I don't own anything.

I'm sorry, but I'm starting to feel like I can't write very good updates, which is why they're taking longer and longer for me to write them.

If you think they're getting bad, and you're really not interested in reading them, please let me know so I can stop wasting my time and energy writing them if you're not enjoying reading them!

That being said. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Seven

'I want my lawyer present.' Effy said the second the interviewers walked into the room.

One of them walked back out and closed the door behind him instantaneously.

The other sat down and went through his papers in silence.

Effy turned and glanced behind her, checking her surroundings.

Leaning against the wall was a big burly guard.

He was bald and had a goatee.

'You get paid to lean, do you?' she mocked.

'No. I get paid to keep little shits like yourself in this room.'

'Wow. Productive.'

'Yeah, well at least I get paid for my violence kid. Plus…'

He leans forward and whispers at her. 'I've never killed anyone.'

She gives him a glare and turns back whilst swinging on her chair.

The other man walked back into the room and placed himself down on the empty seat opposite her.

'Your lawyer will be here shortly.'

Effy said nothing. Her face did the talking. A trademark scowl passed her features.

'So how long have you been suffering with the blackouts and nightmares?'

'I'm not saying anything until I have a lawyer present.'

The man gestures at the tape recorder. 'It's not on. This is off the record.'

Effy shrugs and lays her palms flat on the table.

The temperature of the metal table cooling her palms down significantly.

'When you passed out, Elizabeth we referred you to a doctor. She says your body is working three times faster than it should be. You're prone to a heart attack. If it stays like this. You'll be dead in days. Is heart failure common in your heritage?'

Effy says nothing.

Soon enough the lawyer enters the room and makes her apologies.

Something about a traffic jam - some school kids run over or something; Effy's not really listening, and she doesn't really care.

She is abruptly woken from her daydream by the clicking of the tape.

'Start of interview 15.45. For the benefit of the tape, Elizabeth Stonem passed out in a previous interview and is now under medical examination.'

'How many drinks had you drunk that night? Can you remember?'

'A lot…some at home…some at the pub…well…a lot at the pub, I guess.'

'Do you remember the incident?'

'Only…in kind of flashbacks…I don't remember it if I try and think of it. But it just…pops up in my head sometimes.'

'What was going through your mind at the time you attacked Miss Fitch?'

'No Comment.'

'You referred in previous interviews that you've been pressured into it. Can you divulge anymore information?'

'No.'

Her lawyer turns to her and reminds her that cooperation may be her best chance of going free.

Effy looks down at her feet and sighs.

She bites her lip and looks back at her lawyer.

Reading her mind, the lawyer informs the interviewers that she would like to talk to Effy alone and that they should leave them to it.

With a huff and a sigh, the men eventually decide to leave, stop the tape and leave the room with a brief slam of the door.

'I can only help if you let me help you. You need to be honest with me.' Her lawyer says in her softest 'counsellor like voice'.

'I know…I want to…I just…I can't.'

'Why?'

'Because…'

**

The two men are sitting in the office waiting for the all clear to re-interview her.

Several coffees later and the conversation is in deep flow.

'What do you make of it?' The smaller one asked his senior boss.

'Tricky. She's not helping herself. But, I don't think she wanted to hurt her.'

'But, she did hurt her. Regardless of whether she wanted to or not, she did.'

'True. But I know she was propositioned. I'm sure of it.'

'Who by?'

'James Cook. I'm sure of it. If I had my way, he'd fry in those cells.'

**

'Elizabeth. Here's the deal. I'm being paid a lot of money by Tony to get you on a lesser charge…now…if you're being threatened...If you were forced to hurt Emily…we could fight on some level you were trying to protect yourself from harm. Maybe cut your sentence down…'

Effy doesn't reply.

She's too busy taking in every word spoken.

Tony?

Her brother she hadn't heard from in years.

Not one text, letter, email or even a single comment on facebook. Not one.

Not even when their parents divorced.

And now he cares?

Now he wants to help her get out of this mess?

'Were you being threatened, Elizabeth?'

'She said…if I didn't…I'd pay. She knows….knew things about me…about the old me.'

'She?'