I woke up in the pitch black. How long had I been lying there? The last thing I remember was being pushed from the landing and falling three stories to the hard floor below. I slowly stood up. My whole body felt weightless. Was I dead? It was certainly possible. My teddy bear Osito lay on the floor next to me. I looked around, the darkness seemed to stretch out forever. Where was I?

"Can anyone hear me?" I shouted out into the dark. No response. I stood there for several moments, unsure what to do.

I reached down to scoop up Osito, but before I could touch him, a ball of yellow light started to glow in the distance. I froze. It seemed the only things in all of existence were myself, Osito and this strange light source. I wondered if I should investigate. Was it one of the guards looking for me, to help me? Or could the light lead to Puerco, finally coming to kill me?

Then the strangest thing happened. Osito, all of his own accord, stood up on his own two feet and started to waddle towards the light.

My mouth hung open in awe. I loved Osito, but even as a child I must have known that he was an inanimate toy. We'd been on many adventures together, but they had all been imaginary. And here he was, standing up for the first time by himself and walking. His pace picked up as he marched towards the light, his body swaying and he moved.

"Osito!" I called out to him, but he did not stop, not even slow down. "Where are you going Osito?"

I started to run towards him, I did not want to be left alone in the dark.

By the time I caught up to him, we had reached the light source, and it seemed even brighter still. Osito stood staring at the light with his button eyes, but I had to turn away, it was like staring at the sun. Intense heat radiated from the light.

"It hurts..." I mumbled. "Is someone there?"

"Only yourself," a deep, powerful voice boomed back toward me. The light dimmed slightly and I could make out the shape of a man standing in front of me, the light seemed to radiate from his body. He was enormous, larger than Puerco -larger even than Trogg. His face was stern and he stood tall. His shoulders and arms were broad and defined with thick muscle. I'd never seen anyone who looked so powerful.

"Only myself?" I repeated back to him. "But you are here!"

"We are one." He responded. "I am as you will be many years from now."

"You are me?" I asked in shock, trying to fathom what he was telling me. I wondered again if the fall had killed me, or rendered me insane.

"I am what you will become," he continued. " A physical and mental paragon. The living embodiment of human superiority. The blood of kings runs in you. The blood of your father."

I gasped. My mother never mentioned my father. I'd never even known I had one.

"The world is yours and will be yours one day," the man continued. "Men will be like cattle before you. Like sheep. For only a few may rule the many and you are one of a rare breed. Only one danger stands in the way of your mastering the world."

"What is that?" I asked him.

"Fear." He replied. "The fear that lies at the heart. Only this can keep you from what is yours."

In the distance I began to hear a beating, thumping sound. I felt wind against my face as the large man raised an arm and pointed, directing my gaze to the source of the beating wind. A huge bat swooped from the darkness. I'd seen bats before, sometimes they found their way inside the prison where I grew up, but I'd never seen one so big. It was far larger than me, and almost as large as the man who now stood behind me. I stepped back in terror. The light radiating from the large man reflected back at me from the bat's eyes, two glowing pinpricks in the dark. The bat let out a high pitched screech as it swooped down to me. I ducked, pressing my body to the floor, narrowly avoiding its jaws as they snapped at me. I looked around, there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run.

"Conquer the fear in your heart and you may have anything you desire," the man continued, paying no notice to the giant bat that had now circled back around. "You will be second to no man and master of all."

The bat flapped its wings again and let out another screech. I looked back for help, hoping that the man would protect me from this monster. I gasped as he was gone. The light was gone, but the bat's eyes continued to glow. The bat's lips pulled back revealing giant fangs, then began to fly towards me again. I'd never felt so small, so weak, so alone. How could that huge man claim to be me? How could I ever grow to become as strong and fearless as him?

As the monstrous bat flew toward me again, I began to run. The bat was faster than I was. I could hear the leather wings beating against the air around us, hear the noise grow louder as he closed the distance. My legs weren't strong enough, and I stumbled as the bat grew closer. My legs betrayed me and I tripped as the bat drew closer still. My body pressed against the floor and the bat was on me.

"No!" I screamed out as the black wings wrapped around me.

Suddenly my body no longer felt light. It was heavy and pain throbbed from my head. "No!" I screamed again and suddenly the light returned -but it was different from before. It wasn't concentrated in a ball, wasn't surrounding a large man. This time the light came from a fluorescent globe above me and lit up the room around me. I was back in Pena Dura, in the infirmary. Osito was in bed next to me.

I gasped as I opened my eyes -this had all been a dream. There was no bat, no man, no ball of light. I wasn't lying in the dark, but in a bed in the infirmary. I reached up to touch the pain in my throbbing head, and I felt bandages wrapped tightly around my head. Gradually, my racing heart slowed down and I tried to steady my breath.

"Welcome back, little one!" a familiar voice called out to me. I sat up in the bed and saw that it was Zombie, leaning against his broom He must have been on cleaning duties again. His face was a welcome sight.

"What happened?" I asked him. "Why am I here?"

"You had a fall," he replied. "You've been asleep for thirty-one days." He let out a small chuckle, "you missed your own birthday!"

I touched my bandages again. "How did this happen?"

"There was a fight and you got knocked through the railing."

"Puerco..." I remembered. Slowly it was all coming back to me.

"Yes..." Zombie agreed, his eyes filled with pity. "He is a vile man. He has taken a liking to you."

"There was another man too..." I remembered out loud.

"Yes, that was Trogg."

"Is he a good man?" I asked.

Zombie paused for a moment. "I don't think there is a single good man in this entire prison." He pointed a thumb at his prison uniform. "None of us. And certainly none of the staff," he added with disgusted snort. "As for Trogg... Trogg has killed more than thirty men. Most of them right here is this prison."

My eyes went wide in response. More than thirty men? To my child mind, thirty was an incalculable number. I'd never counted thirty of anything!

"I don't like to scare you," Zombie continued. "But you live in the general population now. This is the reality of life. It's best you understand these things. Trogg is at the top of the food chain because he's the biggest, the strongest. Being king is a position that is wanted by many but can be held only by one. If he wants to stay the boss, he needs everyone else to know he's in charge. He doesn't like seeing children get hurt, so he stepped in to protect you from Puerco. He needs Puerco to understand that he's the one in charge."

I inwardly shuddered at the mention of Puerco's name. I knew now that I was awake I knew I'd have to go back to my cell. The cell with Puerco next to me. I knew that Trogg couldn't protect me forever.

Zombie leaned in to look at me closer. "Well, you seem to be alert and awake. No serious damage as far as I can see. I'd best go and get Dr. Ruger, he will want to look over you... for all the good it will do being checked on by that idiot."

"Dr. Ruger..." I said, anger welling up inside me. "Why didn't he save my mother?"

Zombie let out a sigh. "He didn't see the signs until it was too late." He pointed over to a half empty bottle of alcohol on the doctor's desk. "He's more concerned with his next drink than the health of anyone here."

"He always smells," I said wrinkling my nose.

"That, he does." Zombie let out a chuckle. "He stinks of cheap red wine and cigarettes. But you don't need good hygiene to be a doctor, especially not here of all places. Any half decent doctor would have found a job somewhere else. But at any rate, he's the man in charge of the infirmary. I'm just the humble janitor, so I'd best go get him." He gave me a reassuring wink then left the room.

After he left, I stepped down to the floor, scooped up Osito and paced around the room. I picked up the bottle from his desk and looked at it with disgust. How could a man be dependant on a substance and still call himself a man? Even at so young an age, I knew that addiction was a terrible thing.

Out of curiosity and opportunity, I slid open the drawer of Ruger's desk. Inside were papers, bits of junk and a small knife. The knife immediately caught my eye.

Puerco... I thought to myself. I knew that I would have to go back to my cell... have to face him again. I was lucky to be alive after my fall. How could I survive something so horrible, then be expected to go and live next to that monster? I thought back to the large man from my dream, the man who claimed to be me. He'd said that fear was the only thing that could stop me. That I would have to conquer my fears. I was scared of Puerco.

Slowly I picked up the knife, and dragged it down Osito's back. The brown felt parted for the knife, and white stuffing spilled out. I grabbed a handful of stuffing and discarded it into the waste basket next to Ruger's desk. I placed the knife carefully inside Osito where I had created space for it. Osito had always been my companion and protector, I knew that he wouldn't mind.

I heard footsteps approaching the infirmary, surely Dr. Ruger was returning. I quickly made my way back to the bad and lay down, placing Osito next to me. I raised my finger to my lips, making a shushing motion to Osito. It was going to be our secret that we had taken the knife.

My appointment with Dr. Ruger was brief. He removed my bandages, did a few tests on my eyes and reflexes, replaced my bandages and sent me on my way. He said that while I was very lucky to be alive, I'd almost made a full recover. The worst of the short term effects of the fall were over, and any long term effects would remain to be seen.

My mind wandered when he mentioned the long term effects. Was it possible that the fall could have put me on a different path? Changed me somehow? I must admit, I did feel different. Prior to my fall I'd have been too scared to rummage through the doctor's desk and steal one of his personal items. Now I was sneakier, more resourceful. Was that because of the fall, had something changed inside me? Or was it because of my strange encounter with the bat and the man in my dream? Had they changed me? Or perhaps I was merely growing up. I was now seven years old, after all.

Just like on my first day in general population, two guards escorted my back to my cell. This time the jeering taunts of the other men didn't bother me. When I returned to my cell, Puerco didn't bother me, he was already asleep. I lie awake in bed until everyone on my cell block was asleep and the only sound was snoring. I removed the knife from Osito and walked up to the bars separating my cell from Puerco's.

Again, the prison was not built with children in mind. I breathed out deeply, -and with a little effort, I was able to squeeze my body between the bars that separated my cell from his. I smiled as I watched him stir a little in his sleep. My heart was racing. I was standing in my neighbour's cell.