Everyone can believe in the idea of being innocent until proven guilty but when someone holds the evidence to prove your guilt, how long can you continue to run from your inevitable fate?
After moving to America in an attempt to escape her troubled...
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Chapter 33:
Scarlet Sunrise
The door crashes into the wall, making a monstrous bang, leaving the sound of my uncontrollable sobs to echo in the silence left behind it. Stepping into the comfort of my own home, my body finally lets go. My keys fall from my quivering fingers, clattering as it hits the floor and my bag slips off of my shoulder, meeting the ground with a thud.
My mum jumps up from the couch, startled at my sudden entrance. As her face meets mine, it's struck with distress. Every motherly instinct floods her at once and she rushes to my side. No matter how old you are, whether it's the age at which you fall over in the playground and graze your knee or the age at which you come home from school in a puddle of tears, your mother will always fly to your aid.
It's as if the ground beneath me crumbles and my legs start to give way. As my skin hits the cold wood, the sound of each tear pattering against the surface rings in my ears. My chest feels tight and my feet are numb.
Am I dying? Is that what death feels like? Cold, lonely and the epitome of darkness.
"LOLA!" My mum shouts in an attempt to snap me out of my trance like state.
Looking up at her, her large brown eyes which are usually etched with gold flecks, coloured like honey, are replaced with a sickening anxious look. She crouches in front of me, resting her warm hand on the side of my arm.
"Mummy?" Lily questions, appearing at the top of the stairs.
"Lily, stay upstairs." My mum shouts back, trying not to sound panicked.
"Is Lola okay?" I hear her cry as she sees me trembling on the floor, my face is paraylised and I can't smile at her to ease her worry.
"She's going to be okay. Just stay in your room for me please." My mum successfully pleads as Lily walks back to her bedroom.
"They all know." I barely whisper as silent tears drain from my eyes.
"What?" My mum asks, bending down to my face in order to hear me better.
"They know." I repeat.
"They know what sweetheart?" She rubs my arm.
"Jack. They know." My eyes reach hers for the first time, the pain transmitting between us.
She sits back, staring at me blankly. It's a day she'd prayed would never come in the same way I did. As I watch her face turn white, my sobs return, more hysterical than before.
"They know I killed him!" I scream, wailing at the end of my sentence.
"Shh." My mum picks me up, resting my head on her lap as she cradles me with her arms, rocking me back and forth.
"I killed him." I repeat over and over, struggling to catch my breath.
"No honey. It wasn't your fault. Stop saying that." She says after each time.
