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Seventeenth

I sat on my bed, reading my book. Hal came and apologized to me, but I refused. She didn’t need to apologize for something that had nothing to do with her. I explained to her that I had once loved Koontz and the news had upset me. She comforted me, but I felt even worse because he supposedly killed her friend. She shouldn’t be the one comforting me. She eventually left.

I read for a little while longer before deciding to mess around with my Search Engine. I asked it all sorts of questions about the world. And it would answer. Why was the grass green? Because chlorophyll in the grass has a green pigment to it. What makes a cat purr? Cats make vibrations when they inhale and exhale by using their vocal folds and the muscles of the larynx. How many stars are in the sky? Unkown.

And so on and so on until I finally asked it the question I was most curious about. What happened to Felicity Lightheart?

I clicked on the first news article that popped up and read.

Felicity Lightheart, birthing number 10093, was murdered on the evening of January 7th between the time of 6:00pm and 10:00pm. After investigation, it was determined that Lightheart’s match, Quinton Koontz, birthing number 76556, stabbed Lightheart in the chest with a pair of sewing sheers and then fled the scene with the sheers. He was then found outside of Sector 16F's wall with the sheers in his possession. Lightheart’s body will be shipped back to her original sector, 3C, for her memorial service. The Lightheart family would wish any gifts to be donated to the Lower Sectors Fund. This fund helps those living in the lower sectors receive food and clothing.

I wiped my eyes, not realize that I had shed a few tears. I still couldn’t believe that Koontz had done such a thing. He was running from the scene of the crime with the murder weapon. It looked so bad. There had to be a reasonable explanation, right?

There was a knock on the door. I wiped my face one last time before telling the person to come in. It was Addeck. “What was in that letter?”

I stood up from my place at the desk, “What do you mean?”

“The letter you sent home. To him. Before he killed her.”

I shook my head. I had forgotten I sent a letter. Did someone think I told him to do that? “I just told him that I missed him and that I wish I was home. I didn’t tell him to do anything.”

“Well, that’s not what the latest report says. It got to the news that he received a letter from you the day before. They are speculating that you told him that you still loved him and that the only way that you two would be together would be to murder your matches.”

“I would never! I didn’t say that at all. I just told him that I missed him and that I was homesick. I didn’t tell him that I loved him or that he should kill her!”

He threw his hands up in rage, “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m only telling you what I heard. Mom’s already got our lawyer on the case if they decide to pursue that part of the investigation. I thought you would like to know.”

I shook my head, “Just get out please.”

Without another word he shut the door. I collapsed into my chair. This was all had to be one huge nightmare. There was no way that Koontz killed her, and now I was suspected to being apart of it? How had this happened to me? How had this happened to Koontz?

I wished that I hadn’t sent him that letter. Maybe it did trigger something. Maybe he did-

No.

There was no way. As much as I tried to make myself come to terms with what had happened, I still couldn’t believe it. But now because of my desperation to hold on to him, to my past, I was in this mess as well. I had to figure a way out of it. For both of us.

There was another knock on the door, this time they entered before I could speak. Startled, I stood up. Mrs. Bly walked in with two guards trailing behind her. “Hi sweetie. These guards are here to take you in for questioning. Please, just go with them. Mr. Lawrkson, our lawyer, has already been notified and will meet you there.” I nodded, not really sure what to do. “Mr. Lawrkson advised that you not say a word. Okay? It’s for your own protection.”

I nodded again. She gave me a hug, “You’ll be home before you know it.”

I didn’t feel like hugging back. I was too numb. This was all happening so fast. I was still just trying to process everything myself. The guards led me down the hallway.

We passed by Hal’s room just as the door opened. “This is an outrage!” Hal’s voice echoed throughout the house. “Are you kidding? Sweet little Emmary? She hasn’t done anything wrong!”

Mrs. Bly gave her an ice cold stare and Hal immediately shut her mouth. I knew that look, Teyland had given Koontz and me plenty of those growing up. “Halston. You best go back inside you’re room. Emmary will be alright.”

Hal shrunk back, “It’s still outrageous that they even suspect anything.”

“Hal.” Mrs. Bly didn’t raise her voice, but there was an edge to it. One that signaled to Hal that she better do what she said.

I was expecting Vox to be in his room as well, but as we passed the room was dark. Disappointment flooded over me. Right now I could have used a reassuring smile, the twinkle of his golden eyes, anything to know he believed everything would turn out okay. I ached to see him. I wanted him to be there for me. But he wasn’t. He probably wasn’t even aware that they thought I had a role in his ex-girlfriends murder. I wondered if he even knew that they had caught Koontz with the murder weapon.

The guards escorted me across town in a black vehicle. I looked around the backseat of the car. The doors were blank, no handles. A clear wall separated the back seat from the front two were the guards were. They didn’t say anything to me and I kept my mouth shut like Mrs. Bly told me. I stared out the window as the city passed us by. We stopped in front of the most plain building in Sector 3C and I waited as they opened the door.

They led me through the entrance and to the elevator. I hesitated as the guard pushed the button. “Um, is there… Is there anyway we could use the stairs?”

The guard shook his head, “No ma’am.”

My stomach dropped. I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the elevator with them. My hands shook and I clutched onto the railing to hold me steady. The doors closed behind them and I felt like the air had been sucked out of the little box we stood in.

I really wished we could have used the stairs. The guard put a key into a hole then turned it. The elevator gave a huge lurch before moving downward. I tried to take deep calming breaths, but it wasn’t helping. If the guards noticed my distress, they didn’t give any inclination that they cared. I bit my lip and closed my eyes praying that it would be over soon.

It wasn’t.

I counted to 392 before the doors opened again. Six and a half minutes of being trapped in the tiny space. The guards couldn’t get me out of the elevator fast enough. I spilled out, desperate for air and space.

Once I was settled back down, I took a look around the room we were now in. We must have been several floors underground because there were no windows. Lights were spaced out along the concrete walls. There were two other guards stationed on either side of a desk with no one behind it. There was a corridor to my right that had black doors lining both sides. We took a left turn and headed down a similar hallway.

After a few feet, one of my guards opened the third door on the right and gestured for me to enter. Sitting at a steel table in the middle of the room was a handsome man that looked no older than 40. He gave me a friendly smile and stood as I entered.

One of the guards spoke, “You have ten minutes before an Investigator comes in for questioning.”

The man nodded, “Thank you.” The door closed behind the two guards, leaving me a lone with this man. “Hi, Emmary. I’m Tas Lawrkson, the Bly family lawyer. Please, sit. We will probably be here a while.”

I did as he instructed and took the seat next to him. “I’ve reviewed your case. All I can say is that in a manner such as this, you should probably refrain from answering any questions. Anything you say can be used in a court of law and we don’t want them twisting you words.

"I have read the letter in question and it seems as though there is nothing incriminating on your part. You were merely expressing your love for this boy and the hopes that if things were different you could run away. However, these things should be construed as wishful thinking from a young girl confused and unsure of her future. They can’t arrest you for any of that.”

I couldn’t keep up with everything he was saying. He talked fast and didn’t wait for me to catch up when moving from one sentence to the next. It was a whirlwind of information. Once I registered what he was saying I interrupted him mid-sentence.

“I didn’t say that I loved him. I didn’t say that I wanted to run away with him.”

Mr. Lawrkson smiled, “Emmary, I read the letter they found. You said those things.”

I shook my head, “Well then that wasn’t my letter they found. I didn’t say those things.”

He frowned and stared down at his hands, obviously thinking over the situation. We sat in silence as he thought. He took a deep breath, “Okay. Here’s what is going to happen. When they ask you if the letter is yours, you will say yes. You will say that it was only words. You didn’t want to actually run away. At the time you were just madly in love with Mr. Koontz, saying whatever would comfort the both of you. You didn’t know that he would take this to extremes and kill his match.”

I shook my head, “I can’t lie.”

His blue eyes held my stare, “You can and you will.”

I didn’t respond to this. I was still debating internally. If I said this false statement, would they really let me go? Would they believe me enough that this would all blow over? But what would happen to Koontz? I would be pinning all the blame on the fact that he was a cold blooded killer desperate to be with me. I couldn’t do that, could I?

The door opened before I say anymore, the door opened. Had it really been ten minutes already? There wasn’t a clock in the room so I had no way of really knowing. “Hello Miss. Eaton, Tas, thank you for coming down.”

Like I had a choice. Mr. Lawrkson answered for me, “Of course, Carey.” He stood and shook the Investigator’s hand.

Carey cleared his throat and sat down across from us, laying the folder he was carrying in front of him. “I am sure that your lawyer has already gotten you up to speed, so I am just going to get right down to it.” He pulled a piece of paper out of the folder and set it down in front of me. “Did you or did you not send a letter to Quinton Koontz?”

I looked over at Mr. Lawrkson, who nodded. “I did.”

“Was this the letter you sent to him?” I looked down at the paper. I gave it a quick read. It said exactly what everyone said it did. It had multiple declarations of love and wishes of being together. It was in my writing, but not my words.

This was the moment of truth. Was I going to lie to save myself and persecute Koontz? I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out. I was going to say yes. I was going to lie. I was going to send Koontz to prison, or much worse a public execution. I thought of Koontz’s lifeless body being aired on national television and my words froze in my throat.

“Miss Eaton, please answer the question.”

“No.” The word escaped before I could keep it in. A weight lifted after it did and I spoke more fluidly. “That is not the letter I sent to Koontz.”

Mr. Lawrkson tugged violently on my arm to get my attention, “What are you doing?”

“I’m not going to lie.” I took my arm back. Mr. Lawrkson heaved a great big sigh and put his hands to his face.

Carey didn’t acknowledge this little spat between us. “This is the letter found in the Koontz home. It’s your signature. Is it not?”

I looked at the signature at the bottom of the page. It was mine. But I didn’t write it. I didn’t compose this letter. “It is.”

“Then you wrote this letter.”

I shook my head, “With all of the technology that you people possess you don’t think that someone could have replicated my handwriting?”

The Investigator looked toward Mr. Lawrkson who propped his head up with one hand and gave a small wave with the other, as if saying 'what can I do now?'

Carey sighed, “While this could be a possibility, there is no proof that anyone tampered with your letter. The more likely scenario is that you wrote this letter and are now lying about it to save yourself.”

I shook my head, “If I wanted to save myself I would have done what my lawyer said. Why would I not take his advice and put myself in the hot seat?”

He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. “Guilt.”

“I have no guilt. That is not the letter that I sent.”

“Okay, fine I will humor you. Who else handled the letter?”

I shrugged, “I wouldn’t know. I wrote my letter, went to get lunch, and when I came back, it was gone. Addeck said he took it and had it sent. ”

“Addeck Bly?” I nodded in confirmation. “So you had this letter just lying around for anyone to have access to it?”

“I wasn’t aware that I had to keep it under lock and key. It was just a letter. It didn’t have any value to it.”

“Well, someone thought it did.” Carey scratched his nose and then stood. “I will be right back.” He left me alone with Mr. Lawrkson.

“I told you what to say.”

I stared at the wall straight ahead, “I couldn’t lie. I didn’t write that letter. And I don’t believe Koontz killed that girl. I wasn’t about to send him to his death to save my own neck.”

“He is guilty. Nothing you say can save him.”

“I refuse to accept that.” I crossed my arms to end the argument.

The door then opened, “Miss Eaton, you may go.” Investigator Carey stood with the door opened as I filed out behind Mr. Lawrkson.

I turned to Carey, “What changed?”

“You’re vitals show that your telling the truth and until we replace anything else, you are free to go.”

“What about Koontz?”

Carey closed the door and ushered us down the hall and into the elevator, “I’m sorry, that’s classified information.”

The elevator door closed before I could respond to him. I wanted to know more. I wanted answers. If I didn’t write the letter that supposedly caused Koontz to murder, how can he still be the prime suspect?

I sat on Vox’s bed, waiting for him to return. I didn’t see anyone when I got home. I had thought about going to see Hal, but decided against it. All I wanted was for Vox to console me, tell me everything was going to be alright. He didn’t come home anytime soon and I fell asleep, exhausted from the long day.

I woke up to Vox shaking me gently. “Emmary,”

I sat up so see him sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. “Hi.”

He smiled at me, “Hi, how are you? Hal told me about the guards and the letter. Are you alright? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

I shook my head, “No they just had an Investigator question me.”

“What did he ask?”

“He wanted to know about the letter that I sent Koontz. It wasn’t my letter, Vox. The one they had, it was in my handwriting but it wasn’t from me. Someone sent a different letter instead.”

He wrapped an arm around me, “I’m sorry that this is happening to you. Do they know who might of sent it instead?”

I shook my head, “No. If they do, they didn’t tell me.”

Vox took my hands and looked directly into my eyes. “Everything will work out, I promise.”

I collapsed into his chest. That was exactly what I needed. I needed him to look me in the eyes and tell me that it would be okay. Even if it wouldn’t, I just wanted to pretend for a few minutes that it would.