Page 39 of Straightjacket

With every step, my energy depletes and the finish line seems further away than ever.

Dolly takes my hand in hers, gripping it tightly to calm my racing mind. After I woke up alone in the cell, the guards were quick to come and collect me, even if I did plead and scream to find out where Silas had been taken but they refused to tell me, instead I was dragged through the endless white hallways to a room full of other women where I immediately found Dolly, huddled by herself in the corner.

“Where do you think he is?” I say, turning to face her whilst keeping my wits about me. The last time I was in a room like this, I murdered someone and who's to say that it won’t happen again.

There’s no way that I can trust the handful of women inside of this room, except for Dolly.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll be alright. He always is.” She says, and I appreciate her faith but I’m struggling to find my own. Nothing is ever alright in this place. Any shred of happiness dies the moment it enters the doors.

“I don’t like this, Dolly. Why the fuck are we in here?”

She cuts the connection between us and looks around the room. “We’re usually brought in here for enrichment time,” she says, making quotation marks with her fingers. “To socialise with one another but I agree, something feels off.”

As we sit here together, I scan the room until my eyes lock on a guard just near the door. He drops his ear to the radio attached to his shoulder, his brows dropping in confusion as he listens to whoever is speaking on the other end.

“What the fuck do you mean, he’s dead?” He spits out, just loud enough for me to hear and my blood runs cold. My mind instantly picturing Silas. The voice on the other end is muffled, too staticky for me to understand what they’re saying.

“Where’s Thorne?” The guard jabs back, and I watch with intent as his hand moves to the gun strapped to his belt. He wraps his fingers around the handle, gripping it tightly. There’s a nervousness in the way he stands, his shoulders tense as he continues listening to the radio.

“Something’s wrong,” I blurt out. “Look at that guard.”

Dolly turns her head slightly to look at him. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, but I think whoever is on the other line has found someone dead. And now he’s asking where Thorne is.”

Shuffling closer, I try to drown out the noise of muttered conversion in the room, forcing myself to focus on every single word that passes the guards lips. The radio crackles again, and then I’m able to hear everything.

“I can’t find Thorne, but Riggs is out and I’ve got a guard with a snapped fucking neck. We need to search this place, now.”

Silas is out?

Relief drowns me like a tidal wave, but it doesn’t last for long because now they know what he’s done, and they won’t stop until he’s dead. They’ll rip him to shreds before I’ve even had the chance to do something.

“I need a distraction.”

Dolly looks at me, her brows dropping in confusion. “Huh? What for? What are you doing?”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I drop her hand and dig underneath my foot for the shiv inside my shoe.

“I’m gonna kill this guard.” I say, my words straight to the point.

“Iris, he’s got a–”

“Silas it out, and these guards are going to hunt him down.” I drive my words home whilst staring right at her. There’s a troubling look in her eyes, one that’s filled with unease for Silas's safety.

“Right,” she says with a heavy breath. “Distraction, we can distract can’t we Polly?” She nods her head at wherever Polly is saying and I smile, knowing that she won’t let me down. She stands and ruffles her pink hair before unzipping the orange jumpsuit slightly to reveal her cleavage.

“Do you think this will do?”

A grin pulls at my face and I nod. “I’d say that’s a great distraction. Just keep him talking and I’ll do the rest.”

Once she’s ready, I give her one last look then she walks away, sauntering her hips as she strolls over to the guard, twirling the ends of her hair around her finger. Just like the sickening cunt that he is, he takes the bait and immediately roams his eyes over her, eating every inch of her up.

“Great work, Dolly.” I mumble to myself and slide the shiv up the arm of my sleeve before weaving effortlessly through the other people, each of them completely unaware of what I’m about to do. Sweat clings to my skin but I have no time to be nervous, or to question whether this will work. I just have to trust that I’m doing the right thing.

Keeping a safe distance, I keep my eye on Dolly in case the guard tries to pull a dick move on her whilst skirting around the edge of the room, until I can see the back of him. He leans against the door, and every time he plays with her hair, she giggles– playing the part perfectly. Then for a split second, her bright eyes meet mine over his shoulder and I nod, gripping the shiv tightly in my shaking hand as I step closer.

My heart hammers against my chest, threatening to shatter my rib cage. It’s now or never. Aim for the jugular and he’ll bleed out within seconds.