Prologue/Chapter 1

Prologue 

Arlene's POV 

“Miss Arlene Rhodes, you have been found guilty for the second degree attempted murder of Mr. Martins and illegal possession of firearms. You are hereby sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.” The Chief Judge declared, striking his gavel with so much ferocity.

“All rise!” The court clerk announced, signalling the end of this court session.

My eyes scanned through the crowd till it landed on my parents, sister and my boyfriend Tristan. I had half expected them to believe me when I told them that this whole thing was a misunderstanding. I was being framed for this, but the looks of disgrace and disgust on their faces said it all.

“Please, I didn't do this…” I whispered, my voice barely holding together. “I’m not a monster.”

But the silence that followed was louder than any accusation.

They had already decided who I was. I stopped struggling because I finally understood. This wasn’t just a mistake… I had been set up. The guards dragged me as I trudged along looking past their scornful faces.

You may be wondering how I ended up in this mess. Yeah, I can't believe it too. 

It all started on that fateful day in January…

*****

Chapter 1 

Arlene's POV 

5:13am

“I'm in trouble…please come home.” My phone buzzed to notify me of the text and I peered at it to read the message clearly. It was from my step-sister, Veronica.

My fingers trembled as I picked up my phone, sprang from the bed, flung my jacket over my shoulders and left the room.

What kind of trouble has she gotten into by this time of the morning? I shouldn't have left her all alone last night.

“Is it not too early to hurry out?” Mia mumbled groggily from sleep. 

“Yeah, I have something to sort out. I'll be right back.” I shut the door behind me and skipped down the staircase. 

Mia is my best friend from High school and I had slept over at her place to assist her with some projects. I know she'd be worried when she wakes up considering how I suddenly left. But I'll try and be back before then.

Standing in front of the building, I flagged the nearest taxi to my destination. 

On the way, my mind raced relentlessly while I kept thinking what could possibly be wrong. Veronica was fast asleep just before I left the house yesterday.

The car stopped right in front of my house. I fished a few dollar bills from my pocket with the help of the porch light and passed it to the driver.

My neighbourhood was still very quiet as the sun hadn't woken up yet. Standing in front of my door, I reached for the keys in my pocket but I noticed the door was slightly opened.

I stepped into the house, turning on my phone flash light as there was a power outage.

Clothes lay in disarray on the bed and random objects were thrown around the floor, the pillow still had indentation of her head which means she laid here but she wasn't on the bed.

“Veronica? I'm home…where are you?” 

I heard whimpering and rushed towards where it came from. I found Veronica by the kitchen door, crouched with her knees pulled close to her chest, tears running down her face.

“Hey…what's wrong?” I lowered myself to her level, with my hands on her shoulders.

“A guy…he tried to assault me. I'm…scared…Arlene.” She stammered and I knew her panic attack was about to begin.

“Veronica, calm down. Breathe, I'm here now please… This guy, where is he?”

She pointed towards the door, 

“He cut me…but don't worry, Arlene, I'm fine. I kicked him in his groin and in the process, he dropped this pistol and ran into the alley.”

I could see the blood trickling down her finger from the cut. 

“You're bleeding! Let me get the bandages and…”

“No! Please don't worry about me. This guy…make sure he gets arrested. There's no mistaking him, he is still nearby.” Veronica protested weakly.

“Alright, I'll come back. Just hang on, okay?”

My eyes drifted to the pistol which lay not far from her. I picked it up in pure rage. I'll deal with the bastard who did this to my sister.

I dropped my phone and ran out of the house, towards the dark alley behind my house. All I could think of was how to make this guy suffer for breaking into my house.

In the dim light of the alley, I spotted him, trying to scale through the wet walls of the alley into the next street. 

In rage, I walked boldly towards him, clenching my fist.

He moved forward towards me and I noticed the limp he was trying to hide. It must be from Veronica's kick.

“Hey! What are you doing down here, this early?” He asked casually.

I landed my clenched fist on his chin with all the strength I could muster. The force threw his face to the left and I could see traces of blood on his lips.

His head snapped to the side, but he recovered faster than I expected.

“What the hell?! What was that for?”

He grabbed my wrist before I could land another hit, twisting it painfully. I gasped, but adrenaline pushed me forward. I drove my knee into his stomach.

He staggered back, coughing, but he didn’t go down easily. His hand shot out, shoving me hard.

I stumbled, nearly losing my balance but I refused to fall.

“You think you can just walk away?!” I shouted, my voice shaking with fury.

I punched him again and again while he staggered backwards. Taking advantage of his imbalance, I kicked his feet and he landed on his back with a thump.

I pounced on him, dropped the pistol and began to choke him. His eyes widened in fear, his hands gripping my wrists as he struggled to breathe.

For a split second…something flickered inside me.

A little wave of doubt. “What was I doing? What if I've got the wrong guy?... I'm not going to kill him, I just need to torture him a little bit.”

So, I tightened my grip. My two hands clenched his throat in an attempt to crush his windpipes. He gasped for breath, his hands above his head to signal for help.

“No one is coming to help you, pretty boy. You should have thought of that before assaulting my sister.”

“Freeze!!!” Someone shouted behind me.

My breath came out in sharp bursts as I looked up, my hands still locked around his throat. Reality crashed into me all at once.

What…have I done?

I froze and turned only to see a police officer.

“Put your hands above your head and slowly turn around…now!” He ordered, his pistol ready to attack if I didn't comply.

I rose to my feet, with my hands above my head and I turned around to face him. He was robust with a round face and slightly pointy ears. 

“Officer, thank goodness you're here. This guy attacked me. You should arrest him.” I said, almost running short of breath.

“From the look of things, the reverse is the case, young lady.” He retorted, fishing out the handcuffs. Sounds of the police siren had filled everywhere, I didn't even notice it earlier.

“Are you okay, Sir? Can you hear me?” The female officer said, trying to assess his situation. 

“This lady…she tried to kill me.” the guy said, pointing at me.

“We understand,” the paramedic said, securing him onto the stretcher before wheeling him into the ambulance.

“No! This isn't what it looks like. This guy broke into my house. I was only defending myself.”

“You're coming with us. You'll explain yourself when we get to the station.” Officer ‘Elf ears’ locked my hands behind my back with the handcuffs.

“Weapon recovered,” the female officer said, picking up the pistol I found at home, from the ground with a handkerchief. Her movements were very careful. She held it up slightly before slipping it into an evidence bag.

“No…no, that’s his,” I stammered, my voice breaking. “He dropped it. I didn’t… I only picked it up for a second, I swear!”

The officers exchanged a brief glance.

“Please, you have to believe me. Call my sister, she'll tell you the truth!” I struggled with the handcuffs while the man pushed me towards the vehicle.

Next minute, I saw Veronica still dressed in nighties but something felt off about her. 

“Veronica…Thank God, you're here now! Tell them how this guy attacked you at home.” I shouted in panic.

“Attack? What are you talking about, Arlene? I was asleep when I heard the noise and called the police.” Veronica said calmly , tucking her hair behind her ear. Then, she turned to the officers. 

“I'm sorry about the disturbance she has caused. The culprit is my sister, she is not always like this. It must have been the drugs she takes.”

“Tch! Young people and drugs…always high on some kind of shit. We'll take her with us. Thank you for contacting us, Miss Veronica. We need more people like you.” The male officer said, giving my sister a handshake. 

“Go on now, junkie. You're entitled to a defence attorney who you'll explain your situation to.”

He pushed me into the car and slammed the door shut. 

Everywhere around me began to blur. What was Veronica doing? Did she just set me up? Paint me as a psycho? What the actual hell?