The Point of No Return {sequel to The Arbitrary life of Avery Blake [teacher]}

The Point of No Return {sequel to The Arbitrary life of Avery Blake [teacher]}34

Meghann hesitated, ‘I love you,’ she said before we embraced and walked out the door.

We met Leon as he walked us to his police car. We got in after a few seconds of hesitation and then we were off.

Leon attempted to make small talk in the car as we hadn’t spoken in so long but the majority of the conversation was strained. Leon, of course, understood and tried not to push the conversation too much.

Upon arrival, we hesitantly got out of the car and Meghann and I attempted to control our breathing.

Then, it was time.

**

Meghann and I were not required to be seated in the front row with a lawyer, as I had been expecting.  Instead, we sat in the front row in the isles with the audience and witnesses. I was unsure why exactly but I wasn’t complaining.

The whole trial was filled with uncontrollable anxiety and overwhelming fear. But when Meghann’s stepfather came through those doors and down the aisle with guards on both sides of him, Meghann and I both tensed up strongly. We went rigid with terror as flashbacks and memories which were but fresh in our minds, overpowered us.

It may sound like an overreaction, but to put it straight, this was the man who almost killed us and would have had the police not gotten there in time. This was the man who killed Meghann’s mother and who was to blame for Meghann’s large scar. And lastly, this was the man who left Meghann and I with these all too vivid memories and haunting flashbacks, adding to my large stack.

He must have spotted us from behind as when he passed us, he briefly looked over at us with an unnerving emotionless and blank face. It was as though he had never seen us before, as though the last year had never happened and we were merely strangers; observers at court.

If this didn’t prove how psychotic this man was, I wasn’t sure what would.

It felt like we had been sitting there for hours when in fact, it could have been an hour or two maximum. It was all very unnerving.

My anxiety rose dramatically as everyone’s gaze was turned towards the judge, awaiting his decision.

The old, bolding judge looked as though he were transparent; not in the sense of being invisible or see-through, but close enough. It was as though your eyes could pass his face without even realising. If you were to look at him for too long, your gaze would wander. He was boring and he was plain, to say the least.

But when the judge announced that the psychotic man sitting on the other side of the courtroom was found guilty for two counts of attempted murder and one count of murder and he was given a life sentence, a sob erupted in my throat as Meghann and I hurled our arms around each other; shock and astonishment, as well as complete joy, took a hold of the two of us.

‘We did it,’ I whispered between sobs.

But the moment that Meghann’s stepfather stood up and the two guards on the side of him took a hold of him and began to walk down the aisle, Meghann and I froze in fear.

This time was different; he no longer ignored us, instead, just before he reached to where we had been sitting, his deathly cold glare attacked the two of us. If eye-contact could kill, we would be dead in seconds. But I regained my control momentarily and instead of giving him the satisfaction, I nudged Meghann and I smiled. Yes, actually smiled; first at Meghann before looking over and smiling at him. This only increased his rage and hostility but nonetheless, he walked out of that courtroom a failure of a man, contained and crazy while Meghann and I were the victorious ones, the one’s whom were actually free.

And so ended another hardship, hurdle, bump life had thrown at me.

Only one way to go from here. Up . . . right? I wished, but the fact of the matter was that there would be plenty more things that pulled me down. They were coming; things were only going to get harder, at least before they got better.

Kiren Jones’ POV

It was a few days after the trial that things began to settle down a bit. But it was nothing that Northern Bay couldn’t handle, after all, this was definitely not the first tragedy that hit us, nor would it be the last.

I could feel the sun hit my bare arms as I took a sip of my cappuccino, looking across the table at Leon.

His eyes tried to look through to my soul, to read me, to see what I was feeling; what I was thinking. However, I didn’t give him the satisfaction. I couldn’t communicate my true feelings as I didn’t know what they were myself. I had been hiding everything so well lately, leaving all this negativity in a tightly sealed vault at the back of my head. But it seemed that I, myself, had lost the key. The vault was locked from the inside.

But Leon’s gaze was anything but judgemental. He was merely concerned, just as concerned as Cole had been. But I willed myself to smile, to make everyone around me believe I was happy. But the truth was that I was lonely; even if I stood in the middle of a crowded room, I would still be lonely. I was unsure why this was. Was Depression a side-effect? Or was this just me being silly?

Of course it is, I shrugged.

A sudden flashback overtook my mind, taking me back to that day.

Familiarity.

White, plain, simple, familiarity.

The hospital.

I sat upright as my head spun dramatically. Big mistake. I groaned as I rubbed my head. Of course, this surely wasn’t the first time such had happened.

‘You alright, kid?’ asked an all too familiar voice.

My eyes widened with recognition.

Leon.

Leon was the police officer I had been dating previously, of course, our relationship wasn’t the best, it was complicated. But wasn’t every relationship complicated?

The words that came out of Leon’s mouth otherwise would have been happy, sarcastic or such, but his tone was different than other times. Complete worry had strained his voice, leaving his expression one of fear and curiosity.

I burst out in tears.

My heavily guarded emotions escaped and I was left vulnerable and a sobbing mess as Leon jumped up and enveloped me, giving me a shoulder to cry on.

That’s when I told him. I spilled everything. I told him how I had gotten sick recently, how this sickness had taken a hold of my entire body but I had to try to continue as best as I could. Luckily it hadn’t gotten too bad yet. But I left out the part where I was refusing treatment. Leon didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need that worry.

I believe he shed a few tears as well, but of course he never would admit it.

I remember as he wiped my blonde hair out of my eyes and looked at me, vowing he would be here no matter what. Convincing me that things would get better, that we would get through this. Or at least he tried.

I could tell he was slightly angry with me for not telling him sooner, but he remained that unsaid and unexpressed. For the better, I believe.

I hated this, though. I didn’t like to think about the fact that me getting close to people now would effect and hurt them down the line, if and when I was to truly go.

I didn’t want them to hurt on account of me.