Chapter 2

                                    

                                          
WARNING: This chapter includes swearing.
                          
A loud high pitched screech woke the sleeping Italian with a start that early morning, leaving him trembling in his narrow bed. For just a few moments, he had absolutely no idea where he was. He was lying on his side, staring at a stone wall just inches away from his face, the tiniest glow of daylight from somewhere making his surroundings just visible. Feliciano blinked slowly, heartbeat returning to a normal pace as it all came back, and he remembered where he was.
                          
The noise that had woke him turned out to be all the cells in this block simultaneously sliding open, making a horribly loud noise as the electric powered bars scraped across the floor. Curiously enough, as the Italian slowly rolled over to discover, his own cell seemed to be the only one with the door not wide open, still held firmly closed.
                          
Feliciano couldn't help but let out a silent yelp of terror as the bunk bed shifted; the muscular blond German jumped down from the top bunk, stretching his arms out in front of him. The Italian's hands kept a tight grip on the thin sheets as he tried desperately not to look at the German, yet he didn't want to close his eyes, just in case.
                          
He only moved when he saw two familiar faces suddenly appear outside their cell, the two prison guards from yesterday, in their brown uniforms and black shoes, who Feliciano hadn't seen since they'd shoved him in here the day before.
                          
Ludwig was waiting impatiently by door as the American guard fumbled with the keys to get it open. "Morning Ludwig, hey your cell mate is still alive." he said, noting the shivering Italian in the bottom bunk. "Good on you man!"
                          
The German just rolled his eyes, grunting disapprovingly as he stalked out of the cell, following the rest of the inmates who had already filed out of their own. The English guard held open the door, smiling kindly at the Italian. "Good morning Feliciano, how was your first night?"
                          
Feliciano slowly slid off the narrow bed, legs trembling slightly as he stood. His back ached a tad from the terribly uncomfortable bed -could he even call that a mattress?- as he shuffled over to the two guards. "...it was okay..."
                          
"Ludwig didn't give you any trouble did he?"
                          
The Italian slowly shook his head. "...no he, he didn't really say anything..." he muttered softly, thinking back to yesterday. After sitting frozen ridged on the chair for what had to have been at least an hour; the German had finally stopped his insistent scowling at the ceiling from his bed and had fallen asleep. Another half an hour or so of watching him, the Italian finally built up the courage to move nearer so he could crawl onto the bottom bunk. He'd then spent an uncomfortable cold night trying to sleep, which wasn't easy when each shift in the German's movements above him made the bed shudder, sending a jolt of fear through the Italian's chest.
                          
"Huh? That's kinda weird, would have thought he'd have beaten you up a bit at least like he normally does." the American guard said, relocking the cell once the Italian had stepped out.
                          
"Alfred." the Brit warned firmly, glaring at him. He tried to give the Italian a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry about yesterday by the way; I was going to come back after an hour or so to show you around but I got sidetracked by some paperwork, but Alfred and I will show you where you need to go in the mornings okay?"
                          
Feliciano nodded slowly, feeling more at ease as he followed the path the rest on the inmates had taken with the two guards either side of him for protection. There was a tall wooden door that stood in a gap where another cell should have been, opposite the Italian's cell near the back of the block. The Italian was the last to go through, where he rejoined the other inmates waiting to be let through another door.
                          
Alfred left the Italian's side to go and let them in, and Feliciano immediately moved closer to Arthur's side. There must have been nearly one hundred inmates crammed into this tiny space, and Ludwig was easy enough to spot among the crowds. He was not the tallest, he was not the strongest looking, and he was not heavily tattooed, yet the blond stood out from all the other inmates. Even the biggest, burliest men were taking deliberate steps to avoid the German; they all tried to look unaffected by his presence, most of them ignoring him, but every time Ludwig so much as moved the sea of inmates surrounding him parted even wider to get out of his way.