Footsteps echoed in a long stone corridor. They were short and slow steps, in no hurry to reach their destination. The lamps that lit the corridors flickered, making the shadows they created seem to be squirming, giving the place a strange and eerie tone. Oscar always found this place kind of creepy, but he never had the courage to comment to his colleagues for fear of being made fun of. Sometimes some guards said they heard whispers in their ears, or that they heard their names being called from somewhere. They were horror stories told in prison to scare off the rookies, but even so, Oscar always thought there was something wrong with this place.
Distracted by his thoughts about the stories Oscar didn't notice he was standing in front of the prison warden's door. Putting aside his thoughts, he adjusted his uniform and took a deep breath trying to calm himself before knocking three times on the door. It's not every day that one is called by the Warden.
"Come in," said a harsh, gravelly voice from inside the room.
"Excuse me…" Oscar opened the door trying his best not to stutter at his next words. "You sent for me sir?" After saluting, Oscar remained in that same position until it was said otherwise.
The Warden was a huge man standing two meters tall. A dark red skin and a defined body, the wrinkles on his face being the only thing that betrayed his age. On his head was a pair of rounded horns, characteristic of his species. Oscar didn't know much about the Warden, aside from the fact that all the guards he'd met said he was an extremely serious man and committed to the service, and also, that he couldn't stand anyone who did a half-assed job.
"At ease." Said the Warden without taking his eyes off the desk.
Oscar watched him from his position filling out some papers that were on the desk for a few minutes. His forehead was beginning to sweat because he didn't know why he was there, and even more so because he wasn't told anything yet.
"Oscar, how long have you been working here?" Asked the Warden after finally putting aside the papers. He looked directly at Oscar, with a look so serious that he seemed to be able to see everything.
"It'll be almost a year sir," Oscar said without understanding what was going on here.
"I've been hearing a lot of good things about you from your superiors for a long time." The principal rose from his chair and looked out the window. All that could be seen was the overcast green sky and desolate landscape of this Prison World, with no living souls other than those who stood in this place.
"Thank you, sir."
"You must be wondering why I called you here," the warden stared at Oscar. "From tomorrow your job will be to deliver food to the prisoner." Oscar couldn't hide his surprise upon hearing that.
The Prisoner Oscar didn't know much about it, aside from the fact that this prison with hundreds of guards and soldiers was made just for one person. With only this fact can one imagine how dangerous he is.
A single prison in this Prison World, for a single prisoner.
"May I ask why, sir?" Oscar didn't know what to feel, but fear was one of the things he felt.
"The guard who did the job is retiring and we need someone to fill the role." The warden didn't seem to care much about Oscar's concerns. "Tomorrow be in the Central wing an hour before lunch time, the area supervisor will be waiting for you to teach you the work. "Don't disappoint me."
"Yes, sir!" Oscar was still insecure about all this, but he knew his insecurity wasn't going to change the fact that he'd been chosen for the job.
"You're dismissed." Oscar saluted before heading out.
All the way to his quarters he couldn't stop thinking about how unlucky he might be to have been chosen for this task. He didn't want to do the job, he kept thinking that maybe he could be in danger of death. After all, the prisoner must have killed a lot of people before he was arrested. Maybe he killed the last guard somehow.
For the rest of the night and daybreak Oscar couldn't sleep thinking about it. When the alarm sounded, indicating that his workday was about to begin, Oscar was startled and thought it was impossible that it had the sun was already up.
Tired, Oscar went to find the man who was his superior until yesterday, to inform him what happened. After meeting him and explaining the situation, he said goodbye and headed to the Central Wing, where the only cell in this prison was located. After ten minutes of walking, he found a man standing at the entrance to the Central Wing.
"Are you Oscar?" the man asked upon seeing him.
"Yes, sir!" replied Oscar saluting the man.
"Right, my name is Unbu and as of today I am your new supervisor. I'll explain your task very quickly, because I have other things to do." Unbu was a fat, sweaty little man. The work is simple. Every day at lunch you must pick up the food from the kitchen and bring it to the prisoner." Outside of bringing the food, Unbu explained all the safety issues to Oscar.
Number one: after delivering the food, check the chains bound to the prisoner for cracks and defects.
Number two: never look directly at the prisoner.
Number three: never talk to the prisoner.
Those were the three rules I would have to follow in this job.
After a few more warnings Unbu left, leaving me with more questions than when he arrived. But even so, Oscar decided that even if the task was dangerous, he would do his best.
A few hours had passed, and it was lunchtime. Now was the time when Oscar would finally see who the prisoner was. Carrying a tray of food, which looked more like a paste made of who knows what, he approached the cell. There were guards stationed down the hall, all of them looking tired and bored. You could tell they weren't taking the job seriously.
Upon arriving, Oscar found a large metal door, guards on each side. Oscar nodded, one of the guards inserted a password into a panel, and with a metallic sound the door began to slowly open.
Oscar swallowed, wondering how scary the prisoner must be. When the door opened wide Oscar took uncertain steps inside.
The cell was somewhat, twelve square meters. A bed in the corner, a table, chair and sitting on the floor in the middle of the room was the prisoner.
When Oscar saw him he was extremely surprised, he had imagined all sorts of things and all sorts of appearances, yet it was something he did not expect to see.
The prisoner was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. Snow-white hair and blood-red eyes. Oscar couldn't help but think she was extremely beautiful. She stared at him for a while.
"Who are you?"