The trip from the hotel to the small local jailhouse in Amelia's hometown was surprisingly long. This was not only because the rural areas of North Dakota could be described as never-ending fields of crops and farmland; it was really the weight of what they were en route to do that made the seconds creep by.
"You're sure you want to do this, Love?"
Arthur posed once again.
He had, according Amelia's headcount, had asked this question no less than 20 times since they had started this trek to the prison. With an exasperated sigh, the blonde rolled her azure eyes to meet his occasional side glance.
"I'm sorry, Amelia, I know that we wouldn't have come all this way for you to back out now, but you said yourself that you'd rather have nothing to do with the wanker ever again after all he's done."
"I know what I said, Artie," Amelia began, allowing her attention to drift back towards the window and the nothingness beyond it, "but he's still my brother. He's literally the only family I have left. I have to at least ask why he would have done this. I have to let him know I can't be scared anymore...That the people I've come to know and love want to protect me so much more than he could ever frighten me into coming back."
If the vehicle had been quiet before, the heaviness that lingered now was enough to hear a pin drop. Arthur let out a brief sigh and reached his hand out to gently rub her shoulder.
"I'll be there for you as much as humanly possible, Ami. I know this is a battle you feel you need to face alone, but I'll be right here.."
Tenderly, Amelia reached up her hand to cover his, lacing their fingers together.
"Thank you, Arthur. I'll definitely need all the courage I can get."
Against Arthur's best judgement, and the angry yelling voices in the back of his head, he allowed her to go to the visiting quarters without him. She had made a forceful argument that if the man had gone so far as to hire hit-men to kill him remotely, there was no telling what her brother would be capable of when face-to-face. So he waited at the front office, watching with a heavy heart as his fiance turned the corner to where the convicts were held.
He could tell simply by the way she walked that she was upset: a mixture of melancholy and frustration. She didn't know what to think, though Arthur had no trouble imagining all the nasty bits of profanity he could swing at the ape that would go right over his tiny little head.
Thou hadst been better have been born a dog than answer my waked wrath!
He inwardly smirked as his list of insults grew, barely noticing when Amelia was no longer in sight.
To Amelia, it felt like the world was covered in a large, translucent sheet. Things were there, but nothing was clear. It seemed as if everything and everyone were blurred. Even the sound of her feet against the cold concrete floor was muffled to her ears. She followed wordlessly behind the sheriff; a man she'd known when she was a child who looked infinitely older now that she'd returned.
"He's been blabbing about you the whole time, Ami. Said you'd be coming back any day now that you heard he'd been caught. You thinkin' a moving back to Arthur*? The farm could use a hand with your brother incarcerated. Not sure how he's gonna get outta this one."
Amelia smiled ever so slightly but offered no words as a reply.
"Welp, here we are-Nathaniel Franklin Jones. Visitor for ya, Ned!"
The officer rapped on the door that separated them, a small and square barred window located in the top center of the metal barrier soon revealing the face of someone Amelia dreaded to see.
"Ami…? That you?"
The voice sent tremors down her spine as she walked away from the door to hide behind a nearby pillar, unable to look at him directly.
"I'm not one for soap operas, so I'll leave you two be."
Amelia was moments away from calling out for him to stop, but her voice stuck in her throat, leaving the echoing clang of the metallic hall entryway to pound against her already throbbing skull.
"Caramel Corn-?"
"Yes, Ned. It's me."
"Gosh yer prettier every time I see ya. Finally come back to-"
"Ned stop it."
The pause was akin to that of the car ride over, this time laced with a thick haze that had begun to cloud her mind and threatened to hinder her proper judgement. As Amelia worked on regaining her bearings, one question shot itself out so forcefully she didn't have the ability to contain it.
"Was it really you? You told those people...to shoot Arthur? To kidnap Alfred? To put everyone I know and care for in danger?"
Her voice was quiet at first, but as the words began to spill out, she found her vigor, relying on the anger building in the pit of her stomach.
" Look, CC, I had nothin' to do with the whole kidnapping mess. That was them useless folks I hired. If they'd just done their job right in the first place-"
"What, Ned?! What would have happened? Arthur would be dead, and you think I'd come crawling back to you because I didn't have anyone left to turn to?"
Her voice rose to fever pitch now, still not daring to come from the security of the pillar and stare this man in the face. "I'm sorry, Ned, but I told you and mama before I left: I was just so tired. Tired of being hurt and held back. Tired of being put down, or worse used for my looks to get what you and mama thought was 'best' for the company."
Her fire began to dwindle as her voice caught once more. Hot tears streamed down her face, eyes focused on the ceiling above in search of anything that was constant in this swimming world.
"Why, Ned…? Why did you have to do this?"
A quiet huff came from behind the cell door, a response lined with no remorse.
"Amelia, he's no good for you. What's best for you is with the family; it always has been. You see, Ma was really torn up after you left, what with no goodbye or anything. She just...quit. Ami if you'd stayed-"
"Don't you dare blame mama's death on me too! You always do that: blame things on others, never taking any responsibility for your actions. Do you even know all the suffering you caused mama and me?" Amelia paused for only a short intake of breath, all previous signs of hesitation long gone. "I know it was hard on you, to take on everything after Papa left us. But Papa would've never wanted all this. Me, separated from the family, mama joining him before she's even seen her babies grown, and now you in this place…Being tried for peoples' lives!"
Amelia buried her head in her hands, wrapping her fingers over her mouth to keep her sobs from becoming apparent. She couldn't let him know that he was getting to her. She'd promised Arthur she wouldn't let him get to her. She'd promised herself she wouldn't.
The stark voice that haunted her dreams came out strong as Ned repositioned himself right in front of the window, calling to her from his room with equal veracity.
"Well if you hadn't left back then-! If you hadn't been such a spoil'd brat that Pa loved on and cared for like you were his only child-"
The sound that escaped his sister's mouth seemed to surprise even her; some odd mixture between a laugh and a sob. A fake sign of amusement for a tactic she knew all too well.
"There you go again, Ned, just giving someone else credit."
In a final act of rebellion, Amelia turned to him from behind the pillar, staring into those deep, smokey-blue eyes that nearly made her cave in on the spot. Her brother, for all his hardened heart and stubborn head, for all the times he'd abused her and threatened her life and livelihood, was still her brother. And he looked so much like Papa.
"Things could have ended up so differently. We all used to be so happy." The tears came in a steady stream down her cheeks, not bothering to brush them away. "You took that happiness away from our family, Ned. Arthur...Arthur brought it back." Her eyes refocused on the shadowed, scuffy figure cloaked in orange, wearing a face she wished to God he didn't. "He got rid of all those negative thoughts you put into my head every day, that pain and fear you inflicted to get me to come home. I have a new home now, and its with him. He's given me something you could never give anyone: unconditional love. I've found where I belong, and I could only hope you find where you belong too."
She inched ever closer to the door, gazing up in cool determination.
"With your permission or not, Arthur and I are getting married. I just thought I'd let you know and be a good sister to you one last time."
Finally the gentle mask of her father began to fade away, clearing the fog and revealing the vulnerable man full of hatred her brother had become. His expression was twisted was contempt and the distance in his eyes was all the proof she needed that the brother she'd known was gone.
"I really do love ya, CC….So I'll do ya likewise and be a good sibling in the end: don't call me your brother anymore. You're dead to me like you were dead to Ma when she left us. Thank you for comin'...Now get out of my life and I'll get out of yours."
Despite everything, she caught her lip trembling. She crossed her arms and clutching her shoulders tightly she spun about face and started for the door. Then she left him alone in the darkness that he had created for himself.
When she rejoined Arthur, she could tell he noticed the obvious redness around her eyes, the puffiness in her cheeks. Yet he said nothing, merely encompassing her in his comforting embrace before escorting her to the car. She held her own during the walk to the office, through the parking lot, even the drive thru McDonalds to grab chips and a milkshake. It was on that same long, never-ending journey to the hotel that she was thankful for those lonely crop fields that couldn't see her cry.
*Author's note: There is actually a small town in North Dakota called "Arthur" where she's from and that's what he is referring to in this scene. And you guys thought this story was over x3