𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞

2.

"Good luck" Her mother replies quickly, before hanging up the phone, leaving Arabella alone
in her own thoughts.

Arabella sighed deeply to herself as she placed her cell phone down onto the counter. In college, almost every project or 'investigation' as the professors called it, was hypothetical. There was never any live-action-meet-ups with criminals like there would be today. Their investigations were usually group projects, where each person found critical details to a specific 'case'. This was much different, this wasn't hypothetical, it was reality, and that was goddamn terrifying to think about.

Arabella knew that she wouldn't have a hand to hold when she was met with insanity face to face, there was no more questioning the professor or second guessing a diagnosis, there was only room to listen. When push comes to shove, the only person who can physically help her succeed is Lucas Owens, and she prayed to god that he would cooperate. She knew that the only way to prove herself was to get the answers that she needed from the horses mouth. In this case, that horse was a man who had a sick and twisted mindset.

She stared at herself in her full body mirror for ten minutes before she was able to walk out of her front door. She was psychoanalyzing herself more than she ever had before, and that was because she knew how small details can effect somebody's perception, especially when that somebody is mentally ill. The look that she was going for practically screamed professional, but for some reason she also felt too revealed. She wore black high heeled shoes, tight fitting dress pants that highly resembled jeans, and a floral, long sleeved blouse.

I look ridiculous, begging to be killed!
Change your clothes Arabella, he won't take you seriously! Her mind was now battling her at the worst possible time. Her thoughts were beginning to cloud her judgement, but this wasn't a new turn of events. Truth be told, she would look to be the most professional out of every person in the building, but she wouldn't have known that. Once she had managed to pull her eyes away from the mirror, she finally stopped psyching herself out and ushered herself out of the door.

You can do this, you can do this! She continuously told herself as she gripped her hands onto her steering wheel. The anxiety was starting to suffocate her with self doubt, and she was never the type of person who allowed doubt to creep into her mind often. Arabella knew that she was the person for this job, she knew that she could do whatever she put her mind to, but her mind wasn't exactly agreeing with her. It took her nearly another five minutes to plunge her car keys into the ignition, which led her to admit that she wasn't as confident as she would have expected to be.

City lights and buildings were passing by in her peripheral vision as she focused intently on the road in front of her. Although she was focused on safely getting to her destination, she was still locked in her own insecurities. Her car had come to a stop as she stared at the correctional facility in front of her. The parking lot was crowded with at least seventy other cars, which meant that it must be visitation day for the inmates. She took one last deep breath before throwing her hair into a high ponytail and stepping out of the car.

Her high heels clacked against the pavement as she stood outside of the rather grunge-looking facility.
Arabella wasn't necessarily posh, but this building needed some serious renovations. She could help but furrow her lip up in disgust as she saw piles of cigarettes and crumpled up candy wrappers along the sidewalk that led to the main entrance. The building itself looked as if it had been growing moss along the bricks for years, but she should have expected nothing less from a prison.

She shook her head, remembering that nobody on earth would bother to clean up the sidewalks that led to a prison anyways. She took another large breath before pulling the front doors open, walking into the building where she would undergo her first ever criminal case. Her nose crinkled up in distaste when the first thing that she was greeted with was the stench of sweat, it truly smelled like a high school locker room, even in the waiting area.