Chapter 27 Mr. Parker, once the king of his domain, now sits in a prison cell, his throne taken from him, his power and influence nothing but a distant memory. The judge's gavel comes down like the judgment of God, the sentence echoing through the courtroom with a deafening finality. "Adam Parker, for the crimes of human trafficking, racketeering, and fraud, I sentence you to life in prison without the possibility of parole. May God have mercy on your soul." The cuffs are slapped onto Mr. Parker's wrists, his world now reduced to the cold, gray bars of his cell.As Mr. Parker is dragged away, Madison watches on in silent fury, her eyes burning with rage. She is the last of the Parkers standing, a queen without a kingdom, her family's legacy in tatters. But she is not defeated, not yet. In the days that follow, she begins to hatch a plan, a final act of desperation that will either secure her freedom or seal her fate. She enlists the help of a fellow inmate, a hardened criminal w
Chapter 1“That exam was …”“Absolutely exhausting. God!”, Benji blurted out.“Ohkayy..”, Ethan said slowly in a low voice.“I couldn't even get halfway through the theory and those objective questions were just way too difficult to solve each in sixty seconds! It was our last exam for God Sake, why did they have to make it so hard!”Benji kicked a bottle in his way in anger. He kicked it again and this time, Ethan strolled a little ahead of him, kicking the bottle to the side. It jumped up as he applied force to the slimmer end. When he caught it, he shot it into the dumpster.“Really?”“What? We have to keep the school clean”“We are graduating in a few weeks Ethan. You don't have to care so much”“Well, as vale…”“Valedictorian yeah, we get it. You don't have to rub it in our faces”, Benji said, rolling his eyes in an annoyed and exhausted manner.“How am I rubbing it in your face? I was making a fact”“Oh yeah, in the middle of me pouring my heart out about that exam”“Hey, hey.
Chapter 2He leaped, trying his best to run as fast as he could. He caught some sand and threw it in their direction, delaying them a little. As he detoured into a bushy path, his legs got caught up in a twig and he fell.“Arghh!”, He groaned, his already injured foot knocked once again against a stone. “You asshole! Thought you could run from us huh?”, one of them grabbed him up. The next thing he felt was a heavy punch to his jaw. Another one landed on his cheekbone and Ethan felt the blood gush up through his throat. He sputtered out.“C’mon boy. Control yourself Pickle Boy. We haven't even got started yet“They dragged him along the ground, pulling his body with the dirt, through the thorny, bushy path. The sharp thorns cut through his clothes and he was well tattered before they even threw him into the abandoned plant house.“Urghh!”, He groaned, holding his side cut by the thorns from the naked bushes they'd dragged him to. “We are just getting started, Pickle Boy”, the bigges
Chapter 3“Maddie…”His sentence was cut short as she rushed him in a hug. He hugged back but slowly. His mind couldn't wrap around how she knew. “What happened? Why didn't you call me? Look at … you… you look…?”, she paused, scrutinizing him with her eyes, expecting his body to be badly battered. “ … Benji didn't even know where you were..”“I. . I lost my phone. But I'm alright, it's fine”“You're not. They beat you up Ethan. You know better than to stand up against those boys”“You … know what happened?”, Ethan asked in a more concerned than surprised manner. Maddison's eyes widened, like she'd let herself be caught off guard.“How did you know?”“Claire told me. She said she'd seen you punch Lucas and then they chased you like a thief. And then Phil said he saw you covered in blood, staggering into the cafeteria. I bugged that one and she wouldn't even tell me a thing. I was so scared, Ethan. I…”“I'm sorry. I'm sorry I scared you”, he said, standing as he pulled her to himself.
Chapter 4Mr. Trevor stared hard at Ethan as he took his phone to his ear.“Get your team up here at the administrative board room”“No.. no! I'm the victim. I am the victim!”, Ethan shouted, scattering the documents atop the table. His eyes were reddish and tears darkened them even more.“I'm the victim!”Ethan pulled down the large drawer mounted against the wall closest to the door in anger and rage.“I'm the victim!”“Security, get this boy out of here!”They held onto Ethan, taking him by the arms. “No! Let me go!”He struggled, kicking and pushing against their hard, strong grip. He shouted and struggled, even holding onto the door as they attempted to carry him out.“Let me go!”They soon loosened his grip on the door. Handcuffed, they shoved him into the school's security shuttle. Ethan breathed heavily as the bulky tears streamed down his eyes. The men monitored him as he cleared the apartment the school had built and awarded him personally. While at it, a knock came to the
Chapter 5“Arghhh!”, he shouted, hitting the landline in anger against the glass box. Ethan breathed heavily,his fist clenched in obvious, physical anger though he was inwardly happy he hadn't broken the glass nor the landline. He'd seen a policeman around the corner and he was certainly not prepared to go to jail.“Better you were in cell than outside”He still had nowhere to go. He ran a hand through his hair trying not to lose it.“God, where am I gonna go?”He breathed in and then out, finally deciding to call his girlfriend. He pressed down the number buttons, his heart hoping that he'd hear her ever consoling voice as the buzzing sound began. He held onto the receiver like it was some fragile item but the call ended up terminating with no response. He dialed again, this time slowly, like heart and hope were breaking into bits in him. The buzzing began, taking longer than usual.But there wasn't any response. “Hey Maddie.. urr.. this is Ethan. I … I'm really in a very bad state
Chapter 6He'd have knocked, perhaps they'd have had enough time.Perhaps.If the door wasn't already open. “Maddie?”, Ethan said softly, knowing what time it was. Madison's neighborhood was unusually quiet and they seemed to like to keep the peace. Once, he'd tickled Maddison so hard, she had almost laughed her head off. Her next door neighbor had come over the very next day to complain of how disturbing they were. That would have been a one off if they had been visited by two other neighbors on the same day, saying exactly the same thing.Weird, right?Ethan thought it was more than just weird. It was crazy. Ethan closed the door behind him, his mind switching back to why the door was open. Maddie never left her door open. At least as far as he knew.He looked into the kitchen, wanting to call on Maddie but deciding otherwise. Perhaps she was sleeping.Perhaps she was so tired, she had to take her clothes off in the living room. Perhaps her lingerie too.A red gown, matching ling
Chapter 7 “He's dead”The line on the cardiographer straightened and the loud high pitched sound it made resounded in the room. The doctor, with head movement, signaled to the nurse.“Charge” A surge of electricity went through his body and Ethan felt his soul rise and then with a hard, sudden push back into his body. He could hardly open his eyes and when he tried, or so he thought, he saw the doctors backing up. His eyes felt weak and heavy and he was squinting.Or so he thought. To the doctors, he was very much dead.He closed his eyes and a thick cover of darkness covered him. A darkness that drifted to sleep.The next time he opened his eyes, the face of a young nurse looked down at him, an obvious brightness to her countenance. She looked like she was quite happy to meet him and Ethan couldn't tell why. He was more surprised that he was still alive and he knew he was still in the hospital from his surroundings. A man's figure appeared beside her unexpectedly to him, his face