Academy of Blood and Magic

22🖤

Before I knew what was happening, handcuffs were locked around Brandon's wrists and he was being led out of my house into the cop car, never saying anything or struggling, just going along with what the police officers were ordering him to do. The whole time, his face was surprisingly blank, probably due to shock, silent the entire time.

I, however, was going ballistic. I tried to run after them, needing to get Brandon away from them, to not let them take him away. Someone grabbed me and held me back, telling me to stop and that there was nothing I could, but I struggled against them anyway.

Someone was screaming and it took me a second to realize it was me. I was screaming at them to let him go, that he was innocent, that there was no reason for them to take him away.

But they did. They loaded him inside of the cop car and drove off.

I tried to run to Mom's car and drive after them, but Agent LeBlanc had to pin me to the ground until I calmed down and he felt like I wouldn't try to take off.

Mom, Dad, and Uncle Daniel tried to calm me down, but there was no calming down. They really thought Brandon had something to do with the murders. They were actually going to charge him.

The first thing I did was try to call the Smiths' house, but no one was answering.

I wanted to go down to the station and see what was going on, but Agent LeBlanc was preventing me, refusing to let me leave the house.

"Can you try to get information?" I asked him. "Please. Can you call and find out -"

"I can't," LeBlanc said sternly. "I'm not working on that specific case and since you're not an immediate family member, I cannot give you those details. I'm sorry, but for right now, you're just going to have to stay here."

I fought as much as I could, but no one budged. I was stuck here.

Mom tried to get me to eat something, but I felt like I was going to get sick. I was unable to relax or stop crying. The image of Brandon behind bars kept flying around in my mind.

I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I wasn't allowed to leave the house at all. Agent LeBlanc, Daniel, and my parents didn't trust that I wouldn't try to get to Brandon or the police station, and they were right. I was willing to break into the station and get Brandon out of there, consequences be damned.

I didn't remember much of the evening after that. Everything passed by in a blur. I was numb all over, probably due to the shock that was setting in. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of my bed, getting ready to crawl in.

I just stared down at it, as though I'd never seen a bed before in my life and had no idea what to do with it.

There was no way I was going to be able to go to sleep. No way at all, not with what just happened. I would be lying there, tossing and turning all night, my mind consumed about what was going to happen with Brandon.

So instead of sleeping, I spent the whole night on homework. Believe it or not, despite a serial killer going around that caused schools to shut down, teachers were still assigning class work and I'd fallen behind with everything going on.

I did all the homework, consuming all my thoughts and concentration on it, doing everything in my power to put what happened out of my mind for the time being. I put all of my energy into my assignments, tuning everything else out.

The next time I glanced outside my window, the sun was rising. I'd sat at my desk all night and finished everything.

Exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed me and my bed suddenly looked appealing.