Santana Lies in her cell staring up at the mattress above her. She studies the pattern for what seems like the hundredth time this day. She can't sleep, her toilet hasn't stopped leaking since she got back in from her recreational time, and that was hours ago. The constant drip is eating away at her thoughts.
It's a constant reminder that she is stuck in Ohio State Women's Prison. Santana intertwines her fingers as she rests them behind her head breathing out a heavy sigh. Santana doesn't get left alone with her own thoughts very often, because she is rarely alone.
Her old cellmate, Sydney, had gotten her parole and finally made it out. Santana and Sydney were close as you could be as cell mates without overstepping any boundaries. After Sydney knew who her cellmate was, She had made it clear that if Santana ever lay a finger on her in anyway way she would break her finger where she stands. After that, they had gotten along quite nicely. But now that Sydney had left, Santana was left alone with memories she did not want to remember. Santana knew she had done some unforgivable things to people, and at the time she thought they were reasonable, but after you spend this long in prison, it makes you wonder what life would be like if things turned out differently. If you hadn't committed that horrible act of murder. Would you still, somehow be here?
Groaning, Santana turns on her left side and slides her left hand under her pillow. Santana can't think about all the 'what if's' because she's here in prison, and she won't be getting out anytime soon, even with good behaviour. She has to think logically. She needs to, she has a position to uphold. She isn't a nobody here, she's a somebody, she has people that look to her for advice, leadership, guidance, and orders. She can't be thinking about things that don't matter. What really matters is what happens now. Santana closes her eyes praying for silence from her mind and lets the annoying drip slowly put her into a deep sleep.
Santana's heavy eye's fly open at the sound of light's being flicked on and prison guards yelling. Six am, wake up call. Santana calmly slides her feet out of bed, and get's up to move to her sink. She looks up into the steel sheet that inmates use as a mirror, resting both hands on the corners of the sink she takes a long look at herself. Her long raven black hair falls over her shoulders as she stares at herself. Giving herself a little pep talk to start the day, before she moves to tie her hair up and in a high ponytail.
As she waits for the prison guards to give the okay to open the cells, she scans her cell block. In cell block C there are two levels with two sets of stairs on either side of the rectangular block. As you look down the center you see steel tables with four steel seats arranged on opposite sides. On the floor there are many different coloured lines, leading inmates to different parts of the prison. If you were to look on the free walls you would see large white C's painted all along the concrete walls, beside them are eight telephones.
A smile forms on Santana's face, it won't be too long before there are lines of girl's waiting to call loved ones from home. Telling their family or significant over how much they hate it here or reassuring their boyfriend's that they haven't cheated on them... yet. It's always a matter of time. Santana steps back from the cell doors as the door's open, she follows the blue line on the ground that leads her to the cafeteria. She collects her food and joins a friend of her's at a table.
"Hey, Quinn" Santana says as she slides her tray onto the table. Quinn looks up with a mouth-full of porridge and gives her a nod of recognition before looking back down at her porridge.
Quinn was never a morning person. As far back as Santana can remember, Quinn had always been bitchy in the early hours of the morning, so it wasn't unusual for Quinn not to make conversation. Santana and Quinn had been seated together on their bus trip into Ohio State Prison. They had even shared a cell in their early days. But as people come and go from prison, inmates get moved around from cell to cell. So it wasn't long before Santana and Quinn were both moved out of their cell.
"Morning Santana, Quinn." Santana and Quinn both look up and are greeted with Mercedes and Lauren. How these four become friends is unknown to many people in Ohio State Prison. Many believe Santana and Quinn use Mercedes and Lauren for their size. Mercedes and Lauren being larger than most already had something to use against inmates that might give them a hard time. Mercedes's sass and Lauren's take nothin' for nobody attitude was something you didn't want to mess with. But both girls combined, that was something to be feared.
People were afraid of all four of them, but not because of what they looked like or their attitude, but because of their position here in prison. Santana was one of the highest-ranking member's of a gang dubbed the Blood Ring.
The group got their name after a young member started smearing blood on a wall in the shape of a circle after a crime was committed. After countless crimes being left with this circle, the media reporting on it gave it the name Blood Ring. But of course, it was fun while it lasted.
The police ended up matching fingerprints in the blood to one of the young men in the group and were soon arrested. Thanks to his loyalty to the Blood Ring, he didn't rat any other members out to the police.
Once someone has been accepted into the Blood Ring they must get a bloody ring tattooed on them with the initials B.R tattooed in the middle. The tattoo must be on the right hand side of their chest on their heart. The Blood ring's main colours are blood red and charcoal black.
In Ohio State Prison you would be able to pick out these four girls in a heartbeat. They have a following of people. But only some are actually members, most are just wannabes that are frightened and scared out on their own. Unlike many other gang's, The Blood Ring doesn't care what culture you're from, what religion you follow, the colour of your skin, your gender, your sexuality, or unfortunately your age. You follow their rules and do as you're told they don't care what you look like. We all have the same blood.
"So Santana, what have we got going on today, huh?" Lauren asks playing with her porridge.
"Some people owe us money, so I'll get somebody to deal with them when we have yard time, but apart from that, we have a pretty easy day" The girls all lean in to hear Santana's hushed whisper.
"So we don't have any real business to attend to?" Mercedes' question's leaning into Santana.
"Correct Mercedes, Why can't you be happy that you don't have to do jack shit today?" Santana says bringing her hands up to rub her temples. She's clearly not in a good mood today either. "Please Mercedes I'm not in the mood to play games today, it's far too early for that crap."
"I was just asking San, It's no big deal." Mercedes tell's Santana. "But to be honest, I'm going to get really bored, doing nothing all day. I'm going to talk to Tina and see if there's anything we should know about, I'll catch ya later." And with that Mercedes was off finding Tina.
Santana turns to attention to Quinn when she hears her mumble something.
"What was that Quinn?" She says turning towards her.
"I said, I wish I had some damn crispy bacon right now."
Santana's out in the yard, hanging out on the bleachers with Quinn and Lauren. If she stares at the clouds in the sky long enough it's almost like she's not even in prison, she can momentarily forget all her responsibilities, she was getting lost in the shapes the cloud's make when Mercedes walks up to them.
"As it turns out Tina had some valuable information, the prison is accepting more inmates sometime soon. I think we're only getting something like twelve newbies, so I'm guessing they are going to be pinched up pretty quick. What should we do San?"
Santana sitting up from her laying position ponders this question a while before responding "Simple, nothing. As you said, they are going to be targeted and taken under someone's wing before you can say Blood Ring. This prison hasn't had any new inmates in over two months. The other smaller gangs are trying to build up their population within the prison, we will still exceed them if hypothetically one gang managed to grab all twelve." Santana takes a deep breathe in before continuing "Honestly, it's not worth our time, but if any of you three want to have a little fun with a newbie, go ahead, I'm not going to stop you, but do not offer them protection from the ring. Because it won't happen." Santana finishes her orders firmly before she goes back to her resting her head on the bleachers, staring up at the clouds.
Quinn looks up at Mercedes raising an eyebrow "Santana, I think you need to get laid." She says finally turning her head towards Santana smiling.
"You bet your skinny blonde ass I do."