"Wh-what… I-I can't believe it. Y-You couldn't have?"
"Couldn't have what?"
Lesson 1: The world revolves around the Sun.
Everyone should already know that. You kinda learn that kind of thing back in grade 1 where they teach everyone about the solar system with those giant books with overly large words with demented picture to accompany it. They treat first graders as if they were all blind or in serious need of glasses.
Lesson 2: The world does not revolve around you.
If you know the Earth revolves around the Sun, then it gets pretty obvious that you are not what the world revolves around, though most people fail to realize that. Others actually like the fact that the attention isn't on them as they like to stay away from the eyes of others. The ones that are the center of attention are usually the idiots that think the world revolves around them.
Lesson 3: Some people wish for the world to revolve around them.
One of those said people would be me. I wish the world revolved around me. Why? Well, it's because I need some attention. I've been ignored all of my life and had only been the little stone no one ever looks at. I'm constantly kicked around and stepped on and serve no important purpose in life other than to blend in with the other stones.
Lesson 4: There is such thing as bad attention.
Yup, that's pretty accurate. An alternate lesson could also be 'be careful what you wish for'. Sometimes, there is something known as TOO much excitement.
I was sitting rather comfortably in a car, enjoying a ride that was escorted by the police.
That is what an optimist would say.
But I look at the glass half empty.
In fact, I was in a police car headed over to the Detention Center after I was arrested on account of murdering the ten year old kid who kept throwing grass at me.
The thing is… I'm completely innocent.
Plus, I'm hand-cuffed sitting in the back seat rather enjoying the view outside (as I haven't been into the city very often) but suffering from the smell of the seat and the smoke emitting from the crap cigarette the driver was using. The seat smelled of drool, drugs, blood, smoke, and any other nasty things one would find in this unholy seat.
"Hey kid!" one of the police officers at the front, the one driving to be precise, grunted at me.
"My name's Apollo." I snarled back. He pisses me off.
"Whatever kid." I could tell that he rolled his eyes with that statement, which pushed my buttons even more.
"Shut up!" I growled at him. "I hate this damn car! I don't deserve to be in here! Let me go dammit!"
The police officers just laughed.
"Kid, you know that there are a ton of witnesses that saw you in the act. You killed a boy only 5 years younger than you in cold blood. You deserve to go to jail."
"You don't have a shred of proof other than a bunch of liars!" I retaliated.
"That's what you think!" the police officer beside the driver stated.
The car stopped at a red light, in which the driver and the other police officer started whispering something to each other. The driver's partner then pulled out a pair of gloves and took something out of the bag by his feet.
Next thing I knew, he was pointing a knife at me.
"You're going to kill me now?" I asked with a surprising lack of fear in my voice. I felt calm, as if some other being took over me. Normal people should be scared.
I guess I'm not normal.
Either that or it's the adrenaline again.
"If you're going to kill me, I welcome it." I continued. "No one is going to miss me anyway because no one cares."
The police officers up front laughed.
"You think that we're going to kill you?!" one of the officers laughed hysterically. "Take a look at the knife kid! Maybe you'll recognize it."
And because I couldn't do anything else, I did look at the knife.
And that's how I came to recognizing it.
The knife he was holding was the exact same one I was holding a couple of hours ago. It was the steak knife I was using for dinner. The blade and hilt was covered in blood and on the hilt, most likely, were my fingerprints.
I remained quiet.
I knew that this was the decisive piece of evidence the prosecution was bound to use against me.
But I swear!
I didn't do it!
The police officers at the front just laughed at my silence. They were probably able to guess what I was thinking at the time.
"See kid, this is how we know you're completely guilty, so just give it up. Stop trying to prove your innocence and make the world's life much easier."
I glared at him, but I didn't dare say anything. The driver and his partner just ignored me and as soon as the stoplight turned green, we continued our rather silent drive to the Detention Center where they were to contain me until my trial which was bound to put me in jail for murder.
I felt like the world was against me and I was the last man standing.
Only I knew the truth about everything...
Okay, only part of it, but what I do know was that I wasn't the one who murdered that ten year old boy.
Eventually, the car made it to a stop and I was escorted to the gray building in front of the parking lot where the police car I was just in was sitting.
We finally arrived at the Detention Center.
Chapter 2: Interrogation
I was put into a rather lonely room. The interrogation room, as most would call it. If I were to make a name for it, I would call it the Isolation room. Besides the detectives that came into the room, the only thing that gave me company was the mirror showing a reflection of myself. Of course, like in all crime dramas, that was a one-sided mirror which provided a boundary to the other room where people watched my endless torture.
I sat down on a cold metal chair in front of a grey metal table. Everything around me felt cold and grey. There was nothing there to cheer me up, but rather to torture me into revealing 'the truth'.
I glanced over at the mirror on one wall beside me, I stared at my reflection. I looked beat up and my hair was drooping, which was the perfect way to also describe how I was feeling. Despair was written all over my face as a seeping darkness managed to cover my entire image.
I instantly remembered that there was probably someone behind that very mirror right now, so I waved meekly at them.
As soon as I did that, the door burst open and the first detective came in.
And so the endless hours of torture, repetition, and boredom began. By the end of this process, I've probably talked to three different detectives, but told them each the exact same story each time. They asked me a bunch of questions and I answered. The people behind the mirror and the people watching me through the security camera above were probably as bored out of their mind as I was.
One strange thing I will remember about this event would be that one detective that did the 'Good Cop/Bad Cop' routine. I honestly believe that it would have had more effect if there were two detectives. The detective doing this seemed to be going through random mood swings because as soon as he first stepped in, he was nice. When he stepped out, then came back in three seconds later (I counted), he was supposedly 'bad'. Yet, even with all of this work, I still ended up telling him the same story trying to claim my innocence, but no one believed me.
Finally, I was called out of the room and put into another room, but this one was different. This one had a window and a see-through mirror with a microphone attached to it. I sat down on one side of the mirror, knowing that this would be my last talk with someone for today before my trial tomorrow.
I waited for a couple of minutes, but no one was there. I glanced down at my wrist in a sarcastic manner, only because I already knew I didn't have a watch. After rolling my eyes, I looked to the window behind me and noticed that it was already dark… around 8, I presumed.
After a couple of minutes tapping onto the microphone and feeling sorry for the guard guarding the door to the way out of this room, someone finally took their seat on the other side of the window.
Once they did, I was actually pretty surprised.
This man looked nothing like the detectives that interrogated me. He had kind eyes and a calming aura that made me feel that I would be able to trust him almost immediately. There was finally something near me that was able to give me a bit of hope. He smiled at me through the mirror and I managed to smile back. He then took out a couple of papers from his suitcase and placed them onto the table in front of them. He began to read them a bit, nodded, then tapped o the microphone to see if it was working.
It was.
The tapping was pretty clear in the silent room.
"Mr. Justice." the man said through the microphone. I nodded in reply. "So… how are you feeling?" he asked me in greeting.
Is that really a necessary question?
There were so many ways you could describe how I was right now. Crappy, sad, disappointed, heavy, garbage, down, frustrated, concerned, like a failure, cornered, hopeless, desperate…
But I said nothing like that.
"I'm fine sir." I replied, pulling off a small smile as I did so.
"Good." the man answered. "But don't call me sir. Call me Phoenix. Or Mr. Wright. Or Nick even, like my friends call me. Just don't call me sir."
"Yes sir… I mean Mr. Wright." I stumbled a bit and I felt my face go red, but Phoenix chuckled on the other side of the mirror.
At least someone was enjoying themselves.
"So Mr. Justice… or can I call you Apollo?"
"Call me whatever you prefer."
"Okay Apollo… so can you please tell me what happened recently?"
I sighed. I was about to start and repeat what I've told to the detectives when suddenly another person stepped into the room and took their place beside Phoenix.
It was a young teenager… I think she was only four years older than I was. Her eyes went wild and she gave me a giant smile when she saw me at the window.
"Nick!" she exclaimed excitedly. "This is the guy I was talking about! You have to defend him!"
Phoenix sighed, but then smiled at the girl. The girl smiled back and then she looked at me with her big grin.
"Hey mister!" the girl exclaimed. "Don't worry about a thing because we're going to get you a 'Not Guilty' tomorrow, alright? Just leave it to us, right Nick?"
I smiled a bit and then noticed that Phoenix had no control over what the heck was going on. He smiled and nodded. "That's right. You have nothing to worry about Apollo."
The girl gasped.
"Your name's Apollo? That's a nice name. I'm Maya Fey and I'm a spirit medium." She then slung her arm over Phoenix. "This is Phoenix, but I call him Nick. He's a defense attorney and the both of us are going to help you, right Nick?"
Phoenix just nodded and I chuckled a bit.
I finally felt a nice calming feeling washing over me. These two people were helping the darkness shrouding me lift away and setting me free.
I finally wasn't the last man standing.
I then told them the story of what happened and the both of them listened intently. By the time I finished, both were rather pensive which caused me to rub my wrist where my bracelet used to be (I just realized that I was missing it). It took a while, but I finally got the courage to break the silence.
"If you think I'm guilty now, you can go. It's not your fault." I said.
That caused Phoenix to snap his head over to me. His stare was intense.
"I would never give up on my clients." he sharply replied. "That includes you."
"Yeah Apollo! That's right! This is our reunion case too, so there's no way we're going to let a rather vague story get to us!" I looked down in utter sadness and humiliation when she said that. As soon as she realized what she said, she gasped. "Not that after that story, I think you're guilty. Nope! Don't worry! We'll find a way!"
"Why did you decide to take my case anyway?" I suddenly asked. "Is it just because you guys met each other up once more after a long time and decided to take this case thinking that it would be fun, or did you take the case knowing that I'm innocent and are dedicated to see the truth in the end?"
If they took my case for their own enjoyment, it could mean risking my life. If these two didn't take this seriously, then I would 100% end up in jail.
Phoenix's eyes bore into my soul even more. Those were some piercing gray eyes. His face became completely serious. "Apollo…" he said slowly. "Be careful of what you say. Like I've mentioned before, we will see this case to the end. Though we did take this case to celebrate our reunion, we also took this case knowing that you aren't the murderer. Don't doubt us like that."
Maya and I fell silent.
I guess Phoenix doesn't become so serious like that too often.
There was a silence that filled the room that went on for well over ten minutes. I couldn't take my eyes off Phoenix's glare as he couldn't take his eyes off me. Suddenly, I felt kind of different again, but ignored it.
Eventually, Phoenix broke the silence and told me to repeat my story to him. By the end of it, he went into his thinking mode once more and I finally took my eyes off of him and glanced over at Maya.
Or at least I was supposed to, but she randomly disappeared. I guess all of this must have become too boring for her.
After a couple of minutes of thinking, Phoenix yelled out "Take that!" which scared the heck out of me. He then presented me with something from his bag… a piece of paper with someone's testimony on it. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was Mr. Dundyl's testimony.
"You're lying to me Apollo." Phoenix explained. "Before I came here, my assistant and I did a bit of investigating first and we talked to the one in charge of supervising the people at your orphanage. We know that you don't usually eat at cafeteria but rather on your own outside under that oak tree."
He then pulled yet another thing out of his bag and I gasped in surprise.
"H-How did you get that?" I gasped. "Th-That's mine…I just l-lost that today…"
"Just asked I suspected." he replied. "You see… I found this under the oak tree today during my investigation. After what you've just said, it means that you can't deny the fact that you were under that oak tree. This also means that you were at the crime scene at the time of the murder!"
"You can't prove that I left it there at the time of the murder!" I retaliated.
"It must've fallen off when you were shocked by the murder!" Phoenix argued.
"But that's not possible!" I replied harshly. "That bracelet was made to shrink down to the size of its owner's wrist. There's no way it could've just fallen off like that unless you put it with something cold. I don't remember anything cold at the time!"
"Objection!" Phoenix exclaimed. He then showed me an empty glass with a piece of grass in it. "This was the cup you were using for your dinner at the time and we found traces of cold water in it. Admit it! The only time the bracelet could've fallen off was during or after your dinner. You had cold water for your drink at dinner and that water must've spilled onto your wrist, causing the bracelet to expand and fall off… most likely when you fell unconscious!"
He has a point.
Wow was this guy as sharp as his hair.
I gasped sharply and bit my lip in surprise. Thank goodness that I didn't bite too hard because I hate blood. My hair drooped even more and fell on the front of my face. I then tried to recover, but ended up blushing in embarrassment. Phoenix smiled at me, success welling up in him.
"Give up Apollo. Tell us the truth this time. What really happened?"
"What do you mean 'tell us the truth this time'?" I asked. "I've been telling the truth this entire time. I just managed to slip up there."
Phoenix then started to look at me intently, as if he could see something I couldn't. The thing was, I really was hiding something. I was hiding the fact that the steak knife was mine and that I was using it for dinner. I mean, if I told them that, then what would they think of me? I figured that they wouldn't trust me anymore if they found out that the steak knife belonged to me…
I still wasn't sure if they trusted me completely.
Suddenly, Phoenix pulled something out of his pocket after frowning at me. It was as if he was disappointed at me. The thing from his pocket flashed a brilliant green, but I wasn't sure if it was real or if it was just me because just as soon as the green light came, it disappeared. Phoenix had immediately put it back in his pocket.
At that moment, the atmosphere around me had changed. I felt as if we were in darkness and it was a one-on-one, me versus Phoenix. I also had this strange sensation as if someone were peering into the very beings of my heart. I can feel a sort of pressure emitting from the lawyer's aura, piercing into the secret I've been hiding from him.
"Apollo, I know you're still hiding something." He said slowly, making sure to enunciate everything.
"What's with this strange atmosphere?" I asked him almost immediately. I was scared.
Phoenix just smiled in return.
"Apollo, you claim that you aren't hiding something, but I know you are. I can see the psyche-locks upon your heart."
"Psyche-what?" I asked. What was he talking about?
"Apollo, tell me what you're hiding!"
"I-I'm not h-hiding anything!" I stuttered. I immediately felt nervous, as if I wanted to spill the beans. I wouldn't let myself reveal the fact though.
Phoenix sighed in disappointment. "Fine. I see you still don't trust me. Let's start from the top then. Apollo… what did you have for dinner?"
That's when I realized that he was onto me.
"Why do you need to know?" I countered. "It's not like it matters!"
Phoenix didn't even flinch. "I'm sorry to say this Apollo, but in fact, what you had for dinner is really important to this case. This shows what you had for dinner!" He then took out the plate I used for dinner, expertly preserved. The steak bone was still on it and the name I wrote down in the sauce was still on it.
Wow did I make his job so easy.
"If you look at the T-bone steak bone and steak sauce on your plate, it's obvious that you had steak for dinner!" he exclaimed.
I was abnormally shocked. I could feel one weight being lifted from my heart, but there was still some more. Now part of myself started to trust the man in front of me even more and that part urged him to lift the weight off of me. The rest was still restricting the action of revealing everything.
Phoenix sighed. I heard him mutter something like "There's still more Psyche-locks…" or something like that. "Apollo, I now know that you've had steak for dinner and fortunately, this leads us to our next lead to the truth. Because you've eaten steak, it's obvious that you need something to eat the steak with… this!" He pulled out the bloody steak knife.
I was seriously surprised.
How did he know so fast?
But I wasn't about to give up.
"What about that steak knife?" I asked. "That could belong to anyone…"
"Yeah... you're right." Phoenix replied without any hesitation. "But this knife, the murder weapon, has YOUR fingerprints on it."
Oh snap.
"NO WAY!" I exclaimed, biting my lip with my eyes wide in surprise.
I felt all the weight disappear and suddenly, I felt tired. The strange atmosphere finally lifted and the world felt as if it began spinning once more after stopping for those few minutes.
"Apollo, this is your steak knife, isn't it?" Phoenix asked slowly.
"…Yeah. You figured it out." I admitted. "But just because it's my knife doesn't mean I used it to kill the ten year old! You've gotta believe me!"
There was a silence that hung in the air after that. Phoenix looked at me after looking down for a while. Then, through the microphone, he whispered, "I believe you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. I can now see why you hid this important fact from me. You thought that as soon as I found out, I would think you were the killer…"
He looked up at me to see my shocked face. The guy managed to figure out my thought process just like that. He's amazing!
"That's pretty accurate." I replied, smiling a bit in awe.
"Well, don't worry about it. Though as soon as that fact is revealed, most will be lead to believe that you are the killer, but I agree with you. Just because you own the knife doesn't mean that you are the killer. Someone could've used this fact to frame you. That someone is the real killer. Now we have to see who that decisive someone is… and you need to help me do that. Now tell me everything you know and I'll see how much I can do to help you."
I took in those words as if they were the key to saving my life. "Yes sir!" I exclaimed happily. I even gave him a mock salute and he laughed. I laughed along with him.
That's when Maya stepped back in.
"Why are you guys laughing?" she asked with a dumbfounded look on his face. "What did I miss?"
She took her spot beside Phoenix and her and Phoenix listened to me reveal everything I knew about the orphanage, the hiding spot behind the oak tree and the smooth tree root, and what Mr. Dundyl told me before I went to my spot under the oak tree.
As soon as I told him this, I realized something very important.
I knew who the killer was.
Needless to say, the next day, Phoenix managed to pull off a dramatic win in the trial tomorrow. Mr. Dundyl was found guilty of the murder and of framing me. Phoenix and I found that Mr. Dundyl's motive to kill that ten year old boy was to get more people to come to his orphanage because apparently, people would want children who were in danger. Those people felt that they were saving the children from some evil fate… like murder. Also, Mr. Dundyl probably wanted to get rid of the guy ruining his lawn (throwing grass all those years). He hid behind the oak tree watching me eat dinner. He had drugged my water, so as soon as I sipped, I fell unconscious. He then took my knife and, with gloves on, stabbed the ten year old who stepped outside at the last minute to mock me once more.
All three of us celebrated Phoenix's win. He was quite an amazing person to be able to find the truth amidst the tangled leads of that case.
At the end of that, I was let go and was forced to go and return to the orphanage.
The truth is, I had wanted to ask if Phoenix could adopt me. If he were my father, my life would be complete.
Of course, I'm still really quiet and I never asked him… though I have the feeling that he knew that I had something to ask him. He was looking at me as if he were staring at my soul… the same way he did just when he started talking about those 'psyche-locks'. Maybe he could see if I was still hiding something… but who can do that?
I said my final good-byes to the both of them at the train station and rode off back to the orphanage. I never got the chance to tell him what I wanted to.
But I promised to myself that one day, I would make up for what he had done for me. After I left, that Maya person left to go to this place called Kurain. I saw her board on the Kurain-bound train as soon as my train left. Phoenix was left alone and after staring at the empty tracks, he too left.
I made it back to the orphanage, but on the train, I have decided the most brilliant thing ever.
And that was…
A/N: After reading this chapter, it's pretty obvious that I'm a lazy writer. This chapter was actually four planned chapters squashed into one. I was too lazy to make four chapters out of this. I'm regret saying this, but I'm suffering from a severe case of writer's block. I haven't been able to think of anything to continue my other fanfic, so I'm taking a break. There also hasn't been much inspiration around where I'm living.
Inspiration: Snow melted more than a month ago (global warming!), the trees are still bloom (meaning that they still look like dead trees with green sprouting all over the place, looking like mould), the flowers still look demented, and it's been raining for a week!
If you're disappointed, I'm sorry. (Yeah, I'm sorry I live in Canada! XD)
Anyways… thanks for reading and I hope you continue to read the upcoming action next.
