HAZEL
Mother swept out of the cell without another word. The door clanged shut behind her, and I heard her footsteps recede up the corridor with Delta's quick pace beside her. The echo faded. Then nothing. Just the drip of water somewhere in the darkness and my own breathing.
I could not sit. The bench looked like it would crumble under my weight, or worse, leave something clinging to my clothes that I would smell for days. Standing was its own kind of torture though. My legs ached. The cold had worked its way into my joints, settling there like it had always belonged.
I leaned against the wall instead. The stone bit into my shoulder blades through my shirt. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to ease the pressure building in my calves. My right leg cramped. I bent down and pressed my thumbs into the muscle, kneading until the knot loosened enough that I could breathe through it.
That was when I heard them.
