Michael's POV:
Bright white lights beamed down to my eyes. I squinted at the ceiling realizing I was laying down on my back. There was an excruciating pain from my head and entire body. I parted my lips to speak but my words were dry. The constant sound of beeping rang in my ears, causing my head to ache even more. I then flinched up from the bed I was laying on, I took a second to look at my surroundings, slightly dazed and disoriented. I'm in a hospital? I thought to myself confusingly.
I don't remember how and what led me to come here. Matter of fact, my memory of the last couple of hours were blank. I remember blacking out one moment and then somehow I'm here, laying on a hospital bed, staring at the high ceiling. I noticed I was also stripped out of my clothes and placed in a hospital gown. Various of wires tubes were connected to my chest, side, and arm. The heart monitor beeped in sync with the movement of my chest. There wasn't anyone in the room with me, I was alone with the tv running silently in the background and the door was locked too.
"Hello?!" I called out hoping someone could hear me behind the door. I tried removing myself from the bed but my left hand was immediately pulled back. I furrowed my brows and looked down to see what was stopping me from moving forward. It was handcuffs. The metal cuffs were strapped around my wrist and attached to the railing of the medical bed. I became even more confused. Why am I strapped to a bed? I pulled harder on the handcuffs but then a sharp pain hit my side when I turned my body around. I noticed my entire stomach was wrapped around with bandages, along with my right leg. Fuck. That's when it all came back to me. The sequence of events that took place at the house flooded my head all at once.
I got shot. I remember being at the house calling for help and then I got shot right in the stomach by that officer who was with Veronica. The last person I would've expected to set me up and work with her. That's when I blacked out. I also remember trying to save Sierra. The last moment I saw her she was unconscious bleeding to death because of the trap Veronica set up. I called the police for help but I don't even know if she fully understood what I was trying to explain to her. A wave of panic then hit me, I have no clue if Sierra made it out okay or not.
"Hey! Get me out of here!" I yelled again, tugging at the handcuffs.
A nurse came in shortly after, holding a clipboard and a small paper cup. "How are you Michael?" She greeted me with a welcoming smile once she made her way inside.
"I'm fine...." I hesitantly said and watched her walk over to me.
"Here take this," she motioned the paper cup in front of me but I didn't dare to reach for it. I just looked up at her giving her a puzzled look.
"What happened to me?" I asked her, hoping someone would give me a clear explanation on how I'm still alive and where Sierra is. "Is my wife okay? I need to see my wife!" I demanded.
She paused for a moment, "Michael you were admitted to the hospital after having multiple gun shot wounds and stabs. The police found you laying in the middle of your bedroom floor nearly bleeding to death. I'm not sure what happened but—"
"I'll tell you what happened, I got shot by an officer named Lance. They were trying to kill me!" I blurted out.
She looked at me worryingly, "They?" She repeated as if something foreign came out of my mouth. "Maybe it would be best if you lay your head back and drink this, you're still recovering and slightly disoriented," she responded completely dismissing my statement.
"No!" I pushed her hand away. "I wanna see my wife. Where's Sierra? She was in the house with me. Please just tell me she's alive," I pleaded.
"I'm sorry..." she started with her next response. "You were the only one that was admitted to this hospital, there wasn't any records of a spouse or any other family member," she explained, while trying to get me to lay my head down.
"What that's impossible...she was with me. I remember calling for help," I tried explaining to her. I refused to believe what she was telling me was true. Why would they only bring me here to the hospital and leave Sierra behind? Nothing is making sense to me anymore. "Where else would she be? And why the fuck am I in handcuffs?" I looked at her with frustration and confusion.
"Cause you're being detained Mr. Walker," a deep voice said from a distance. A tall man dressed down in a black suit and tie walked in. His steps were loud when he entered the room. He had a stern look on his face. I didn't recognize him at all, he seemed to be an authority of some sort because he had a name tag and badge on his blazer.
"Hey! You have no authorization to be in here!" The nurse yelled at him. "I called for the doctor!" He brushed passed her, to get closer to me. He stood directly in front of me, with a straight posture and his hands crossed to his chest.
"I'm sorry but this case is now under the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and not Mercy's hospital," he responded back to her. She didn't have a response afterwards. I watched her set the cup to my side and leave the room. He then faced me again, "My name is Lorenzo Garcia, I'm a homicide detective and I have a few questions to ask pertaining to the incident that happened last night."
"Detained? What am I being detained for?" I asked trying to comprehend every word that came out of his mouth. "I don't understand why I'm being detained...what did I do?"
"That's exactly what I'm here to find out....you've made a 911 distress call last night around 12:58 midnight claiming someone in particular wanted to kill you and your wife in your own home...." he said.
"Yes, a woman attempted to kill me and my wife in my own house then I called—"
"When the police showed up to the scene, you were the only person found inside your house and your wife wasn't there," he cut me off mid sentence barely giving me enough time to explain myself. "Which sort of throws us off and and that's the reason why I'm here," he smiled. "It's nothing that you did Michael, I'm actually here to help and find the right answers."
I laughed at the last part of his sentence clearly sensing his bullshit. When someone is being detained, the interrogator clearly has one agenda and that's to find out what they've done wrong, making them a possible suspect of some kind of incident, not the victim. "If you're here to help, you wouldn't interrogate me in the middle of a fucking hospital room!" I tugged at the handcuffs again. "Can you get this thing off of me, please."
"I'm afraid I can't do that until you tell me exactly what happened last night," he responded. "The harder you pull at it, the more painful it'll be for you."
"I don't know what you're asking me, I don't even remember half of the shit that happened! I got shot," I said to him but by the look of his face, it seemed like none of my words were convincing to him.
"You can first start off by telling me what happened to Sierra and where she is....you know the wife you claimed was bleeding to death," He said to me. He took a chair and placed it next to me.
"What?" I gave him a hard look. "How the fuck am I supposed to know that? I nearly died by a deranged person who was obsessed with me to the point where she wanted to kill me! I made that distress call because I feared for Sierra's life! The last time I saw her was before I got shot. Clearly you see me laying here on a hospital bed."
"Can you tell me the name of that person?"
"I don't know her real name but she goes by Veronica. She's been harassing me and making my life a living hell. She should be the ones in handcuffs not me," I argued. "Chief county officer, Lance....he was with her as well, the same officer I've been seeing at the department for the last couple of weeks. If you want proof, I filed a restraining order against her a few days back and he was the one who placed it in. And he was the one who shot me."
"Why would he want to shoot you?" He questioned.
"I don't know.."I responded honestly because I had no idea what the real reason was that led him to put a bullet in me.
"You don't know?" He asked, through squinted eyes. "You can be honest with me Michael."
"I'm telling you the truth, I don't know."
He pursed his lips together. "Officer Lance, reported two claims about you just hours before last night's incident.." he said. I was confused at what he was trying to say. "Do you want to know what those claims were Mr. Walker?"
I looked at him as total silence took over the room momentarily. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it before presenting it in front of me.
I grabbed the paper from him and looked down at the small texts that filled the entire pages up.
"The first report claims that you had something to do with the disappearance of Veronica's brother, Andy. You were the last person to be seen with him according to several CCTV cameras."
"What?" I nearly yelled. I read the first claim that recited his words in clear print.
"The second claim is various verbal and physical harassment specifically towards Veronica. Trespassing her private property and violating a clear restraining order that Veronica herself filed," he pointed to the second claim.
"The third claim, is for clear concerning verbal assaults towards your wife Sierra during your divorce process."
I was in disbelief. I can't believe I'm really being falsely accused of something I didn't even do. These are all lies and I can't even try to defend myself because it won't even sound a bit convincing considering the fact that Veronica somehow got a chief officer himself to write this. I just don't understand why.
Why would he do this for her. Why would he back her up knowing what she's capable of. She clearly has something against him, because no sane person would spend all that time to unravel so much evidence against her and just throw it all away afterwards. It doesn't make any sense at all. Now it's his words against mine.
I couldn't help but laugh to myself. She clearly had this mapped out from the very beginning to the end. "Nothing on that paper is true," I said while handing the paper back to him. "I didn't do any of those things, I'm being set up," I said defensively. "This is what she intended to do from the beginning, to completely destroy me."
He got up from his seat and placed the paper back into his pocket. "I would advise you to get a lawyer Michael. Until then, maybe you can come up with a story that actually adds up, because you're a prime suspect of a criminal case. If we're being honest.....it's not looking well for you."
He swung the door open and slammed it shut behind him. I looked down at the metal cuffs again and relaxed my head against the pillow. She's going to get away with it like she always does. She won. She didn't what she said she would and completely ruined my life. For all I know Sierra might be dead too. That's the only clear explanation on why she isn't in this hospital as well. She died because of her and there's nothing I could do about it. All the chances I had of getting rid of her is gone and I hate myself for being so blindsided at first. I should've gotten rid of her once all the red flags were shown. Everything would've been played out differently.
There's no end to this and if it is an end, it would only end in a way that would satisfy her. Her perfect ending in her sick twisted mind is for me to suffer and endure a pain that's much greater than what I'm feeling right now. A pain that surpasses the feeling of having everything you ever loved taken away from you. In her sick twisted mind, she envisioned an endless pain for me. Now I have no choice but to accept complete and utter defeat.
2 weeks later
Different people came in and out of the room informing me of things I hardly understood. They all kept telling me the same thing. Not to worry. Everything will be fine. Even though those words may seem reassuring, it just kept reminding me what I had to face today. Standing in front of nearly 50 or more people, which included former friends and family, in a courtroom and in front of a judge for a trial that could possibly place me behind bars for god knows how long. Even though I'm being wrongly convicted, there would still be a chance that I would lose this case. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a nervous wreck. I'm scared.
I'm scared to face the familiar faces, I'm scared to stand in front of my own daughter, and I'm scared to stand right next to the person who brought me here. I could hardly sleep for the past week and being under home arrest hasn't been easy either. Different cops standing in front of your home and monitoring your every move. It felt like hell. They took my child away from me because they believe I'm not mentally capable of taking care of her and I'm supposedly too "dangerous" to be around her. Sierra's father despises me more than before. Even though he had hatred for me my entire life, he officially cut ties with me and wishes I was the one dead instead of his daughter. He had every reason to feel that way, I failed to protect her.
"What have you done." My father, whom I haven't seen in 6 years walked in. When I called him for help, I didn't think he would actually show up because I expected him to be disappointed in me. He's the last option I have. I don't even have any money to pay any other lawyers, I nearly begged him to fly out to this city and help me. I didn't want him to be involved, it would just mean more judgement from him. In my life, he would always warn me and preach to me many times that every action of mine has a consequence and there would be a time where my fuck up would be so bad that I can't even afford to face the consequences.
"You showed up.." I responded.
"Of course I fucking showed up. What the fuck did you expect, you've told me something even I couldn't believe with my own two eyes." He closed the door behind him. "Did you do it?" He was so quick to ask. I furrowed my eyebrows together, insulted at the fact he would ask me that. Out of all the things he could say to me right now. He clearly sees me under distress and that's the first thing he asks.
"Did mom come with you?" I asked, dismissing his remark.
"She didn't want to come," he responded. "This is really upsetting her."
I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "Okay so now what?" I asked him, so he would just spare me the bad news now instead of finding out by the judge himself.
He took a seat across from me. "If we accept a plea bargain to some of those charges or claims then there's a likely chance the judge might grant you lesser sentencing, which seems like it's the only good option we have here," he explained.
"So I'm just going to let her win this case? And go to jail? There has to be another way."
He looked at me with a discouraging face, "Michael there's absolutely no way you can prove yourself guilty unless you're telling me something I don't know already."
"You know what I think," I said to him with a stern hard face. "I think you don't believe me either. You probably think I had something to do with Sierra's disappearance and the other fucked up shit Veronica has fed all of you!" I raised my voice at him.
"I spent half of my life married to that woman, protecting her and giving her all I could give. I loved her and I would never do anything to hurt her. I watched her—" my voice cracked midway, and I could feel my emotions building up. "I watched her fighting for her life on our bed unconscious because of something she did! All of this is because of her, she did this to me! So don't fucking sit here and assume. You have no idea what she put me through."
I quickly started to wipe my watery eyes with my sleeve before tears fell down. He got up from his seat and place his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Michael. Like I said this is the only better option. You don't have enough evidence."
I pushed him off of me and got up from my seat. I fixed my tailored suit and wiped my face once more. "Just do me one favor. After all of this is over....don't ever speak or show your face to me again." I stormed my way out the door and followed the bailiff to the court room. Once I stepped in, everyone's heads turned to my direction. Silence filled the air, I kept my attention forward making sure not to stare anyone in the eye. As I was passing by, Sierra's father sat in the front row, holding Starr in his arms. I felt my stomach twist and turn when it finally hit me that this is reality.
My father walked into the court room moments later with a briefcase and files in his hand. He joined me at the counsel table. I looked to my right and seen Veronica already seated at her table with her lawyer along side her. She looked much different from most days. For once she wore her natural hair up, and was dressed down for the appropriate setting. Instead of having a dull or nervous look on her face, she sat there with a smile across her face as if she didn't even care. It felt like it was a way to mock me. For her to sit here, smiling in the middle of this courtroom, knowing damn well what she's done and what she's hiding from everyone.
We waited several minutes before the judge walked in and took his seat. Once seated, he banged his gavel and instructed everyone to be seated. "Alright ladies and gentlemen of the jury, our first case for today is starting off with The People vs Michael Walker. We have our defendant Michael on the left and Veronica as the plaintiff who's suing for multiple charges. Does the plaintiff's lawyer wish to make an opening statement?"
"Yes, your honor."
Veronica's lawyer, a tall man with glasses nearly bigger than his face, walked up to the stand holding one piece of paper in his hand. He brought the microphone closer to him as he cleared his throat to speak. "Your honor, these allegations formed by the defendant and pinned against my client is an act of deception and revenge. Michael Walker wishes nothing but to cover up and blame his wrong doings on an innocent person. We cannot dismiss the vile and brutal violence and trauma that he has caused to not only my client but to the family and friends of his ex wife. My client pleas guilty in the standing of this case." He looked directly at me and I clenched my jaw, containing the anger that was in me.
"Would the defendant's lawyer wish to make an opening statement?" The judge then asked.
"No your honor.." my father then responded. I shot my head at me, confused to why he chose not to make an opening statement. "Trust me, I got this.." he then whispered to me. "Just stay quiet."
"Plaintiff's lawyer you may proceed."
"Thank you. On top of the first degree murder, we are here by suing and indicting Michael for attempted murder, arson under a unregistered fire arm, harassment and false accusation. I would like to call Michael himself to the stand."
All eyes were back on me, the judge instructed me to step forward. I already felt my knees weak in place, I cleared my throat and walked up to the stand. I looked down at my hands refusing to look up. I could see her lawyer staring at me from the corner of my eyes, waiting for me to face him.
"Mr. Walker, could you please face the person who's going to question you during this trail," he said.
I sighed and lifted my head up, that's when I met eyes with Veronica. I quickly looked away and stared at her lawyer again.
"Michael, how long have you known Veronica for?" he started off.
"I've known Veronica for some time now," I answered lowly.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch that, could you please speak up."
"I've known her for some time..." I repeated myself.
"Could you briefly explain your relationship with my client," he walked back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"I met Veronica almost 2 months ago, she was a stranger. I gave her a lift home one night and we let her stay in our home with us that night. At that time we were mild acquaintance."
"Did you have any intentions of physically hurting Veronica for any reason at all or have made verbal threats to her?"
"No I didn't." I chose my words carefully.
"Well, there's a claim by the department claiming you've made some serious verbal threats and assaults to Veronica....the claims were written by the chief officer down in County department. Unless they're wrong?" he said looking up from the paper he was reading from and back at me.
"I don't recall.." I responded. If there's one thing I've learned about trial courts, there will always be a way for the opposite party to get you to self-incriminate you. The only right answer out of a question is to claim that you don't recall any of it happening.
"Alright then," he chuckled to himself, obviously mad at the short contradicting response I gave him. He continued to pace back and fort. "Did you engage in any sexual or romantic affairs with Veronica during your marriage?" he struck the burning question that made everyone's facial expression shift into something unpleasant. He purposely smirked at me.
"Objection!" My father yelled. "That question serves no relevance to this case."
"Your honor, I'm unraveling important details that very much pertains to this case," her lawyer said defensively.
"Overruled, I'll allow it," the judge spoke out.
"Did you engage in any romantic or sexual affairs with Veronica during your marriage?"he repeated.
My father gave me a clear look, signaling me not to say the wrong answer. I chose my words carefully before answering the question. "No I didn't."
"You didn't? Huh," he sucked his teeth before going back to his table and retrieving a folder. I carefully watch him walk up to me again. He pushed his glasses closer to his eyes, "your honor I would like to play a video evidence if that's alright with you."
The bailiff rolled in a TV stand and the tension grew stronger. I felt my hands starting to get sweaty. Whatever video evidence he was going to play, I knew it would play against my favor.
The video showed a clear CCTV of Veronica and I from a far distance, it was the night we walked back to her car and engaged in the affair. It showed it all. My hand gripping her waist on the way there and unlocking the car door for her. It showed everything.
I looked away and felt everyone's eyes piercing towards me.
Once the video stopped, her lawyer looked back at me with a clear smile on his face, "Mild acquaintance? That's interesting. It also has come to my intention that, Veronica herself was under the influence of alcohol when that incident occurred, and you did not request consent in the time being. Is that correct? And may I remind you, you're under oath."
I clenched my jaw, "I don't know, I don't remember.." I shrugged.
"How is this relevant to anything your honor?" My father spoke again.
"Your honor, if there's one thing I've learned in all my years of law, it's that behind every killer there's a motive. I solely believe everything that leads up to this case is solely because of the affair." He faced the jury seconds after. "Michael has a long history of affairs in which he hid from his wife because he always had the funds to cover it up. The only reason why he had the intention of targeting my client is because he was afraid that she would expose an involuntary affair that would tarnish his reputation and marriage. A few days after the night of the affair, he made various threats to her over the phone to the point where she had to change her number and even showed up to her house unannounced while there was a clear restraining order placed against him. My client did in fact have the intention of exposing the affair to his wife, however, that's when Michael decided to stop her by any means possible."
"It wasn't involuntary, I didn't force her to do anything! And I only threatened her because she wouldn't leave me alone." I blurted out.
"I need you to stay quiet and go back to your seat, Mr. Walker. Veronica, I would ask you to confirm this statement to the jury."
I stormed my way back to my table, while I watched her slowly stand up from her seat and changed her whole body expression. She acted coy, a whole different character from what she usually is. "Yes, your honor. Michael took advantage of me during that night and when I confronted him about it, he did many actions to prevent me from telling his wife," she spoke in a soft voice. "He even showed up to my private property to verbally assault me, I went down to the police station and immediately placed a restraining order against him."
"There wasn't a restraining order! She's lying to you!"
"Order!" The judge banged his gavel.
"He made many false accusations about me, claiming I stole money from him, that I got him fired on purpose, and I was framing him for something...." she paused for a second and sniffed her fake tears away. "I'm sorry this has been very difficult for me. Sierra didn't deserve any of this either." She directly looked me in the eyes when she said that. That's when my blood began to boil and I was seconds away from jumping across this stand.
"Did Michael attempt to engage in bribery to cover up the affair?" The judge questioned.
She nodded her head, "yes, he tried to pay me a large cash amount to try and get me to leave the city so his wife wouldn't find out. I'm not the only person he done this to."
"You have an opposing witness?"
"Yes, your honor. Michael's former colleague personally reached out to me after the incident, she would like to testify against him."
I furrowed my eyebrows together, not sure where she was getting at. Momentarily, the clicking of heels against the floor echoed the court room. I turned my head to see who was walking up to the stand. My whole body nearly froze when I saw Anna making her way up. Fuck. Anna clearly told me she didn't know Veronica at all, how is it suddenly she's ready to testify against me and side with her.
"Anna Mendoza, how well do you know Mr. Walker?"
"Michael and I were in a relationship together 3 years ago. We've worked in the same firm," she kept her head down, refusing to make eye contact with me. I bit my fingertips, knowing what she was about to discuss and how this case may no longer be under my favor. If she mentions the money I gave to her, Veronica's claim will be looked at as the truth, I've lied in front of everyone just moments ago about having an affair with one woman. Imagine how I will look if everyone found out about my regretful mistakes from the past.
"Did Michael attempt to give you any forms of expenses to cover up your relationship with him?"
She paused for a moment, with nothing but silence surrounding us all. The tension was so high, I'm basically experiencing my own execution.
Veronica planned this well. She's probably enjoying every fucking moment of this.
"Yes, Michael did pay me to not speak about our relationship. He gave me enough money to leave the city but under certain circumstances, that was difficult for me to do. He then later showed up at my house a few weeks ago to confront me about the situation." she said.
"I only went over there because I was concerned for her well being. I was afraid Veronica would use her to blackmail me," I responded.
"Your honor, the first time I met up with Anna was after the incident with Sierra. I never ran into her any time before," Veronica argued.
I laughed to myself, "she's clearly lying."
"What did you do with the money he gave you?" The judge turned to Anna completely tuning out what Veronica and I were saying.
"I...." She seemed uncomfortable by the question, hesitant if she should answer it truthfully or not. For a brief moment, she looked at me, with sorrow in her eyes. "I was pregnant, and I used that money for the abortion clinic."
The whole courtroom interrupted in gasps. My forehead was drenched in sweat and my whole body tensed up. I loosed the tie that was wrapped around my neck. "You son of a bitch!" Someone shouted out from the distance. The clear outrage was towards me. Sierra's father sprinted from his seat and almost charged at me. The security guards were fast enough to stop him before his hands nearly reached me. Whispers and mumbles filled the air and soon enough, everyone started yelling in different directions. The judge banged his gavel to try and get everyone to calm down.
"Can we request a break please." My father called out before escorting me out of the room of chaos.
"What the fuck Michael!" My father yelled in the middle of the hallway. "When were you planning to tell me about the rest of these things you've done in the past?"
"Why does it matter," I argued.
"Why?!" He stared at me. "Because as your attorney, it's important for me to know every single evidence. If you told me this before, I would've gotten to that witness before she would have! I would've covered it up. But now it's too late!"
"Im over it anyways, I'm done." I admitted to him. "I can't do it anymore."
"So what? You want to end the trial?" He asked.
I slid my back against the wall and sat myself down on the ground. There's two ways this could end. I get back in there and continue this trial. I let Veronica proceed to expose every single fucking thing about my past to my whole entire friends and family like she intended from the beginning. Or I could walk back in there and accept the plea of bargain to some of the claims against me like the harassment charges, attempted murder charges, and the unlicensed firearm charges, so I can possibly get a less sentencing from the judge. There is no way Veronica could make up a backing evidence in one trial to prove to the judge she had nothing to do with Sierra's body. Its a murder case, nothing compared to harassment charges or assault claims. You would need fingerprint evidence, clear video footages, and a strong alibi. She could choose to bring Officer Lance into the mix but he would only be questioned further if he testifies against me because one thing I have against him are our phone calls and voicemails about Veronica's harassments. If I present those recorded voicemails to the court and he chooses to be a witness for the plaintiff, it would only make him look suspicious. Then that would only push the case into being investigated further on, which I know that's not what Veronica intended at all. She may walk out of here free either way, but she isn't getting away with Sierra's murder. I don't care how long this case takes to close but I'll make sure Sierra gets the justice she deserves. Even if the case takes longer than my sentencing, I vow to make it happen. It's the least I could do for her.
"Before we go in, I want you to promise me one thing...." I said to my father.
He looked down at me with a confused look, "A promise?"
"I don't know how many years I will get or if my plea of bargain will even be acceptable. Whatever the outcome, I want you to promise me that you'll keep my daughter safe. Even if her custody is granted to Sierra's family, please check up on her," I said to him. "I've already lost one thing close to me, I don't want to lose her either."
"I'll look after her," he responded. I got up from the floor and fixed myself. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked me.
I nodded in response. He then surprisingly pulled me in closer to him to embrace me. He wrapped his arms tightly around me. The sudden action threw me off. It's been so long since he's shown this type of affection towards me, he's not the type of person to express any type of sentimental feelings but I could feel all his emotions in the hug. I don't know if he's been waiting all these years to do this or if it's this one specific moment that really hit him. I felt like a kid again.
"I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier....about not wanting you to speak to me after this," I mumbled into his chest. "I'm really happy to see you again."
"Hey," he pulled away to look at me once more. "I'll always be here for you no matter what. Don't ever forget that." He patted me shoulders. I looked at the doors and took a long deep breath.
"Alright....let's do this."
A week later
I was instructed to remove all my article of clothing along with my watch and wedding band. The correctional officers gave me an orange gown to change into and white plastic sandals to wear. I had only five minutes to get dressed. I wasn't even given the time to say goodbye to those who were close to me. This state prison was more strict than I expected. The worst thing about it was, this will be my new home for the next 8 years. After the trail, the judge did accept my request for the plea bargain. I was charged three out of 5 offenses on my case. Which the judge believed would be a fair agreed-upon sentencing. However, I wasn't charged with Sierra's case, so I dodged the first degree murder charge that could've brought my sentencing up to almost 25 years or more. The judge issued the investigation to be carried out until factual evidence surfaced. Until then I'm expected to serve my full 8 years without bail or parole in the California state prison. If I do anything that goes against my sentencing, then more years could be added.
The custody of my child was stripped away from me the same day of the final hearing and granted to Sierra's father. I don't know if I'll be able to see my baby any time soon. I nearly had to beg Sierra's father to bring her during visiting hours or at least write letters so I can get updates about her but he didn't agree. I can only hope she doesn't grow up faster as the time passes. I don't want her to have me completely out of the picture.
"Hey what the fuck is taking so long!" The officer banged on the metal bathroom door. I opened it quickly before I was pushed out. "Come on, you have a last visitor," he told me. I looked at him confused. A visitor?
With the handcuffs wrapped tightly around my wrist and ankles, I was taken back to the first room I was brought in where most of the prisoners were still saying goodbye to their loved ones through the phone booth windows.
Once I saw her standing there, my whole body froze. Why the fuck is she here. Even when I'm far from her, she finds a way to come back. I slowly walked up to the window, with the security guard following me from behind.
She smiled at me, and took a seat. I sat down and faced her, bringing the phone cord to my ear while she does the same.
"Hello Michael," she spoke.
"You have some nerve coming here," I angrily said.
"I couldn't leave you without saying a final goodbye. I'm sorry that this is how it got played out for you. I really thought there would be a better outcome for us.
"This is exactly what you wanted," I spat.
"That's not true. Michael, I do feel completely bad about what I've done to you. It's hard to punish those you love but sometimes when someone becomes a threat to you, the only person you could really protect is yourself. If I hadn't done the things I did, I would either be dead or in that same orange suit as you," she said. "I wasn't going to let that happen. Not even for you."
"You took the best thing away from me.."
"That's the thing about you. You're very selfish and careless. Have you ever stopped to think how I feel through all of this. Have you ever thought about why I haven't ended you completely. Michael, over my years, I've been searching for someone that would make me into the best version of myself. You've said it before, I'm fucked up," she said with a serious expression. "Losing control has been a problem for me my entire life. I do things without thinking and I feel no remorse after it. In fact I feel the opposite. I feel accomplished. When I hurt people, it makes me feel good. There isn't one once of sanity in me and you've been right this whole time. But for the first time, seeing you in this position doesn't make me feel good because you were the one who was supposed to change me."
"You're out of your mind."
"Yes, I am. I've been out of my mind for a lot of things but I genuinely believe you're special Michael. You're the first person I couldn't kill without feeling remorse. I've thought about it many times. If I killed you, it would only be shattering for me because you're the first guy I genuinely like. You call it an obsession, I call it a realization. I visioned a future together. A future where I wouldn't be like this at all. I would be normal and you would accept me for who I am. So of course it hurt me when you didn't have the same intentions, it hurt me to the point where I wanted you to feel every ounce of misery and pain I felt. Since I couldn't kill you, I had to take away the one person that was special to you," she shrugged at her last sentence, as if it didn't mean a thing to her.
I held the phone tightly in the palm of my hands, "You've completely ruined my life. I hope the thought of me behind these bars will still be in your mind because once these 8 years are up. I'm finishing what I started. Even if you leave this state, I will find you. If you attempt to change your name, I will find you. Anywhere you go, I'll find you Veronica, and that's my promise to you."
"I'm really going to miss you Michael," she responded before she got up to walk away from the booth. I banged the phone against the glass multiple times, cursing at her viciously. It was moments before when the guard took a hold of my arms and escorted me out of the room.
Veronica's POV:
I checked out of the building and gave back my visitors pass. I walked outside to the black vehicle waiting for me in the parking lot. The driver's door opened and he stepped out. He walked over to my direction to open the passenger's door. I shot him a smile for his random kind gesture.
Once we were inside the car, he turned over to look at me with the cigarette in his hand. He wasn't wearing his badge today, I would assume he didn't want to be visible for some time now. He was a dirty cop after all.
"You got the flash drive?" He asked, blowing the smoke in my direction. The deal we negotiated was for me to hand in the flash drive that holds all the dirty work that violates his badge and authority figure as an officer while he gives me all the files he's found of me regarding my pasts and victims.
I took out the flash drive from pocket and motioned it in his direction, but before he could reach it, I stopped him. "I'm trusting you not to follow me anymore Lance."
"And I'm trusting you not to show your face around here ever again," he responded. I handed him the flash drive and he gave me the files.
"Don't worry. This will be the last you'll see of me."
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Congratulations! You've reached the end.
41 chapters later and I finally finished this whew!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story or any other story I've wrote. I put a lot of thought and revision to it. This still remains my favorite book I've written. I plan to write more, and explore new themes, genres and different style of writing. I want to improve my writing as much as possible.
I will be taking a break from writing ariana and jb fanfics. I wanna switch it up a bit and give you something new and interesting to read. I already have ideas for my next book, and I hope you'll be around to read it.
(edit): THERES A SEQUEL FOLKS CHECK IT OUT!
Thank you ❤️