The night went by unceremoniously, Lothar had gone through the journal’s content one last time before ripping the pages where Vols had written. He wanted to dump them somewhere no one can find, after shredding them.

He was lying on the bed, the lights had been turned off for about half an hour as he tried to sleep in vain. Lothar pulled out one of the empty pages and traced a finger along with it. A line appeared, and he huffed.

So the worm was right. This journal is magical.

A cool invention. I can think of a couple of things I can use this for.

He turned it around and hovered a finger above it, deciding the best way to phrase the words playing inside his mind.

Lothar could not deny the possibility of his near capture and torture. He doubted he could do anything to stop the inevitable from happening, and escaping the prison would be a decent way to go out.

I’m not planning on dying yet.

The guards monitored them 24/7, and even if he was a master escape artist, he doubted he would escape now.

His priority is completing the first quest and after talking with the system, he understood how hard it will be to get his hands on boosters without trusted connections.

For the last few years, Alka’s Soulpowered drug enforcement administration, known as SDEA, has been cleaning up the streets from the boosters. They have been getting aggressive and expressive about the repercussions of the use of drugs.

A lot of drug lords operating waste kitchens have been arrested and detained, and the SDEA is preparing for its biggest bust. It inconveniently happens to be in the city closest to this prison.

He had no more choices. The world will not wait for him to get his shit together before moving. Hence, he needed the specs now and the best place to get them is here, where he knows who can provide him.

The only setback is the money. He needed a way to pay, and he had a few ideas, none of which he liked.

How rare are magical notebooks?

Lothar looked down at Vols’ journal and frowned.

Does that mean Vols was working with Alka?

So bloodline attributes are inherited.

Lothar cringed inwardly.

Inbreeding has lasting consequences, so the ones who are against it might still curse their ancestors.

I’m assuming that the Fane family is noble?

Hell hunt? Doesn’t sound like a nice family event.

Wonderful. Is everything here so intense? Anyway, we can safely say that Vols works for a noble family. Not the Fanes.

Lothar closed his eyes and let the worm’s explanation of who the other four noble families fly over his head. He was growing a migraine and was too tired to care. Dealing with his problems will have to wait until tomorrow. He still has a couple of days until Stevenson calls for him.

You’re still the same pathetic man you were even when everything around you changed. What’s your excuse this time?

Lothar closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of booze.

.….

It was afternoon, on the graveyard shift, when Droj had eyed the new guy from across the pile of sheep corpses that had no more fur on their crystalized backs. His leather boots crushed flesh like shards as he swept the sheep away.

He subtly nodded at Schlatt who was next to the disposal tube, showing that he was making a move. His friend barely looked up from his own work to shoot a tight smirk his way. Droj recognized the dangers of what they were about to do, but they have already thrown caution to the wind.

It was the day after they had their conversation. Droj didn’t have the time to dig deeper into Vols’ past, but he was sure that it’d be unnecessary. He wasn’t being sloppy; he reconciled his accomplice. They simply had no time left.

The guards have been getting shifty lately,

Even the good-natured ones have been getting violent. Tony had beaten up old Jim just a week ago, and the pervy sod was probably one of the remains they shoveled away a few days ago.

Leonard looked chagrined, Droj remembered, but the former didn’t stop Tony’s brutal act. Leon was a decent fella. Droj always thought it’d be risky to bribe him. He was one of the few guards who deserved the badges they wore.

The corpses are getting fewer, too. He took notice of how the Fanes’ tinkers stopped caring about hiding the humans by not mangling them beyond recognition.

Something was happening, and he didn’t like not knowing about it. His last source of information had bailed; the bastard quit his job.

He suspected their operation was close to termination, or the rumors about an investigation were true. Either way, the Fane family is cleaning up their shit quickly.

He observed Vols and realized he looked fine.

he was doing a good job of shoveling without making too many weird faces, like last time.

Droj heard from a guy next to his cell that the guards dragged him in unconscious this morning. He began his visits with the tinkers like Droj expected.

He stood behind him and slapped the lanky guy’s back “Ey, good seeing you scholar.” he rubbed his hands together and stared at the placid man.

“You seem to be in a good mood today, Droj.” His voice was drier than his expression.

Vols wasn’t like that before, Droj noted. The scholar used to hold an air of arrogance around him that spoke volumes about how he thought of the rest of them. These last few days, however, showed that he finally realized he wasn’t anything special. Maybe the graveyard had more of an effect on him than Droj suspected.

He inwardly smirked,

I’ll make sure to take advantage of that during negotiations.

“Yes, good sleep and good meal.”

The scholar nodded, studying him “You have a taste for rocks?” he said

Droj chuckled “No, I don’t eat the gravel you do. I get special meals.”

The man nodded again, only half-paying attention to the conversation.

“Fantastic for you. Tell me, why is your friend glaring at me from across the room?”

Droj turned and scowled at Schlatt who made it obvious he wasn’t shoveling anymore.

“Never mind him. He was dropped as a child.” he tapped his temple and smiled sheepishly. Lothar scoffed, smiling lightly. Schlatt seemed to get the gist of what Droj said about him and shot a glare that was ignored.

The scholar used the cutting edge of the shovel to drag the limbs away from the werewolves’ bodies.

“Yes, it happens to the luckiest of us.” Vols replied.

Droj saw the man suddenly stiffening. His knuckles turned white around the shovel’s rod. He looked down at the remains of a small mutt with dirty red fur and no head.

Droj raised his eyebrows. Werewolves really treasured their offspring, if they knew what is happening here...

The Fanes were getting bold. Real bold.

“Sad, ain’t it? Don’t know how they’re getting away with it.” Droj really did not know how the fucking werewolves were getting captured. Founding families are serious business, but the Fanes are still the weakest.

Werewolves aren’t easy prey at all, and if the council heard of the horrors these things are being put through, then they might be rattled enough to threaten another Devastation war.

The scholar didn’t look up at him. He kept staring at the pup with an unreadable expression. It went on for a whole minute.

“You good there, buddy?” he said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

That got his attention “Yeah. I might not know how they’re getting away with it, but you definitely do. A shit like you isn’t getting free meals because your pretty looks.”

Vols leveled with a glare before walking away.

The outburst surprised Droj, he was also flattered by the compliment about his resources even if it wasn’t true. He sure as hell won’t correct the man, reputation is only 50% of the work.

He picked up what’s left of the pup with his shovel and walked alongside the man.

“Let’s get into meat of this conversation.” He raised the shovel’s blade and chuckled. Vols might not have understood his joke because he only scowled. Droj shrugged and explained.

“I have small proposal for you. Hear me out.” He noticed the man slightly tilting his head, so he continued.

“The little diary of yours, been wondering how you got it. I run whole operation here. I don’t judge and do business with whoever got money to buy, but I never seen an artifact in here.”

The man rolled his eyes but visibly stiffened "Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal your clients.”

“No, no. I actually want to be a client.” Droj shot back.

They stopped talking once a guard passed by them. He was busy picking his nose. They dumped the trash down the disposal, Droj’s eyes glued on it. It took a lot of time until he heard the whispers of a crash.

“What do you want?” Droj tore his gaze away from the tube and wiped his moist palms on his overalls.

“Force gloves.” He waited for a reaction, for the new guy to scream and let the guards know. To snitch. He hated dealing with people he didn’t have a read on, especially newbies who still think D7’s prison is just a prison.

The guy did neither, he just shook his head after a long pause “What makes you think I can get you those?”

“ Your notebook. I can pay.” He replied.

“It was a birthday gift, big guy. I can’t get you what you want but I’m willing to exchange the journal for something.” Vols said with a small smile.

Droj frowned, “What is it?”

“Boosters. I need three dexterity, four constitution, one intelligence, and five strength and agility each.”

“What?! This joke, right? One booster is fortune! Notebook is worth 10 boosters only. They don’t even make intelligence!”

The guy had the audacity to shrug “I ain’t the one running your operation. You get me What I want or I walk away. You’re not just buying a notebook, Droj. You’re buying the friendship of a regular who got a Soulchanted item as a birthday gift.”

Bastard. why does he even want boosters? is he a junkie or some? No, he doesn’t twitch like one.

“This is highway robbery! I ain’t biting.” Droj hoped his bluff worked but was immediately disappointed when the man turned.

“I can’t sell notebook. No one would ever buy it from a nobody, too risky. Zero profit.” Droj replied through gritted teeth.

He suspected the ravens might want to get their hands on it, but he did not want to deal with them.

“For some reason, I can’t find myself believing that. This is a prison and I have a magic notebook that can send secret notes to specific people without revealing its content. I can think of a million ways a big shot businessman like you could use this to communicate with the outside world and get yourself a buyer. I heard merchants have great connections, especially the incarcerated ones.”

Vols took a step forward and continued, “It’s clear to me that you really want the gloves and I’m your only way to getting them. I, however, have dear Dickins or even Ronny to supply me with the boosters. Will take time and patience but I think I can get through to them at some point.”

“You don’t have much of that, though. Do ya?” Droj felt a bit of satisfaction when Vols’ face paled.

Yes, you fucker. While you fucking rot here under the needles of the tinkers, I will be long gone.

“What do you know about that?” Droj stepped back and slapped the man’s hands off his collar.

He hissed, “Too late. Should not have tried to rob me of my gold. I’m not going to shake on it, but I will see what I can do.”

Fear flashed behind his eyes before he flashed a smile, too big for Droj’s comfort. Vols then forced a handshake between them and didn’t hesitate to answer “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Vols walked away with prep in his step while Droj looked over at his friend. Schlatt was glaring back like he knew he fucked them up.

.....

Lothar let out a quiet whoop of victory. He had coaxed Droj into a free deal. He might have ruined any goodwill the man had for him, but that was fine for now.

You think I don’t know? Have you seen his hair? He’s the definition of a red flag. I’ll just use his services for now and hope the outcome would still be worth it.

Funny, my ex said something close to that once.

.….

“This is Sally.

Jasmine has already put him under the scope. It came sooner than you expected.

I don’t know what happened to him, but he apparently tried to commit suicide. Not something the cowardly Vols would do, as you have described him. That’s why they’re rushing it. Also, he forgot about y–he’s been going around telling people he lost his memories. I just can’t tell what game he’s playing. This is getting out of hand, I suggest we eliminate him.

Also, I have taken a peek at the notebook. He stopped sending us messages a week ago.

We have one month maximum before the agents bust this entire operation. Whatever you’re planning, do it faster. Hope is coming for us.” Sally sent the text and then bare handily snapped the phone in half.

He dusted his hands on his jeans and threw the phone inside his bag. He turned just as the door opened. A shadow of a man loomed over.

“Yo, Rex. The boys just finished their last round and are starting another game before clocking out. Do you want to go team red or team blue?” Gus said.

Sally scoffed and stood up “Red of course. Jason can’t bluff for shit. The loser is buying the drinks, right?” Gus closed the door behind them and then said,

“yep, like the usual.” He grabbed their bags and waited until their replacements came; Leon, with someone he did not recognize, so he noted his face.

As they walked out of one of the security posts of the prison, Sally wondered how many of his fellow guards had clean records.

..…