Blackmail: A Novel

Imagine you are walking down the street after school with your best friend. You pass by a police car and smile because it is your dad. Now about a block away from him everything changes. Suddenly your friend gets shot, and as you are standing there, covered in his blood, a gun is thrust into your hands. Now you are the prime suspect n the murder if your best friend. Oh, and your father, the cop? Imagine the tears running down his face because he was the closest officer to the scene. Now you know how I feel. My life ended today. My name is Nicholai Noviae and I am in prison for murder in the first degree for Mathias Douglas.

My story is long and difficult, but if you bear with me, I’m sure you will understand. I’m not sure why he was murdered or by who, but I do know that whoever it was must have hated the both of us. Who else would kill him then frame me? Not a friend of ours I can assure you. Now I am unable to even figure it out because I am locked here in this cell. Hopefully someone will be able to take care of it.

“Noviae, you have a couple of visitors.” A guard tells me. Funny, I wasn’t expecting anybody to come and see me. I thought anyone who would care about me would be too ashamed to even speak to me.

The dark, foreboding hallway doesn’t help with how I feel at the moment. No one could possibly want to visit me, yet here I am walking down to see these unknown visitors. I hope they are friendly. I won’t e able to stand it if they aren’t.

A flash of light lets me know that I have arrived to the visiting room. Time to face whoever was brave enough to actually come and visit an accused murderer. Instead of silence, two screams of pure joy and two warm hugs is what I was greeted to. Looking into what was the hair of the two screaming assailants, I was overcome with a sense of pure joy. The two were none other than my younger sisters, Cameron and Dani, the only ones that could truly understand what has happened to me.

“Nicholai, what happened? Please tell us everything.” Cameron asked me with a hint of despair in her voice and a tear in her eye. As I recounted my horrible tale of woe and anguish to them, tears stream down my face. Even with the tears rolling down I continued forward, as this was a story that I have repeated in my head so many times before. As I ended my story, tears were escaping all of us. The girls felt my pain just as clearly as I did if not better.

“Nich, did you do it?” Dani had asked, tears rolling down her face and a hint of wavering in her voice. That question had struck a nerve, so close to my heart. How could she ask me that, when she knows that I am innocent?

“No, Dani, I didn’t, but I do want to find who did.” If I found the perpetrator then I would be clear. It is only a matter of how I would find him, being lock up in this cell. It sucks. I can’t escape or try to get out. Then I would really be in trouble. Maybe I can get Dani and Cameron to help?

“Is there any way that we can help you?” Cameron asked with sincerity in her heart. There it is my chance to get what I need done. Now I just have to figure out how to ask without causing to many problems, or scaring them away for doing it.

“Yes there is something you two can do, but it might be a little…….dangerous.” The pause is only given to read their faces and see how they will react to this next part. “I want you two to figure out why I am here, and who did this to me.

The look I got back was a look strong enough to break someone’s heart. Lucky for me, mine stayed intact. The look was a horrible look of shock and despair. Like they both expected to be asked that.

“We knew you were going to ask.” Dani started. “And we were thinking about it. I want to know why you are here as much as you do, but how do you expect us to figure it out on our own?”

“I don’t know. Ask dad or something. I really don’t have a clue.”

“Exactly, you are about as far into this process as we are. Plus if you want dad’s help so much then why don’t you ask him?” Cameron shot at me with obvious anger in her voice. I have tried to ask dad for his help, but he wouldn’t listen to me at all. Everytime I try, tears roll down his face and he just shakes his head at me.

"Dad is ashamed of me, that’s why I can’t ask him.”

Then just as quickly as the anger flared up in my sisters, it vanished. They both returned to their calm and cool facade.

“Ladies, it is time to go.”

Downcast, I watched as they both left in silence not uttering another word to me, or each other. My heart feels heavy after they left. A void has opened up, and I’m not sure if it can be closed. I am so close to the two of them, but there they went, out in silence not even saying that they loved me. I guess no one loves me now. Not my father, nor my sisters. If Mathias were here, I wonder what he would say. Mathias was like my twin brother, we had everything in common. School, books, music, even the way we thought. When he took his last breath, it was like a part of me died inside.

Mom, if you were still here what would you say? Would you comfort me? Or would you do the same that your husband is doing? Would you cry every time you looked at me, thought of me, or even heard my name? Would sadness overcome you? To the point where life isn’t worth living anymore? Is that why you are gone now? Is the thought of failure in me causing you to weep now, from where you are in Heaven? I wish I could cease your tears, even if I am the one to cause them.

Father, I’m sorry. You looked at me with such hope for the future. Which I looked at myself with all the same. You saw the track star, the business man, the great man that I could become. Now look at me, a crying mess that you won’t even cast your eyes towards. Please find it in your heart to somehow forgive me for causing your tears to fall. I know that you are trying to be a strong man, but it is hard when your son is as weak as me. I failed everyone. There is no way I can pull myself out of this hole that I am in.

To the unknown assailant, I will find you. You can sleep easy in your bed whilst I sit here. Plotting your demise. You’re the reason that I am locked in this infernal hellhole. You are the reason that I lie awake at night, afraid of whatever will happen to me. I haven’t slept peacefully at all while here. When I close my eyes I see that day, blood covering everything, Mathias’s body lying on the ground. Then I see your masked face, and then the horror of a gun being thrust into my hands. One thing I promise. I will find you, and I won’t rest until you are dead.

“Alright, bub. Let’s get you back to your cell.” The guard looks at me and seems to understand everything that I have been through. “I know how hard this must be for you. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be hard for anyone.”

Without giving any rational thought or any thoughts for my consequences, I reacted in the worst possible way……………ever. Grabbing the shirt of the officer I slammed him against the wall and half screamed, half cried at him, “Do you really know how I feel? I am in this hellhole with no possible way of getting out anytime soon, and you are going to tell me that you know how I feel? My best friend was murdered in front of my face and I am framed for killing him. YOU HAVE NO POSSIBLE WAY OF FEELING THE WAY THAT I DO!!!!!!”

The guard looked taken aback, but he seemed to understand where I was coming from. Maybe he would be able to help as well. “I apologize for what I have just done; my head is just full of what has happened and what is going to be come of me.” Sweet talk the guard and maybe he will see it my way. I have been known to charm anyone into doing what I want.

"Its just, everyone gets pulled into awkward situations that they don't want to be in." The guard tried to once again level with me. He hasn't a clue what it is that I did or didn't do, but he pretends like it.