C5 Xanth

The new inmate catches my attention from down in the main area where prisoners scarf down grub. We always walk the newbies through here to shake them up, to scare the hell out of them. But this one… she’s got her chin high, not seemingly bothered.

Dumb or brave, and I'm beating on the former, but hoping I'll be surprised in this miserable shit-hole. Fuck knows nothing in here has ever shocked me. Even had a prisoner eating rats instead of his meals. Not that I could blame him--the food in this place isn't worth the dirt on my shoes.

But this one is intriguing. And it's not just that she's beautiful as hell. She’s already wearing one of the clownish orange jumpsuits. All new inmates wear them just to fuck with their minds, to make them stand out, but hers is damn tight, two sizes too small, following her tiny frame, that curvy peachy ass, those tits.

She's barely showing any skin, but her outfit fits her so well, it shows me exactly her curves. I imagine tracing them with my fingers. How damn old is she to be in here, anyway? She looks young. I watch her walking in slow motion, golden hair pulled into a messy ponytail.

She's practically glowing in a way that my power calls me to her. Demanding we find out how long she can last in this prison, in Hell's playground that no one ever leaves. Prisoners come in and they die here.

No one is pardoned, and no one is released on bail or any of that shit. It's kill or be killed in here unless you're fortunate enough to be put in the pits where you have half a chance of living another day. Not great odds, but I've made a nice coin gambling on the winners. I've been working here so fucking long that I can tell by a glance who is gonna die.

When she looks this way, I see the sliver of fright on her face, the innocence in those huge blue eyes and my breath freezes in my chest.

Her fright does something to me I can’t understand, and now I’m curious to know exactly who she is, and more specifically what she is. We all have a story in here, we’re all connected to gods somehow, so what’s hers?

Most of the inmates in Purgatory Penitentiary are demi-gods… humans who have a sliver of god in their blood, but enough that it gives them abilities they can’t control, a power that drives them to insanity with greed and hunger for more. The idiots do dumb things and what they don’t know is that the gods are always watching… always.

We all have rules to follow, even the most powerful. Break those rules and you end up in this joint. In the deepest pits of Hades’ Underworld to serve your time. A place so distanced from real life, that no one will hear you scream down here.

My mind shifts back to the new girl and something stirs in my gut, a curiosity to the buzz she’ll create in here. Fresh blood always does. But a stunning thing like that… well, things will get very interesting... At the end of the day, the gods don’t fucking care about any of us. No one gets out unless it’s feet first.

I push off the railing and march along the top-level path, past prison doors with inmates locked inside supposed to be sleeping. Except, I hear the whispers, the banging, the moans. Don’t give a shit what they do in their cell as long as it’s in there. We’re at full capacity because most gods can’t keep it in their fucking pants, so more and more offspring are raised. We’re getting too crowded. Time for another round of seeing who can survive against their neighbors.

The more that are slaughtered, the easier my job becomes. Prison officer isn’t exactly the most glorious of jobs, but it wasn't my first option or even the hundredth. Sometimes life hands you lemons and you fucking trample on them to make lemonade.

But the thought of the silver-haired girl in here has me curious.

Don’t get involved. Don’t get emotional. Don’t get attached.

I almost laugh at myself. Like that’s going to happen.