Barred: Chapter 1

Welcome to Prison

Innocent Attractions

I pry the cage as best as I can, but the demons won't let me out. They consume me; holding down with steal chains as if I were a monster. I'm no monster. Monsters are creatures, ugly creatures, who prey on the innocent and don't give a care about who their victims are, young or old. I'm no monster. I don't prey on the innocent. I don't mingle with the darker side of the world. I didn't molest anyone. I did nothing wrong. They can't keep me here forever.

I look outside the caged window, hoping for some reason as to why I was even in this mess. It didn't make sense; I see no crime in the things I've done. It was just infuriating to me that they could keep me here. 102 days; that's how long I'd been locked up. My cell mate was passed out from hunger. He's refusing to eat until he was allowed to see his partner. He was here for the same reason I was; he had no idea what he'd done wrong. I brush the grease from my hair. I hadn't showered in two days. The piping was broken. It was the most grandiose thing I'd ever experienced or felt, but I managed somehow. He suddenly wakes up, his eyes look tired and worn. "How long have I been asleep," he asks weakly.

"About four hours," I respond. "The guards walked passed to make sure you were still breathing. I told them I just checked on you." I don't turn towards him when I talk; I just stare at the guards on the lower floor, checking every room to make sure the prisoners are in check. "You might as well eat. They aren't going to let you see him just as they aren't going to let me."

"But I wasn't doing anything wrong," he shouts. "It was a consensual relationship. I promise it was. They charged me for nothing."

He continues to rant. I fall back into a state of thought. I knew exactly how he felt. Betrayed, trapped, and utterly defeated. I already tried to revolt against them. I'll be in here an extra six months because of it. I have 10 years to go plus the bonus six months for attacking one of the guards who hit me and called me a pedophile. I'm no pedophile. I'm not. He was 16, I was, at the time, 20. There is nothing wrong with that. But no, the authorities had to get involved, had to threaten him, and made him confess as to when the sexual relations actually started; when he was 14 and I was 18. It's not fair. It's completely unethical for them to hold me against my will, but the jury didn't listen to me when I told them about how they threatened me. No one does once they mark your record permanently.

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The dinner bell rings at 6:30 precisely. The gates are unlocked but not open. Anyone caught opening spends a night in "the hole", otherwise known as isolation. Maximum security policy I figure. My holding cell is on the second floor nearest the stairs. The guard opens the door, my roommate still refusing to get out of bed. I roll my eyes as another guard handcuffs me and leads me out of the room. I wait for my roommate to finally get up after being threatened with three nights in isolation. He knows better than not to spend any nights in there at all. He's handcuffed and chained to mine, and we follow. One cell after another until we reach the stairs again. Then, like an army in step and time, we march down the stairs towards the cafeteria. The guards, once every prisoner is in, shut the doors and lock them. The cafeteria staff is waiting, unemotional looks on their faces. I make my way towards the line. "Hi, Diane," I say to one of them. "What's the special for today?"

"Homemade chilly," she answers. I knew Diane before I went to prison. Her and my mom became friends years back. I can't recall the exact story. I only know that Diane introduced my mom to my dad. That's about it. She believes that I was innocent. She's probably the only person that knows the full truth. "I cooked it myself. Added some spices to give it a bit of a zing to it. How you been holding up," she asks.

"I've been better. 102 days of my 10-year sentence and already, I've grown accustom to the brutality behind bars. Not to mention some of the more vicious criminals who are stuck in here for life. It's not as bad as D-wing though."

"I saw your brother today. He told me to tell you he loves you and is sorry. Why don't you give him a call or try to get visitation rights. Something."

"I can't call my victim."

Diane just looks at her feet. She hates when I get that way, especially when she knows the full truth about me and my brother. She's probably the only one that does know the truth. "Look, I know your brother did betray you in a sense, but he didn't have much of a choice either. They threatened to ask for the death penalty if he didn't speak up. I don't know how the police got away with it, but they did. I think they scared him into it."

"You are one of few who'd agree with that." I move my hair away from my face. "I'll talk to you tomorrow I guess. Oh and just so you know, I can't see him until he's 18. I've got another year to wait for that."

Diane smiles as best as she can fake. She tries to remain positive for me, even though she knows the situation is more bleak than even she'd like to admit. I've got to hand it to her though; she's been good to me the past 102 days. My first day here, she left me a cookie wrapped up in a paper towel with a note from Sasuke. It was sweet relief. She's the kind of person that does that for me. I go back over to my cell mate, who sits at the table and stares at the others eating. "Renji, you've got to eat something."

He knows I'm being serious; I don't address him by his first name unless I'm upset or serious. "I will when I get my visitation rights to see him. Until then, I'm refusing."

"But you have another…year and four months to wait until he can. Do you seriously want him to come in and see you bone-thin, weighing only 110 lbs and looking like an anorexic-bulimic model? I'm not thinking so. Just eat something."

He looks at my chilly, thinks about it for a moment, then finally gets up and heads towards the line. I smile at him. He's mindless, I think to myself. I fiddle with my food and spot a note under my tray. I wait for the guards nearest to me get distracted with something else before I open it. They never do. I figure it's best to read it once I get back to my cell and when the guards go around and announce lights out. I stuff the note into my black suit, hoping it doesn't fall out. I wait for Renji to return before I even begin to eat. He has a small bowl of food in front of him. "I can't start with a huge tray full. I haven't eaten for…almost 5 months. It wouldn't be smart to eat and just throw it all back up."

I smile at him. He's the type of guy I'd have been friends with outside the prison walls. He had the most interesting hair color; blond with black streaks running through it. And that was his natural hair color too. His eyes were a piercing ice blue with a darker blue ring circling around the pupil. It was almost impossible not to make any sort of eye contact with him with eyes that incredible. Looking in comparison to me, and I was nothing more than an average joe. My hair was like a crows feather, as I've been told. It was long, straight, and went down my back. Most of the time, I tied it back. It was a bother to have it hang in my face to be honest. My eyes were onyx; literally onyx. They had a shine to them, as Sasuke has said, but they were always black and nothing else. The guards announced dinner was over. I stand up to throw the excess food in the garbage, put my tray with the others, gather my friend who was about ready to puke sitting on the chair, and walk in line with the others. Renji is nearly ready to barf all over the walls. I look over at the guard. He asks me what was wrong. "It's the first time he's eaten in…about 100 or more days. I'm not sure exactly. He needs medical attention."

The guards give Renji another look. They escort him out of line. "You come with us," he says. "We'll walk him to the infirmary."

I nod, following them. I had a hold of one side, the younger guard with short, light brown hair had the other. Renji nearly passed out as we run across the courtyard. The infirmary is on the other side of the prison. He looks up. "We need to stop," he announces. The guard and I let him go. He walks over to the trash cans near the basketball courts, holds his hands on the edges, and vomits. I have to look away; vomit makes me feel nauseous. It's obvious the guard, who I later learn his name is Kyba, is always a little sickened by the site. Renji walks back over to us and lifts his arms. "All right. Let's go."

I smile and grab his shoulders. I could smell the putrid smell on Renji. Apparently some had missed the trash can and made it on his shirt. The smell was revolting, but we were almost there. I had only a few feet to go before we'd open the door, throw in him, tell the nurse what happened, and I would be free from the smell. Renji looks more relaxed now; somber in a way. I guess as somber as you can look after you puke your brains out. Kyba opens the door, helping me haul him into the white-painted room. The doctor turns around and looks at Renji, looks at me, and looks at the guard. All three of us are sweaty and two of us, you can guess who, are covered with grease and smell of cafeteria food. "So which one of you is sick," she asks in a sarcastic voice.

Kyba rolls his eyes. "He is," he says, pointing to Renji but careful to make sure he didn't stand too close. The smell was still revolting. "He hasn't eaten in more than 100 days and he tried to eat some chilly during dinner. Needless to say, he vomited on the way here."

"All right. I'll have him better in about a week. He'll need to stay here though." She looked over at me. "You might want to stay here too. It looks like there's a cut on your arm that's starting to get infected."

I looked at my arm, not sure what she was talking about. Sure enough, a nice size cut was on my arm. Probably when I was trying to help Renji up and cut myself on the shards on his bed. Renji had a tendency to punch things in his sleep. Nails and sharp splinters stuck out on the sides of his bed. I don't even remember getting cut. But I guess it was for the best. It'd be easier to look at the moon tonight. Kyba walks back to the other guards. "Strip your shirt and take a seat on the bed. I'll be with you in a minute. I need to grab some food for him. His stomach acid is intense right now due to the fact he hasn't eaten. I'll be right back to get some bread. I trust you two not to escape." She looked genuine with her trust. I decided to honor that trust. Once she got back, she smiled when she saw me look over at her. Pieces of bread were in her arms, along with some more chilly to possibly see if Renji could hold it down. When she got the food down his throat, she walks over to me. "All right. This isn't going to feel great, but I probably need to draw blood to make sure you don't have a blood infection. If you do, you'll be in the hospital for a couple weeks." She grabs a needle from the white cabinet. Sterilizing it, she sticks the needle in my arm. I try to ignore the fact that I'm scared of needles; more so than most people would think. Once she's done, I breathe out. She then looks at the wound and cleans it with hydrogen peroxide. "So you're this guys cell mate? Why didn't you tell him to eat?"

"I've tried to," I admit. "But he's pretty hard-headed." I see Renji sit up and look at me. He continues eating his bread.

"Well he's lost nearly a third of his weight. You're lucky you brought him to me. I don't know how much longer he would've had. I'll have to take him to the hospital if he can't hold down the bread. I don't expect him to eat the chilly tonight."

She goes back to where the needle is and runs some tests on it. "It looks like you're getting lucky this time. There's no blood poisoning, but you're wound is completely covered in bacteria. You'll have to stay here overnight for a couple days until I can get the infection gone. In the meantime, you sit here and wait. I need to tell the others that I have to take your friend to the hospital. He's throwing up again. This has been the most interesting thing that's happened in one day. The last time I had someone in here was when a prisoner got his braces caught on another prisoners shirt. It was pretty weird."

She then leaves the room, again trusting me not to try and escape through the door or through the window. I look outside. The sky is an orange-pink color. Sunset is obviously occurring. I wish I'd been allowed to bring my camera. I would've been taking pictures of this. I love scenes like this. It's hard to see the sunset through the barred windows. Most of the time though, I'm usually too much in thought to think of looking at the sunset. I'm usually lost in my thoughts. I don't really understand why; I guess it makes it easier to deal with the fact that I'm behind bars. I don't notice the nurse getting back. I don't notice when she talks to me about trying to get some sleep. I don't notice when she takes Renji to the hospital and asks a guard just to watch the door until I fall asleep. I assume she does trust me; I just think the guards were getting suspicious of her leaving me alone. Knowing my history, they have some right to be I guess. Kyba is the one watching me. He rests against the door. "Why are you in prison," he randomly asks. "I mean, I've heard of the Uchiha family and stuff, but I didn't really know what happened to you."

I don't look at him. My back is towards him. "I got caught with my partner. He was only 16 at the time. I guess you could say they thought I was much older than I was. I mean, it was legal. He was at the age of consent at the time. But the police decided to threaten him and Sasuke told the truth about the relationship. About how we really started having sex when he was 14. I guess the police didn't like that much so they booked me, charged me incest and sexual assault on a minor." I say it to the point it sounds almost unemotional.

Kyba remains silent. He clears his throat and swallows back the nerves in his throat. I smile. He's apparently new at the job. Probably has been only working here a couple months. He doesn't look like he could be a day over 28. "You're not really guilty, are you?" I'm startled by that comment. So much so I have to turn around to face him. "You don't have that guilty look on your face a lot of people in here do. You're not wearing your crime on your face."

I smile nervously. "I don't think I did anything wrong. The government does. I guess my opinion compared to theirs mean nothing. You must be new here. You don't seem like you've been here very long."

"I started the day you were sent here. I've worked here 103 days."

"Like I said, young."

"I'm not used to associating with criminals, even if I don't think they look guilty."

"Well I'm not used to associating with a guard who will actually look at me and look past the prison uniform and think of me as nothing more than a child molester. It's a nice break though." I hear the doctor coming up the lawn. "You might want to go. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone that you were talking to a convicted sex offender."

Kyba laughs, stands straight up, and waits for the doctor to return. She opens the door and shoos him away. She wraps my arm up in bandaging before telling me to sleep. "I'll send you back to your cell tomorrow. I just want to make sure you're wound will heal properly. I'll see you after your lunch time tomorrow to monitor it's progress and change the bandaging. Now get some sleep. Kyba will be standing outside your door. I need to return to my own home." With that, she puts her things together and leaves.

I walk over to the bed and lie myself down. It's more comfortable than the cots the cells have. I make a mental note to myself that I need to enjoy this while I still have it. I might not get to stay in here again for a while. I look out the window. The moon is crescent shaped tonight, kind of smiling. It's peaceful. I quickly fall asleep. I'm immediately thrown back to myself at the age of 18, just months before any of this happened.