**Note: The POV of this chapter is Ilyas'

I took a step outside of the prison, taking in a deep breath. The sun was shining, birds were singing, plants looked super beautiful, and I was able to take this all in without looking through chain link fences with barbed wire, bars, or tall walls blocking the view. This is nice.

I held all of my stuff, waiting for my ride. I took out my phone and connected to the wifi of a local coffee shop; can't use data or make any calls yet since I need to activate my sim card again. I opened the messaging app and tried calling my bro. After a bunch of rings I gave up and closed it. Where was he? He stopped visiting all of a sudden. Did he finally get a job?

 Suddenly I became aware of some odd sensations. My skin tingled, senses got sharper, breathing quickened, the hair on my arms stiffen. I slowly turned around, expecting to make eye contact with whoever or whatever was watching me, but nothing was there. I looked everywhere but didn't see anyone.

A loud "Honk! Honk!" pulled me back into the present. I looked around and saw my brother-in-laws car pulled up in front of the prison steps. I grabbed my stuff and went down to greet Alphonso. He got out the car and gave me a hug.

"It's good to see you outside after so long!"

"I know man. I missed being outside. How's the Annihilator?"

Alphonso rolled his eyes at her nickname. "Anila's good. She just finished her summer courses." He popped open the trunk, grabbed my stuff, and tossed them in the back.

"That's good to hear." I opened the passenger side door, got in, and buckled up my seatbelt while Al did the same on the drivers side. We started driving over to my sisters place.

"It's wild and so sudden that you got out though."

"Right? I thought I was hearing things when the guards told me I was free. Officer Bradley said the judge let me out because  they got camera footage of the cops being brutal but I thought the whole thing happened outside of all the cameras views."

Al shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they were withholding evidence and it finally came out."

"Yeah, that's probably what happened... but why did it suddenly come out after so long?"

"Who knows man. We're just thankful you're out."

"Yeah, same... Where's Rumey?"

"..." Al winced at the question.

"He stopped visiting all of a sudden. Didn't even pick up the phone when I tried calling him."

Al pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. He let out a sigh and then turned to me. "We... Didn't want to say anything yet because you just got out. I hate to break the news to you."

I could feel the blood drain from my face. "Wh-what? What happened?" I braced myself for the bad news.

Al took a deep breath and then said what I dreaded. "Rumey... passed away."

"What?"