Cell Block Tango

PROLOGUE

Rachel Berry woke up in a cold sweat, images of blood on her hands haunted her dreams. She sat up and blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the darkness. For a moment, she forgot where she was, until the thin mattress squeaked underneath her weight. She breathed in the stale, moist air that smelled vaguely of sweat and piss. Rachel groaned and laid back on her bed, curled into the fetal position, and allowed the tears in her eyes to fall. She was in a jail cell in the Allen County Correctional Facility in Lima, Ohio.

Rachel sobbed as the memories played behind her closed eyes. She pictured the blood on her hands. The man above her crying out in pain as she stabbed him. She remembered running away, hoping and praying that he didn't come after her. She remembered being arrested, dragged crying and screaming in handcuffs away from her fathers' house. She remembered the trial, testifying through her tears that it was self-defense. She remembered being sentenced last week. Five years. Five years in prison for manslaughter.

Tomorrow, or today - depending on what time it was, Rachel could never tell at night - she would be transferred to her new home for the next five years. Rachel wasn't exactly sad to leave her small cell, but at least she had a single. At the Ohio Reformatory for Women, she would have a cell-mate, or maybe three. She was terrified. She had no idea what to expect. Fears about showering and getting shanked consumed her. She was 18-years-old, and Rachel Barbra Berry was going to prison.

AN:

This story will be rated M for language, violence, and sexual assault. Adjust your reading accordingly.