The Prisoner Project

TWENTY NINE

"There is no place for innocence in this world."

— Anthony Neilson, Author

TWENTY NINE

WALKING OUT OF THE INTERVIEW room was the hardest task I had ever had to undergo in my life. It felt as though a boulder had crashed though the feeling and settled itself right above me. I felt like Atlas but I wasn't carrying the world. It was Hell. Hell had made a home on my shoulders.

The alarm continued to ring in my eardrums even after Banshee had left and silence echoed in the room. I was staring at my fingers as they whitened against the table top.

I wished that I believed that Banshee was lying. It was undeniably foolish to trust the words of a psychopath but the last few words he said to me were the most honest that he had been in his entire life. I could feel in the air. I could taste it. I could see it. I could hear it.

It was a soft tap on my shoulder that broke me out of my trance. I jolted in my seat and gasped because I had been holding my breath.

When I spun, I met the grey eyes of the assistant from earlier. Her voice was soft. "Are you alright, Miss Black?"

I looked at her with confusion for a split moment because I couldn't comprehend her words. Then she repeated them, and reality slowly seeped into me. "Oh. Oh, yes. Yes, I'm fine." I stood up, clearing my throat. "Sorry about that."

The woman looked disbelieving but she didn't pry. "Alright. Well your interview is finished and I'd like to close up for the day."

I nodded, and followed her out of the interview room and into the small office. She adjusted her glasses on her face before digging into her shirt pocket. She handed me something.

It was a handkerchief.

"What's this for?"

"For you." She smiled apologetically. Then she pointed to my face. "You're crying."

She looked nervous for a second as I lifted my fingers to my face and felt the wetness. "You can keep the handkerchief. I've got tons."

"Oh." I slowly took it from her. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. We all have our bad days." She shrugged. "Just know there are better days ahead. Now wipe those tears away. We can't let them see you down."

It was depressing how wrong she was. There were no better days ahead for me.

"There you go. Girl power." She winked before turning away to tidy the pile of papers on the desk.

"Girl power." I muttered, staring at her for a minute before moving towards the door. I reached the door handle and pulled it open.

But just before I left, I realised that something she had said struck me on a very terrifying chord.

I spun around. "You said you're closing up for the day."

The woman turned, startled that I was still there. She stood up, books in her hand and a binder in the other. One of the books read 'War and Peace'. "Yes?"