COLIN

Taylor faces away from the glass when he falls asleep now. For days, he hasn't even looked in my direction. He knows about me and Lisa—has to. Somehow.

If it's any consolation, she and I haven't said much to each other since it happened. It's clear that both of us are ashamed about it, although I guess that doesn't really mean anything now. Guilt is pointless. In a single act, we destroyed one relationship and contaminated another. It's doubtful, too, that we'll ever have a chance to fix what we've ruined.

I need to talk to her. As I climb out of my bunk, however, I realize that she's not in her bed. When I reach the floor, I see that her bed is neatly made—identical to the other two. In her place are fresh towels and a bowl of overripe fruit.

"No…"

This is impossible. Her name wasn't on the list. There's nothing they could possibly want from her.

"Lisa…"

I turn just in time to see Taylor watching me. It's only for a moment, but I can tell there's venom in his expression. He looks away from me the instant I make eye contact with him.

TAYLOR

"There's forty-nine cards in the deck now."

"No shit? You're kidding."

"Honest, man," Kyle insists. "Forty-nine."

"Goddamn," says Rex. "Which ones are missing?"

"Queen of Spades and the King of Clubs. And the Jack of Hearts makes three."

"Damn it, somebody's trying to fuck with us. How the hell are we supposed to play now?"

Something inside of me snaps. "Maybe," I growl, "there are more important things to worry about than your fucking game."

Rex looks at me directly. "Anybody talking to you, faggot?"

I turn away from him and say nothing. He doesn't matter anymore. Snively is giving me a private cell tomorrow night.

"Fuck it," Rex says, "let's just play without those cards. Just deal 'em."

I sigh quietly to myself. After a few moments of shuffling and dealing, I feel someone put a hand on my shoulder. "Hi, Sean," I say, expecting him to sit down next to me.

He doesn't. "We need to talk about something."

"What's the matter?"

I can see that he's looking over at the neighboring cell—not Colin's, but the other one. "I've been keeping an eye on those guys," he says in a low voice. "One of them was on the torture list."

I lower my eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, well. He disappeared five days ago, just like you did. Only he never came back."

Neither of us says anything. It takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm holding my breath. "So what are you getting at?" I finally ask.

I can feel his eyes on me. I try to avoid looking at him.

"What did they do to you in the torture room?" he asks.

I close my eyes, remembering. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But you came back."

"So?"

"Twice."

"Look, just drop it, alright?"

"But this is important," Sean says. His voice sounds strained—choked up, like he's about to cry. "I need to know, Taylor."

"Know what?"

"Oh, come on, you know damn well what I'm thinking."

I can't take it anymore. "What?" I demand. "You're saying I cracked? You're saying I leaked something to them? Fuck you, I don't have to put up with this."

By now, Rex and Kyle have stopped their card game. "Y'know," says Rex, standing up, "I was wondering the exact same fucking thing."

"Yeah, they don't just do that, right?" says Kyle. "Let 'em live if they refuse to talk? Don't they just kill 'em instead?"

"Exactly," says Rex, "that's what I'm saying. I'm saying this little cocksucker sold us out. He had to, else he'd be dead."

I bolt to my feet, facing him. "Listen, asshole, you've got no right to accuse me of --"

He shoves me violently into the glass wall. "Out of my face, you fucking queer."

"What did you tell them?" Kyle demands, coming closer.

"Answer him, faggot."

"What did you fucking tell them?"

I try to move past them. "Look, just leave me alone..."

Rex stops me with his arm. "Answer the fucking question."

"Get out of my way!"

"You sold us out, didn't you? Just fucking admit it."

I turn to him, just inches from his face. "Yeah, maybe I did," I whisper to him. "What are you gonna do about it?"

His reflexes are fast; it only takes a moment for his fist to collide with my mouth. I fall to my knees, tasting blood. I look up and see that Sean is standing out of the way against the far wall. You bastard, I tell him silently. You started this. You betrayed me. He turns away.

"Well, son of a bitch," Rex says. He pushes me over, and I feel him pull something out of my back pocket. "See this, Kyle? Guess this explains everything." The hyena throws down three playing cards on the floor in front of me: a Jack of Hearts, a Queen of Spades, and a King of Clubs.

Snively. He must have planted them on me.

"Get up," Rex says. "Now."

COLIN

Because the glass is soundproof, I hear absolutely nothing when Taylor's head makes contact with it. I'm frozen—watching in disbelief, holding my breath. The scene is chaotic, but I think I can make out the hyena behind him, holding onto Taylor's ears and smashing his face repeatedly into the wall. After a few silent smacks, I begin to see spatters of blood appearing on the glass between us. With a final thrust, the hyena shoves Taylor's head into the wall so hard that I can actually hear a dull thump. The glass is obscured by an explosive, gory sunspot.

I feel myself running forward, pushing my hands against the glass, clawing helplessly and screaming for them to stop. By now Taylor has crumpled into a pathetic heap in the middle of the cell—drenched in blood, unmoving—as the hyena and the jackal trade crushing kicks into his ribs and face. I can almost hear the snap of Taylor's neck as the jackal delivers the killing blow.

In the cruel, sterile quiet of my cell, I finally cry. It sounds like shattered glass.