosen. I stretch upward, then touch my toes and arch my
back.

The siren coincides with the blatant sound of steady gunfire.
That’s twice in two days.
The building rocks violently, and people stampede in the hallway outside the room.
I hear the lightbulb dangling in the center of my small cell shatter from the jolt.
Fear gnaws at my insides as I steady myself against the wall using my hand.
Don’t give out. Don’t give out.
My legs start to wobble and threaten to collapse as I press against the cold cement.
When the tremors stop, I jump to the window in hopes of seeing what’s happening.

A voice shouts loud enough from below I can hear it up here. “Did you see that? That
red car that passed by earlier, it was a bomb and it just leveled five buildings!”

“Freaking crazy,” another says.

“Unbelievable. Will someone please tell me what the point of that was?” I hear a woman’s
voice this time. Their voices fade as panic ensues.

Cole swings open the bathroom door and he looks furious. Shaving cream covers half
his jawline and the tip of his nose.

“What the hell was that?”

“All I heard was a car bomb took out five buildings.” I press my cheekbone against
the glass and try to get a better look.

People emerge from the curtain of smoke blocking the street from four blocks away,
covered in dust and blood. Some of them scream in agony. The heavy smoldering of ashes,
dust, and chemicals rises upward like a mushroom. Vehicles, mostly the men in black,
clog the street, attempting to cordon off the bombed section of the Hole. Their dark
figures form a checkpoint, and woe to anyone who fits the description of who they’re
looking for.

That easily could’ve been our building—I shiver just thinking about it.

“Well, my pager didn’t go off so I guess I’ll finish shaving.” Cole walks back in
the bathroom without closing the door and resumes sliding his razor over his face.

“Good, you were starting to resemble a caveman.” I hear him chuckle and something
about his laugh makes me smile.

Should I worry? I guess not. If he’s not shaken, then I shouldn’t be, but I can’t
tell that to the delicate nerves in my hands. Needing something to occupy my mind
from the gore, I begin to clean up the strips of linen on the floor. Zeus warily follows
me around as if he also smells danger. Or maybe I stink. I take a quick whiff of both
of my armpits. Nope, still fresh.

“Zeus, it’ll be fine.” I chat with him while bending over and sweeping things up.
I go into my room and attempt to clean up the shattered glass.
Guess I won’t have any light at all in here now–but I can’t stay in Cole’s room forever.
The thought of spending another night in his room sends warmth flooding through me.
I feel more secure knowing he’s within arm’s reach.

Cole comes out of the bathroom in his black dress uniform. It’s newly pressed and
formfitting.

“What’s with the uniform?” I eye the formalwear pensively.

“I should wear it just in case.” He shrugs. “Anytime we have a special assignment,
we have to wear this crap. I’m still trying to figure out why. You should try running
in these pants.”

“They’re a little tight on you, but I’m sure the prostitutes will eat it up.” I push
against the window again and view outside. The thick cloud covers everything with
gray soot. Except for the guards, the street’s almost shut down.

“Very funny.”

A knock on the door makes me shudder and Cole opens it. He lets in a large black man,
and they talk as if I’m not here. He stands taller than Cole and almost another body
wider with a pronounced brow and high cheekbones. A small glimmer reflects in his
pupils as if he’s capable of mischief.

“Dude, how’d you get here so fast?” Cole asks.

“Aww, man, it’s nuts out there,” the guy I assume is Bruno says.

“What happened?”

“A car was hijacked and loaded with a bomb. It was set off a couple blocks down, took
out five whole buildings right when the buses came. Bodies, limbs—crap is everywhere.
Never seen anything like it…”

“Great. Another nonstop special ops until they find someone to hang for it,” Cole
laments.

I clear my throat, interrupting their conversation.

Bruno’s head pivots toward me and evaluates my appearance.

“Oh, I guess I should introduce you two.” Cole suddenly remembers why Bruno’s there
in the first place. “Lexi, this here is my friend Bruno. Bruno, meet Lexi.”

His massive size makes me forget my manners and I don’t stretch out my hand to shake
his. “He’s going to patrol the hall while I’m gone. If you need anything, anything
at all, let him know.”

I nod while staring at Bruno with wide eyes. I’ve never seen a man his size before.
He’s enormous.

He smiles, showing a set of perfect white teeth. “Nice to meet you. I’ve known Cole
for about seven years now. Don’t you worry about a thing,” he says to reassure me.
He doesn’t know about the attack because we kept it a secret, but the way he scrutinizes
my injuries tells me it makes him unhappy.

“Thank you. I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

Cole grabs a protein bar and darts for the door while coaxing Zeus along with him.
“Come on. You can’t stay here,” he pleads. Zeus follows him with his head down. “I’ll
see you tonight.” Then Bruno, Cole, and Zeus leave with the slamming of the door.

Sigh.
Alone again.

The day drags. I lie down, get up, and lie down again. I clean dishes, hand wash my
dirty scrubs, and sweep the floor. As I sweep my old room, I trip over the bucket
of chalk, scattering it in all directions. Seems like years ago that Cole gave it
to me. My landscape remains unfinished and even though I’m sore, I decide to draw
more.

I begin with blues and greens, adding mountains. Oranges and reds form a brilliant
sunset. I finally finish the wall and only one remains blank now. Unsure of what to
do, I start with yellow. The yellow becomes waves of blond hair, blue for eyes that
are large with tears of happiness.

Alyssa.

Tears fall silently as I recreate her beautiful, young, determined, and brave face.
I didn’t intend to draw her, but it happened. When I finish, my arms hurt from reaching
so high.

I sit on the floor to rest and stare at my room. The memories play like music. First,
the breeze blows over the bay with its clear, blue water surrounded by majestic mountains.
Next, the forest rises up behind my childhood home, and finally, Alyssa’s face—my
sister and friend.

A sharp knock resounds on the door, making me panic. Do I answer?
What if it’s Bruno? What if he’s not as nice as he seems?
Cole made it sound like Bruno and he were best friends, but my trust has already
been shattered more than once, so convincing me of that is hard to do.

The knock sounds again, followed by Bruno’s voice. “Just me. May I bother you to use
the restroom?”

I want to be relieved, yet my heart quickens at the thought of being alone with a
guard other than Cole. Despite my reservations, I call out, “Of course you can.” This
guy still petrifies me—he could crush me with his foot.

The door beeps after he swipes his card, and he hops up and down like a young boy
in agony, waiting for the teacher to give him a hall pass.

“Sorry, all of a sudden, it just hit me.”

I nod my head. He’s lucky Cole trusts him or I’d make him wet himself in the hallway.

“Thank you.” He sprints to the bathroom in Cole’s room and closes the door.

After a few minutes, he returns, staring at my artwork. Sweat beads down his forehead
from the heaviness of his dress uniform. His jaw drops in awe when his eyes rest on
my latest drawing.

“Who’s the girl?”

My eyes glaze over, but I answer. “My friend, Alyssa. She passed away last week.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Your drawing does her justice though. She’d be honored.”
He smiles with kindness.