Playing With Fire

Prologue

                Jacob Reims sat comfortably in the prison psychiatrist’s cramped office. His dark hair stuck to his forehead as he leaned back, trying to get Dr. Reed to understand his point of view. He wanted her to understand that what he had done had been for the best- it was what God would have wanted. After all, no one innocent had gotten hurt, sure they might have been scared but it was just that their mental capacity wasn’t high enough to understand that this was a matter of something bigger than them. Jacob had only done it to fulfill God’s will.

                Dr. Reed was a blunt woman, she hadn’t been intimidated like other guards by Jacob’s cold demeanor, however as soon as she asked him about Wren Wells she could see Jacob’s mask crack. She repeated her question, perhaps enjoying Jacob’s reaction, “So how does Wren Wells come into all of this, Jacob?”

                Jacob felt his forehead warm at the mention of Wren Wells. He tried to play it off, “I don’t know who you’re referring to.”

                “Your friend. He’s in the next room.” Dr. Reed smiled.

                Wren Wells did in fact sit in the next room, and unlike Jacob he had cracked long ago. In fact, he had never hidden behind a mask.  He was still getting interrogated by the police, and it had made his mouth dry and his palms sweaty. His entire body seemed to be crawling with ants.

                The police were trying to get him to tell everything, and while Wren wanted to something was holding him back. Sure, he had cracked and if the police really wanted they could have taken all the information they needed from him long ago in the beginning. However, they seemed reluctant to push the seventeen year old. His baby face and childlike eyes made the officers more compassionate- they had seen many kids like Wren before, good at the core, just holding out a tough exterior.

                Wren was torn between doing what was right and sticking by his friend. But what Jacob had done was wrong and now Wren was getting blamed. He had to confess, he had to tell all. It could be his only way out of a lifetime sentence.

                The police officer, seeming to sense that Wren was about to spill, urged him, “Kid, if you confess your sentence will be much shorter. Hell, you might even get away with a few years and community service. It’s for your own good.”

                Wren nodded, understanding. His decision was clear.