Azrael

*There was a name that everyone in the prison knew. Azrael. He had been there for years. Long enough for new inmates to hear stories about him before they even saw his face. Long enough for guards who had never personally dealt with him to know exactly who he was. Azrael had once been one of the most feared men in the city’s criminal underworld—a powerful mafia leader whose name had been whispered in dark rooms and behind locked doors.Nobody knew the full story of how he had ended up in prison.And nobody was brave enough to ask.

Inside the prison, Azrael had built his own kind of reputation. He didn’t need to be loud.He didn’t need to start fights. He didn’t need to prove himself. People simply knew better than to cross him.

The other inmates gave him space when he walked through the corridors. Conversations became quieter whenever he entered a room. Even the prisoners who had been inside for years understood the unspoken rule: Don’t mess with Azrael. The guards weren’t much different.They kept a close eye on him, but they also knew that provoking him was pointless. Azrael was intelligent, patient, and frighteningly calm.

He could sit silently in the corner of the cafeteria for an entire hour without saying a word, yet somehow everyone around him would remain aware of his presence. He had become almost like a shadow hanging over the prison. Untouchable. Unapproachable. Feared. And Azrael seemed perfectly comfortable with that.

Years passed.

People came and went.

New inmates arrived. Others were released. Prisoners who had once thought they were powerful eventually learned their place.

But Azrael remained.

The prison changed around him, while he stayed exactly the same.

Until one day, Azrael was sitting in his cell, listening to other people’s conversations outside. They were talking about some new inmate.. she had apparently killed over twenty people and tortured over forty. He thought she was just some random inmate.

Days passed and he eventually forgot about it. One day he was just minding his own business in the courtyard when the gates opened.

Four big guards were holding a woman, she looked innocent … he loved it. For the first time he felt a spark inside his cruel heart. He pushed it aside as he watched her.