We're getting closer and closer to THE PLOT! I keep being vague about it, even though the description gives it away. Oh well. Now that Daryan and his cellmate are at the table even MORE shenanigans can happen! Yay! Also, we're going to catch a glimpse of one of the darker secrets of the prison.

Chapter 12 – The Silence Room

"I really wish they would stop sending me this stupid drug," Shuu muttered as Kristoph lounged on one of the beds nearby, "I have no idea how to get rid of it besides dumping it down the drain. None of the prisoners have come to me saying they have trouble sleeping, and even if they did I still wouldn't give this junk to them."

"Maybe you should trick the guards into taking them," Kristoph suggested mischievously, "We could start a prison riot."

Shuu chuckled and shut the medicine cabinet before locking it with a key attached to his belt. He turned back to Kristoph. "Are you trying to start something?" he asked.

"Who, me?" Kristoph replied innocently, "Never!" Shuu scoffed but said nothing. "By the way, thanks for letting me hang out here while you work. I couldn't stand being around Matt Engarde for another moment."

"Of course," Shuu said with a small smile, "You're one of the only people, prisoners or otherwise, I actually find tolerable. You make a pleasant conversation."

"Thank you," Kristoph murmured. This was technically supposed to be a doctor's visit, but there wasn't really much to discuss about his health from last time so Shuu just allowed him to hang out until he had to go back to his cell. For which Kristoph was grateful.

"So, why did you decide to come work at the prison?" he decided to ask the doctor, "Your old job just not exciting enough for you?"

"Partially," Shuu replied, "I used to work at the one of the main hospitals in the city, but I found the work dull and unstimulating, so I came here. I figured working with prisoners would provide me with more of a thrill." He turned to Kristoph with a grin. "Turns out I was right."

Kristoph couldn't tell what he was really implying by that, but he chose not to ask. "What kind of ailments do the prisoners have, may I ask?" he said instead.

"Now, now, you know better than to ask me that," Shuu tsked at him, "Doctor patient confidentiality and all that. Though one of the inmates constantly falls under the delusion that he thinks he's a dolphin. Very sad. And hilarious."

Snickering, Kristoph looked around the room. Shuu's bird was sleeping on its perch in the corner. He wondered how he had managed to get it to be so well trained.

"Are there any other reasons why you decided to come to the prison?" Kristoph wondered, recalling that he seemed to have another reason.

"Oh, yes," Shuu responded, "I came here to get away from a woman who wouldn't stop flirting with me. It was rather annoying and not very conducive to a good work environment. So I left."

"Mm… I can relate a bit," Kristoph said, "I recall having a few employees hit on me quite a bit when I still had a law office. When disciplining them didn't work I had to unfortunately fire them."

Shuu opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it and closed it. Instead he just nodded and made some non-committal noise. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but at that moment there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, Andy Howe entered and Kristoph couldn't help but scowl slightly.

Of course he was the one who was escorting him back to his cell.

"Gavin," Howe growled, "Back to your cell."

Kristoph hissed with annoyance but stood up and walked over to the guard. Howe grabbed his wrists, squeezing them rather hard as he locked the shackles around them and Kristoph flinched. They heard Shuu tsk.

"Don't hurt him too bad, sir," he called, "Or he'll be back here sooner than I would like."

"Don't tell me what to do," Howe snapped at Shuu, "Know your place doctor!"

Shuu's expression darkened as Howe dragged Kristoph from the room. He roughly pulled Kristoph down the hall towards his cell, barely slowing down to let him catch up.

"You getting friendly with the doctor there, Gavin?" Howe asked snidely. Kristoph didn't reply, instead choosing to focus on not falling over. "Like anyone ever be interested in worthless murderer like you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kristoph muttered. He really didn't. He and the doctor were merely acquaintances at best. Sure, out of every single person in the prison Shuu was the only one Kristoph was actually interested in befriending, but there was nothing wrong with that, right?

They arrived back at the cells where Howe unlocked Kristoph's shackles then practically threw into Matt. He slammed the door shut behind him. Kristoph glared after the guard before going over to his cot and sitting down.

"Why is that guy so nasty to you?" Engarde wondered.

"I don't know," Kristoph sighed, "As far as I know I didn't do anything to him in yet he insists on tormenting me. He seems to focus solely on me."

Matt went over and sat down next to him. He leaned over and rested his head on Kristoph's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. He tensed when Matt whispered in his ear.

"I would never treat you that way," he murmured lowly and seductively, "I would treat you nice and gently… and with fiery passion."

Kristoph made a noise of disgust and pushed him away. Matt chuckled. "Come on, babe! Don't be like that! Come on! How about a kiss?" Kristoph scowled at him.

"Stay away from me," he warned. Matt gave him a sexy grin but thankfully backed away.

It wasn't long after that when the prisoners were escorted to dinner. Kristoph sat in between Frank and Richard, making sure that Engarde couldn't sit next to him. He was sure Wellington was relieved to get some time away from his cellmate as well.

For some reason it seemed like Furio Tigre was especially on edge today. Kristoph could see his finger tapping in irritability and if he cared more he would probably ask what was wrong.

Luckily, he didn't have to. "Is something wrong, Furio?" Misty asked the large man, "You seem… upset today."

"Nngh," Tigre made a noise of annoyance, "I didn't get a lotta sleep last night. A certain someone kept me up wit' his lousy singin' an' wouldn't shut up!" He leaned over the table to glare straight at Luke Atmey.

Atmey remained blissfully unaware, chewing his meal, until he suddenly realized everyone was staring at him. "What? What did I do?" he wondered.

"I just told you!" Tigre growled, "You wouldn't stop singin' an' it kept me up last night!"

Luke scoffed. "You are making excuses," he dismissed, "No one else is bothered by it."

Richard nearly choked on his food. "You're joking, right Atmey?" he asked in disbelief, "I tell you nearly every night to put a sock in it!" The Ace Detective ignored him.

"Besides, you are just jealous that your beauty sleep turns into an ugly sleep while mine turns me into the devilishly debonair divine uh… man you see before you!" Atmey bragged.

That seemed to break Tigre. With a roar, he jumped up from his seat and leapt at Luke, growling like a tiger, fingers outstretched. Plates and food went flying everywhere as he went for Atmey's throat and the others just barely got out of the way in time. Luke had just enough time to let out a scream of fright before Tigre was knocking him to the floor.

A furious fight broke out between the two. Or more accurately, Tigre started pummeling Luke. While Kristoph tried to ignore them, the others at the table egged them on. However, it didn't go on for very long before about twenty guards came rushing out and tackled Furio to the ground.

"Grrr! Let me go! Let me go! I din' do anything!" Tigre growled as the guards dragged him off of Atmey and carried him away. Kristoph watched them go with curiosity. Where were they taking him?

"And they never saw him again," Gant said ominously with a big smile on his face.

"Can someone please help me off the floor and escort me to the doctor?" Luke Atmey called from where none of the guards had bothered helping him.

When the prisoners went to sleep that night, Tigre still had not returned from wherever the guards had taken him. A feeling of dread filled Kristoph but he hoped he was worrying over nothing. Hopefully Tigre was just in solitary confinement for the night.

Luke Atmey was also still in the doctor's office, so thankfully the block was spared from his obnoxious singing for the night. As Kristoph laid down to sleep he was sure there would be nothing unusual about tomorrow.

When Kristoph woke up it was awfully quiet. Which was very strange. Usually it was rather noisy in the morning. Did Tigre and Atmey not come back yet? Opening his eyes, Kristoph sat up and looked around at the other cells. He could see that Atmey was in his cell asleep. But Tigre was still gone.

"Interested in my cellmate, Gavvy?" Gant called across to him.

"Is he still gone?" Kristoph wondered.

"Yep. He hasn't been back all night," Gant replied but sounded rather unconcerned, "Don't know where they took him. We may never see him again."

"Oh stop with that ominous nonsense!" Daryan called in annoyance, "They probably just put him in solitary confinement for the night!"

As much as he hated to admit it, Daryan was probably right. Just as he was thinking this they were all let out for breakfast. Of course as much as he didn't want it, the usual people sat down with Kristoph.

They were all surprised when the guards escorted Furio Tigre in. And he looked different. His eyes were wide open and fearful. He was cowering slightly, as if afraid that something would attack him. He was definitely not the loud and terrifying man he had been yesterday. There were four guards surrounding him, but it was clear that they were not needed. They brought him over to the others and sat him down next to Gant.

"Now, play nice, Tigre," Howe said in a slightly sinister voice. Then the guards left.

Everyone stared at him, wanting to speaking, but no one daring to ask the question. Finally, though, someone took the plunge.

"What happened to you?" Sahwit asked, "You look like you've seen the ghost of someone you murdered and they told you they would haunt your nightmares! Did that happen to you as well? Because it gets better over time."

"I think that's just you, Sahwsy," Gant pointed out.

Tigre stared blankly at them. "Th-The horror," he whispered, "S-So much p-pain and screamin'."

Gant turned and gave him a confused look. "What was that, Tigey?" he wondered, holding a hand up to his ear, "Didn't quite catch that."

"N-Never go back," Tigre continued, ignoring Gant, "D-Don't let me g-go back. I'll be g-good. I-I promise. D-Don't t-take me back th-there. The Silence Room. C-Can't hear anythin'."

Kristoph felt a sinking feel in his stomach. The Silence Room? What was that? It sounded so… ominous. And foreboding. Normally he liked silence but when it was used in context to something that was obviously some sort of torture room… Kristoph couldn't even imagine what it was like in there.

The other inmates stared at Tigre with wide eyes, obviously concerned. What did they do to him?

"I think we should give Tigre here some time to recover," Godot suggested, "He's obviously been through a lot. We don't want to upset him more."

The others mumbled their agreement. "But what about Luke Atmey?" the man in question piped up, "I was nearly beaten into a pulp yesterday by that brute of a man! Where's my sympathy?"

"SHUT UP, ATMEY!" the entire table yelled at him.

I like ending chapters on funny lines. So that's where I'm going to end this one. I only have one major thing left to do before the mystery finally hits but it probably won't happen in the next chapter. Probably the one after the next chapter. Anyway, what do you think the Silence Room is? Please leave a comment and let me know your theories!