Four Years Later
So, so, so, so, sorry I have not posted a chapter in a long time but like I mentioned in one of my first chapters this will be a long story drawn out over a long period of time, so stick with it PLEASE, because there will be soo many twists and turns. I would love to post a chapter every week but unfortunately the writing side of my brain is never in a hurry to do anything. I had some serious writer block on this chapter and it took me a long time to write but it's finally the way I want it so YAY! I will probably do a couple more Lucas chapters and you will see more of Isaac AKA The Protector in flashbacks and you will see some more of Wyatt and a few more new characters and a couple of the "real" PLL character will pay a visit to Lucas. I plan next chapter to on titled Spencer: Coming Home, but you know how my plan work out lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy
Lucas
Lucas was in his cell, lying on his bunk reading a comic book that his grandmother sent him a few weeks ago. His grandma was the only one in his family that still talked to him, everyone else tried to imagine that he never existed and his sins never happened. At first his parents attempted to convince themselves that he was "innocent" despite Lucas pleading guilty at the trial. When they realized he had done what he had admitted to, they told themselves and everyone they knew that he was "mentally unstable" and was "getting help." However, the last time he heard from or seen his parents was when the psychologist found him to be completely sane. Lucas didn't have much in his life anymore, but what he did have was the determination to find justice and the ability to read the comic books that he used as a guide to find the path that he had lost somewhere along the way.
When Lucas was young he treasured comic books because they showed ordinary men being able to transform into something more to protect the one's they love. He would read "Batman" and "Spiderman" and "Green Arrow" because they gave him hope that one day he could transform into one of these characters and be able to stop all the bully's and school would no longer be the living hell that it always had been for him. He liked to imagine that he would be invincible to the hurtful words that Ali would try to beat him down with. He liked to think that no jock or cheerleader would ever be able to make him hate himself again. When he joined the "A" team they gave him that promise that they would take down all the assholes in the school and the people who had everything would be put in their place. However, he soon learned that he was only a pawn in a much more devious plan that he's spent his last four years in prison trying to uncover. Every time he tried to escape from the manipulations of the "A" team, they would threaten him or the people he cared most about the most. The more Lucas tried to escape from the grasps of the "A" team, the more they forced him to do things that ended up turning him into the villain of his own life.
Lucas reached the end of his book and walked over to the silver sink in the corner of the cell to wash his sweat covered face. It's the middle of July and the air conditioning in the prison is broken as usual. He looked down in the bowl of the sink only to see his reflection staring back at him. Sometimes he had a hard time recognizing himself; he was no longer the simple, round faced, curly haired boy that he was in high school. Lucas's once plump face was now slender with his cheeks slightly caving in and his jaw line more prominent and strong than before. His curly, black, locks were shaved into a buzz cut that made it more bearable to deal with the heat of the summer. His eyes were now dim and sullen, and his overall expression was usually brutish and surly. However, the most distinct trait about his appearance was the large spider tattoo on his neck, covering up the scar where his bullet wound had once been. The doctor's said that it was a miracle that he survived and that if the bullet had hit one inch higher he would likely be dead. Lucas didn't understand why God or whoever was running this show called life would waste a miracle on him. For many months in the prison Lucas hated himself and nearly every choice he had made. Many nights went by when he thought ending his life would be the best thing for everyone. He would stop feeling the heart wrenching guilt that kept him up at night, his family could finally forget about him, and Hanna would have the comfort of knowing that the man who killed her mother was rotting in a grave somewhere. Every day wore on him heavier and heavier and when he finally felt like giving up, a voice told him that justice had not been served and the true evil was still free to prey on the women who he was in love with. Lucas splashed the room temperature water over his face, in some ways hoping he would wash away the man he is now and uncover that innocent boy so that the path before him wouldn't be so blurred. The line between right and wrong was now a hard thing to see and this made his avenge for justice a difficult feat.
Lucas is now a fairly powerful person with the small society living behind these concrete walls. Many men respect him and even more men fear him, over time he has become the kind of man where it is smart to have both feeling in mind when he is around. However, life in prison was far more difficult before a Hispanic man named Isaac basically saved his life. Before Isaac, Toby was just another fresh face for the other prisoners to beat up on and it really didn't help that he killed a woman. Ethics are easily forgotten in the prison but one value that quite a few of the prisoners still follow is, no women and no children. Lucas used to wonder if it were a blessing or a curse that the courts sent him to a medium security due to that fact that his life was being threatened at the time of the murder. On one hand being in medium security meant that he was not trapped in a cell 23 hours a day, on the other hand he was not trapped in a cell 23 hours a day and actually had to deal with people. Lucas was never a social butterfly in high school and when he walked into the prison it was no different….actually it was a lot worse.
When Lucas stepped foot in the prison it was as if the other prisoners could smell his fear. When they looked at him they saw weakness just like every bully in high school did. On his second week in the prison word must have gotten around about what he did because he was getting beatings daily. Then one random Tuesday he was in the dining hall eating the globs of discolored food as far away from the other prisoners as he could get when first saw Isaac. Isaac had slicked back black hair, a black goatee, and was surrounded by men of all races. Most people Lucas had seen in prison tended to stay close to their own race as much as they could, so to see this Hispanic man encircled by white men, black men, other Hispanic men, and even Indian men was very odd but even stranger than that was that Isaac was staring directly at Lucas from two tables away. Isaac's black eyes were staring straight through Lucas and there was just the slightest grin on his face. Lucas thought for sure that this was the only man in here crazy enough to actually kill him. Every second Isaac stared at him; Lucas could feel his days being numbered.
Then behind him he heard the movement of at least four men and before he could turn around he was being pulled out of his seat. A muscular arm was around his neck and the other around his side holding a sharp metal shard against him. The man who towered over him by at least four inches whispered in his ear "You kill innocent women, ya little bitch?" Lucas was ready; if this is how he died then he was ready to go. Then in the distance Isaac stood up and what was once a room full of yelling and hollering became so silent you could hear a pin drop. The two larger men that were seated on either side of Isaac stood up as well. Isaac's eyes were no longer on Lucas but instead above him at the man with the shank. Lucas didn't know what was going on but he did know that he was extremely intimidated by both groups of men. The two men stared at each other for a little over a minute before Lucas felt the muscular arm that was nearly choking him release its grasp. The men behind him walked off back to their table and Isaac and the two other men returned to their seats. The loud noises echoed throughout the prison again and everything when back to "normal," except Lucas was still standing in shock and not sure how to respond or what to do. Finally, he decided the best thing to was sit back down where his food tray was and continue to eat.
By the time Lucas looked up from his food tray one of the large men that was sitting next to Isaac was now standing over him. The man was at least six- foot- five, he was rather husky but not over weight, he had a thick beard and a slightly receding hair line. He was the kind of man that you looked at and instantly feared, not because he looked angry or violent but because you knew if he ever got angry or violent he could snap anyone like a twig. Lucas looked up at him saying nothing, mostly out of fear but also he just couldn't think of anything to say.
The large man gently sat down across from Lucas and said " Isaac would like to meet you." The man's voice was deep with a strong southern accent but he did not mumble or stutter, he was very clear and confident when he spoke.
Lucas didn't understand anything that was going on and he absolutely didn't understand Isaac's motivation for wanting to keep him alive. "Why?" Lucas asked the large man sitting across from him.
The large man's response was quick like he had answered that question a million times over again. " He wants to make sure the man he saved deserves to live." Lucas was fairly confident that he did not "deserve" to live, he knew this, the other prisoners knew this, why the hell didn't this Isaac man who seemed to break every social rule the prisoners had and yet have so much control not know what he has done and that he was not worthy of his own life.
"I don't…..deserve life, I'm sure you have heard what I did?" Lucas stammered over the words that reluctantly came out of this mouth.
The man had a quick response to this as well. "Isaac don't judge you on what you did in the past, that is then and this is here and now."
Lucas accepted this answer but still did not under understand why Isaac would save his life? "But why? Why save me?"
The expression on the large man's face quickly changed at this question. His expression was no longer calm and confident but he now looked confused and almost frustrated. "Boy, a starvin' dog with fleas doesn't ask "why" when he gets rescued, he just wags his tail and licks his butt and thanks the Lord he ain't dead!" His voice came out deeper and his accent more noticeable this time.
Lucas did not much like being compared to a dog but just simply nodded at this analogy. However, the large man was still able to read Lucas's puzzled expression at the seemingly unanswered question. "Well if you must know, Isaac likes his stray dogs but that's all I'm sayin' about that, the rest you're gonna have to talk to him about." The large man said sighing while getting up and walking back to the table shaking his head, and then he suddenly turned around facing Lucas again.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Wyatt." He said returning to his calm and confident voice.
"Im-" Lucas said trying to return the pleasantries before being interrupted by Wyatt.
"Lucas, I know" Wyatt said chuckling lightly as he walked away.
Lucas smiled at that memory because as odd as it was at the time it was one of the good one's he has had in the prison and all the good memories he did have here all lead back to Isaac and that moment when Isaac "The Protector," took a gamble on him and gave him a second chance at life. "The Protector" was a nickname given to Isaac by all the men he had "saved" in one way or another, a few months after Lucas met him. Isaac was modest and brushed off the name as a joke but it stuck and eventually he accepted it as his own. Thinking of Isaac made Lucas both happy and sad. Over time Lucas had forged a close friendship with Isaac, even taking one of the seats next to him and if you knew anything about Isaac that was something truly special. Lucas sits in Isaac's seat now, with brave and trustworthy Wyatt sitting by his side and Lucas also has a nickname now….well, many nicknames but no name or person will amount to what The Protector was. You see, Isaac was not the protector of just your average day criminal, he was The Protector of the weak, hopeless, fearful young men who had made mistakes in their past but still wished to seek some sort of redemption. Isaac was the one who convinced Lucas to fight against the "A" team to "give back to who you have wronged" as he put it. He convinced many of the other men to do the same, "give back to who you have wronged, even if you have little to give it will always mean something." Thinking of Isaac's words made Lucas do something he hadn't done in a very long time….cry. He was not sobbing, just a few small tears falling down his cheeks that he quickly wiped away. No, he will never get to thank The Protector, his protector, enough for not only saving his life but also saving his soul. Isaac "The Protector" Gonzalez will never be forgotten.