Chapter 4 Criminal

"Make sure you get along with your seniors!"

The guard's words echoed stiffly through the corridor, followed by the deafening clang of the iron cell door being slammed shut on purpose. Ashley flinched. She froze at the threshold of the cell, overwhelmed and confused.

The heavy click of the lock sealed off her only way out.

Ashley took a slow step forward. Her trembling fingers reached into the air, feeling along the damp wall in search of something to steady herself. Six months of living in darkness at the hospital had done nothing to prepare her for this. The stale air reeked of urine, mildew, and filth, making her stomach churn.

"Hello," Ashley greeted softly, bowing her head.

Loud laughter immediately erupted from one corner of the cell.

"What the hell are you doing, Blind Girl?!" a raspy voice barked from behind her. "You're greeting the toilet! We're behind you, idiot!"

Ashley quickly turned around. "I'm sorry."

"If apologies solved everything, none of us would be rotting in this cage, you idiot!" the voice sneered.

"So, what landed you in here?" another woman asked.

"My crime?" Ashley whispered, her vacant eyes staring straight ahead. "A fatal car accident. Someone died."

"You killed someone? Wow, looks like we've got ourselves a psychopath!" another inmate mocked.

"Welcome to the club. You're one of us now!"

"Hey, New Girl! Get over here!" ordered a woman with a deep voice named Betty.

Ashley tried to walk toward the sound of her voice. But her slow, uncertain steps quickly exhausted Sharon's patience. She grabbed Ashley's arm and yanked her forward, sending her crashing onto the cold concrete floor.

"Show some respect to Madam Betty, the boss around here!" Sharon shouted.

Betty stretched out her filthy foot until it hovered inches from Ashley's face. The overpowering stench hit Ashley's nose like a punch. Her body revolted. Her stomach lurched violently, and she could no longer hold it back.

Ashley vomited everything in her stomach, splattering Betty's foot.

"You bitch!" Betty screamed in fury.

Betty's large hand seized Ashley's long hair, yanking it so violently that her head snapped back.

"It hurts..." Ashley whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I can clean it up."

"Sorry? Damn you!" Betty dragged Ashley brutally across the concrete floor.

Ashley's desperate screams echoed throughout the prison block, yet the guards and the other inmates merely watched without any intention of stepping in. Betty hurled her frail body into the filthy bathroom stall.

A bucket of freezing water crashed over Ashley, making her shiver uncontrollably. Without a shred of mercy, Betty grabbed the back of Ashley's neck and forced her beautiful face into the filthy toilet bowl.

"Please... have mercy! Help me! Please!" Ashley cried hoarsely between gulps of filthy water and her own vomit.

God, please help me... Mom, Dad, please come get me, she cried silently in her heart.

"Stop."

A deep, cold voice filled with unquestionable authority cut through the chaos.

The entire cell fell silent.

Ethan stood tall in the open doorway, the cell door swung wide behind him. His icy gaze swept over the commotion inside the bathroom with open disgust. Ashley had reached the limit of her endurance. The moment Betty released her hair, her limp body collapsed to the floor. She lost consciousness completely.

Two months passed.

Ashley's suffering behind bars never truly ended. Her once beautiful body had wasted away until she was little more than skin stretched over bone. Fresh bruises constantly marked her pale face from the abuse inflicted by Betty and her group.

That afternoon, Ashley sat alone in the corner of the prison yard. Hugging her knees to her chest, she ignored the noise around her.

A leather ball came flying across the yard and struck Ashley squarely in the face, throwing her backward.

Betty and her gang burst into laughter. Not a single inmate dared step forward to help. Ashley groaned in pain as she felt around the ground, struggling to get back to her feet.

Behind the observation room's glass on the second floor, Ethan stood with his arms crossed. His ice-cold eyes watched the scene below without the slightest expression.

"Hasn't this gone too far, Ethan?" Caleb murmured beside him, looking at Ashley's helpless figure with sympathy.

"I already told you, you can become her guardian if you want," Ethan replied with a mocking smile.

He turned to leave. But as he reached the doorway, he stopped and glanced at the prison guard standing nearby.

"Move her to solitary confinement. The smallest, darkest cell you've got," Ethan ordered coldly. "Let her rot with the rats."

Following Ethan's orders, Ashley had been transferred to a tiny isolation cell. It was cramped, suffocating, and completely sealed off from fresh air. For Ashley, the absence of light was hardly the worst part. Darkness had already become a permanent part of her life. But the stone walls pressing in from every side awakened a crushing fear that wrapped itself around her soul.

There were no voices from other inmates in that isolated place. The only sounds that accompanied her days were the piercing squeaks and scurrying footsteps of rats that repeatedly crawled across her feet. Every touch sent Ashley into hysterical screams.

Where am I? Why won't this nightmare ever end? she cried silently through her tears.

Seconds crawled into hours, and hours dissolved into days filled with endless suffering. During three months in solitary confinement, Ashley lost not only her appetite but also the ability to sleep.

Her once graceful body had wasted away until she was little more than skin stretched over bone. Her face had turned deathly pale after spending months without a single ray of sunlight. Ashley had reached the very limit of her physical endurance.

She prayed for only one thing, that God would allow her to join her parents, who had already found peace in eternity.

"How are you doing, Ashley?"

The iron door suddenly creaked open.

That deep, icy voice slithered through the darkness. Ashley froze. After ninety days of complete isolation, the sound struck her senses like a bolt of lightning. Before she could even part her lips, a sharp sting pierced the skin of her neck.

Her body instantly went limp.

Consciousness faded in an instant, plunging into a bottomless abyss.

The man curled his lips into a cruel smile. His eyes swept over Ashley's emaciated body lying motionless on the concrete floor with cold contempt. Without saying another word, he turned around and walked out of the underground isolation cell.