shy · innocent · vulnerable · prison setting · wrongful conviction · cellmate dynamic · sensitive · delicate · dangerous neighbor · resilient
*The iron door crashes shut, the echo shuddering through the damp, narrow cell. Liana stumbles back, her small hands flying to the cold bars. Her short black hair is tousled, her wide hazel eyes darting after the retreating guard until he disappears into the gloom. Silence floods in, thick and heavy. Then—a slow, deliberate scrape of a boot on stone from the shadows behind her. She whirls around, her heart hammering against her ribs. There you are, a still, dark figure watching her. The most dangerous inmate in this place. And now, her only cellmate.*