Just a quick mention, I own none of these characters or this original story in general. Stephan King does and this… this is this. Not really sure what to call it but, enjoy.
A Correctional facility is a place where criminals are rehabilitated to be honest, working men of this floating dirt mass. Anything from illegal use of magic to attempting to raise the dead were in here. We were the bad apples that ruined it for the rest, and only a handful of us were sorry. Inside these walls and stripped of our powers we became this place; changed how we thought to suit this plastic bubble we call Shawshank.
Yes I said plastic, and not just your empty coke bottle type plastic either, specially coated in a hundred different kinds of magic plastic. Tank repellent, magic repellent, it was even repellent to the sun's rays. So although we have light to guide us to the exercise yard, there was not one tan son of a bitch in our little home. A man could go mad lying in the sun and not feeling the warmth on his skin, seeing freedom but not being able to touch it. One man did, Jacob Hayworth ran buck naked through the giant orb screaming to God, or whoever he thought was listening, "I am yours! I am energy! Accept me back into your warmth!" It took a whole six minutes to wrangle him even with the whips, slipperier then a greased up pig that one. Rumor was he was some sort of politician, got caught snuffing ash. No wonder it took him less than a week to lose his marbles, if you're doing ash, you don't have a lot of them to being with.
Besides a few crazies like Jake, days went on like normal. Wake up, eat your cruddy, just add water porridge, and shuffle on to whatever tasks were to be done. None of us really made much of a fuss, inside the bubble we had no powers, we can no longer heal half as fast as we used to, and honestly half as much ambition to raise hell. The guards were humans with just enough power to concentrate a whip and beat you senseless for talking back. That's what made being in this clear prison so insufferable, the men whipping their initials into your back wouldn't stand a chance from us, the lucid.
The lucid, outside that meant something. It meant that we could manifest our own life force into any object. Different letters symbolized different types. Type A meant you had a brute spirit; usually these types were into forming hammers, axes, and most often than not swords. Not me though, I'm a type B, I can form a key to fit any lock, fine tools that come in real handy if you're fixing a safe or fixing to rob a safe. Then there is of course type C, special types. These men were highly coveted with the abilities to create animals, stop trains; some of them could even inject their spirit energy into someone else and manipulate them as if a puppet. And if I had to guess, I'd say that's what Andy was. He never would tell me about it, just say that it was troublesome. Definitely type C.
It's about time I tell you about my now very good friend Andy Dufresne. He arrived about three years after I came. I wish I could tell you from the moment I saw him I knew we were going to be the best of friends but you just can't tell that by looking at a man. He was tall, about six feet I'd say, short, white blonde hair, with dark brown eyes. He walked slow, looking up at the sun with a slight grin and just kept walking. I always thought how strange it had been that his first day in a place like this he had been grinning, if only slightly.
Andy was in for the murder of his wife and her lover, of course he claimed he was framed. He had gone to the house that night with the intention of killing himself right on the front porch he said, blow his brains out and no harm done. Except to Andy of course. The jury didn't believe him, they said if he wanted to kill himself why would he go all the way to his wife's house, "I guess I wanted to make a lasting impression," Andy said in a clear, concise manner. The jury must have thought he was kidding in that dark serial killer type of way. He lost quite a few points for that. Needless to say the rest of the trial went on like that. He must've been a type C, no one fully trusts a special type beside other special types.
It didn't take him long to understand how the shank works. A couple weeks later he came up to me and simply stated, "I need some things." I must've gawked at him because he smiled politely and apologized, "I'm sorry I'm a bit new to this." I smiled, "What kind of things?" "Could you get me some iron dust?" Iron dust was not a usual request. It felt like sand but it was a powerful mix of magic and raw energy. In the wrong hands it could be a bomb, in the right hands it could be an endless stream. Few knew how to use it and even fewer touched it. "Botany." He said without a touch of red to his cheeks. "You like flowers?" The corners of his mouth twitched up. "Can you get it for me?"
"It'll take a week and I'm sure more money then you have."
"How much?" He waited calmly for a response.
"100 Lit, plus my fee, about 105 Lit."
He handed me the money, "Thank you." Andy Dufresne was tricky like that.
As the years went on, Andy and I became close. We worked in the laundry room together, talked about how we got in here. I know I'm not a windbag, but Andy made you feel comfortable, like an unspoken bond that said, this doesn't leave the room. Why am I in here? I spoke a forbidden spell to murder my wife. I won't even try to make it sound like I was some sort of tortured victim, that this isn't any of my fault. I hated that woman so entirely that one day I just snapped. You'd be surprised at how easy it is after years of bitching, and lying, and abuse it is to just snap back. Yes I said abuse, yes it was physical, of course I never fought back, and she always did talk about my lack of spine. When I first got here I'd babble on about how I got the last laugh. And I would laugh after I told my story, Ha-ha. Christ I belong in here.
Andy seemed to fit in with just about everyone, even the guards. He had been an accountant outside, and he used his abilities in here. At first it was just one particular watchman, Kelly Finnegan, helping him set up a college fund for his daughter. After a while all the watch wanted help with an account here or a stock purchase there. Even the warden got in on it.
Warden Lawrence Iblis was easily one of the biggest liars I've ever met. Claimed he was helping us poor, misguided men to see the light, his own words. Funny considering the man's a Vampire. I know what you're thinking, how does he live here and not get scorched? Our beautiful plastic emporium blocks out all harmful rays that might burn up our precious leader. I've had dreams of old Jake, buck naked, tearing the bubble in half while the warden takes his morning stroll. You don't say these things out loud though, lifers like me had a habit of getting lost on the way to visiting the old man.
The warden took a real liking to Andy; he helped out with only a request for a bigger library and a ticket out of here. Of course Iblis helped Andy; he was the warden's favorite pet. I don't think anyone could have seen what came next. About 10 years since Andy had first come to Shawshank and he had remained the same optimistic, almost free man. That is until he had overheard our most glorious leader talking about his plans for Andy. This is what I heard had happened; Andy was walking to the warden's office one day stopped short when he heard his name mentioned. Then It went something like this:
"No Mr. Dufresne is too preoccupied with his precious library to pay any mind. I know could you believe it? He thinks that this time next year I'm going to fix it so he can leave. I don't know why, he just seems so loyal. I know can you believe it? Me a maker? Did you ever think you'd see the day?" I assume Andy's heart must've stopped beating because the warden swept him up into that room and then, from what his secretary tells us, things went silent.
"Mr. Iblis, I have done all you ask, why have you chosen not to honor your word?"
"Mr. Dufresne you just don't understand, from the minute you walked in here you have belonged to our family, if you misconstrued what I said then maybe…
"You said I'd walk." His eyes boring holes into our beloved wardens face. "Those are your words. If you think I will become vampire…"
At this the warden slammed Andy down onto his desk by his neck.
"Listen here you inconsequential, little insect, you should consider yourself lucky. You will live eternally here and become my servant, or your library, and your friend Red will be no more. I felt honored to be in this threat.
"Got it?" Andy nodded solemnly, and was escorted back into his room with two giant puncture wounds gashed into his neck.
I thought he had finally been defeated. This almost free man, who had seemed to never lose his light, was broken. I watched him as he was being dragged back into his cage and he looked at me and smiled his small smile. Andy Dufresne, what a guy. Then without a moment's notice he whipped the two guards off the second floor and onto the ground with one swipe of his spirit energy. I watched in awe as he stood there with the whip, "That's impossible…" He had been hiding this ace in the hole for this one day, I couldn't believe it, and how did he have any powers? Special types, very tricky.
"C'mon Red, let's go!" For a second there I felt that instinct to look around and make sure it was me he was talking to, but then just as fast as my legs could move I ran with him all the way to…his cell. "Andy you're not very good with this whole escaping thing are you?" At that he flipped his mattress over and revealed a small sized portal. I almost fell over. "How did you…The Iron dust?!"
Andy smiled quickly before he said, "No time!" and pushed my pale ass in. Now I didn't know this, but apparently our friend Mr. Iblis came just as soon as he heard the guards screaming. He went straight to Mr. Dufresne's room right as Andy's blond head passed through the portal. I wish I could've seen his face. I really wish.
As soon as Andy was out he closed his eyes and spoke quickly, "Concrete, plastic, seal and discard." Three times he chanted and then he collapsed on the ground where I was. "You are one of a kind mister Dufresne. "How in the hell did no one notice a portal under your mattress?" I said, genuine curiosity dripping from my every word. "And how in the hell did they not detect your spirit energy?"
Andy responded in a typical Andy way, "My spirit energy allows me to completely hide anything within me, or near me, of any traces of magic. It's not because they didn't check, or lied for me, they simply saw nothing therefore nothing was there. "Then why didn't you leave when you had the chance?"
"I didn't think I needed to, I thought he'd keep his word."
"He's a vampire Andy, did you really think so?"
Andy chuckled and I did too. Then it turned into a full blown heaving and holding our side's type of laughing fit. It wasn't particularly funny but the event to what brought us here was.
After that all subsided I finally looked up, we were in a meadow; How disgustingly heartwarming. I didn't ask where we were. I didn't care if we were feet away from the shank itself. Lying here in the sun, feeling it's warmth, I breathed deep. I could see a cardinal perched in a tree from where I stood.
"Look a cardinal." I said.
"You like birds?" Andy said with a bit of amusement. And without a tinge of red on my face I just smiled and said, "Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day."