His Prisoner

For Them. [40]

Meredith

It's been two weeks since Christmas. January, the start of a new year and new beginnings. I never believed in New Years Resolutions. They were all about giving up chocolate or spending less money on wasteful things. No one really stuck to them or completed their New Years Resolution, it seemed like a waste of time to me. But now things are different for me. I've got out from underneath Jack's thumb and found friendships and love. I've experienced the worst heartbreak and suffered so much pain, from the murder of my parents and the murder of my little girl that I never had the chance to meet. 

A lot has happened to me that has changed the kind of person I am. I'm no longer a timid girl that mourns the loss of her parents and idolises the ground that Jack walks on. I'm not scared to shout and scream at him anymore or stand up for myself when he tries to bully me around. I hate the ground he walks on, I despise his entire existence because, without him, my parents would be alive and I would never have gone through the tragedy of losing a child. 

It still hurts to think about her but I'd never want to forget her. I felt her inside my belly, her movements and gentle kicks. I talked to her when no one was around and saw her beautiful face on a fuzzy black and white screen. She was my baby, whether born into this world or not and I'll never forget her as my first child. 

All the loses in my life have caused so much pain but also built strength to stand up to those that caused it. For example, as I have begun to rekindle my friendship with Eliot, we have been digging deeper into the death of my parents. Eliot and I are still on rocky ground and it's going to take a long time to get back to how we used to be but he wants to help me put Jack away for good and as I stand in front of my house alongside him, we watch as Jack is put in handcuffs by the officers that investigated all those years ago. 

"I can't believe it, Meredith, you actually did it." Officer Jessica Campbell says, shaking her head in disbelief, a smile on her lips. 

I called Jessica last week, she was surprised to hear from me but even more surprised when I told her what I was planning to do. I wanted him locked up and the only way I could have that was if he confessed. The police never found enough evidence to arrest him. It was their suspicions against his word. As far as anyone knew, Jack had an alibi. He was at my house looking after me when my parents crashed their car. The only evidence to suspect foul play was the cut brake lines but proving Jack had done it was hard.  

Jessica set me up with some cameras and wires to record the confession and all I had to do was trick Jack into admitting he killed them. I invited him over to mine, I said I wanted to discuss the baby and Sarah. He agreed quickly, probably hoping I'd give him a second chance but instead, I begged him to put me out of my misery and confess to their murder, I wanted peace. When that didn't fool him, I threw a pair of pliers in front of him that I had found in my dad's old toolbox and said I knew how he did it, all I wanted to know was why. He slipped up, saying those weren't the pliers he used but realised his mistake too late. 

The feeling I got as the police arrived outside my house just as Jack was leaving, I can only describe it as a relief. My parents now have justice and I can stop second guessing myself and wishing I had done something to help them. There's nothing I could have done, I know that now and I just have to make peace with it. My parents will want me to be happy and they deserve that much. 

"You tricked me you bitch!" Jack shouts at me as he's being dragged over to a police car. 

"Get him out of my sight." Jessica tells the other officers, disgust clear in her eyes. 

"Karma's a bitch, right Jack?" I wave at him, grinning as he's shoved into a car and drove away. 

That's the last time I'll see him. I don't even have to testify, it's a clean and cut case. His confession is on tape, that's all they need to lock him up and throw away the key.