One moment, I'm in a library with the Lewis twins. The next, everything goes blank. And the third, I'm waking up on a cold, uncomfortable bed in a tiny little room.
It takes me a few seconds to orient myself. Like, where am I? What's going on?
I'm in prison.
That realization hits me like a brick.
Just then, the next realization hits me. I could hear my parents. And not faintly. Their voices are actually quite prominent.
I thought prisoners weren't allowed to be together. And the walls should be thick enough for the voices not to pass through. So, maybe I'm not in prison? Then where the hell am I?
"Good, you're awake." A voice suddenly comes my right. I look and see that the huge, heavy-looking titanium door has opened and a guard has stepped through. " Can you please shut your parents up, they are disturbing everyone around. And some of the guards are starting to get headaches from the loud bickering. It's truly quite annoying."
"Huh?" I ask, still not fully comprehending the situation.
"You're all in prison for a whole list of crimes. Obviously, it's one prisoner per cell, so we had to split Mr. and Mrs. Mills. But they are arguing, trying to make themselves heard by the other over these apparently not sound-proof enough walls." The poor guard tells me.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I tell him.
"If you make them be quiet, you'll have nothing to be sorry about. Well, for your parents' obnoxiousness. There is other stuff."
I nodded. "Ok." Why would I resist? I've already lost, I should just accept defeat. Plus, I've been conscious for a grand total of two minutes, and already my parents' voices are making me nauseous. That, or I really hit my head yesterday in the library.
"Ok, up you go." The guard told me, and I obeyed. "Put your hands out in front of you, wrists facing upwards."
I was about to ask why when I saw what he had reached for. Handcuffs. The guard was going to bind my hands together. I just sighed.
"Let's get this over with," I say as he walks me out of my cell. I see that I'm placed at the end of a short hallway with cells on either side of it. My parents are placed beside one another, a few doors down from me, on the opposite end of the hall.
God, this place is so drab and gray. It's honestly depressing. But, I guess I can't say anything, this is a prison after all.
"Knock, knock," the guard says as he knocks on the door. Another guard, who was posted between my parents comes and opens the door to my mom's cell.
"What!" My mother's shriek as she turns her head towards me. "Oh hello, sweetheart. Why have they let you out?"
No "I missed you." or "How are you feeling?" I guess even after defeat when she doesn't need to put up an air anymore, she still does t. Treats me as if I'm some stranger and not her daughter.
"They wanted me to tell you that you and dad are bothering all of the other prisoners. They want you two to quiet down."
"Well, they should just let us be together. Then we could argue in private." She tells me, with an air of haughtiness around her.
"You know they can't do that mom. We broke the law. We hurt people. We need to pay. Please, just stop. It's for your own good." I tell my mother, looking down.
"Wow, Alexandra. Two days in prison and you've already given up. I'm going to talk to a lawyer, get all of us out, and sue Carolina and the others for all they're worth."
"I wouldn't count on it mother. I'm going to confess to everything. What we did was wr-"
Slap!
My mother slapped me.
The guards came in and restrained her.
"After everything! Everything we've done for you! After everything, we worked towards! You're betraying us?" My mother yelled.
I don't look at her. I turn to the guard. " Please take me away from here."
He doesn't say anything until we're out of the cell and the door is locked behind me.
"Do you want to talk to your father?" The guard asks me. Before I'm able to answer, a fancier looking armed man comes in.
"No time. The lawyer is here to talk to her." Ok then. I guess I didn't have to be the one to tell everyone that I definitely didn't want to talk to my father.
I'm led to my cell, and only once I inside do they unlock my cuffs. Not two minutes later, a lady wearing a business suit comes in. Honestly, she didn't look all that ugly. I was imaging more of an old man, that was balding. Not a twenty-something young woman.
"Alexandra Mills, It's good to meet you. I'm Layla Norms, I've been assigned to represent you in this case."
"Pleasure. Look ms. Norms, I'm guilty."
"Oh, of that we have no doubt. We have video evidence and a confession from you. However, we'd like to understand your point of view. What happened from your perspective. That way, we could lessen your sentence. Maybe get something less than a life sentence. You're young, you'll be here for a while." The lawyer told me.
I didn't know what to say. I mean, she was right. Everyone knew I was going to be stuck here for years.
"What do you want me to do?" I ask after a minute of deliberating.
"I just need you to talk. To tell your side of things. I believe there was something that caused you to become this way. I need to know what it is to be able to help you out."
"Ok."
"Good, kid. Now, in a couple of hours, they're going to give you clothes to change into. You'll be speaking in front of the judge."
"Doesn't this sort of thing take months or even years to go to court?" I ask, a bit in disbelief.
"Usually, but not when you're dealing with a government agency and a bunch of very rich people. Also, all the evidence is on the table." Layla tells me.
"Shouldn't you know be telling me what I can and cannot say?" I ask. Like, I can tell that she's new, but if she's a government-assigned lawyer, then she should be competent. At least, I deserve a chance. Come on!
"Just tell the truth. I believe in you."
"Why?" I ask, quietly.
"Because although I may be a lawyer, I double majored in psych. And I'm going to use my knowledge to help you. Now, mentally prepare yourself. You have two and a half hours to get ready." She says the last part with a smirk.
Psh! As if I need TWO and a HALF HOURS to get ready. Especially in prison. Plus, I did dance for, like, 16 years. I can change, very quickly.
About 15 minutes after Layla left, a guard came in, handing me a short black dress, with simple black flats in my size. They also handed me a little bit of hair gel, a hairbrush, toothbrush and a few hair elastics. I guess I'm not yet being trusted with a razor of hairspray. Oh well, after years of dance competitions, I definitely know how to make do with what I have.
Well. Let's get to work.
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At 4 pm, I found myself at the courthouse. Everyone was already there. Layla, Mia, Blake, Alana, Chloe, and... Ryan. Ryan is there. With his parents. He's glaring at me. When our eyes meet, he looks away.
"Ry..." I start. I don't care who hears me. I just know that I need to apologize.
"Don't. You don't have the right." He tells me, harshly. Then, he looks away.
I just sigh. What else can I do?
The guards lead me to the front of the room. Everybody is asked to rise, and then the judge comes in.
He allows us all to sit, introduces the case, and then I'm asked to come up to the front. Oh well, this is going to be humiliating.
"Miss Mills, please explain your side of the story." The judge tells me. Everyone in the courtroom is deathly quiet. It's a little bit disorienting, seeing as I know most of these people for their insane loudness.
"Yes, Sir," I tell him. Then I begin my story.
"I was born on a sunny day. Everyone was hopeful at the time. Still sane. I had everything I ever wanted. My parents' business was going great. I don't really remember what was going on in my early life, but I remember happiness. Until I was about five years old that is. That's when things... changed."
"Changed how?" Layla interjected.
"I didn't know then. All I know is that suddenly I wasn't allowed to get ice cream on Sundays, I was only allowed a private dance class once a week, and then, boxes were packed. I think we were moving out. It's years later that I had found out that money had been tight back then.
Then, when I was six, everything went back to normal. Now I know that that was when the Yorks were killed and my parents profited."
"So you didn't know about the murder of Rebecca and William Michael York?" Layla asked me.
"Not at the time it happened."
"When did you find out?" She asks me.
"About eight years later. I was 14."
"Ok, please continue from there."
"When I found out, I was horrified. I couldn't believe my parents would do something like that. I didn't speak to them for close to 4 months afterwards. That's what they decided to send me to a therapist." I continued.
"The therapist being Dr. Grace Leon?" Layla interjected.
"Yes..." I respond, confused. How would she know that?
Layla turns to the judge. "Your honour, Dr. Leon is in federal prison, serving a life sentence for accepting bribes as well as hypnotism. Well, along the lines of hypnotism. Mostly it was convincing people to do things against their will while making it seem different."
I was shocked.
"Keep going, Miss Mills. Talk about your experience with Dr. Leon." The judge told me.
"Well, I went to her for a few months. Over time, I started trusting my parents again. Thinking back on it, she would always hype them up. Tell me to support all of their decisions. She... She made me like this." I say with realization.
"Did it ever occur to you that what you were doing was wrong?"
"I feel like, deep down, I knew it was wrong. But I understood why we were doing it. Plus, they're my parents. I've got no one else. What was I supposed to do?"
"And Miss. Melissa Rains?"
"Mama and Papa... I didn't want to hurt her. I liked her. She was sweet. But, mama and papa told me she was a necessary sacrifice to get the 'rats off of our tails.' In their words." I told the judge, looking away. How could I do that? How could I kill my own best friend? She's been there for me ever since elementary school.
"Anything else you wish to add Miss. Mills? Or you Miss. Norms?" I shook my head at that question, I wanted to cry. What has my life become? How had I not noticed it changing right before my eyes?
"Nothing sir. Everything you needed to know, I've already said. The evidence is in the submitted folder." Layla tells the judge.
"Alright. I'll have the verdict ready in an hour." The judge tells everyone at the court.
As soon as he leaves the room, I turn to face behind me.
"Ry... I'm sorry for everything."
He looks at me with broken eyes. "Think about everything you've done."
"Carolina, Chloe, Blake, I'm sorry. I hope we'll someday work something out." I tell them, and without waiting for a response, I turn around and fall into my silent solitude.
When the judge comes back in, I'm uncharacteristically calm for a situation like this. "Miss Alexandra Mills, you are to spend 15 years in prison, with no chance of parole. After release, you are to do 2 years of community service. You'll be free after that, with quarter-year check-ins by the police."
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First Published March 19th, 2020
Hey Guys!
This is chapter 2/3 of this batch of chapters.
I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a vote and a comment if you think this chapter deserves it.
Happy Reading
Dani💙