Two Days With Deimos (Book 2)

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 Two Days With Deimos

By Ray Bush

“Whatcha here for kid?” The much larger and probably a bit older man asked Veles. The two sat on the back row of three, in uncomfortable plastic chairs. Each row had five chairs, made probably at the plastic plant Veles worked at last summer. On the wall in front of them, two feet below the ceiling, hung a large flat screen TV. On the left was a female restroom and to the right was the male’s. Luckily the first thing they had Veles do was shower and borrow some clothes from the junk bin. If he came to the jail with bloodstains on his shirt like the villain in a slasher movie, nobody would have talked to him. 

“I beat someone’s ass pretty good,” Veles answered with pride. He saved Bryli, that was the proudest moment of his young life. “Some dude was stalking my ex, he attacked her in a park one night. I was there which turned out to be a very bad thing for him.” Veles waited for the judgment to come from the older man, but there was none.  

“Sounds like you handled your business,” the man approved, which most men probably would. But Veles didn’t know this guy, for all he knew this guy could be a wife beater or stalker himself. He was in jail. “Names Drew,” The man reached his right arm across his body, Veles wriggled to make the handshake as non-awkward as he could. 

“Veles,” he answered as he shook, “ What about you? Why you here? You look too old to be gettin into shit like this,” Veles had his trademark wide smile on his face.

“Haha,’ Drew laughed, “I am too old for this shit. These assholes,” He gestured with his head towards the cops, “thought it was ok to take  my wife to the asylum without hers or my consent. Then had the stones to arrest me and my boys for trying to stop them.” Veles looked closely at Drew, the man was lumped up pretty good. 

 “Oh shit,” Veles said, “You don’t mean they took her to ….,” Veles didn’t want to complete the thought. The myths and legends were all very well known around here. “Damn man,” Veles didn’t want Drew to feel pitied, but honestly Veles did pity him, or at least feel very bad for the guy. Veles knew how much he would hate if Bryli were stuck in that horrible place. 

“Your face is how my heart feels,” Drew said and Veles heard the lump in his throat. “I already have my mom getting the boys lawyered up, so I am going to do my damnedest to try to get checked in to Asylum 77. I am guessing I am the first person ever to try to get in there. I should just tell the judge, he would think I belonged there for sure.” Drew laughed weakly, Veles truly felt for this man. 

“Zemlak, Trimble,” a sheriff called both the younger and the older man stood. “Let’s get you dressed out and into your section. I don’t know why the hell you people decide to get in trouble so early in the damn morning.”

They walked through a thick steel green door that led to a hallway. The hall had the same dingy yellowish white laminate flooring that matched the walls. Veles would have bet that both the floor and the walls began their lives as white. Time and filth changed them similar to the men locked in here, any time in jail will change a man even if it’s just a little. Veles led, followed closely by Drew, the guard brought up the rear and made sure the prisoners walked along the right wall. They passed a bunch of the same steel green doors with the rectangle windows, finally the guard instructed them to stop at one on the right. After a buzz and a click the three stepped into a room the size of a normal living room. Two of the green doors were on the left and one more in front of them. Next to the doors on the left was a window like you may see in a bank or a convenience store in a bad neighborhood. 

“Zemlak, you first,” then pointed to the first door on the left, “Get in there and strip. You look like a large, Is that right?”

“Do you have an extra large please,” Veles said smiling, “clothes are more comfortable loose.”

“You’ll get what I give you deepshit,” Veles was surprised by the aggression. All his life he was under the impression that officers are kind and helpful, not this one. “You think you get to tell me what you get. Your dumbass almost killed someone, maybe did kill them. I haven't heard the report yet.”

“Do you know why I did what I did?” Veles asked, “Do you even care about both sides of the story” Veles hated being talked down to, “You really feel sad for the guy that was beating a nineteen year old girl? That doesn’t bother you?”

“We got a talker,” the officer said in the radio attached to his shoulder. The door that had been in front of the group when they entered buzzed and two officers walked in. “This one is a woman beater,” The first officer said and motioned his head to Veles, “and this one thinks we are all assholes.” Three more officers came in from the doorway that led to the hall. The red light on the CCTV camera went dark. “Teach em a lesson boys.”

“What the ….,” that was all the words Drew got out of his mouth before the first officer punched him in it. 

“Hey di ….” Veles almost lost consciousness when something hit him in the back of the head. Veles wobbled but stayed on his feet. Veles never even got a chance to tell the other officers that he saved a woman. He doubted they would have cared.

Two officers pushed Drew down into one of the chairs, one grabbed his hands and the other hit him in the knee with a nightstick. Drew cried out, instinctively Veles tried to get to his new friend to help. Before he could, the officers grabbed him from behind and slammed him to the floor then began stomping the young man. The other officers handcuffed Drew to a chair and took turns hitting, smacking, kicking, and one of them even spit in his face. The officers even traded places a few times so that every officer would get to beat both men. 

When the ass whoopin was finished both men were not so gently thrown into a shower, had ice cold water turned on them, and stripped down to nothing. Another officer set clothes just outside the shower doors to the left of the room. ‘Rinse off and get dressed," the original officer instructed. Veles was a bit too beaten to give a smartass comment and risk another beating. He might have, but he didn’t want Drew to take a beating because of the young man’s mouth. 

They both showered, then somewhat dried off with a flimsy brown towel provided by the jail, and walked out of the room naked. There were two mesh bags with clothing and some basic toiletries, cheap shampoo and soaps. Also in the bag were three shirts and three pairs of pants, each having thick white and blue stripes faded almost all the way to gray. They got dressed then slung the bag over their shoulders like a hobo from the twenties. 

Again they walked on the right side of the yellowish hallway in the same order, Veles leading Drew in the middle and the guard bringing up the rear. Then made a quick stop so the two inmates could grab a thin blue bed mat from a cubby hole on the left. Veles figured he wouldn’t be sleeping well for a while, he had no idea how true that thought was. He felt even worse for Drew, the guy had him by fifteen maybe, but probably not, twenty years. Hopefully he aged well and didn’t have a bunch of aches. They came to another metal green door that Veles was already sick of seeing and for a moment nothing happened.

“Two for section D,” The guard spoke with authority in his voice, probably to the officers in the tinted reinforced glass room to the right. 

“You alright kid?” Drew asked nervously, In truth neither were ok. Drew was a husband, a father, and for the most part a law abiding citizen. He was known to speed a little and sometimes jaywalk. But what could he have done? They were taking his wife. 

“Kinda,” Veles lied, the young man was far from ok. He was much too young to be here, especially on the charges facing him. He could be in a lot of trouble, he wasn’t worried about being bullied. It was the fact that he could be in a place like this for most of, and maybe even all of, his life. He hoped Gunner had lived, not because it would reduce the charges. Veles gave him the kind of beating that would mess a person’s head up for a lifetime. Gunner deserved it for what he did and was going to do to Bryli, Veles was so thankful he had been able to find her. 

The door buzzed then clicked. When Veles didn’t move the guard said, “Open the door dumb ass.” Veles bit his cheek against another smart ass comment, He really didn’t want Drew to have to take another beating. The man had already taken two this morning. 

Veles opened the door on a huge rectangle room that was for some reason dim despite all the lights in the pod shining bright. It was like someone turned on a dimmer switch but forgot to tell the lightbulbs. He felt overwhelmed at the sight, but more the smell. He had never smelt anything like a hundred men, eating nasty food, farting and sweating everywhere. There appeared to be three types of people. One was the older men playing cards at tables to the right, probably most of them were here for a DUI or weed. Second was the monster, in terms of size and personality. They would use their strength to bend weaker people to their will. One stood out above them all. The last, and largest group were the crackheads. Not addicts that are working hard to change their lives and be happy with the way things are. These were the kind of crackheads that loved the life, and would steal from their grandma if it meant they could get whatever drug they used. They would do the court ordered classes and jump through all the hoops but as soon as they were free it would be back to drugging. They didn’t care about jail, hell for some of them it may be the first time they slept under a roof in months. 

Veles stood in awe, next to his new best friend. The officer pushed Drew’s shoulder then pointed upstairs, Room D421 for both of you. You got lucky and get to be cellies.” The officer walked deeper into the pod. 

The two walked towards the stairs but Veles kept an eye on officer asshole. He walked to a roided out monster of a man that was basically tatted from head to toe. From his limited knowledge of jail life, mostly from TV shows, Veles guessed that he was the pod boss or at least the boss of the white people. Veles nudged Drew with an elbow and he hoped subtly gestured with his head. 

“Well that can’t be good,” Drew said, he had never been this nervous in his entire life. The tattooed man nodded then smiled a villainous smile. 

The two walked up the metal stairs to their cell, Veles immediately put his stuff on the top bunk. “Can you fight?” Veles asked. Veles knew that he would be ok, he had rich family that he had never met but they wanted him to have everything for some reason. They must have felt bad because he never met his dad who was their grandson or something. He wasn’t a bad guy, his dad died while Veles was still in his mom’s belly. His mom insisted that he took two hand to hand combat classes as well as weapons training for his whole life. And she made him follow through until the end. That tattooed gorilla didn’t scare Veles, but if he had enough friends then Veles and Drew could be in trouble. 

“Well I couldn’t fight against professionals,” Thankfully Drew did seem confident, “But I can inflict some pain when I need to.”

The relieved Veles a little, “That’s good because we may need you to. Our new friends probably won’t wait long, depending on what that cop told him.”

The good news was that a man of that size and probably a long criminal background would obviously underestimate the two newbies. He would most likely look at Veles as a snack, he probably looked at Drew as the bigger threat. Being underestimated in this situation was a good place to be. 

“Can you fight?” Drew asked Veles hopefully. That was a large human out there, and Drew wasn’t ashamed to admit that he did not want to take a punch from him. Drew was here for fighting with the cops and Veles was here because he may have killed someone, they were most likely bunked in with some dangerous people. That giant man was like a megalodon in a school of sharks. 

“The quick version,” Veles answered, “One on one I could take that guy with little problem.” Drew raised his eyebrows which Veles expected. “When we have a chance to sit down and talk I will tell you how I grew up, but for now just trust me. The problem is that he probably has an ass load of goons that do everything he says.” 

“No offense kid,” Drew said apologetically, “But did you see the size of that guy? He is a beast.”

“Trust me I get why you think that,” Veles said with that snake charmer smile. “I’m banking that he thinks the same way you do, that is to my advantage.”

“Well I can say this,” Drew said returning the smile, “I hope you’re right. And I’m not looking forward to the next couple of days.” Veles completely agreed.

After an hour of getting situated, mostly washing everything with water the best that they could. There was a short stainless steel toilet and on the back where the lid normally was there was a sink. It was the most disgusting place Veles had ever seen, and why was it so dim. Someone knocked on the door. 

  Veles opened it to see one of the older men with salt and pepper hair smiling nervously. “Hey fellas,” The man said, “I’ve been told that I’m going to be the one that shows you around. Did you get everything set in here?” 

“We did, thank you,” Veles said. Drew, who had been sitting on the bed, stood.

“If you want to follow me I will show you a few things,” they followed the man out the door. He showed them the showers in the two corners of the upper level, “You sleep upstairs so you only use the upstairs showers, fights can start over the dumbest shit in this hell hole.” They followed him past the dorm type rooms along the back wall. They followed him down the stairs where he showed them the shelf with the board games and puzzles, “If you like cards you can order them on Tuesday if you have money on your books.” He showed them the phones and the kiosk where stuff could be ordered. “No matter what,” he sounded very serious, “ Do not let someone get your inmate number. If they do, you are screwed.” 

The man followed them up the stairs and back to their room, he asked if he could come in. “I could get my ass kicked for this but I am warning you that all eyes are on you. Did you see the officer talk to the big guy?" Both Veles and Drew nodded he said, “Yeah they are not subtle, but I guess they don’t need to be. That is Deimos, and he is the worst person I have ever met.”

“I kinda got that vibe,” Veles said and was able to keep most of the sarcasm out of his voice, the man was stating the obvious. “But what do you mean?”

I did some time with him years ago before I had the gray in my hair and beard. I even became friends and became one of his top guys. He got arrested for allegedly murdering a father and his two sons because they had the nerve to get over in front of him as their lane was ending. He pulled them out of the car right there on the freeway and beat them to death with a crowbar. I became what is called an enforcer, but that was only in name. Deimos loves inflicting punishment and pain on anyone who he thinks deserves it, or if he is bored and wants to fight. He loves to hurt people. So I rarely had to fight, which was a good thing even though I did like a good scrap now and then. I’m sure you can tell by looking at him that he is not the nicest guy in the world. Honestly you have no idea how brutal this man can be.

He lives for it, I have seen him destroy the toughest of men both mentally and physically. We all know that stealing is a bad thing, especially in here. They brought a homeless man nicknamed Jesus before the jail version of court, which is strange because they hate all cops and judges. They said he stole a soda and a bag of chips from Deimos. Deimos said that Jesus snuck into his bunk while we were watching TV. We all knew it was a lie but none of us stood up to Deimos, truthfully I kinda liked the power. 

Jesus pleaded with Deimos, when that didn’t work he tried begging. It wouldn’t have mattered what Jesus said, Deimos had it in for him and nothing was going to stop him. The smile on his face was disgusting, but the look of hate in his eyes was terrifying. It was demonic. We knew Jesus wouldn’t see the sunrise next morning, not that we get to see the sunrise but you know what I mean. The court found Jesus innocent which we also knew was bullshit. Deimos even hung out with Jesus the rest of the day, watching sports. Jesus should have known something was up when Deimos gave him a soda and a bag of chips, but the poor guy was just happy to be part of the group. Deimos always has people on the inside, that is something you must know. The officers always help him. 

Jesus had a cell to himself, his homeless habit of never getting to shower carried over into jail. Nobody would bunk with him. At one in the morning the red lights on the cameras went dark, and then we heard a cell door pop open. We knew whose it was. Two minutes later another door popped, that one would be Jesus. His cries of pain and terror didn’t stop until 1:45, it felt like the screams lasted a thousand years. Which they kinda did since I still hear them sometimes. I won’t even tell you what he did to him in the moments as he died, it is horrifying. 

I got out a week later, and went to the first church I found. I have been praying for forgiveness everyday since. The guard told him that the two of you raped and murdered a 12 year old girl. I don’t have to tell you that’s not a good thing for people to think. I would sleep with one eye open. 

“What the hell?” Veles was pissed, “Why the hell would he do that? Is he trying to get us killed?”

“I’ve already been in here too long,” The man said, “Hopefully nobody noticed.” The man opened the door and was gone. 

Veles looked at Drew, “Well how the hell did we get ourselves in this much trouble so fast?” Veles was still smiling, “I think you’re bad luck.” 

“Somethin,” Drew replied and Veles could see how nervous he was. “I’m gonna level with you man, I haven’t been in a fight since high school. When you say you can take this guy, How sure are you?”

Veles spent the next little while explaining how long he had been in training, he even named dropped some of his teachers. Drew did seem to recognize the name Jerry Lerole, which gave Veles some credibility. He had been training Kenpo since he was four years old. When he reached his brown belt Veles added an MMA regiment. 

“I’m tellin ya,” Veles reassured Drew, “If it’s just me and him then that big man is in a lot of trouble. But the problem is look at us, neither of us is very imposing so I doubt he will be the first to come for us.” Drew agreed, “I’ll have to dumb my skills down for the first attack.” Drew wondered how Veles could still be smiling. Veles had expected trouble in jail from the minute he was put in the back of the police car, he did look like a little punk ass rich kid. He had shoulder length, perfectly wavy, blonde hair and perfect white teeth. The blue eyes just sealed the deal for him as a rich white kid. He was surprised how quickly everything happened.

The main door opened and one of the officers yelled, “Let’s lock it down.” Like the sheep that the jail system likes to turn people into, the men wandered slowly to their cells and shut the door. Neither Veles nor Drew knew the routine so they both thought being in the cell was good enough. They were wrong, “D421 shut your goddamn door.” The entire pod laughed at the newbies.

Veles pulled the door shut and the lock engaged immediately. He heard footsteps walking along the bottom of the pod and more walking up the stairs towards his cell. When the officer reached the pair's new bedroom he banged on the door hard with something metal. 

“Next time I tell you to lockdown your dumbasses better lockdown,” the officer snarled through the long and narrow rectangle window up the right side of the door. It stopped inches above the handle and inches from the top of the door.

“Then maybe you should tell people the rules when they get here,” Veles snapped back with sarcasm and a smile. He would keep smiling at these officers despite the beating he took not very long ago, or the one he may take now for smarting off. He knew that smile infuriated men trying to intimidate him, Veles loved it. 

“This isn’t a place for someone as pretty as you to have a mouth like that,” The officer warned, Veles raised his eyebrows. “I can tell by your busted up face someone has already told you. You must be a slow learner. What’s your name inmate?” The officer didn’t wait for an answer, “It’s Zemlak, right? You better keep your mouth shut or I will snap all the ass off you.”

Veles was confused but decided to try to be funny, “So you think I am pretty and you want to snap all my ass?” Veles was laughing hard on the inside, “I haven’t been in here that long sir. What’s your name? I give it a week before I am ready for some action.”

“Shut up,” Drew whispered from behind Veles, “You are causing way too much trouble.” Veles found himself irritated at Drew, this is how Veles dealt with stress. And he would need to be calm if he planned on protecting himself and Drew. 

The guard looked at Veles with all the rage of Hell, “You better watch your ass kid.”

Veles fought off the frustration at Drew and his urge to make obvious sarcastic comment. “You got it officer,” Veles said still smiling, “I will stay in my lane sir.” The officer stared at Veles a bit longer, Veles wondered if he was mad about the, not so subtle sarcasm. Veles thought the officer was deciding if roughing Veles up was worth the trouble. 

The officer walked away and Drew waited until he heard both officers leave the pod then spoke. “Dude you gotta stop doing that,” He sounded scared and Veles felt a little bad. “I am already sick of getting my ass kicked by cops, and you are just making things worse for us both. Whether we like it or not we’re linked together here.” Those last words stung Veles. 

“Do you really think it’s me doing this?” Veles asked, “Did I go tell the gorilla we hurt a little girl?” Veles took a deep breath, “Sorry man, I’m just frustrated.”

“I get it,” Drew said even though he was still frustrated at the kid. “You just gotta be smarter,” those words didn’t sting Veles, they pissed him right off. Veles could see that Drew was equally pissed, he decided to use the discipline that was such a big part of his martial arts training. 

Veles didn’t say another word and neither did Drew. The young man arranged his pillows and the clothes bag under the blanket giving it some semblance of a body. Drew layed down facing the wall, Veles thought he could hear the older man weeping softly. The sound hit Veles right in his heart, he decided to take it easy on the man. He didn’t have the same training as Veles, he said he hadn’t been in a fight since school. Of course the guy was worried. Veles sat on the round seat of a stool that was bolted to the floor, in front of a table welded to the wall. There was a book on the table that Veles didn’t recognize. He flipped passed the table of contents to the first story, “Hazel’s Lock.” He began to read. 

He got three pages in when he heard the very distinct sound of one of these green doors unlocking. Drew jumped and rolled over. Veles stood where the door would open and readied himself to attack. He heard two sets of footsteps approaching on the metal walkway. Deimos must not think much of Drew and Veles, these men weren’t even trying to sneak. Just before their door popped open, the red lights on all the cameras went black. The lock popped and the door flew open, Veles used his foot as a doorstop. Neither of the two noticed, just as Veles had expected. 

Drew cried out in fear as the shorter man jumped on top of him. The larger man stabbed something into the top bunk several times before he threw the blanket back. Veles got behind him with the speed and stealth of a ninja. He climbed on the man's back and locked in a rear naked choke and locked his heels into the much taller guy's hips. The big guy spun and reached for Veles, but he had this choke and his hooks locked in. Both men’s blonde hair whipped and thrashed like metalheads at a concert. He wrestled hard trying to get Veles off his back.     

Drew was doing his best to fight off the stocky man with the bald head. Drew was not fairing very well, it appeared that the man was much stronger than him. 

“Veles,” Drew said, almost in a whimper, “Veles please kid, get this guy off me.” 

Veles was trying his damndest to turn the bigger man’s lights out. It was getting close, his attempts to break free were getting weaker with each second. He tried to smash Veles up against the wall, but it was a weak bump at best. The big man dropped to one knee then fell forward. He caught himself with his hands and it was not long before the man was flat on his belly in the land of unconsciousness. 

Veles looked in time to see the bald man pull a shank but not in time to do anything about it. He buried it in Drew’s leg and Drew screamed. Veles punched him hard in the spine, making the man grunt in pain. He whipped his head back, smacking it into the metal bottom of the top bunk. Veles landed a hard punch into the man’s left ribs. The man contorted his body just right for Veles to lock in another choke. The second man went out much quicker than the big guy. 

The big guy began to stir, Veles quickly dragged him onto the metal walkway. He didn’t waste a second, he re-entered his cell to get the little man out of the room as well. Veles shut the door and was relieved when it actually locked. The bigger man stumbled to his feet then the short man stood as well. The little guy grabbed the door handle and pulled hard. His hand slipped when the door didn’t open and stumbled back into the railing. It was lucky for the two men that the door was locked, they needed to shake the cobwebs before they tried to fight again. Veles laughed and gave them the finger through the window. The big guy punched the glass, Veles laughed harder. 

They began the walk of shame back to whatever cell they were bunking in. Deimos was not going to be happy with these two. Veles turned to Drew who was looking at the shank sticking out of his leg in disbelief. Veles understood the shock, despite his body being full of battle coldness. Veles wanted more. He walked to the bed and yanked the knife out with no concern for Drew’s pain. Drew screamed.

“What the hell man?” Drew was pissed, “Do you know how damn bad that hurt?”

“Did you want me to leave it in there?” Veles asked, “Or do you want me to put it back? I know that hurt but it would have hurt no matter what. I thought you would rather just get it over with.” He went to the sink and washed off the blade.

Drew stood gingerly putting most of his weight on the unwounded right leg. “You better watch it kid,” Drew sounded threatening. Veles was surprised after Drew was just begging for his help, He smiled internally and listened to the older man. It must have shown on his face because Drew said, “Don’t let what just happened fool you, I will bust you up.”

“Dude I have enough to worry about without this shit,” Veles said, he hoped he would have to rough up his only kind of ally. “You need to calm down and remember that I just saved your ass two minutes ago.”

“Don’t push it kid,” Drew seemed to be more angry at Veles than the man that just jumped him. “This is your last warning.”

“Whatever man,” Veles said, then used the stool to hop up onto the top bunk. “You might want to get something to wrap that up.” 

Drew did. The two spent the next hour and a half in complete silence, Veles thought he even dozed off a couple times. Veles knew he was in much more trouble now, He for sure wouldn’t be able to count on Drew. He had to get a hold of his mom, the cop turned the pod more against them. Veles didn’t want to leave his room when the lock popped, but he wanted to use the phone and try to hear anything that may help him stay alive. He jumped off the top bunk then headed straight for the door.

“Hey kid,” Drew said and Veles could already hear the apology in his voice. “I’m really sorry, all this shit going on is very overwhelming for me.”

Veles smiled, he liked Drew but knew he would not follow Veles into a fight. “We’re good, man. You have a wife and kids, I get it.” 

Drew stood, “You can’t go out there alone, my friend. I really appreciate you saving my ass.”

“I got you brotha,” Veles never lost his contagious smile, “I won’t let shit happen to you. Your wife and kids need you.”

The two walked out to the railing and looked out over their temporary home. Everything looked mostly the same as when they came in. It seemed everyone was in the exact same place, like a painting. He spotted Deimos, unfortunately he was standing over the man that showed the new inmates around. The man looked scared which was very understandable, Deimos and his goons were crowding around him. 

“Everyone pay attention,” Deimos had a powerful voice, “Jimmy here is accused of being a snitch leading to Thor and T-Money getting jumped by the new guys.” Veles laughed, and Drew wondered what was wrong with him. “Court will take place in five minutes in my dorm.” Jimmy was obviously nervous and it was written all over his face. 

Veles felt horrible that this man was in a world of shit for them. “We have to help him,” Veles said, “We can’t let them kick his ass for us.”

“Man,” Drew said exasperated, “I can’t be getting into this shit. I need to get to my wife. If I could help him I would but I don’t see anyway that I can. I can’t fight guys that live in and out of jail. I got stabbed.”

“I have to think of something,” Veles said, “He wouldn’t be in this shit if he didn’t try to help us.”

“For real dude,” Drew pleaded, “I need you to keep me out of this. I need to get to my wife. I appreciate his help, but I can’t get involved. Please keep me out of this.”

Veles figured that out already, “I can take these guys, you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Deimos locked eyes with Veles, “And you two Pedos better be there too. None of this would be happening without you two.”

Veles smiled a champion's smile and gave Deimos a big thumbs up. “You got it man,” Veles said, he knew he pissed Deimos off, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Keep smiling jackass,” anger smeared all over the big man’s face, “You won’t be smiling tomorrow.”

“I disagree,” Veles said, not flinching away from the anger. “I’m smiling most days, life is good.”

Deimos didn’t say anything else, he walked up the stairs on the other side of the pod. He looked like a mob boss with all the henchmen following. Thor and T-Money led Jimmy at the tail end of the group. They all walked to the back wall into one of the four dorm rooms. 

“I can’t do this,” Drew said, he almost sounded like he was crying, “They’re gonna kill us. These guys aren’t normal people, you may be tough but you have never fought guys like this.”

Veles raised his eyebrows, “Did you forget what happened an hour ago. I already have a plan,” he patted Drew on the shoulder. “This is kinda interesting, let’s go see what happens.” Drew was really starting to dislike Veles.

Veles led the way and Drew reluctantly followed, these cells were much different than the cell Veles had. Veles assumed this was a whites only bunk room, Deimos didn’t look like the kind of man to appreciate other cultures. Jimmy stood with his back to the door so Veles was looking at Thor, T-Money, and of course Deimos. Other goons were scattered throughout the dorm. Veles hated that Jimmy was going through this because he helped the newbies. Veles figured Thor would tell everyone he got jumped, and that T-Money would go along with it. Neither would want to admit to being choked out by a punk ass kid.

Veles stood in the doorway with Drew behind him. “Please come in,” Deimos invited with a Viper’s smile. “You are our honored guests.”

“Yeah,” Veles said, returning the smile, “this is the closest I’ll be getting to any of you for now.” Veles smiled at Thor and gave him a head nod, then did the same to T-Money. “What up guys,” Veles said happily, “I had so much fun with you guys earlier. We should do it again real soon, maybe your dad would let you come over after this.”

“You would do yourself some good by keeping your mouth shut,” Thor advised. “That kind of mouth is going to get you killed one day.”

“You wanna shot at the title?” Veles never stopped with his, what must be, maddening smile. “I already turned out your lights with very little effort. Did you tell these guys how I drug your lifeless body out of my cell?” He looked at T-Money, “What about you T-Penny? You want a little more?”

Both Thor and T-Money stepped towards Veles. “Hey,” Deimos was furious, “That’s not how things are done here, both of you know that. So calm your asses down and let’s get started.”

Jimmy stepped forward, “You stand accused of snitching to pedos which led to two of my guys getting attacked completely unprovoked. By those two little bitches,” He pointed to the newbies, Veles widened his smile and he even waved. Most people thought Deimos stayed calm, but Veles saw the slight twitch in the eye. Veles was in his head. “How do you plea?”

“I did warn them,” Jimmy said and Veles respected that, “I ain’t gonna lie. But you know these guys ain’t cho-mos, and so do I, that’s why I did it. And I would do it again. We know each other a long time Deimos, we both know you are just lookin to hurt someone.”

“Soooooo then why would you want to take away my pleasure?” Deimos asked, “That is almost as bad as snitching to pedos. But you and I both heard the officer tell me what they did to that little girl.”

“Look at them Deimos,” Jimmy countered, “The cops already had a good time with them. For whatever reason these men are just marked for an ass whoopin. I thought I would try to save them one.” 

“What do you think Thor,” Deimos asked, “Do you believe what he is saying? Do you think I should let you teach him?” As Veles knew it would happen, they didn’t care what Jimmy said.

Thor smiled, “I think I could do that, I have heard a lot about him. I have wanted this chance for a long time. I’ll show him what a real enforcer looks like.” Veles let out two bursts of laughter, he didn’t have a chance to catch them. Thor shot him an evil look that made Veles laugh harder. 

“T-Money,” Deimos didn’t miss a beat, “What do you think? Should we teach him?” Deimos paused, “I think you, Thor, and myself should have a good time with him in the rec yard tomorrow.” 

Veles interjected without being asked, “How about a trial by combat?” He smiled at Deimos, “You and me big fella.”

“And you think that would be a fair fight,” Deimos began to laugh. Thor and T-Money joined in until everyone in the cell was laughing, including Veles. He nudged Drew and pointed to himself then laughed harder. Drew hated all of this. “How long do you think that would last? Ten? Maybe fifteen seconds?”

Veles wiped fake tears from his eyes, “I don’t know man, you’re pretty big. I think you could make it to two minutes, maybe even three if you keep your distance. Do you know how to stick and move? That would be your best chance.”

Deimos smiled a wide shark-like smile, every tooth was outlined with gold. “Okay kid, I’ll allow it. Jimmy, are you okay with that.?” Jimmy looked relieved, he nodded twice. “I’ll fight for the court, and to be fair Jimmy can pick his champion.” 

Jimmy looked around the large cell. He took a long look at Thor, Veles did think it would be funny to pick him but a bad idea. Thor would obviously through the fight and Jimmy would be screwed. He looked at the other henchmen, none of them would have fought for him. Neither would any of the older guys he hung out with. Jimmy looked at Veles who smiled and nodded agreement. Jimmy took a few steps back and Deimos put an arm around him. Veles couldn’t register it in his mind for a moment.

“I pick,” He paused for dramatic effect, Veles hated the situation and the look in Jimmy’s eyes but he did love the showmanship, “Drew.”

Drew couldn’t believe what was happening, having his name called hit him like a prized fighter and he even felt punch drunk. Drew left before Deimos, Thor, T-Money, Jimmy, and the rest of the thugs celebrated and laughed at their cleverness. Veles was confident that he was so smart but Deimos was three steps ahead of him. Veles wanted to smack the shit out of Jimmy. Drew took off to his cell and proceeded to have a panic attack. He was glad that Veles needed to use the phone, He didn’t want to see that smart ass kid right now. Drew considered asking for a new cell but Veles was his only friend in here and the kid could fight. Veles did kinda jump Thor and T-Money, but he dispatched those two fairly easily. 

He thought about going to Deimos and having a man to man talk, however that seemed like the express lane to an ass whoopin. It would make him look like a bitch that is not the impression that he wanted to give everyone. Drew knew that he couldn’t die in this place tomorrow, he had to get Miranda. He thought hard and only had one plausible idea. He would have to make it work, it would be the only way to get to his wife. 

     Veles knocked on the door softly then opened it. “Hey man,” Veles said, Drew could clearly hear the worry in the kids voice. “Everything is going to be okay. I already have a plan, you won’t have to fight Deimos.”

“No offense kid,” Drew was obviously pissed and made no effort to hide it. “I think I’ve had enough of your plans. I need to get out of here, that’s the only plan I care about. If you think I am going anywhere near any of those thugs then your bat shit crazy. As a matter of fact if you think we are anything close to friends then you are even more crazy. I don’t want anything to do with Deimos or his assholes, and most of all you. You are going to get me killed.” With that Drew lay down facing the wall and would no longer speak. 

“So you’re still putting this shit on me?” Veles asked but Drew didn’t answer. “That’s some bullshit man, I got thrown in this shit just like you did. Except I’m nineteen and you are acting like a pussy.” Drew still said nothing. Veles decided he would call his mom back, because of the severity of his charges Veles did not have a set bail just yet. However, he did call his mom to bail out Drew, he decided to give his mom a call back and cancel that. “You had your chance asshole, Veles spat but Drew said nothing, Veles hated to get ignored. “Suck it, dude.”

Veles called his mom back to unarranged the arrangements that he made. He decided not to let the monsters keep him trapped in his cell, especially with Drew’s ass. He found a seat next to a dirty homeless man who looked extremely malnourished. 

“I didn’t hurt any kids,” Veles said, hoping his smile would break the ice. “I have no idea why the cops are running around telling people this nonsense. I know I didn't do it, and the guy I met in intake doesn’t seem like the type that would either.” 

“I figured that out already,” The man said, he was younger than Veles originally thought. “But more importantly, I don’t care. And most importantly, I’m not willing to fight those guys so you have someone to talk to.”

“You too huh?” Veles was amazed how many of these hardened criminals were scared of one man. Veles would take a serious butt kickin before he cowered and boot licked any man. “I was gonna give you my dinner tray and a pack of ramen.” Not getting to interact with his normal people was going to be very hard for him.  

Even though he was hated , when Veles was on the phone with his mom he made a deal with the guy in charge of the store. Because of who he was, Veles was forced to overpay by a ridiculous amount. But it was worth it to not have to eat jail food, which he assumed was as disgusting as the rest of the place. He got coffee and noodles of course, Veles didn’t really drink coffee but he could tell that it would be able to be used as currency, he even scored a couple sodas and five candy bars. 

As Veles stood the man grabbed his arm, “I’m not tryin to be a dick man, but you don’t know that guy. He is built different, he is strong and ruthless like a viking.” Veles could see the genuine fear in his eyes. 

Veles looked in time to see the store owner get dragged into the showers by Thor. He was also in time to see T-Money heading towards the table. Veles thought the thug looked more confident than a guy that just got choked out should be. 

“Thanks asshole,” The homeless guy said, “I told you I didn’t want you around me.” The man stood and ran to T-Money, “I wants nothin to do with him, I told him to gets away. You seen it, he just came and sat down, you seen it.” Veles laughed to himself, this place was unstable at best. 

“Don’t worry,” T-Money said as he pushed the man away by his face. “Deimos wants to see you before we lock down for tonight.”

“I’m right here,” Veles answered, “I know it’s easy to get lost in this exitless room, but I think he can manage to find me.”

“Look kid,” T-Money said, sounding friendly, maybe even a little concerned. “I’ve seen what Deimos does to people, I understand that you can fight, but you are to young to end up dead, he doesn’t fuck around.” 

“I appreciate your concern,” Veles said, wearing an untrusting smile, “Last time I trusted one of you it didn’t work out for me very well, and even worse for Drew.” 

“Just come with me,” T-Money pleaded, Veles could see in his eyes that T-Money was sincere. “You’re gonna get yourself and a lot of others hurt or maybe even killed. Drew is done, Deimos has it in for him as I’m sure you can tell. But he kinda likes you, he has a soft spot for cocky assholes. Being friendly with Deimos is the best way to stay safe in this place.” Veles studied T-Money’s face, and he decided to follow. 

Veles followed T-Money up to the dorm, the same room used for the courtroom. There were five bunks along the far wall and a toilet in the far corner of the nearwall. Each bed was made military style and the room was very clean, Deimos must have run a tight ship. The big man sat on a round stool bolted to the floor at a table welded to the wall. He was across from the door and smiling at Veles. 

“Welcome to our room,” Deimos was very welcoming, “As before you are my honored guest.” Veles looked at the smiling thug with distrust and honestly a bit of disgust. “Come in and have a seat.”

“I think we both know that I’m not doing that,” Veles said with his own smile. “I can hear you just fine right here, We trusted Jimmy and look how that worked out. I’m not making that mistake again.”

“That hurts,” Deimos faked hurt feelings, “Consider me a king in medieval times, I will never hurt someone that I invite into my home.”

“Even still,” Veles would not be manipulated by this man. He was obviously as smart as his muscles were big. “I think I’m good where I’m at. We are ten feet apart. I won't have any trouble hearing you.”

   “Have it your way,” Deimos looked frustrated, Veles assumed that Deimos was the type of guy that was used to getting everything he wanted. “I want to talk to you about your new friend Drew. How well do you know that guy?” 

“I met him after we got booked in,” Veles answered, “I’ve never met him before this morning.”

Deimos nodded, then continued, “He and I have what you would call a history.” Veles was very surprised by that, he wondered why Drew didn’t say anything. “I see by your face that he didn’t mention it. Well we went to high school together with his wife Miranda. She was the most beautiful girl either of us had ever seen.” Veles tried to remember if Drew had mentioned his wife’s name, he couldn;t remember for sure but he thought not. “We were on the football team together and Miranda was the hottest cheerleader in the state.”

“Something that happened in high school?” Veles questioned, “You think he deserves his ass kicked over some high school shit? C’mon man.” 

“Miranda was my girlfriend,” Deimos went on ignoring Veles, “She was my girlfriend for a year and a half and Drew was my friend for a little longer. While I was on vacation with my family he went over to Miranda’s house to ‘study.’ He took her to the movies and that night they boned,” Veles could actually see the sadness in the big man’s eyes. “That little bastard ruined my whole life, after Miranda my life went to shit as you probably guessed from where I live.” Veles thought about how he would feel if Bryli did that. Would he still hate the guy twenty years later? He didn’t know, but he did know that he would still hate Gunner twenty years from now, so he guessed he could kinda see the big guy’s point. “The fight’s not with you kid. As far as I’m concerned you can walk out of this room and live your best jail life. We know you aren’t pedos, especially you, normally young men don’t touch kids. But I have been waiting for this chance with Drew for a decade and a half.” 

“So you want me to just step aside and feed him to the wolves,” Veles asked. The hard part for Veles is if Deimops was telling the truth, then Veles might feel the same way. But if Deimos was lying then Drew would probably get killed, and for nothing. “I don’t know man,” Veles said, “I don’t know that I can just sit back and let that happen. The guys got kids.”

“Those should be my kids,” Deimos was becoming agitated. “That is my wife and my life that he is living. Think about this, the first time I was ever arrested was two months after she cheated. Before that I was a B student and a pretty good football player, I could have played in college. A guy from the East Canyon High football team told me what happened. They tried to hide it from me, his bitch ass stole my life. I beat the guy that told me almost to death” 

“So what is it that you are wanting me to do?” Veles was still very skeptical of all this. “Because the first thing that Thor did was stab where he thought I was laying.” Veles was trying to read Deimos like a poker player, Deimos showed nothing on his face. “Wouldn’t you say that kinda makes the fight with me? Let me ask you this. How would you react to this situation if you were me?”

“I understand that,” Deimos could be as smooth as the devil when he wanted to be, “Thor acted on his own, I can assure you that. He has been reprimanded by you already and by me tonight. He is my cellie.”

“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Veles said, sounding much older and wiser than his years. “Let me talk to him a little, I want to verify a few things. Because if you are right about him then I would probably feel the same as you do. How old are you? And what school did you go to?”

Deimos smiled. He must think he is getting his way, but there was no way Veles could do that to Drew. He felt bad enough for canceling the bailing him out, he could let Deimos hurt the guy. “I am thirty six years old,” Veles thought that was around Drew’s age, “and I went to North Peak High School. He is the same age as me and he also has a home tatted DD on his right shoulder,” Deimos turned and lifted his shirt, “Just like this one. We were very close.” That was some pretty damning evidence. If it were true, it would also explain how the trouble happened so quickly. “He’s going to try to make you feel bad for him, he is very good at manipulating people. Don’t let him fool you kid, he likes to play the victim. Tonight we are going to put a good scare into him, but tomorrow is the real fun. I really hope you don’t get in the way.”

“You’ll know when I know,” Veles said smiling, but now he was pretty nervous. Maybe Drew was a dick in high school but Deimos would murder him. But not just murder, the story Jimmy told them earlier about Deimos and Jesus was probably true. If it was, that meant Deimos raped a man in his dying moments, Veles could not allow that. “I’m not going to promise anything either way. I’ll do some digging tonight after we lockdown and I’ll give you my answer in the morning.” With that Veles left the room as Deimos watched from his stool.

The evening passed with Veles watching TV by himself and half concentrating on a puzzle. Apparently Deimos had not given the okay to socialize with Veles. Dinner came , if it could be called that. It was as gross as everything else in this place. Hot dogs floating in bean water, a side of rice, hard rolls, and three sandwich cookies. They didn’t even get a drink. Veles was gladder than ever that he was able to secure some food. He gave the tray to the same homeless man that was so rude to him earlier. The man looked scared, his eyes searched the pod for Deimos. When they made eye contact, Deimos gave a very slight nod, the man ate eagerly. Drew never even showed his face.

On the TV were game shows and the puzzle barely had the border put together. Veles hoped he would not be here long enough to finish it. Of course nobody talked to him or sat anywhere near him. Deimos had complete control of this pod, it was kind of amazing. 

The TV turned off and the main door to the pod opened. “Lock it down for the night,” an officer commanded, “Take your smelly asses to bed.”

The men did as they were told, the officers even had the authority to send Deimos to bed. Echoes of doors closing and electronic locks locking echoed through the pod. Veles was the last to get to his room and even stood in the doorway having a pretty intense staredown with the officer.

The officer smiled an untrustworthy smile, “Have a good night Zemlak. We’ll see you in the morning, maybe. Now close your damn door.”

Veles expected Drew to still be laying down. Drew was not, “Sorry kid,” Drew said as Veles turned to see what the hell he was talking about. Drew charged with the same shank that was sticking out of his leg earlier that day. It’s a good thing for Veles that he had lightning-like reflexes. He spun out of the way of Drew’s charging body, putting Veles behind him. 

“What the hell man?” Veles was furious, “What are you doin dick?” Veles punched him hard in the shoulder blades and Drew dropped the shiv. Veles pushed him hard into the door, “I promise you man, you don’t want to do this.”

“Help!” Drew screamed, “Help! Zemlak is tryin to kill me. Veles stepped back to the table, Drew slammed himself into the door again, “Guards! Please help me!” Veles jumped to the top bunk as Drew stumbled back tripping over the stool making him fall awkwardly into the table. It was obvious now what he was doing, Drew was trying to get to the asylum. 

“Kick his ass Zemlak,” Deimos said in his powerful voice from the bunkroom. “But you better save some for me.” The entire pod laughed together. 

“Guards!” Drew was desperately trying to get out of here, it made Veles believe Deimos a little more. “Zemlak is tryin to kill me,” Drew smashed his face into the metal table, Veles heard his nose break. Blood spattered the wall, the table, and the stool. Drew stood up and ran into the door again, that made him stumble sideways and trip over the toilet. It sounded like every person in the pod was banging on their doors and screaming with approval. Some were even whistling high pitched whistles. “Guards, please god help me.”

“Do you really think this will work?” Veles was smiling and very curious. “You didn’t have to try to stab me,” Drew ignored him.

Drew stood up and thumped his head against the cinder block wall, the thud was dull and disgusting. The main door to the pod opened, Veles stayed on his top bunk. He hoped they wouldn’t buy Drew’s acting, he didn’t want any trouble from this. 

“Get down inmates,” an officer commanded, then Veles heard them hit the metal stairs. Veles wasn’t going to get off the bunk but he did lay on his belly and put his hands behind his head. “Pop room D421,” the door unlocked, “Get on the ground.” Veles held his position as Drew continued thrashing. 

The officers barged in the room and threw Drew to the ground, he fought back but weakly. This is what he wanted. The four officers held him while two more charged in with a straight jacket.

“I didn’t touch him,” Veles turned his face to the side so he could be heard, “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

“We know dipshit,” one of the officers said, “We watched the whole thing. Just stay face down.”

Veles did what he was told until the scuffling ceased and his cell door shut. He jumped off the bed and got to the window to watch Drew get carried out the door as calm as could be.

“We’re gonna to have to talk about this Zemlak,” Deimos said, “I really hope you didn’t snitch.”

Drew really put him in a shitty situation, he left the nineteen year old Veles to deal with some grown man problems. Veles was happy that he would never have to see Drew’s face again. 

“I really hope you have a good explanation for this shit,” Deimos was not happy. “You just took my last shot at that son of a bitch. I’m not going to forget that.”

Nobody got any sleep that night, echoes of Thor screaming accompanied by grunts of pleasure and aggression from Deimos went on until four in the morning. Pour Thor wouldn’t be walking right for a long time. Veles thought this punishment for Thor was far worse than being choked out by Veles. He found himself feeling awful for Thor. 

When it all finished Deimos said, “Now tell everyone that you love me.”

Thor was sobbing and everyone in the pod knew it but not one person would shame him for it, they all understood. “I love Deimos,” Thor sounded broken.

“Yeah you do,” Deimos said, sounding very satisfied by his dominance. “Now you know what happens to people that cross me, Zemlak. Your answer better satisfy me, or you will have to.” Deimos laughed thinking he was so clever, he didn’t notice or care that not a single person laughed with him. 

Veles would never be a victim of Deimos, and now that he knew what happens he couldn’t let Deimos do that to anyone ever again. Veles shuttered to think how many poor men have had to suffer that. Veles got a tear in his eye. No wonder Thor and T-Money followed orders, Deimos was pure evil like a literal spawn of Satan. 

“I can promise you one thing, you will not do that to me,” Veles was one hundred percent sure of that. Deimos would have to kill him first, what Deimos didn’t know is that he would have to kill Veles no matter what. “You better get that shit out of your head right now.” The whole pod seemed to gasp together. Nervousness and sorrow for Thor were thick in the pod like black on a moonless night. Veles couldn’t imagine what it must have been like last night in that bunkroom. Deimos was a menace to the world, someone important put Veles in this place to end his reign of terror. 

Veles was beyond pissed that the guards had let that happen all night, not a single one of them came in the pod. They had to have heard the screams, there is no way they didn’t know what was going on. Things had taken a very nasty turn, Deimos was much worse than Veles thought possible. Veles could possible understand violence, but never rape. He must be stopped. Veles thought Thor and T-Money had been assholes, but in reality they are victims of a maniac. 

Veles slept for about two hours before a guard called for a standing head count. Breakfast came thirty minutes later. Veles found a different person who looked like they could use a meal to give his tray to, it was not hard in this place. The man was so grateful, which made him feel bad that someone could be so grateful for something so horrible. He decided that when he got out of here that he would do more to help people in need. 

Veles was again sitting alone while he ate noodles, sipped at a soda, and moved puzzle pieces around absently. Someone put on the news, probably a guard but Veles paid no attention. Was he really going to risk doing serious time for hurting Deimos? He knew that hurting him would not be enough, he would likely have to kill the big man. That was a very short time span to hurt two people, the courts would not be happy. He didn’t notice the middle aged black man take a seat next to him.

“How you doin there son?” He asked, Veles jumped at the sound of his voice. “Wow take it easy kid,” the man was smiling kindly, “It seems you’ve found yourself in quite a predicament young man.”

Veles smiled back, “I didn’t know anyone was allowed to talk to me. Name’s Veles, it’s nice to meet you,” they bumped fists.

“I think we all know your name by now,” This man's smile was so contagious. “You need to find a way out of here and fast. You’re on the bad side of the devil himself, and that is not the place you want to be in here. My advice is to start a fight out here with someone, I will volunteer if you want. If the guards see then they’ll be forced to move you. It will have to be sudden so they don’t have time to turn off the cameras.”

“I don’t think that is something I can do,” Veles said, “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” Veles had a soft spot for weak people in trouble.

“That’s very admirable son,” his new friend said, “But it’s about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Not one person in here is worth you risking your life.” The man looked around and lowered his voice, “I know who you are, who you really are.” Veles was beyond confused. “You can’t die in hell for demons.”

“What does that mean,” Veles asked, almost demanded. “Who am I really?” Veles wondered how this man could think that he knew anything about Veles. 

“Don’t worry about that right now,” the man answered, or more accurately didn’t answer. “What you need to be worried about right now is getting your narrow ass out of here. Deimos considers you his new toy, he does this to all the greenies that come in. The best thing you can do is get out of here.”

“If you know who I am, then you would know that Deimos is the one in trouble,” Veles was a little annoyed. “I feel like I could get at least Thor and T-Money on my side.” Veles knew that Thor would never want to go through that again, nobody would. Veles must take advantage of that. “And I bet most people in here would jump ship if they knew there was a way out.”

“I’m sure they would,” The man replied, “And like I said, I know who you are. I know you can handle yourself, but so can Deimos. It’s not worth risking you. You are too important. His goons are the officers, everyone in this pod hates and fears Deimos, as I am sure you have seen. Nobody knows why the officers look the other way, most think it’s because they like what Deimos does to us. They consider us scum and we deserve it.” 

“How many men in this place has Deimos ‘punished’?” Veles asked, “Why don’t you just all band together and kill him? There’s strength in numbers.”

“We tried,” the man answered sadly, “we had swat in here in no more than two minutes. It was myself and about six others. We had him beaten on the ground and at our mercy. The lights went out. Swat came in with night vision, bean bag bullets, and tasers. Every single person in the pod was either shot or tased, even the people that had nothing to do with anything. They wanted to send a message to us that Deimos runs the pod, and that would remain uncontested. They wanted us to pass the stories on to the new guys to try to save them some trouble.” The man looked at Veles with regret, “Please kid, just get out of here. It’s not worth it.”

“That’s not an option anymore,” Veles answered, “I know your story was meant to deter me, but all it did was let me further know what I need to do. Someone is going to die today, hopefully it’s him.”

“Zemlak,” a beaten voice called from upstairs, “Deimos wants to see you, now.” It was Thor, Veles turned and watched him hobble back to the dorm.”

“See man,” Veles said to the man who was no longer sitting there, “That shit ain’t happenin.” Veles didn’t want to go upstairs, not out of fear, he didn’t want to give Deimos the impression that he had any power over Veles. But the fact is that he did have to fight Deimos, there was no way around that. Veles felt sooner was better than later. He threw away his trash and walked upstairs to the den of a madman.

Veles stood in the doorway looking at Thor and T-Money standing on either side of a smiling Deimos. Neither Thor nor T-Money smiled. It was obvious that they were trying to hold a prison trial for him. “Come in Zemlak,” Deimos invited, “This time you don’t have a choice.” Three men grabbed him from behind and shoved him aggressively into the dorm. “You are accused of being a snitch to an inmate that I had marked. How do you plea?”

“Veles had no time for this nonsense and he let Deimos know. “Let’s just get to the part where we fight,” Veles said, surprising everyone in the dorm except for the top goons on either side of Deimos. How long had it been since these men saw a single person stand face to face with Deimos and not flinch. “You may have authority over everyone here, but I'm telling you, you are nothing to me. So if we need to fight to satisfy your lunatic mind then let’s get to it.” Deimos was shocked, he knew Veles was cocky but he didn’t expect this. “So rec time? I assume that’s when this is happening.”

“You’re a disrespectful little punk,” Deimos had fury masked all over his face. “What could you possibly have to gain from this?”

Veles ignored him and looked at Thor. “We all heard that shit last night,” there was no teasing in his voice, only sympathy. “I’m still in shock, I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel. Are you telling me that is the way you want to live? There is no way any of you want this guy here. I am not your enemy,” Veles felt the atmosphere in the room slip a little in his favor. By the look on his face Deimos did too. “T-Money, has that happened to you? You don’t need to answer man, your face says it all.”

“Shut your mouth,” Deimos spat with the fury of a crazed dragon spitting fire. “I’m going to kill you, I hope you said all your goodbyes on the phone.”

Veles ignored him again, “I’m not asking you to do anything. Just stand aside and let it be one on one.” Veles could see that he was winning over the room, even the three men behind him loosened their grip. “I promise you that if you stay out of the way, none of you will have to suffer this evil man bastard again. I will end his reign today but only if you allow me to.”

The three men behind him let go, “What the hell are you guys doing?” Deimos actually looked a little nervous, not scared but Veles had the man shook. “One of you hit him,” Nobody did. Deimos moved towards Veles. Thor, T-Money, and the three other men stepped in front of Veles. “Are you serious?” Deimos looked each of them in the eyes, trying to intimidate. Veles saw his worry grow when it didn’t work, “You will pay for this.”

“When do we have rec time?” Veles asked, never breaking eye contact with Deimos. It was like having a staredown with the devil.

“Two hours,” Thor answered, “They’ll put us in the gym and the guards will have the cameras off. He already has it arranged.”

“If you have anyone that still cares about your worthless ass, now is the time to call them,” Veles said then walked out the door. Not a single person tried to stop him. 

Deimos began yelling at everyone that would listen which turned out to be nobody. The men left him alone in the bunkroom. Veles knew that he better win this fight. If he lost, Deimos would surely make it as painful as possible. He would make an example of Veles. Veles did decide to make a phone call to his mom, he was confident but there was always a chance that everyone was tricking him. It already happened yesterday. Deimos did have a weird hoodoo over the entire pod. He asked her how she was doing, assured her that he was ok, and most of all made sure she knew that he loved her. With that finished he went to his cell and laid on his bed. Without being asked, Thor and T-Money stood guard outside his door. 

His nap was short and dreamless. He woke up to a light knock followed by Thor’s voice, “They’re calling rec time in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you,” Veles said, “I’ll be ready.” Veles got out of bed and stretched, just like all of his instructors would have expected of him. 

Before long the main door to the pod opened and an officer called, “Rec time, line up.”

Veles didn’t hesitate, he went straight to the front of the line while Deimos lagged at the back. The pod was full of a nervous but also excited energy. He could tell that most of the pod, if not the whole pod, was with him. 

“You gotta a wild hare up your ass or what,” The guard asked Veles, “Get back Zemlak.” Veles stepped back.

The line moved down a short hallway to an elementary style gymnasium. There was a basketball hoop on each wall besides the one they were walking through. The walls were cement and painted yellow, the floor was just plain cement. From everything Veles had ever seen the officer should have stayed in the room. He did not, as soon as Deimos entered the officer walked out and the door locked behind him. Veles walked to the far wall, the group scattered around the room, and Deimos stood just inside the door glaring at Veles. He looked at the camera in the top corner to the left of Deimos, the red light went off. 

That turned out to be a bad mistake, he knew never to take his eyes off his opponent. He paid for his foolishness. It felt like he got hit in the chest with a civil war cannonball, Veles fell back into the wall then slid down to his ass. A large shoe filled his vision and got larger as it came at his face. Veles rolled to the side in the nick of time. He kicked Deimos hard in the back of his left knee and Deimos stumbled but kept his feet. Veles was still gasping for breath but he fought his way to his feet. 

Deimos grabbed Veles by his throat with his right hand and picked him up. This was definitely not the way he wanted the fight to start, he was in a bit of trouble.

“I’m going to kill you bastard,” Deimos said as he pulled Veles closer until he could smell the stink of the big man’s breath. “You should’ve just taken your punishment and moved on.” Veles couldn't breath, his vision began to blur, then he started to lose consciousness.

Veles dug deep and swung with his last bit of strength, it connected with Deimos’ nose. Veles felt it break and felt the blood splatter on his face. Deimos dropped the young man to the floor and Veles quickly scuttled to his feet. He gasped and began to regain his vision. He spun, almost instinctively, spun out of the way of a sledgehammer like fist. The wild miss made Deimos spin off balance, Veles moved quickly across the room to get a little more time to gain his bearings. 

The two men faced each other from opposite sides of the room. “That was your chance big fella,” Veles said out of breath but smiling wide. “You’re in trouble now.”

“You talk too much you little bitch,” Deimos said then moved forward. “I’m going to kill you,” then charged, Veles easily dodged the much slower man. 

Veles stomped on the back of his foot as he passed, it peeled some of the skin off the ankle. It wasn’t something that would finish the fight but pain was pain and Veles would take even the most minor of advantages. Deimos grunted in pain.

Deimos spun to face a smiling Veles. “Dude, I’m telling you it’s over,” Veles said, “You should just walk away and save yourself a lot of pain.” Veles knew that Deimos would not, but Veles was getting in his head and they both knew it. 

“Fuck you,” Deimos spat back, “I’m going to kill you and then go visit your precious mother. She will wish she was Thor last night.” Veles kept his smile, Deimos was trying to bait him into a mistake. 

“It’s your funeral,” Veles said as Deimos charged again. He looked like a wrestler trying to spear his opponent. Veles moved at light speed to step into a high kick that connected with the big man’s chin. The whole room gasped as Deimos almost flipped over himself and landed in a heap. The power behind that kick multiplied by Deimos’ momentum should have broke his neck. 

After only a moment Deimos got back to his feet groggily. From behind Veles, three men grabbed him and Deimos smiled. Veles whipped his head but didn’t recognize them from the quick glance. “Did you really think I would let you win?” Deimos was smiling but his words were a bit slurred, he was still seeing stars. He was much quicker than Veles thought, Veles almost didn’t have time to tighten his stomach muscles. That was by far the hardest Veles had ever been hit. The kid tried to drop to his knees but the goons behind him held him up. 

Veles felt something in his brain snap, it was like they cut the zip tie that held his sanity. He always dreamt of being a viking berserker, that is how he felt now. His mind was more clear than it had ever been. The pain was gone. He felt two things, the insanity and the love for the insanity. 

He pulled away from the three men. Before he could turn to handle them Thor, T-Money, and the black man were dragging them away. It was again only Deimos and Veles in the fighting pit. Veles wasted no time closing the gap between the two. He threw three quick punches left, right, left, each finding the perfect spot on the big man’s giant face. A gash opened up under his eye, Veles could see the fear in his eyes. Veles decided not to waste any time. He swept the leg taking Deimos to the ground then was quickly sitting on his chest. 

Deimos bucked but Veles held his position. Veles threw a right into his face, then a left. Deimos fought a little less. Veles dropped a right elbow, his skull thumped dully. Deimos went limp but resumed bucking after a moment. Veles landed another right punch then left. Deimos was barely moving, Veles elbowed until his mom would not recognize his face. Deimos went limp, and his breathing was almost non-existent. Veles stood up covered in blood looking as crazy as he felt. He looked around the room. After a moment of silence the gym erupted with cheers. Veles screamed like an accent warrior that had just won a battle for his life. 

The door to the rec room opened and ten guards charged in armed with bean bags and tasers. The other inmates hit the floor, probably out of habit. Veles did not. The officer on the far left pulled the trigger hitting Veles in the right shoulder. Veles pulled the shank from his waistband then threw it at the cop. 

“Do you know who I am?” Veles was wild in his mind, “I am Veles,” he laughed wildly. “You can’t hurt me.”

“Get in here,” one of the officers said into the radio on his shoulder. The rest stood wide eyed at the crazed young man, “We need live rounds now.”

It was only seconds before three officers with shotguns came in aimed directly at Veles. “Get down inmate,” one of the officers called. “We will not hesitate to shoot.”

You can’t kill me,” his mind was in a place that he never knew existed, “I am Veles.”

“Last chance inmate,” Veles and the officer locked eyes, it seemed everyone was scared of this Veles. The officer lost the staring contest, he must have the lunacy in the kid’s eyes. “Shoot hi…..”

“Stop,” a deep voice commanded from the hallway. Seconds later a giant man, even bigger than Deimos, stepped through the door. “Stand down officers. We will take it from here,” Two officers lowered their guns immediately,  the third did not. “I promise that you don’t want to face the consequences of shooting him.” The man was looking at Veles with admiration, but Veles didn’t know how that was possible. Reluctantly the third lowered his weapon. Veles looked at the man not flinching away from his size, “Take some deep breaths kid. My name’s Tank and we aren’t here to hurt you. I’m here to make you an offer.” Veles didn’t move or speak. “I’ll make it easy,” a line of ten men entered wearing identical black suits and holding pistols. “Calmly come with me and you’ll not even be cuffed, or these men will empty their clips into your body.”

After a moment Veles calmly walked over to the big man who reached a hand out. Veles shook it and the man said, “Like I said, my names Tank and I am here to make you an offer.” Tank stepped to the side, “after you.” Veles exited the gym followed by Tank and his men. 

They went outside and sat at a picnic table, Tank gave Veles a freshly rolled joint then produced a lighter. “You like weed, right?” Veles said nothing, “Don’t worry, my organization is way above stupid weed laws. That’s the good stuff.” Veles took it, then Tank flicked the lighter and lit it for him. “I got a call from our man about how you were handling Deimos. We’re very impressed. He was not a normal person, I can explain more later but you should have not been able to win that fight. His purpose has been to torment inmates, we never expected someone to take him out.” Tank smiled 

“Can I at least wipe the blood off me,” Veles asked, feeling a bit gross now that the rage subsided.

“Hell no,” Tank said, still smiling, “You look so bad ass. Here is my offer, my boss and I would like you to come work for us in what we will call a prison, for now.”

“What does that mean?” Veles asked, he really didn’t like the sound of that. “Who are you?”

“It’s a prison for things that you wouldn’t believe really exist,” Tank said. “Deimos is nothing compared to the things in there.” Veles was intrigued. “So the choice is clear, you can come work for me or you can stay here and face two murder charges. The choice is yours of course.” Veles thought the choice was very easy.”

Veles was now in the back of a blacked out beautiful SUV, he felt like the president. On either side of him was a suited man, Tank was riding shotgun, and another suited man was driving. They spent forty five minutes heading west on the freeway towards Nevada. They exited and headed south for nearly an hour. The desert looked thirsty. About a half hour in they passed a cemetery on the left. Finally they pulled up to a military style gate with several armed guards. Veles couldn’t believe where he was after two days with Deimos. The SUV pulled up to the gate, a suited man armed with a military rifle walked up to the driver’s window.

“Hello sir,” the man said to Tank, “Welcome back to The West Desert Facility.”