The Place We Call Home

Prologue

Charlotte hated how cold the court room was, it was impossible to get used to no matter how often she'd been there. She looked down beside her at her youngest son, "Miles, are you cold honey?" She whispered. But he remained silent as his eyes were fixed straight ahead of him. He only shook his head in answer to her question. He was just a boy but he looked so much older from worry, "It'll all be over today." She whispered while stroking his freckled cheek to reassure him. Of course to that there was no response either. A chill ran up her spine as the judge entered the courtroom causing everyone to stand. Charlotte pulled her blue sweater tighter as she told herself soon this would all just be a memory. She would never have to step foot into this place again and both her boys would be returning home with her today to piece their lives back together. As she took her seat once again she began thinking how most likely they would be even closer than before after surviving this nightmare. Each of them would come to have a greater appreciation for the other person. There was always a silver lining to these type of misfortunes! She was proud of herself for having such a positive attitude. Despite her positivity this whole ordeal had really drained so much out of her in every way. Charlotte had dropped at least thirteen pounds since the horrific process had started and couldn't sleep most nights because nightmares of losing her boys plagued her regularly. But it was all going to be ok now. It was all going to be over today. As she scanned her surroundings she couldn't help but feel unnerved by the quiet and stillness of everyone in the room. It was too quiet really and she wanted to speak, to something or hear someone else besides her own thoughts. It was beginning to drive her a little mad until finally she heard a voice outside her own head. It was the judge, he was ready to end this dreadful situation her family had been put in. Charlotte turned to see the twelve people responsible for bringing her life back to the way it should. She couldn't help but give a slight smile on her face as she watched them, knowing that very soon everything would be alright. Despite her pleasant smile none of them seemed to make eye contact with her and acted as if she wasn't even there. The jury members shared the same expressionless faces as the judge asked them if they'd reached a verdict. A man stood, his hair was too red and his glasses to large for his face, "We have your honor." He answered.
     Miles understood as much as a ten year old boy would about what had just happened to his brother. All along he'd been told that the ruling would be just, so why did he feel like everything was wrong? Why did he feel like what he had done was wrong? All Miles had to do was tell what his own eyes saw, that was it, but in doing so he served as an accomplice to the ones locking his brother away forever. Miles wanted to take it all back now and tell a different story then maybe everything could be undone. Maybe he hadn't known all the facts. After all they had never had the opportunity to talk about what had happened just two of them. Everything had taken place so quickly. Now it was all too late. It felt like there were stones in the pit of his stomach being continuously rolled and tossed around like the clothes he liked to watch at the laundry mat. The dizziness was really starting to get to him and Miles just knew he would be sick once again. It was right at that moment that he heard the screams coming from his mother. Her crying out like that had shocked him so much he felt as if he was going to pass out...again. She was sitting there crying hysterically for them to give her back her son. One by one people started to rush to her side forming a circle around her that excluded him. He sat there alone as everyone surrounded his mother and took no notice of him. As things began to get progressively worse for his mother, Miles longed to be somewhere, anywhere, other than where he was. Charlotte wouldn't stop crying and he grew scared watching her tremble so uncontrollably. Was she supposed to be this upset? More importantly he began to wonder if he was upset enough. Her reaction made him question his own. Why wasn't he feeling the same? Why did she want him back so badly? He understood she was sad but Kael was dangerous. Miles figured he'd protected himself and his mother by doing the right thing. But even as he began to think what an honorable thing he'd done his mother interrupted that thought with her loud demands that they bring back her baby, her son, her boy. Sure he was all those things, Miles thought, but he was also a killer. Didn't that account for anything? It was then Miles came to the heartbreaking conclusion that even with his brother gone, competing for his mothers attention would forever be a constant  battle pointless to fight in. He brought his attention back to his brother who very soon he'd never see again. Their eyes met and Miles felt his heart sink. He wanted to say out loud that he was sorry and that he loved him. But instead he cowardly hid behind the crowd. Then it was over. His brother was gone. Miles tried to understand his feelings; partly he had imagined everyone patting him on the back while telling him how brave he'd been for doing the right thing. But no one had made their way to him. Especially not his mother. No, she was still pleading for them to bring back her eldest because having just him was clearly not good enough.