Here we are in the last week of the year and I am 3 stories behind. Actually, 2 after today. I promise I will get better at this. My goal is to post this story and 2 more this week. Have faith in me, please, because I don’t have much faith in myself.

I hope that at least one person enjoys the story for today. It was fun to write.

Did you know that you can go to prison for murder even if they have no body to prove it? I didn’t know it until it happened to me. I tried to tell them I didn’t do it, but no one believes the girl whose mother is a whore that takes all the drugs she is supposed to sell. No one believes in the girl who has tried to be a better person her whole life, yet her parents keep dragging her down. With a mother that is a drug addict and a whore and a dad who only comes around when he knows I have money, no one was going to believe I didn’t kill the stupid rich kid. They found it even harder to believe that I was in love with him and thought he was in love with me.

“Andrews.” The officer calls my name. She snarls when I make eye contact with her. I growl when she slams a bag of my dirty belongings into my arms. Belongings of an 18-year-old girl. A girl I no longer was. 15 years in prison had done a lot for me. I learned a lot from the women in prison. There were some like my mother, not worth the taxpayer’s dollar that kept them in prison. Some of the women were mothers who had been abused and finally got their revenge. Those were the ones that taught me everything I needed to know. I didn’t think I would ever get out of prison, but here I was, walking out with nowhere to go and no one to help me.

“Thanks.” I tell the officer.

“I hope you know that we will be watching you and we will drag you back here the second you mess up again. You will mess up, losers like you always do.” She had a right to her opinion, despite it being wrong. I wasn’t a loser. I was smart. I finished at the top of my class and should have been the valedictorian, but one of the rich kids bought her place at the podium at graduation. I didn’t care, I was just ready to get out of school and out of town.

Grant was going to come with me. He was beautiful. Baby blue eyes, blond hair, tall and fit. I fell in love with the way he smiled and how he was kind to everyone, even the poor girl from the trailer park. I helped him pass a few classes throughout high school and we fell in love. He was my first everything. He made me feel like I wasn’t the poor loser girl from the trailer park. He made me feel like I could be more. We were going to go to the same college and one day we would get married and have a beautiful family.

The night after graduation Grant disappeared and everyone had seen me with him last. There was blood in his bed and of course, they found my hair and fingerprints all over his room. I had been sneaking in at night and sleeping beside him for months. It was the only evidence they found. There was so much blood. I was pinned with the murder and sent to prison. I was supposed to die there, but I got out somehow. No one can tell me how, just that something worked in my favor, and I was free. I was in my 30s with nothing to my name. My mom wanted nothing to do with me and my dad had overdosed while I was in prison. I had no friends and no family.

“Lily.” A voice said when I got out to the parking lot.

“That’s me,” I say, meeting the face of a woman I didn’t know. “Who are you?”

“My name is Alex.” She says, reaching her hand out to me. I took her hand and shook it, letting it go and wiping my hand on my pants. Nothing was wrong with her hand; I just knew what the women in prison did with their hands. “I am the one that got you out of prison. Please, get in the car.” She motions to the car sitting with the driver’s side door open and the trunk popped open. “I thought you would have more stuff.” She said shrugging her shoulders.

“They don’t let you go to prison with too many belongings, and you don’t exactly rack up a lot of prized possessions while there.” I said, hugging the bag of what little I had left. I climbed into the passenger’s seat and shut the door. Sure, I didn’t know the woman, but she got me out of prison, and I had nowhere else to go.

“Of course. I guess after 15 years all your stuff before you have either grown out of or been sold by your mother.” Alex says after sliding into the driver’s seat and shutting her door.

“You know my mother and you know me, but I only know your name.” I study her face, trying to figure out if I do know her. She looks familiar, but I can’t seem to place her.

“You know me.” She says with a smile. She stares out of the windshield, paying attention to the road. “We went to school together. You may not remember me, I was quiet.”

“Alex,” I say under my breath, trying to recall the name. I looked at her again, the only Alex coming to mind had blond hair and wore thick glasses, but her nose was the same. “Alex.” I almost shouted, causing Alex to jump and swerve on the road. Her smile grew wider.

“I was so jealous of you with all the time you spent with Grant. Had I been just a little smarter, I could have been the one to help him. You beat me to the punch.”

“You were his best friends sister.” I recall. “Brandon.” I stated. They were twins and Brandon was the one person I couldn’t face when they pinned Grant’s death on me. It hurt too much to think he believed the lies. “Why did you get me out of prison?”

“Because you didn’t kill Grant.” Alex says. Her eyes water and she refuses to meet my eyes. “I know the real killer.”

We stop in front of a house and Alex turns off her car. “Who?” I ask her. “If you knew, why didn’t you tell the cops?” I ask. “I could have been out of prison. I just spent 15 years of my life in prison for a crime I didn’t commit!” I shout.

“Let’s go in. I have something to show you.” She says, getting out of the car. I have no choice but to follow her and honestly, I want answers. She opens the front door and walks in, motioning for me to follow. She shuts and locks the door behind me. “This way.” She says, as she began walking up the stairs. I follow and watch as she opens another door that leads to a staircase. I am assuming she is leading me into the attic.

“Nice house.” I say, trying to fill the silence. The house is too quiet and the woman leading me into her attic is freaking me out. The stairs creak as we ascend and Alex says nothing to me. She stops in front of a chest crossing her arms over her chest and turns to face me.

“It’s been 15 years since I locked my past away inside this chest. Today, I decided to open it.” She says almost too quiet to hear. She turned away from me and bent down to open the chest. “I wanted Grant for myself. I begged him to not run off with you. I told him that I was a better fit for him. I was his best friend’s sister. You were trailer trash.” The lid opened and I saw the blanket that was old and brown. It didn’t take long to realize that the brown was dried blood. “I went to him and he refused me. When I went home upset, my brother got upset too.” She began to pull back the blanket.

“Alex, what did Brandon do?” Alex looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

“He was just so mad that Grant would deny me over someone like you.”

“That makes no sense. I loved Brandon like a brother. We got along so well.” I shake my head.

“I am his sister!” Alex shouted. “He picked me over you. He picked me over Grant!” Tears streamed down her face. She pulled back the blanket and I held back a scream as a skull peeked out from under the blanket.

“Is that…” I covered my mouth to keep the bile down that was rising from my stomach. “Is that Grant?” I gag out. “Alex, did Brandon kill Grant?”

“Yes.” Alex says, picking up the skull and cradling it in her arms. “He stayed with me.” She smiled.

“You are sick.”  I step away. “I’m calling the cops.” I turn to run back down the stairs and run face first into a broad chest.

“No, you are not.” A deep voice said as giant hands grabbed my upper arms. “We got you out of prison because I felt bad.” Brandon. Brandon was here. The boy that killed Grant and stole my life from me. “I couldn’t leave my sister, she needs me. I couldn’t go to prison for killing my best friend. I’m sorry Lily, I really am.” A tear fell down his face. “I just got so mad. I was in love with you too.” He shook his head. “I thought if Grant left you for Alex, I would have you. Everyone would be happy.” He looked at me, his eyes almost black. “I lost my cool. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

“Is your whole family this crazy?” I ask. Brandon’s face turned red. I tried to step back, but it was too late. I had angered the beast, and the beast required blood to be spilled. The beast would not kill his sister, he would protect her at all costs, and I was the only other person available. I got out of prison just to die at the hands of my boyfriend’s best friend. Great.