Hunger Prison

Chapter 2 The Mysterious Woman

Ray began to tremble as he thought about what might be waiting for him in the woods. He knew he had to go through since he would be able to escape on his own.

A faint white haze gradually spread around Ray, and black crows skimmed the top of his head. He noticed a few feathers fall to the ground and the rotten branches growing out of the earth. It appeared that the grounds around the prison were not landscaped at all, the dense branches blocked Ray's view, and he had to push them forcefully out of his way.

After a few minutes of traveling through the woods, he froze. The trees in the forest were dry, but his fingers were wet, so that could only mean one thing. He slowly gazed at his hands, from his fingertips to his palm and then up to his sleeve. He looked down at his legs which also felt wet, and he realized he was covered with the green saliva that came out of the creature's mouth.

The rotting branches buried in the soil suddenly shuddered violently as cold sweat dripped down his temples.

"Wh…What…the…hell…is this?"  Ray was terrified.

He could see that all of the trees around him were covered in the disgusting green slime. He also noticed the smell of decay was intensifying, and the white fog was getting thicker.

Ray would lose sight of the overgrown path if he didn't move, so he forced himself forward. He couldn't help but wonder if he was going to die in the woods. As he stumbled through the thorns and branches, they cut his clothes and skin.

The fog began to lift, and a circular altar appeared.

What is this?" Ray whispered.

The rotten branches and leaves were scattered on the altar, and there was a rusty cross in the center. Ray could see a woman had been tied to the cross and burnt so severely that more than half of her skin had fallen off.

"You heard me…." The mysterious female voice spoke.

 "Who are you?"

"I am the sacrifice to the devil. The fire consumed me, that house, and this soil."

Ray lifted his head slowly to look closely at her face.

She moved then her eyelids snapped open, but her eyes were charred and deformed.

"You told me that the site was conducting illegal experiments. Are you the one responsible for deformed humans? What are you doing?"

Ray stepped back slowly.

"Burn them."

"What did you just say?" Ray asked cautiously.

Instead of answering, the woman waved her badly burned hand, and fire engulfed the woods.

"What the…"  

"Burn them alive!" 

Ray's skin was burning, and the pain overwhelmed his mind. His body was turning into ashes under the gloomy sky as his heart-rending screams echoed around the altar and the burning forest.

**

Ray screamed as he woke up; the lights above him were so strong that he couldn't open his eyes. He sat up in bed and tried to catch his breath while sweat poured down his temples.

Being burned by the fire was the only thing that occupied his mind.

"The doctor cleared you, saying that low blood sugar is your only issue," A casually dressed man standing next to Ray explained.

Although he was sure that he didn't know that man, he couldn't shake the feeling he had met somewhere before.

"You may be a public figure, but you're still going to jail for breaking the law. Tomorrow, when you are discharged from the hospital, the prison guards will escort you to Busan Prison."

The phase "Busan Prison" hit Ray hard.

"Busan ......"

"Yeah, Busan, you heard me right!"

The next day the sky was grey as guards put Ray in the back of a prison van. They drove along the rough mountain road for a long time, and Ray was confident they were going toward the abyss. He held his composure, though, until the U-shaped building appeared.

After fighting the guards, they forcefully dragged him toward the front gate. The crows were flying close to his head, and the smell of the decayed leaves and rotten branches lingered in the air, leaving Ray feeling a sense of impending doom.

Ray could see the deformed, human-like creatures crawling outside their cages; their bodies were twisted and making a low hum and the green saliva running down from the corners of their mouths.

They were approaching him slowly, and Ray kept pulling back instinctively.

"What are you up to?"  The prison guards pushed Ray from behind impatiently.

Turning his head from side to side, Ray tried to avoid looking at the creatures, but they seemed to have disappeared when the guard shouted.

"No, no, no! Not this prison…." Ray resisted the push of the guard, and he grabbed Ray by the collar.

"This is not a hotel!" The guard dragged Ray with one hand and opened the door of the cell skillfully.

"There are monsters in there! Monsters!" Tears of fear poured out of Ray's eyes as the guard slammed the cell door behind him.

**

When the guards escorting Ray attempted to leave the prison, their GPS took them around in circles. One sitting in the back commented about being lost while the guard in the passenger's seat rolled down his window and took out a cigarette.

The driver didn't understand what was happening; he turned the GPS off and said, "There is probably just an experiment site nearby, and it is interfering. Fortunately, I know my way around her; in just a few minutes, we will be out of here, and then I will turn the tracker back on."

"Just hurry up because if we are out of range for too long, someone will be sent to look for us."

**

The cell Ray was put in was dirty, the concrete floor was caked with dust, and the bed sheets were old and looked as if they were stained with bodily fluids.

"Disgusting!" Ray frowned and cursed in Chinese.

"What did you say?"

Even though the prison guard could not understand Chinese, he could tell by the expression on Ray's face that he was not impressed with his room.

"Behave yourself!" The tall, thin guard opened the door and raised his baton.

He struck Ray on the bac, causing him to fall forward and land headfirst on his bed.

"s**t!"

The guard had already left the cell as Ray got himself up and looked at the rusty gate, and he could hear the sound of the locking door.

"I didn't f*****g kill anyone!" Ray shouted, fell back onto the bed, and slammed his fist into the wall.

After a few minutes, Ray heard a soft female voice on the other side of the wall say, "I didn't kill anyone either."

"Who are you?" Ray questioned, then knocked on the wall softly.

He was shocked that within seconds of him tapping, the same pattern echoed back at him.

"My name is Sue Williams; I'm from Seoul. I didn't kill anyone, and I was wrongly convicted."

"Miscarriage of justice?" He felt that there was more story to it. Ray wondered how come wrongful conviction seemed to be so common. The quality of Korea's police force and the law didn't seem to be very honest.

"Where are you from?" Sue's voice was soft.  

"China," Ray whispered and laid back, staring at the ceiling and dimly lit bulb flickering.