Dead

That kid is dead... I came down to feed him, and he was dead. He was sprawled on his side near the chainlink that separated him from creepy-guy, his eyes bulging and his tongue sticking out from his black lips. Suffocation, I'd guess, but how? Creepy-guy hadn't moved so far as I could see, but then I can't see much. The light nearest him is out, and I'm certainly not going to go into his cell to change it. And even if he had moved, how could he strangle the kid? The wire mesh is just tight enough that even if he could squeeze his hands through the holes, the kid would have had to sit there a let the guy choke him. I mean, if the creepy-guy bothered him as much as he bothers me, I can't see him doing anything like that.

I unlocked the cage to get a better look at the kid, trying to avoid looking at creepy-guy. I felt like he was staring at me the whole time and grinning, though he wasn't. I could at least see that much. The kid had burn marks on his throat, and I know he didn't before. Even if we had shocked or burned him in our efforts to make him cast off the memories of his current life, I would have healed him of wounds this severe.

I looked over at the creepy-guy and that's when Inquisitor decided to show up. :<

"What are you doing?" he barked at me, like I'd done something wrong. "Don't touch him." I wasn't really sure if he was talking about the kid or creepy-guy.

"He's... dead." It was kind of a lame statement. I mean, obviously the kid was dead. Any idiot could see that.

Inquisitor looked down at the kid with a shrug. I know whoever the kid was, he'll just be reborn into a new body somewhere down the line, but it's still pretty rude not to even care.

I looked over at creepy-guy again and Inquisitor grabbed me by the chin, digging his fingers in painfully. "Stay away from him," he hissed into my face before shoving me away.

I felt like saying... Dude, no problem, but it's impossible to really have a conversation with Inquisitor, even if you agree with him. The only thing he finds acceptable is silence and quick action. I backed away and edged around him to get out into the hall.

Then I heard the laugh.

It was a deep, gurgling chuckle. I immediately knew it wasn't Inquisitor, and not only because he doesn't laugh, ever.

"What's the matter brother?" said a voice that sounded like he was talking through blood. I looked back, but creepy-guy hadn't so much as twitched. "Is she precious to you?"

"You are no brother of mine," Inquisitor said in disgust as he reached down and grabbed the boy by the arm, dragging the body from the cell. He looked up and saw me still in the hall, and I saw his eyes narrow. uh oh "If you have nowhere to be, I will give you work," he snarled at me, dragging the body another foot before tossing down the arm he held. "Dispose of this and make sure no other prisoners are put in cells adjacent to the Darkling-spawn's."

So I guess there's more about the Darklings than what I'd heard, because I thought they were shapeshifters, not that they went around killing people through wire mesh.