She is not bad

Chapter 64 : Crack

Joyce and Hopper were having lunch together when they both had the same idea. They hadn't had news about Cassandra since Jane was in prison, which meant one month now. They were scared the woman would become depressed and let herself go. After their meal, the couple left the diner and went in direction of the woman's apartment. When they arrived at the door, Cassandra was leaving her home with a smile which surprised Hopper and Joyce who frowned.

- "Oh, hey," Cassandra smiled. "How are you?"

- "Um, we're good. And you?" Hopper asked.

- "Good too."

- "...Really? I'm impressed by your state of mind!" Joyce stated.

- "Yeah, me too. I was going to do some shopping. You wanna come with me?"

- "Um, yes, sure!"

- "Alright, let's go!"

Cassandra walked away with a wide smile. Hopper and Joyce frowned at each other before following the woman. It was weird, maybe she was denying the whole situation. And she was humming. Like if it was a good day. Was she happy that Jane was in prison? Was she considering Jane as a burden? Was she relieved now? Even if they knew Jane was complicated, they would have never thought one second that Cassandra could be happy to get rid of her.

They took Hopper's car. Cassandra already knew where she wanted to go, so she guided them in the town. They arrived at the mall. Cassandra flew in the stairs to reach one shop in particular. Hopper and Joyce were still lost. They followed the woman between the sections until Cassandra stopped walking. When they looked where she was looking, they recognized Alexandra Blake.

- "What is that?" Hopper calmly asked.

- "It's the sixth time I'm coming here to talk to her. I'm doing the sad mother. She is feeling guilty. She is gonna crack soon," Cassandra explained.

- "You're putting pressure on her?" Joyce frowned.

- "Nope. I'm just sharing my sadness with her."

- "You don't think it's too much? She could feel—"

- "What? Guilty? Sad? Hurt? Scared? Like a monster? Great. I want her to feel all of that because my da...my Jane is feeling like that right now. She is suffering in prison for a crime she didn't commit. She is feeling bad for nothing! So, yeah, maybe it's too much, but it's not even the half of what Jane has been living her whole life!"

Joyce didn't try to convince Cassandra to forget about that. Because she wanted her to success. She wanted justice to be done.

- "Don't go too far. I need witnesses."

Joyce and Hopper nodded. They acted like if they were doing their groceries shopping while Cassandra was approaching the teenage girl. Alexandra wide opened her eyes and tried to avoid eyes contact as much as possible when she saw Cassandra. The woman noticed her hands shaking, satisfying her more.

- "Hey, I see you again," Cassandra smiled.

- "Y-yeah," Alexandra stuttered. "Um...How are you?"

- "I should be the one asking you that. After what you lived because of my...Jane..."

- "It's past..."

- "Not for everyone."

The teenage girl loudly gulped and nodded before looking down. Cassandra grabbed a pack of biscuits with a smile full of nostalgia before saying:

- "It was Jane's favorite...I loved buying them just to see her smile..."

Alexandra began to hop on the spot and to look away, feeling the guilt invading her body.

- "I guess she is feeling better now. You know, the feeling when everything is discovered, when you tell the truth. She must have lost the weight she had inside her, knowing she did something bad that hurt so many people. Now she will be able to keep going, her heart light. I don't know how people can live like that, knowing they've been lying to everyone...She probably couldn't even watch herself in the mirror—"

- "Okay, stop!" Alexandra cut.

Cassandra felt her heart going faster, hoping she would finally spit the truth. Joyce and Hopper stopped searching the groceries and opened wide their ears to hear well what was going to happen. Alexandra began to cry and to made uncoherent movements with her arms.

- "You need to stop following me like that..."

- "I'm not following you...I just...I'm worried about you."

- "You don't need to worry about me!"

- "Yes, I have to. It's my niece who hurt you—"

- "NO! Jane didn't do anything to me! She never abused me or the others!" Alexandra yelled.

Cassandra leaned back with a smirk, stopping to do the tearful mother. Alexandra tried to walk away, but Hopper standing behind her prevented her from moving. She tried to go around, but this time it was Joyce who was there.

- "I think we need to talk," Hopper said.

Alexandra burst into tears, knowing it was the end. Hopper placed his hand on the young girl's shoulder and guided her out of the mall, followed by Joyce and Cassandra.

Hopper placed Alexandra in the interview room of the police station. The man stayed behind the glass until a lieutenant took her parents in the room. The two adults kept complaining, not understanding the situation. The policeman took a deep breathing before joining the family in the room. He sat at the table with a file in his hands.

- "Can we know what all of this mean!?" the father asked.

- "I have some questions for your daughter."

- "What kind of questions!?"

Hopper made a movement with his hand to invite the father and the mother to sit, which they did.

- "So, Alexandra, can you repeat what you said at the grocery store?"

- "I...Jane never hurt me..."

- "What!? Of course, she did!' the mother intervened.

- "No, she never...she never abused me..."

The father and the mother both wide opened their eyes and their mouths, not knowing what to say.

- "Why did you accuse Jane?" Hopper continued.

- "Because she left me!" Alexandra angrily said. "But...it wasn't my idea..."

- "Whose idea was it?"

- "I...I was so mad at her that I went to my friends...and they wanted to take revenge for me...but I got lost into his plan, and we all began to invent stories about her that never happened...It was supposed to stay in the school! But she told me to make a complaint if I were so sure of me, so I told him, and he told me I couldn't go back now, it was too late..."

- "If you were manipulated, you're not 100% responsible. But now we need to know everything to set the record straight."

Alexandra offloaded everything. She told him who was involved, who invented the plan, and why they did it. While Hopper was listening to her, the officers noted the names of the accomplices to take them to the police station too. In a few hours, ten teens were filling the interview rooms, including Alban, Abigail, and Derek.

While Hopper and the other officers were interrogating the teens, Cassandra was outside the station with Joyce. The aunt couldn't stop pacing, waiting for an answer. At the end of the day, Hopper got out of the station to tell them they all confessed and that he sent to the judge and the prosecutor the information. Now they just had to wait. Cassandra broke down and took the man in her arms. Hopper had a soft smile and tried to comfort her. She hoped they would release Jane quickly. She was missing her too much.