The library was much bigger than I expected, and practically bulging with books. I looked across the shelves separating the large room into smaller sections, and noticed it looked a lot like any other library - apart from the barred windows that is. Earl was already systematically searching through one of the shelves and ended up with a huge book in his arms.
He smiled at me and gestured towards a table and some chairs partly hidden behind a rack of books «You ain't gonna find something to read?» he asked me, raising a brow « I tell you, it's gonna get real boring in here if you don't find yourself a hobby. Or start reading up on stuff, like me.» I snapped out of my daze, still partly distracted by the fact that I was actually walking around on my own. Without restraints. Moreover, that the guards merely had half smiled at the sight of me walking down the halls in my orange uniform, although I still felt like I was glowing in the dark.
I had noticed that the presence of Earl automatically made other inmates move out of our way; most of them nodding in acknowledgement and seemingly happy to see him. I had gained a few curious stares but no one talked directly at me so I kept up the impervious facade and never let a single sign of insecurity break through.

Finally focusing on my cellmate I smiled sincerely, although it ended up looking a little disoriented; "what were you saying..?" He merely grinned and pushed another slightly thinner book in my arms; «try wrapping your head around this.»
I took a look at the cover and found it to be, at last in my eyes, some sort of educational heavyweight; «Why should I be reading up on the general legal framework exactly?» Earl sat down on the other side of the table; «May help you with your appeal and give you less time. If you are clever or lucky that is.» He smiled at me and started flipping pages in his own book. I merely raised a brow; I had used my quota of luck when I was transferred in the first place, and I highly doubted anything could get me less time. Not that I had given up, that was never my style, but I knew from the way I had been treated this far that I had very little to say in the matter; everyone wanted someone to blame in this complicated and grotesque scenery. It proved to be pretty easy pinning the guy that had been found literally covered in everyone's blood with an axe in his hands. «So I guess that's what you are trying to do while locked up in here?» I raised a brow at him and tried not to sound too nosy; « How long have you been here anyway?» he met my eyes with the calm expression he had worn most of the time I had known him, but the excitement in his eyes and the growing smile on his beak once again revealed the youthful soul trapped behind the surface; I'm not sure if he was the one easy to read or if i just read people easily. «No, I'm actually studying until I get out. I never got my high school diploma, and I'm making up for it now; hoping to get the chance to attend a college when I get out.» His smiled weakened a little; « I have been here since I was sixteen, and now I'm twenty. Only got a year left to serve.» He brightened again at the end of that sentence and I couldn't help but smile at his almost childlike optimism; the contrast to his broad figure and heavily tattooed arms was just so obvious. I wanted to ask what he had done to be locked up in the first place but couldn't bring myself to it at the moment. Instead I tried keeping things casual; « Seems like you got it all settled then. Someone special waiting around for you?» I gave Earl a smug smile, and once again I surprised myself with how well I had adjusted, being back and communicating with other people. Since my remark was meant partly as a joke, he surprised me with his answer; «Yeah, my girlfriend and I are getting married when I'm out. I wanna give her a great, white wedding and show that I'm still worthy of her! So she will know that from her eon things will only get better…» He beamed with both happiness and pride at the mention of his soon to be wife and again everything i had though of him at first sight proved to be wrong; I was a little surprised at his seemingly naive belief in his girlfriends loyalty, but I didn't know the girl for myself so I was in no position to judge; «Wow, she must be quite the catch then.. What's her name?» I said. The big guy gave another childish smile and finally gave up reading his book as he closed it with a happy sigh; «Cassie. Well, its short for Cassidy.» He rested his arms on the thick book and eyened me; «You got a girl on the outside?» I shook my head; «Nah, not really. I'm not the type to get trapped in a relationship. Need some variation you know.» I smiled slyly and Earl gave a short laugh; «Gotcha.» I sat back in the chair, trying to get comfy on the hard plastic surface. «Actually I think there is someone waiting for me on the inside.» The eagle raised a brow at me and smiled disbelievingly before I managed to explain myself and make sure he didn't think I was talking about a man; after all, this was a male-only facility. «I got her locked up for stealing ancient treasures and mind controlling clay statues.» Earl couldn't help himself and started laughing; «What did she do you say?!» I smiled, exited as I retold my adventures from what felt like ages ago; «Yeah, she seduced me with her sweet talk and pretty face before she tried killing me; literally with fire as she turned her majestic throne into a dragon! In the end I had to smash the crown she used to control her clay-army just to save our sorry asses. Not only did we save China, I'm sure she would have taken over the world if she was given the chance!» I threw my arms into the air as I declared our unrecognized bravery and selflessness. I wasn't really surprised when another inmate hushed loudly at me as he passed by. I merely gave him an ugly stare and Earl just kept laughing at me. «You sure have some crazy exes dude.» I shook my head and crossed my arms; «She was never officially my girlfriend.» He merely smiled before he suddenly seemed to notice something; «You talked about «we» at some point. Your brothers?» I met his gaze and saw the questioning look in his eyes; «Yeah. We used to do everything together.» I tried keeping the sadness out of my voice as I spoke but felt how my trail of thoughts quickly turned into painfully happy memories. He merely nodded; « I get it. No fun being locked away from those you care for.» I quickly turned to face the wall, running a hand through my feathers. Suddenly the happiness caused by my restricted freedom faded in the shadow from the loss of my family. Why the tears started building now I didn't understand. Luckily I was saved by the sudden ring of a bell, followed by Earls happy voice; «Its lunchtime!»

We once again made our way down the corridors but this time it was a lot more crowded with people and everyone tried rushing past each other; obviously, mealtime was the highlight of the day. Earl looked down on me and gave a smile; «No worries, you are with me now.» I wasn't sure what to say, so I just raised a brow and turned to look at the moving mass of inmates in blue outfits.
Following Earls lead I soon found myself in what looked like the everyday high school cafeteria; even the line by the counter was as noisy and chaotic as I remembered it. As it moved forward at a rather quick pace we were handed plastic trays for our food rations. They were filled with what reminded me of the occasional attempt Louie had done at cooking for the three of us in Uncle Ds' absence ; in other words, something unidentifiable and not too tempting. However, food is food, and I had learned to appreciate many things I had once taken for granted. I had somehow managed to loose Earl out of sight during the few minutes spent in line. Nevertheless, looking around the spacious yet already crowded seating area I quickly spotted him waving at me from a few tables down the aisle. I smiled at him and made my way over. Taking a seat I placed my tray down and looked around; there was a whole gang of other birds around the table, and I recognized the two seagulls from earlier. Although they were too busy fighting over a pretzel to notice me, Earl greeted me warmly and I had to beat him to it when he tried introducing me to the others; «I'm Huey. Huey Duck.» I gave my new pal a smile and Earl quickly responded; «This is the hatchie I was just talking about. » He gained most of the others guys attention and soon they were all staring me down. One of the others, a guy I recognized as a dove, turned to me with a half-smile as he gave Earl a pat on the shoulder; «Don't let Mother Theresa here scare you off with all his good intentions.» The eagle in question turned to give him an ugly stare; The dove merely laughed a hoarse laugh, and gave him an innocent smile that didn't suit the guys rough appearance at all. «Don't worry about that.» I said, a smile tugging on the corner of my mouth at the overbearing look on Earls face.
«Hey, Red… what happened to your hands?» this time it was a small, scarred and rather though looking crow talking, his voice as pleasant to listen to as the sound of a rusty chainsaw; he pointed at my bandaged wrists, as if i hadnt noticed the blood once again staining the fabric. I was a little taken aback by the question and the sudden nickname, but to be honest I should have been surprised that no one had pointed it out until now. « Well, I…» I started out, not sure what to say. I couldn't even make out where the story started and ended; I had chosen to forget much of it along with the parts I truly couldn't recall anymore. So the task of giving my fellow inmates a compound picture of what I had been through seemed impossible; « I was trapped by a crazy dude with a thing for razor blades and strange habit of killing people for the sake of teaching them a lesson.» I stabbed what I identified as a sausage on my plate with the plastic fork given to potentially dangerous people as myself so we couldn't possible kill anyone with silverware. I felt everyone within hearing distance staring at me; «What?» I said, keeping a blank face at the both shocked and curious looks I gained from around the table.
Suddenly it had become quiet, as if everyone had stopped talking at the sound of my voice. «I tried killing the guy off when I finally got the chance. Proved to be the wrong man, but by the time I figured he was already dead.»

I partly expected being pinned to the floor by an angry mob, and a frown formed on my face as nobody reacted the way I had imagined. At least I had put all my cards on the table; hopefully I was now stapled as an unstable killer you shouldn't mess with if you valued your life. But something told me gaining a reputation would need some more effort from my part.
I kept my eyes narrow as the crow from earlier leaned across the table; reaching for my hand he didn't even smile at me as he spoke; «Well, welcome home then… Red.»