I sat in the room. My eyes began darting around, trying to find anything that would tell me what time it had been. It felt like I had been trapped in this place for hours, my legs were beginning to burn from the way I had been sitting in the chair. One leg had been under myself while the other had rested in a normal fashion, my foot grazing the ground. My eyes kept searching the dimly lit room, darting from one thing to another, until it landed on a jar of pens.

Of all things to focus on, I chose the pens, maybe because it reminded me of something from my own home, which had caused me to relax momentarily. The pens were only black and blue, which seemed to make the demeanor of the room even more gloomy than before. Once I heard the door open my posture completely changed, both feet now planted firmly on the floor.

My eyes traveled up to the silhouette of the man standing in the doorway.I couldn’t see any of his features, all I could see was an outline of his body. It seemed like he was only a piece of my imagination, not even a person. Trying to get a better look, I leaned towards him. His steps towards me made my body shift uncomfortably. My stomach started twisting in knots the closer he had gotten to me, my hands going to lay on my knees.

I leaned back to try and relax myself, letting my eyes close for just a moment. This situation was not something that I wanted to be in, ever. I knew this time that I messed up. It wasn’t going to get better for me beyond this point. I couldn’t help how nervous this was making me, how all of this seemed like a never ending nightmare. Reality didn’t hit me until now, and I physically felt it.

The way my hands were shaking as I sat in the chair, anxiety running through my veins. Nothing seemed like it would keep my mind from racing, like it would keep me sane. I heard the chair across from me scrape the floor. The noise vibrating off of the walls. I wondered why it took him so long to finally sit down, to finally try and confront me.

My eyes opened at that moment, when I was finally able to see the person that would be questioning me, a frown began to etch its way on my face. I wasn’t going to be the first to talk, I couldn’t talk first. That would only be a gateway to more problems for me. I took in a sharp breath and then looked away from the male, down to the briefcase that had now been seated in the middle of the table.

I couldn’t control the way my stomach flipped at the thought of what had been in the suitcase The silence seemed to be louder than any words he would ever speak. When he finally opened the briefcase he pulled out pictures, and a remote. He laid them out carefully, each seeming to have its own secret sequence that only he knew about.

He finally spoke once everything had been laid out and the remote was in his hand. “Do you recognize this?” He asked in a cold voice. He was waiting for me to admit the truth, waiting on me to make any kind of mistake that could give away what I did. He knew I did it, he knew that this would happen one day. Maybe I could just come clean and get this over with.

Instead of admitting to what I did, I played along like I knew nothing about the situation. Everything that had been going on inside the picture had been connected to me; we both knew that as a fact, but it was a matter of who would crack first, me or him.

The picture that had been at the end of the row was the one that caught my attention the most. That one picture reminded me of my childhood. Who knew that one picture could sum up twenty-one years. I could see the way the male had been on the ground, an empty bottle on the side of him. That’s when the flashbacks began playing in the back of my mind.Growing up he always had a bottle in his hand, and the smell of liquor would trail him wherever he went.

Looking back at this picture it seemed like he had a painless, and simple death. Maybe even a favor? No matter how I would look at it, I knew I was guilty, but I would never admit it.

I then looked up and sighed, falling from the haze I had been pulled into. “Yes, It does. When I got there, he was laying on the ground.” I have the perfect excuse thought of, I was just trying to save him. Even though I did kill the man, I needed to give them a reason as to why I was there. That reason was because I was trying to ¨save¨ him. My hands still shook. Everything was moving at such a fast pace; my mind, my heart, and even my hands. All of them still trying to catch up with the event.

The male slammed his hands on the table, causing me to jump and direct my attention down to the paper that had now been trapped between his fist. I frowned and looked up to find his eyes. “Bull! I know you did this, I know that you killed that man.” He yelled, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink, from what I could tell was anger. He stood up from the chair, so quickly that it almost fell back onto the floor. He moved around the room until he stood beside me, letting the remote rest between us two. He shook his head as his fingers began to tap gently on a red button. “We won’t get anywhere if you keep lying like that, Aella. Now...Why did you do it? Did someone help you? I know you couldn’t have done this by yourself, who put you up to this?”

I couldn’t help the frown that painted my lips as I was bombarded with his seemingly endless questions. I simply couldn’t grasp that he, of all people, seemed to underestimate me, he didn’t even think that I was capable of such a thing, which could help me. Don’t they teach you to never underestimate the suspect? If he didn’t think I had done it, then no one would suspect me, hopefully.

I looked to him and then leaned back. “I didn’t do it. I found him there” I said once again, then letting out a breath. “Look, this is just wasting your time. While I’m in here the real killer is still running out in those streets. So if you really want to keep those people safe, I suggest you to just end this, because you truly are getting nowhere.” I said while leaning forwards, a small smirk playing on my lips. He knew I was right, I couldn’t be here if they only had a few pieces of unreliable evidence against me, they wouldn’t be able to hold me here. There wasn’t enough evidence present.

He sighed and shook his head, beginning to turn. “This will change your mind,” He seemed to mumble out, a small smile raising the corners of his lips, causing my smile to falter away. He picked up the remote and turned the old TV on, catching my attention immediately. All the confidence I had, was now gone. It no longer filled every ounce of my body. I sat up straight as my eyes roamed towards the TV that had slowly began to fill with color, it quickly sparking my attention. I bit down on the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself from expressing how nervous I was about this recent discovery. My eyes stayed glued on the screen, watching everything that happened. Nothing seemed to give away that it was me, that was until I saw someone walk in only an hour before the killing had been done. Before my victim’s fate had been sealed.

I could see my red hair poking out of the black beanie I had worn; instead of watching the rest of the video my mind began to wander off. I could come up with a number of excuses of what happened, why I was there. Before I could manage to squeeze out any words the detective before me once again spoke. This not being the first time he interrupted me. “He died from a medication mix up. One that had never been seen before in his possession.” He started and then continued on, not giving me any time to answer or give my excuse, “One that had been brought by you an hour before you were seen walking into his apartment.”

He pausing the video and then turned towards me. “Mr. Michael had been found with traces of many Tylenol and also much alcohol in his body. But the cause of death had been cardiac arrest.” He paused and then sighed, letting his eyes look at the big pause button on the screen, “He already had a weak heart, having to take medicine for that. Did you think that it would be fun to mix up his prescription with the Tylenol? What did he do to you?” He asked and looked back over, even though I felt like he had already known the answer. This man had taken my mother away from me, he had taken away my family.

I look at him, the gears in my mind turning so I could quickly spit out an answer. That had been true, he had a weak heart. Always had a weak heart, I looked at the TV and then back at the male that had now turned to look at me. ¨If you think I did it, go ahead and put me on trial. Go ahead and lock me up, but once again I will tell you. That I did not do this.¨ I said to him, I hated repeating myself, it wasn’t my fault that he could see through my lies.

My face began to heat up at my own anger that had been bottling up inside. I needed to find something to occupy myself with something so I wouldn’t flip, so I wouldn’t make the mistake that he was waiting for.

The minutes went by slowly, our glares giving off negative charges, my nerves still rushing through my body. My eyes had began to look forwards at the closed door. I had to reassure myself multiple times that none of this could be linked to me, simply because they had the tapes of me walking into that building did not mean that I did it. Anyone could have done this. My hands stopped shaking as soon as I said those words to myself, if I wanted to get my faked innocence across I needed to convince myself that I hadn’t done this...but I did.

¨Everything will catch up to you at some time, you will not get away with this.¨ He said to me while turning the TV off and also picking up his briefcase. I finally focused on him and then sighed, at this time whatever he was going to say would only anger me even more. I just needed to ignore him, to just try and collect my own thoughts. Instead of focusing on him once again, I kept my eyes on the briefcase. It had been an ebony shade, and golden latches to keep it sealed. In the same gold color the name “Aydyn” had been embroidered on the case in fancy lettering. My eyes flicked up to him once again, memories resurfacing.

¨Not if I didn’t do it.¨ I mumbled and then cleared my throat, pushing myself back from the chair. ¨Are we done now?¨ I asked while standing up, seeing his now annoyed expression. A small smile forcing its way onto my lips, this would be a long trip. I knew this would not be the last time of seeing him. I saw his curt nod and followed behind him, my shoes squeaking against the floor. Every squeak seeming to ease my heart slightly, only because it meant I was closer to getting out of the place. I saw the doors, the detective once again stopping in front of me.

¨Don’t think you’re off the hook just yet.¨ He said to me before turning down a long hall. I turned my head to watch him walk off, pulling my hoodie back over my head a dull pain lingering in the pit of my stomach. I began to walk out into the rain, my shoes getting soaked from the puddles I was trudging through. My arms wrapped around my own body to try and keep warm, the cold air still nipping at the exposed skin of my face. I couldn’t help but think about what Aydyn had said to me, how it had felt like a punch in the gut. I knew it wasn’t meant to be taken as an insult, but that is how I took it. If things caught up with people, then that’s what the dead man deserved. He should have seen it coming, especially from me. Someone that had a grudge against him, a big one at that. I took a deep breath and then stopped in front of a store, the same one I had visited around this time yesterday.

 My head tilted up to look at the neon lights that had been placed on a sign. ¨Wanderlust,¨ I said out loud, reading out the name of the store. I looked back ahead as someone bumped into my shoulder, as if telling me to move out the way. I frowned and glanced around, forgetting that I had been standing in front of the entrance, blocking anyone from getting in if they had wanted to. When I had ended my quick observation, I walked inside the store. As soon as I entered I had been met with a rush of warm air, and a scent of something tropical in the air. It instantly reminded me of the vacations my family had taken before my mother’s death, then the frown returned to my face. My mother, Iris, was such a seemingly delicate woman. It was too early for her to go, she didn’t deserve to go to soon. Although it happened years ago, it seemed like only days ago.

 I reached up and rubbed my forehead, trying to relieve myself of the tension that had began to build up. As I did this I began to walk towards the magazines towards the back. I picked one up and looked at the cover, instantly wanting to just get away. I could if I wanted to, one way or another I could leave this whole mess behind. My eyes begin to stare at the glossy cover that shows a beach with a sunset, people in the background practically running into an endless pit. After moments of trying to envision myself on that cover, trying to pretend that my family was still together and happy like they appeared to be, I couldn’t take it anymore. It hurt to see that my family couldn’t be picture perfect, that we all fell off once my mother left. She was the glue of this family, the only person that kept all of us together like a real family was supposed to do. No one realized that until she was gone. I knew it wasn’t supposed to be like this, I couldn’t rely on just one person to keep my family together, but I was too blinded by how perfect everything seemed that I never realized how corrupt we all were. 

I reached up and brushed a stray hair out of my eye, I then finally snapped out of my haze and realized how tightly I had been clutching the magazine in my hand. I flinched slightly and then slowly unballed my hand, beginning to walk towards to register. A million things raced through my mind as I thought about leaving, I didn’t know if that would be the right thing to do, but I couldn’t stay here and watch my life crumble every passing day. I need to leave, I need to start new, and that is what I planned to do; start fresh. I stepped up to a cash register, the lady already giving me a huge smile. I forced a small one back, I guess word hadn’t got out yet about me being an alleged killer.

 I held out my hand to hold out the magazine I had been holding onto before. The lady looked down and took it, keeping quiet. Maybe it was better for her not to speak to me. It would give her little involvement with me, and that is what I wanted. I handed over five dollars to pay for the magazine, then taking the bag from the counter. Before turning to walk away, I couldn’t help but as the question that had been clawing at my throat. “Know anywhere I could get a cheap flight?”