Clean Rats and Pure Evil
795 Words
The following morning dawned incredibly peaceful. John was sleeping soundly, like a child, in cell number fifteen. Suddenly, the echo of someone unlocking the iron bars resonated down the corridor, but he slept on, unbothered. Prosecutor Nilow stood in front of the bunk and called out to him:
"John, wake up."
John slowly opened his eyes, stared at him in silence, and lazily sat up on the edge of the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his eyes.
"Finally, someone with manners," John said, standing up to head toward the small cell bathroom.
"I don't like waking people up from their dreams. Especially prisoners, because it’s their only moment of freedom," Prosecutor Nilow replied with a smug smile.
"Uh, yeah. Are we leaving yet? I’m going to take a shower; I don’t like walking around with foul odors. I leave that to the rats," John commented disdainfully.
"There are some very clean rats roaming around out there... You’d be surprised by that breed of rats. They love tricking innocent young girls," the prosecutor tossed out, glancing at him sideways.
In that exact moment, Katherine's beautiful face flashed through John's mind. The young girl from the coffee shop... He still didn't know her name, but her beauty radiated an innocence that deeply attracted him and sparked an immense curiosity within him.
Nilow interrupted his thoughts:
"Well, I’ll leave you to get ready. I’ll be waiting in the interrogation room. This time won't be boring; we'll talk about whatever you want. Yes, I want to chat with you, I’m quite eager to get to know you," he added, letting out a loud laugh as he walked away. His laughter echoed down the long hallway.
"And they say I'm the one who's crazy," John muttered to himself, letting out a short chuckle of his own.
He stripped out of the dirty prison clothes and took a long shower, massaging his scalp as he washed his hair. His imponent, athletic back looked like a sculpture worthy of a museum, highlighting his lean, powerful silhouette. However, as the water cascaded over his body, he scowled in disgust. «Lukewarm water... how uncomfortable. I don't even feel like I'm bathing; I like it hot. What a disaster,» he thought. He turned off the faucet, wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbed a clean uniform, and put it on.
Instead of leaving right away, John lay back down on the bunk. «Just one more rest,» he told himself, and drifted off to sleep. The guards, seeing him, didn't want to wake him; they simply informed the prosecutor, who ordered them to let him sleep.
Nilow returned to the cafeteria, ordered a cappuccino, and sat down to drink it while staring intently at some photos on his phone. Officer Luke approached the table.
"Greetings, Prosecutor. May I sit?"
Nilow looked up, annoyed.
"Is this going to become a routine now? Sit down."
Before getting comfortable, Luke casually extended his gaze and managed to catch a glimpse of the prosecutor's phone screen. It was a photo of a very sexy woman. Sneaking the detail away, he sat down immediately.
"Prosecutor Nilow, what's going to happen with the case of the man arrested yesterday for selling stolen goods?" Luke asked, flashing a fake curiosity.
"That case is none of my concern; it’s in the hands of another prosecutor. I am only handling the case of a lunatic," Nilow snapped.
"Understood. Well, I'll head out, my shift just started," the officer said, standing up. Nilow tracked him with his eyes until the guard crossed the door.
Luke went straight to the surveillance room and saw on the cameras that John was already awake. He walked quickly toward the holding cells and stood before the bars.
"Good morning, John. Didn't bring you anything this time."
"I wasn't really expecting anything," John replied, looking at him calmly.
"You know, a moment ago I was with Prosecutor Nilow. Can you believe he was totally mesmerized looking at a photo of a very sexy woman? She had short black hair, pale skin... the kind of girl whose eyes reflect pure evil. I didn't know that was his type," Luke commented with a chuckle.
John tensed up. His expression turned completely serious and thoughtful.
"I see," he responded in a freezing tone.
"Well, I gotta go. See ya," Luke said with a knowing smile before walking away down the corridor.
A few minutes later, two on-duty officers arrived at the cell.
"Prosecutor Nilow is waiting for you. Let's move."
"I'm ready," John said, standing up with absolute composure as he walked out into the hallway.
- Writer
