Chapter Two-Hundred and Seventy-Nine
Claire held Flynn close to her, fighting back her tears as she rocked the child. She watched the moon rise in the dark sky, the light she loved so much, suddenly so cold to her. "We'll come for you…"
John yelped as he was roughly pulled from his cot, throwing a few weak swings as his clothes were stripped from his body. "No!" He screamed, feeling his engagement ring being pulled from his finger before he was shoved to the ground. "Give it back!" He ordered, his skinny body slamming into the barred door just seconds after it closed.
Leon chuckled, looking the teen over as he stood before him in nothing but his boxers. "No way." He sneered, handing a cup with dice in it to his companion. "You're too comfortable in there. Figured we'd give you a little more of a challenge."
John watched as a small group of cops gambled for his belongings, curling himself into a tight ball to keep what little heat he could inside of his body. The key he wore around his neck was the first to go, followed by his belt, jeans, t-shirt, flannel, shoes, and last his engagement ring went to Leon. "Please, just let me have a blanket." He hated the cold, hated feeling like an ice cube. Jacob used to leave him outside for hours in snowstorms when he didn't want him around, and as a result, he'd gotten frostbite on most of his fingers and toes and it was a miracle that he still had all of them.
Leon barked a laugh, stringing John's ring onto a chain around his neck. "I don't have to let you have anything."
"Water then." John lifted his eyes to the man, his throat parched from the lack of water. "You can't deny a prisoner his basic human rights."
"I can deny you anything I want." Leon sneered, leaning forward just to taunt the kid. "You're an adult now, you get adult treatment."
"Please!" John begged, desperate for some form of compassion from this monster.
Leon turned on his heel, marching away from the teen without another word.
"You can't do this!" John shouted, gripping the bars of his cell like a feral animal in its cage. "You can't keep me here!"
"Stop being such a pussy." Growled the sleaze ball in the next cell, still half asleep as he glared at the kid beside him. "Their crooked, they can do anything that they like."
John slammed his fists against the bars, snarling in frustration as he stalked around the cell. "Just wait until Mom and Dad get ahold of him." He growled, glaring at nothing as his lip curled in disgust. "We'll see him in a cage."