Stonewall walked on, footsteps heavy enough to make the building’s floor shake. A pen on a desk spun slightly on its fulcrum point.

Rain drew in a deep breath and sighed.

“Yeah, invisible walls,” Colt said. “I go from one cell to another. You won, you’re free.”

“I—no,” Rain said. “I don’t feel that free.”

“Enjoy it,” Colt said. “It’s better.”

A bit of a non sequitur, like she wasn’t listening to anyone but herself.

“I need to do more. Not to make up for what I did—I don’t think I could, but… there’s an obligation,” Rain said.

“I don’t think she has the slightest clue what you mean,” Swansong said, quiet.

“Hi Damsel.”

“Swansong now.”

“Pretty,” Colt said. “I liked you, you know. I thought you were cool. You had good stories, and you were someone I kind of wanted to be like.”

“Thank you. I liked you too.”

Rather than interject, I remained quiet. I was very curious if the use of ‘past tense’ had anything to do with perceived betrayals or upsets.

Colt shrugged, glancing at Rain. “I do get it, you know. Obligations suck.”

“You’re proving my point, if that’s how you sum it up,” Swansong said.

“Maybe give me a chance to get through to her?” Rain asked.

“You’ve had twenty-one nights,” Swansong said.

“Less of those nights than you’d think.”

“You’re a little scary, you know,” Colt said, to Swansong. “Unpredictable, but I was happy to stay in the background and listen in.”

“Thank you,” Ashley said.

Colt seemed satisfied with that exchange. She looked at Rain. “I lost my court case. Guilty. Sentence T.B.D.”

Was she drugged? In shock?

“I was there. Back row, with some of my teammates,” Rain said.

“They stuck us here, Cradle was here too, for a little while, but they wrapped up his court stuff faster. They had him in a blindfold and a straightjacket, I think like they did with Love Lost.”

“Mask for the lower face, no blindfold,” Rain said.

“Why are we here?” Colt asked. “Why here specifically? The view is nicer than any prison… I can see the outdoors, the wind. They treat me okay, but… I’m really confused.”

“Your lawyer should have explained it,” I said. I hoped I wasn’t intruding.

“He did. Three times. But the first time I didn’t realize it was important, the second time there was a lot of stuff going on and he sounded exasperated. The third time I had just heard the ‘guilty’ from the jurors, there was commotion, people were shouting, and then I got pulled away. Even if it was quiet, I’m not sure I would have got it. They showed the photos in the morning and it was all these body parts and all this blood. They read this testimony and I could barely hear anything for most of the rest of the day… I felt so sick with stress and I could only hear the sound of my own heartbeat and blood in my ears.”