Chapter 49

I stood in front of a podium. My hands were in front of me in handcuffs, and my hair was down messily on my back. Some papers were scattered on top of the podium, most likely the charges held against me, along with evidence and whatnot. I skimmed through them mindlessly, looking at different pictures of me involved in bad things and pictures of dead bodies. Some of them made me gag.

Everybody in the room talked in hushed whispers among themselves. Most of them were dressed in formal attire, while some were in their casual clothes. I glanced around the room, looking at every face present. The first person I recognized was my mother, who wore a solemn expression and sat next to Sophia, who was comforting her. My eyes then found Chase, who looked restless.

His hair was tousled messily on top of his head, and there was already slight stubble growing on his face. He was back to wearing glasses, which did little to cover up the dark circles under his eyes. He had a stoic face, and his lips were pressed together in a thin line as he stared at nowhere in particular. That was until his eyes flickered to mine.

I wanted to look away instantly, but the sudden pain behind his eyes kept me rooted in place.

We stared at each other for a little under ten seconds, until we were interrupted.

"Alright, the arraignment hearing will commence. Everyone, please settle down and stay in your seats," the judge spoke up. The small chatter that filled the room died down and I turned to face the judge.

He arranged some papers in front of him and adjusted his glasses, before looking me in the eye. "Amelia Elizabeth Clark. You must be aware of the charges being held against you, but it is my duty to read them all to you before proceeding."

"Go ahead then," I said nonchalantly, and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"First, I would like to ask something," he started. "An attorney is very much needed when facing these types of charges, yet you refused to have one more than once. Why is that?"

"It is quite simple, Your Honor. I do not need anyone to defend my position, and I am very aware of my decision. Getting an attorney would just be a waste of money."

"Very well then." He nodded and scribbled down on a piece of paper. "You are being charged with the murder of Tyler Crawford, along with many other deaths—which I won't waste our time listing the names of. From the evidence, it is clear that you were part of the massacre that took place two and a half years ago, which resulted in more than fifty deaths. You were also involved in recent felonies, where one of them ended up with thirty-three deaths.

"With all these charges held against you, and the evidence provided to us, you could be easily fined with twenty-five years in prison and a year of community service. You would also be released under supervision."

Once this statement left his mouth, murmurs spread throughout the entire room. The judge took his mallet and hit the hard surface three times, bringing silence to the room.

"Now, it would've turned out that way if it weren't for some other evidence and the testimony of a couple of witnesses. It was thanks to the Operation Officer of the CIA, Lindsey Hawk, and the CIA's former TIO Technical Analyst, Wesley McClain, who provided us with trustworthy information and evidence. I was informed that thanks to you the CIA managed to catch the state's most wanted gang crew and their leader, Steven Clark, with enough evidence to keep them locked away for a lifetime. So taking that into consideration, your sentence will be lowered significantly to three years in prison and one year of community service."

My eyes flickered to Lindsey and Wes, who were sitting by the sidelines among other professionals and I flashed them a small, grateful smile. They gave me a reassuring smile back and continued to listen to the judge.

"So, Miss Clark, after hearing all the previous information and your prison sentence, how do you plead? Guilty, or not guilty?"

I could feel every single pair of eyes in the room boring into my head, burning holes through my skull and into my brain. I stared into the judge's eyes with determination; my answer was clear from the very beginning. "I plead guilty, your honor," I answered, making the room explode into a series of murmurs again. "I admit to having killed Tyler, as well as many other men and women. I admit to having been involved in the massacre, along with the other felonies. I will accept the charges held against me and spend the necessary time in prison."

The sound of a chair being pushed back abruptly caught the attention of the majority of people. I turned in time to see Chase storming out of the room. The officers who stood by the door didn't even try to stop him. Then I looked at Sophia, who looked at me with a sad smile and sympathy glazing her dark eyes.

The sound of the mallet brought our attention back to the judge, who was adjusting his glasses with a small sigh. "Very well then. Since the defendant has pleaded guilty, then there is no need for a further trial. The officers will escort you out, and you will be sent to prison right away. You will be allowed to speak to your family and friends under supervision for fifteen minutes, before leaving. The case is closed," the judge said with finality, and everyone started to get up from their seats.

Two officers grabbed me by my elbows and led me to the small group of people waiting anxiously for me. Once I reached them, I was enveloped in warm and tight hugs. I hugged them all back as best as I could with the handcuffs. Despite me having to spend three years in prison, I felt quite relieved that this was finally coming to an end.

There was pretty much no other way that this could've worked out. Steven was going to face a life sentence, thanks to all the evidence Wesley could provide from hacking the computers and looking through files while we were staying at the mansion.

I had to try and calm my mother down, who was pretty much in hysterics. She kept rambling on and on about how she wished things would've turned out differently and I didn't have to be locked away. I found it quite hilarious how it took her all these problems for her to finally change her demeanor towards me. I could still remember how she would sneer at me and yell at me for every little thing I did some months ago. How she always criticized the way I dressed and treated me worse than just gum stuck under her shoe. Yet, here she was now, crying over the fact that I would be taken away and she couldn't do anything to help me.

Sophia placed a hand on my shoulder in support. All I could offer her was a grateful smile as she wrapped an arm around my mother and rubbed her arm soothingly. The short amount of time I have spent with her was enough to show me what a great person she was. I still couldn't understand why she fell in love with a person as horrible as Steven, but I was pretty sure she had her reasons.

Chase was definitely a lucky person to have such a wonderful mother.

A heavy hand ruffling my hair made me glare playfully at the owner as I tried to move my head away from him. Wesley just grinned at me sheepishly, before pulling me in for another hug along with Lindsey. I could still see the small amount of disappointment and sadness lingering behind her eyes, but she covered it up with support and understanding.

I couldn't have been more grateful for them both. If it weren't for their help, I would still be on the run and all these would've just been an endless cycle.

I felt a small tap on my shoulder before Sophia came back into my field of view.

"I believe there's someone else you should probably speak to," she said with a small smile and nodded to her side. I looked to where she was motioning and saw Chase standing some feet away from the group. He looked defeated as he stared at me, a small frown etched on his face.

I turned to the officers who had stoic faces, and they told me I only had six minutes left. I didn't waste any more time and walked toward the one boy I never thought I would care deeply for.

As I stood in front of him silently, I offered him a playful smirk. "You look like crap."

"I feel like crap," he muttered, not finding any of this amusing.

Well, who could blame me for trying to lift the mood a little?

"Brownie—"

"Why would you hide your true intentions from me, Amelia?" he asked, his features showing his vulnerability. "Why did you have to go for the one option that gets you taken away with all of them? This was meant for taking them down, not you."

"If I didn't do it this way, then you would've faced the same consequences as me. I would never forgive myself if that had happened. You've suffered enough, Chase, and I wasn't going to drag you further into a life that you never deserved."

"And who says I'm not suffering a lot worse now?" he snapped as his eyes teared up, breaking my heart. "Do you not know how awful it feels to see you like this—about to be locked up for three damn years while I'm allowed to roam freely with only six months of community service? Just why did you have to trick me and tie me up as if I were some stupid victim who—"

"Because you were a victim," I argued.

"We both know damn right that I wasn't," he hissed, the first tear finally escaping his pain-filled eyes. He ran a desperate hand through his hair and took in a deep breath.

I just kept quiet, knowing very well that no words could calm him down at the moment. I couldn't help the way my eyes slowly glazed over. My emotions were too much to keep under a leash. I slowly brought my handcuffed hands up, brushing his tears with my thumb.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it softly, before wrapping his arms around me and hugged me as if his life depended on it. I squeezed the front of his button-up shirt as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and squeezed me even harder, making a tear leave my right eye.

"You have no idea how deeply I've fallen in love with you, despite all the problems and violence. Never in my life would I think that I would love someone so deeply as I do you, and now that I'm experiencing such a thing, I have to watch it being taken away from me," he muttered into my shoulder.

More tears escaped my eyes at his confession as I felt my heart breaking even more than before.

I immediately grabbed his face and crashed my lips against his, pouring out all of my emotions at once. He didn't wait to kiss me back, his hold on me tightening in the slightest, as if he was afraid to let me go. Before any of us could do anything else, strong arms gripped my elbows and pulled me back, breaking the short moment I had with Chase.

"Time's up," a gruff voice said and started pulling me away.

I looked at Chase with wide eyes, not wanting to be taken away just yet, and he just looked at me sadly.

No. I needed more time.

I needed to tell him that I felt the exact same way. I needed to let him know about every little emotion that I felt. I wanted to just scream it out loud while he was still within hearing distance. I wanted to just break free from the guard's hold and run to him. I wanted to hold him and never let him go.

Instead, I just watched him helplessly while I was being led away, feeling as every single piece of my heart fell with every step I took.

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[Edited: September 23rd, 2020 by michh_44]

I really don't have words for this book anymore. I am honestly satisfied with how it's ending...I'm a little emotional. I have reached the point where I actually feel what my characters are feeling, and I really hope that you as a reader have reached that point as well. Please leave your vote and your thoughts on a comment, I really like to read them. Best regards xx