“David? Sweetheart, how was school today?” My mom asks as she steps into my room. I don’t look up as I continue rummaging through my bag. “David?” She asks again and then puts her hand on my shoulder. I instantly straighten up and slowly turn my head toward her with a glare on my face. She gasps and steps back.

“Honey? How is he?” My dad asks from outside the door. He slowly opens the door and enters too only to see my mother shaking in fear at the look on my face. He quickly steps forward between me and mom with a glare of his own.

“School wasn’t good and I’m not going to be able to go back.” I reply before stopping my stare and turning back to my bag. Both of my parents relax before giving me a worried look.

“What do you mean you won’t be able to go back? You’ve only been going for a month.” My mother asks. I nod.

“Yeah. I’m sure the principal will probably call you to explain. He kicked me out for disorderly conduct or something like that, I don’t know. I’ve been trying really hard and no matter how hard I try I can’t ever make people like me. Even you guys don’t like me, that’s why you stay away from me most of the time, isn’t it?” I ask. My mother shakes her head and pulls me into a hug.

“Of course not, sweetheart. You’re just different and who ever told you that no one likes you?” She asks. I shake my head and look down at my hands. Then, the phone rings and my dad sighs before leaving the room to pick it up. My mom pats the top of my head and smiles before standing up to walk out of the room too. I smile back before standing up and walking to the window to watch the other kids running around playing with each other.

“David?” I hear Lizzy’s voice and turn around to face her. I smile and stand up.

“Yes?” I reply. She smiles.

“Are you okay? You were staring into space and rocking back and forth. Did you have a nightmare?” She asks. I laugh at her and ruffle her hair.

“Nightmares only happen when you sleep. I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Look, I have to go back out and I might be gone for a while. You know the rules. Keep the door locked and never let anyone in, not even if it’s another neighborhood kid who sees us, okay?” I tell her. She nods and we both walk out of my room. She walks across the hall and I walk to the front door. I quickly unlock the door and walk out before locking it back. I need to go back to the coffee shop and apologize to Layla and Dana. With that thought I go on autopilot and walk all the way back across town to the small coffee shop which is still open. I look in the window to see Layla and Dana standing behind the counter and the two cops from earlier are still there but this time they seem more on edge. They told the cops about my quick departure, good. I’m about to walk into the shop when I hear footsteps behind me, I turn my head slightly to see more cops had been called to the shop in case I did show up. A smile spreads across my face as I take off running down the street through the crowds of people. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. I look back to see that they are keeping up pretty well with me. I take a turn down an alley and then make a few more turns with them on my tail until I finally get myself lost and give up. They come around the corner into the dead end and I raise my hands with a smile on my face. Two of them shove me face first against the wall and the third checks my pockets and takes my pocketknife and lock picking kit. One of the men holding my arms brings my wrist down and cuffs it and then brings down my other arm and cuffs that wrist too. They drag me off the wall and start walking me out of the alley.

“You are under arrest for the murder of Abigail Sutton. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” The officer tells me as we reach the police car. The lights are flashing blue and red and I smile again as he sits me down in the back seat and slams the door shut. The car starts moving quickly and it only takes about ten minutes to reach the station and the car stops before I am being pulled out and dragged into the station. We stop at a window where my pocketknife and lock pick kit get dropped off and placed into a manilla envelope before we turn to a large metal door. The guard swipes his card and a loud metallic buzz sounds as the door clicks open. He pulls it open and pushes me through. He stops me at the first cell and unlocks it before pushing me inside without taking off my handcuffs.

“You will stay in handcuffs until you are done with your interrogation.” He grumbles at me before slamming the door to my cell shut and locking it. I sigh and lean against the back wall, a smile spreading across my face again. I hear some shuffling off to my side but don’t pay it any mind until the person starts talking to me.

“What are you in for?” There’s a slur in his voice. I look down at him with the smile still on my face.

“Something that I didn’t do. They’ll release me, I just wanted to experience this first.” I tell him. He looks at me worried and I look away as the door buzzes open again and a different officer walks in. He approaches my door and just stands there staring at me for a moment before finally unlocking the door and grabbing me by the arm. He takes me out of the cell hall and into a different hall with one way windows. I see a man in a suit standing at the end of the hall with a briefcase and he looks kind of nervous. The guard stops me next to the man and opens the door to the interrogation room before leading me in. He uncuffs one of my wrists only to put the cuffs through a bar on the table and put it right back on. He leaves without a word and the other man walks in and sets his briefcase on the table.

“Okay, now Mr. Sutton, I need you to be very honest with me about what you did.” He tells me. Ah. My lawyer, now the suit makes sense.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” I tell him with a confused look on my face. He frowns and hands a pen over to me.

“You will write a confession about how you murdered Abigail Sutton or I can’t help you.” He demands. I raise my eyebrows and sit back from the table as much as I can.

“And what will you do if I don’t write anything?” I ask. He huffs and I see his jaw tick and the corner of my mouth twitches slightly as I struggle not to smile.

“There will be no way to defend you if you don’t write this.” He tells me. I nod and sit forward.

“Well, it would be pretty hard for me to write something since I wasn’t there.” I tell him. He looks confused for a moment but then the door slams open and a detective walks in with a box of folders and papers with my personal effects laying on top of it. He slams the box onto the table and the lawyer stands up so that the detective can stand across from me.

“You are one sick son of a bitch, you know that?” He asks me before taking out a folder. He opens it to reveal pictures from the crime scene. He lays them out in front of me and I look at each of them carefully, three different angles on the same body to get all of the different injuries.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I tell him honestly. He growls and slams his fist against the table.

“You murdered this woman. You are Mr. Sutton, are you not?” He asks. I nod my head.

“I am but I don’t think I’m the one you’re looking for.” I tell him. He frowns.

“What do you mean?” He asks as he starts calming down.

“I think the one you’ve been looking for is my father. If you check the year, I was only ten years old at the time of her murder and I couldn’t have killed her in such a brutal way at that age. Plus I had to protect my sister and I think that’s much more important.” I explain. His eyes widen as he gives me a once over and then he sighs.

“Dammit. You are free to go then I guess. Let me get a guard to unlock your cuffs.” He says as he walks out the door. He comes back a second later with the guard to unlock my cuffs. I rub my wrists once they are free and the detective dumps my pocketknife and lock pick onto the table for me to take.

“Be careful out there kid.” He tells me. I nod before walking out the door but then I decide to be nice and give him a clue so I turn around to him.

“By the way, the man you’re looking for is in town. You might want to get after him quickly before something happens.” I inform him before turning back around and walking out of the station. The guard is about to put me in a squad car but I refuse. “Could you just tell me where I am? I would rather walk.” I tell him. He nods.

“Sure. If you walk out that way you’ll find a street that leads straight to the university and from there you should know your way.” He tells me. I nod my thanks before walking away. I follow the street that he told me and eventually reach the university, I was in that place for almost two hours. I take a left onto the main walk from campus and walk until I reach the coffee shop where Dana and Layla are. The shop is closed but they are still cleaning up and closing down. I place my hand in my pocket and feel my pocketknife as I look through the window at Layla but then I shake my head and turn away. I walk back to the little house quickly and quietly make my way inside so as not to wake Lizzy who is most definitely sleeping at this hour. I make my way to my own room and settle down on the floor for some much needed sleep.