Staring into the mirror, Selena brought the makeup brush to her neck, using a heavy amount of foundation to cover Leon's grip marks that left their print on Selena's tan skin.

Each time the brush touched her neck, she would wince and inhale a sharp breath. She fit this into her morning routine for last two days and almost every time she went to remove the makeup or apply it, she teared up.

It's been years since the last time a man abused her, and Selena didn't want her best friend to go through that for the rest of her life, but what could she do?

She put her makeup away and left the bathroom, almost bumping into Dylan who had his arms folded and brows pinched together.

"What's up with you, babe?" She asked, tilting his chin up to see his sky blue eyes filled with clouds of anger.

Before Dylan could answer, Naomi walked up beside them and answered for her brother. "Cause he got in trouble at school cause he sat in Christopher's seat and he wouldn't get up and now he can't play at recess until next week." She babbled.

Dylan growled and turned around towards Naomi. "It wasn't his seat!" He then shoved Naomi onto the ground, making her jump back up and push him as hard as she could.

Selena grabbed Dylan by the hood of his hoodie and held Naomi back with her arm. "If you two don't stop, the both of you will regret it." She warned, getting them to stop.

After exhaling a harsh breath from her nose, she looked down at Dylan. "Why didn't you just avoid the whole situation and just get out of his seat, huh?"

"Because it's not his seat."

"You don't have assigned seats?"

"No." He muttered, focusing on the floor.

"So, why can't you play at recess?"

Dylan shrugged hard. "I don't know."

Naomi then butted in again as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Cause Ms. Maggie told him to get out of Christopher's seat and he didn't."

"But mama, that's only cause he didn't say please and he was being mean and Ms. Maggie didn't say it in a nice way, so I didn't move. It's not even his seat."

Selena shook her head and glanced at her daughter. "How do you know about all this Nye?" She asked, curiously eying her.

"Marissa told me." She chorused.

"Alright, go get started on your homework." Once Selena seen that Naomi was in her room, she combed her fingers through Dylan's ruffled hair. "Tomorrow, you can go and play and if Ms. Maggie says something to you then you tell her that I said you can play and if that's to much of a problem for her then she can call me and I'll talk to her myself."

Dylan's face softened. "But what if she gets mad and tells me to sit in time out?"

Selena's brows arched. "You gonna listen to her or are you gonna listen to me?"

"You."

"Okay, then. You start on your homework too." She gave him a soft pat on his back and before he walked into his room, she called his name.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Don't get on that game."

"Wha-? How come?"

"Cause you pushed your sister, now go do your homework."

Dylan knew better than to respond any other way other than just a nod and doing what he was told to do. With the dog following behind him, he closed the door, leaving Selena out in the hallway.

Letting out a huff of laughter, she went into her room then out on the balcony with her laptop in her lap as she rested in the lounge chair. The breeze softly whispered in her ear as she put her curls into a ponytail.

Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she clicked and typed until she found herself on the prisons website. She searched for Jack's status, but nothing came up and she was sure that he was still in solitary confinement, but she needed to make sure.

Selena called the prison, her leg bouncing uncontrollably until someone picked up. It was the same woman at the counter and she knew cause that voice was unforgettable - the only thing that came to mind every time she heard her was the slug from Monsters Inc.

"Hello." She answered

"Hi, I'd like to know if my husband was still in solitary confinement?"

"Number?"

"602205, Jack Mercer." Selena always made sure she said his name and not just his number, because he was a person who had a name and that's what he should be called by.

"He's still in solitary confinement."

"Okay, I've been writing to him and he's not getting any of my letters and I know cause he isn't writing me back."

"Not our problem. That's the guards problem. Have a good day."

Selena started to say something, but she had already hung up.

This was getting ridiculous and Selena had enough of it, she needed to have some type of communication with Jack which was more important on his part. She didn't want him to lose his mind and start to hallucinate and forget that there is still a reality outside of his cell.

Human contact was what Jack yearned for the most. Just a simple hand shake was all he needed. He felt like he was starving to death without it, and he didn't know how to stop himself from believing that he was the only thing that existed. Everything around him was quickly becoming a story to him.

This life he was living now couldn't be real, it couldn't be. A life without skin on skin contact. A life where his name became a number. A life where he woke up and relived the same day over and over and over again.

He couldn't even remember the last time he opened his mouth to speak. There was nothing to say and no one to talk to, and even if there was, he wasn't allowed to.

The smallest things were starting to tick him off, but Jack knew that if he acted on any of those things, then the worst would come, but he knew this wasn't going to last much longer.

Jack dragged his nails back and forth against the concrete wall, filing them down to the tip of his finger. He then wiped the dust on his dark blue pants before resting his forehead against the wall, restraining himself from banging it against it.

His head snapped to the door when he heard the slamming of the tray against the steel. As Jack stood up to get his food, before he could take two steps, the tray fiercely slid through the slot and onto the floor.

Two pieces of bologna and cheese were now soaked in the spilled milk that leaked from a hole in the carton. The stiff and dry ball of mystery meat had rolled to a stop at Jack's feet.

As his eyes fixed on the spread out and soaked fiood on the floor, Jack felt his skin get flushed hot and his pulse beat firm under his skin.

"Hey!You threw my damn food on the floor!" He yelled, walking closer to the door and stepping over the food.

Yates back was facing the door and Jack knew he could hear him. He huffed through his nose then brought his fist to the window to start banging on it.

Yates turned around with a scowl on his face. "Stop banging on the fucking window!" He shouted at him.

Jack's hands dropped to his side, but his knife cutting glare remained glued to his face. "You shoved the damn tray to hard and now my food is on the floor." He bellowed. "I can't eat that. It's soaked in milk!"

Yates banged his fist against the window, making Jack flinch a bit. "Aye! That's not my damn problem and I don't have shit to do with that. Eat it or starve, cause your next meal ain't until three in the morning."

Jack was done swallowing his retorts and he was done being treated like an animal. They wanted to treat him like one, that's exactly what they were gonna get.

Bending down, he grabbed the tray and then hurled it at the window. He then threw the bologna and cheese, getting it to stick to the glass.

Jack watched as Yates gained a smoldering look on his face. He then grabbed his keys and shoved it into the door.

Jack grabbed the leaking pint of milk, his knuckles turning a ghostly white around it. Once the door flew open, he chucked it at Yates. The carton splitting open and the milk covering his grimaced face.

"You think cause you're famous you can get away with this bullshit?" Yates used the sleeve of his uniform to wipe his face. "You're on my playground now and don't you forget that."

Before Jack knew it, his body was slammed against the cold tiles and he seen Yates draw his baton. Quick as he seen it, he felt sharp stings against his bones and the only thing he could do was wish to slip the skin of his life.

Starts burst in his vision and he swore his life was flashing in front of his eyes.

Every place he's ever known. Every face he's ever loved. Every hand he's ever touched...It all seemed like a dream and none of it ever happened - and in any second of this brutal beating, he'd wake up in his bed back home in Detroit. And he would be eleven years old again and he'll hear his brothers watching a tight hockey game downstairs whilst his mother sat on the edge of his bed, her smile welcoming and her embrace warm.

But this was what was real. The blood filling his mouth and dripping onto the floor. This was his reality, and this was what he had to accept.

With each movement he made, Jack felt the sharp pain that made him think his bones were broken. The bruises on his skin were long and thin, just like baton Yates used.

Jack laid in the same spot where he was beat, next to the small puddle of blood that he spit out, unable to move.

He got an extra ten days in prison, but he didn't care, not anymore.

Lifting his arm just for his hand to touch his eyebrow took forever. Once his fingertips touched his brow, he winced and felt his finger get wet and he knew he was bleeding there too.

Another five minutes passed and Jack still didn't move, until something caught his eye. Something thin and small flew into the slot and lightly fell on the floor as he heard Officer Fonsi mutter Jack's last name.

Hissing in pain, he only moved his arm to grab whatever it was, patting around the floor until his palm touched it and slid it back towards him.

It was an envelope and he knew then that it was a letter. It must've been one of Fansi's good days cause that's when he only took letters and delivered them, other than that, everyone was shit outta luck.

Jack opened the envelope and began to read the ink written words.

This isn't a poem, & I'm sorry that I didn't write one. I had to pay one of the officers for this to actually get to

you & hopefully it did. But I want you to know that no matter what, I will always be here for you & that I love you unconditionally. I pray for you every night before I go to bed, and I make sure Dylan and Naomi does to. I know it must be hell in there & I just want you to remember that when you get out, things are going to be okay & you won't have to go back. When you get out, I will be there, no matter who you come out as... I won't give up on you. I will do my absolute best to understand what you're going through in there. I will not let you believe that you are in this alone, because as I have told you before, your demons will be mine to fight too. The kids miss you as well, but they're doing okay. Just stay strong for me in there & I'll do the same for you out here. I'll keep you in my prayers until we meet again. We love you.

- Your Love, Sel

Jack reached in the envelope and pulled out three polaroids of Dylan, Naomi, and Selena.

Jack felt a wave of calmness come over him. He smiled for the first time since her last letter, and he knew once he got out of this shithole, everything was going to be okay. It has to be okay.

But as of now, nothing was okay. And now, he didn't even know himself. He was the ghost of a person, living, yet not completely alive.