Disclaimer(for all chapters): I don't own The OC. At all.
-------------------------------------------------------
He entered the hall, the stench of sweat already entering his nostrils from the entrance. This was the part he'd been dreading. Not just the daunting hisses from the dark shadows in the damp corners of every cell. That he could handle. No, that's not what he was scared of. As he peered down the long corridor, he knew what he was waiting for.
To wake up.
This couldn't be real. Any minute now, he'd wake up to the sounds of his mother's drunken mid-morning tirade, and everything would be normal. Because really, all Ryan wanted right now was some stability.
A crutch, maybe.
He realized, with a sense of terrifying, gut-wrenching, heart-stopping finality, that this was it.
He wasn't going to wake up.
This was his life now.
He had always thought he was different, promised himself he would never turn into his father.
He guessed he was wrong.
"Come on, kid," the guard said, leading him down past row after row, depressing cell after depressing cell.
"It ain't gonna get any easier"
He guessed this guy was pretty wise.
As the guard paused in front of the last cell in the hall, Ryan was surprised to see not some large, muscular tough guy, ready and waiting for him to trip up, make a mistake, just like he always did, but a skinny, normal looking kid, reading a comic of all things.
When Ryan stepped inside, the brown-haired teenager looked up, and
Ryan realized that smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I'm, Seth," he said.
He got off his cot and shook Ryan's hand, which was possibly the first time anyone had ever shook Ryan's hand.
"Welcome to the dark side."
-----------------------------------------
A/N- I wrote the first chapter a long time ago, and I just realized just how incredibly depressing it is. Tell me if I should change it. Ideas are appreciated.