The Color of Truth

one: aris

{Authors Note: The name beside the chapter number is who is narrating the chapter. Aris is pronounced (Air-ess) for anyone who is wondering. I hope you all enjoy the story, don't forget to vote and comment!}

"What can you tell us about June 17th 2017?" He asks me. The lights in the room were unforgiving, and beginning to make my head ache. I'd been sitting in this uncomfortable chair for hours without anyone saying a word to me. This man in front of me looked judgmental and mean and I didn't want to talk to him. But I supposed if I wanted to get out of this grim-ass room within the next decade I was going to have to speak.

"It was raining and I was driving home from work. I was going down Lark Lane, you know how it's got the large trees lining both sides of the road? It was getting dark but the trees were blocking out most of the remaining sun." I say, he looks at me as if he wants me to just cut to the chase. But I wanted every single detail on the record. I wanted the truth. And to find the truth you need details.

I continue, "I was driving a bit slower than usual because of the rain, Greysen came out of the right side of the woods, and he was screaming, waving his arms in the air, he was trying to get me to stop. He looked so scared." I say. Recalling that horrible day I shutter. Greysen and I had been best friends since we were in kindergarten. Seeing him that way, so frantic and soaked with rain, and the terrified look on his face, it was burned into my memory forever.

Detective Mason scans my face, maybe to try and read if I'm lying or maybe to get me to continue to speak. On either account I continued my story. "I pulled over on the side of the road, Greysen is my best friend, I wasnt going to just leave him out there. He jumped into the passenger side of my car as quick as he could and told me to drive, to get us out of there and to safety as fast as I could. I didn't get it but I just drove. Grey has never steered me wrong so I wasn't going to start questioning him then." I look at the detective and he looks at me, his gaze so unforgiving. I shiver under the intensity. "As we started driving I started prying for information, he looked so scared and I just needed to know what we were running from. Greysen told me he went outside to the shed near his house to get his father some tools, his dad was building his mom a new bookcase. Grey lives on the edge of the woods, about two miles away from where I found him, and his shed went further into the trees than his house." I begin to ramble and notice how pointless some of the information I'm giving him is, I know he's already been to Greysen's house to investigate.

"Grey said he was outside rummaging through the storage shed and heard gun shots just out in the woods, he said probably less than half a mile away from where he stood. So my best friend being the curious person he is, went to go check it out. Thats when Greysen and I pulled up to my house, he lives a few blocks down from me. I looked over at him as soon as I through my car in park and realized his leg was bleeding profusely and his face was losing color. I grabbed my phone and called my mom, she called 911 and I continued to sit and talk to him. I knew I wouldn't have been able to get him out of the car with even my moms help so I just sat with him and waited for the ambulance to arrive." I tell Mason, I feel the lump in my throat growing by the second.

"Grey was sitting in my car bleeding out and all I could do was wait for help. The ambulance would arrive before I'd make it to the hospital and I knew that was the only chance in him surviving. I made him keep telling me the story so he wouldn't pass out, I was scared if he did he wouldn't wake up. He said that he walked further out into the woods, just trying to figure out where the shots were coming from and that's when he heard the shots behind him, at his house. Greysen ran back to the house and bolted inside, he said he could feel his heart beat all over his body. He heard his mom scream and then another shot. He went to find her but the shooter found him first. Grey didn't know if his dad was okay or not but he ran he knew he needed to get away. He ran out towards the woods again, trying to dodge the bullets hitting the trees around him until one hit his leg. He made it to the road and found me and the shooter didn't follow after he hit Grey, he must've thought he hit something more vital." I tell the detective not meeting his eye.

Talking about Greysen's parents being murdered is not what I want, they had been in my life since kindergarten. If Grey wasn't at my house I was at his and it pains me to think that his parents are gone forever and they're trying to pin Grey for the murder. He loved them, he'd never hurt them.

"My dad is the Sheriff so when he and my mom came outside and he heard about what Greysen had been through he went to Grey's house straight away. He found Greysen's parents, his parents and mine were good friends.Then the ambulance arrived and my mother and I rode with Grey to the hospital, they didn't know if he was going to make it or not. But he did. And now here we are." I tell the detective as I sit back in my seat, concluding my recollection of that horrible day.

"Do you believe that Greysen is guilty of murdering his parents?" Detective Mason asks me blatantly, and the look on his face screams that none of this small town murder drama means anything to him.

"He's innocent. Can I go now?" I say through gritted teeth. I want to be far away from the man whose trying to lock away my best friend.

He nods and I stand and walk out of the room, my father is standing by the bench we're Greysen and my mother sit, my parents we're granted custody of Greysen. He doesn't have any grandparents, or aunts and uncles, so my parents stepped up to keep him out of the foster care system.

"What did he say?" My dad asks, everyone looks so worried.

"He just wanted to know what we all know, who killed Grey's mom and dad. And he wanted to know if I thought Grey did it. And we all know he didn't." I say laying my hand on my best friends shoulder, he looks up at me with a soft smile, I return it easily.

"Let's go home." My mom says and we all agree. Beyond tired of being in this police station.