Revived Souls

P A R T T h i r t y O n e

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|T H I R T Y o n e|our Trials
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Genie's mother was a real piece of work.

The woman gave off a 'don't mess with me' vibe and practically emanated power wherever she went. She had a spell of charisma enveloping her which made everything about her rather interesting.

She looked every bit simplistic. Her face was sans any make up and her eyes sported wide circles underneath but yet one piercing look from her could send you far away. Her clothes were dull almost faded resembling something you would find in a thrift store. Yet the way she talked made you want to listen to her more. She rarely smiled and always had a dark expression engraved on her face.

Just a glance at her would bring a deep sense of melancholy within your heart. She had worn a tough mask—the one people wore when they lost a loved one—but anybody could see that beyond it was a wailing woman who wanted her child.

That was exactly how she showed herself to the world. She was hungry for pity to be thrown at her. She had everything planned out to make herself look innocent and us as the culprits.

She excelled in manipulation as if it was a craft that she mastered pretty well. Her apathetic and aloof bearing that she had adopted decorated the look of desolation.

I never met the woman but I watched her on the TV screen along with a million other viewers as she sat for an interview with Heidi Brooks, who was a talk show host and the editor of a popular feminist weekly.

Margo Braun could make a brilliant actress with the way she entranced the audience and numerous applauds she received as she won their hearts. She did not let a single drop fall down her cheeks and kept her expression composed making it seem as if she was fighting a hard battle. If I wasn't aware of her motives, my heart would have broken too with the amount of sentimentality she bought out.

My anger rose up like a volcano about to erupt as I silently watched the show. I told myself to calm down even though my hopes were flailing away into the bottom. Genie's kidnapping had gained a nation wide attention thanks to the interview. The internet world was chanting her name with a hashtag : #findgenie. Genie's innocent face sprung up in newspapers and news channels. She was talked about even in coffee shops.

The best part unfortunately was Flynn and my name spelt with spite and Margo obviously made the world look down at us as criminals or some low life inhuman freak who kidnapped a young girl.

I was popular for all the wrong reasons. I made headlines in the press as the abused girl turned kidnapper with countless false accusations thrown at me. It got to the point where leaving my house became a tedious job with strangers glaring in my direction wondering why the hell wasn't I in jail for an offense that I did not even commit.

Margo fabricated stories in the media about how we held her daughter captive after she had lost her in the fire in LA. There was no room for this case to be that of a girl gone missing even if it was a possibility. But it was ruled out to be a kidnapping one due to her faux phone call evidence that she held against us. I did not even have a clue over how she managed to make a call from my cell phone number. Everything was a baffling mess.

"Debbie." Flynn's soothing voice bought me back to reality and I turned my head to take a good look at him.

We were sat in my brother's car with my dad in the passenger seat and my brother under the wheels driving us to the court. It was our first court hearing and I was a nerve wreck as I repeatedly chewed on my lips anticipating how this time I was on the other side—the wrong side—of the law. I had the entire world rooting against me. Well, not just me but Flynn as well.