Chapter 5 Behind Bars

Ellie's POV

"Just dress up," she ordered, rather dismissively. "The trial begins in less than one hour, and you are expected there."

"For what?" I challenged her, most probably the first time managing to speak. My head was spinning. This was impossible. She must have known something was off, something had gone awfully wrong with whatever Daniel did. But all I could fathom in her eyes was disappointment, even disgust.

"No one wants to hear what you have to say, Ellie. "Regulatory injunctions, and exceptions – Daniel's testimony is what matters," she answered sharply and irrefutably.

Before I could lick my wounds, you would have thought two officers were criminal composites of me as they stepped into the restrooms. One of them inched closer to me and my arm was apprehended quite painfully and persuasively.

"Do not touch me! "I have committed no sin!" I yelled, tugging my arm towards my body. My foster mother was nearby, and I looked at her, wishing that she would come to my rescue, thinking that perhaps she would understand me. But she averted her eyes from me, as though unable to stand having to look at me.

At that moment, Daniel arrived, a glint of sadistic pleasure in his eyes. He slowly inspected me, bent over so close that his breath could be felt on my face as he spoke in an exaggerated manner, 'I told you earlier, Ellie'. "Do you remember?" He added while smirking. "I had warned you not to get on my bad side, but look where we are now. You've brought this upon yourself."

I shot him a death stare, drawing all the remaining strength of defiance from my bones. "Fight me like a man, Daniel. "I know you are the most spineless man ever," I hissed back, rage straining my throat.

For an instant, rage flickered across his features. He shut his mouth so tight, and his hands formed tight knuckled fists. One of the few officers in the room saw how he reacted and raised one of his hands. "Sir, it is in your best interest to remain calm."

Daniel inhaled and exhaled loudly, the smirk on his face became wider and smuggled. He remained silent and they took me out. I glanced behind and for the first time I understood - this place, this so-called "home", was never a home in the first place.

In court, however...

There was an empty space on the defendants' table where I sat. The rest of the table was filled with people who looked at me with almost hostile disapproval. On the other side of the hall was Daniel, who kept wearing that obnoxious smile of his own all the time. As I looked at him, it was painfully obvious that he was enjoying my suffering and the power he had over me.

The judge called my turn to give the testimony and when I was through speaking, I saw Daniel jump to unleash the lies, turning the tables on the court. Alabaster climbed up onto the stand and pretended to be the beleaguered hero of the proceeding, vividly reciting what he imagined was an account of me throwing myself at him, his gallant efforts to "assist" me in the face of my apparent disability, all the way to his bewilderment at my "misunderstanding" his actions.

I crushed my jaw hard, feeling nauseated, as if I was about to throw up. It twisted every aspect of him that controlled his every word and endeared that half the information made me think of him.

Catching Daniel's eyes, I was unable to control myself. "And you expect anyone and everyone to believe that you just stood there, Daniel?" I raised my voice slightly, cutting the air in the room and landing my words with precision.

The judge's hard stare rendered me immobile. "I am going to instruct you to remain quiet, Miss Ellie!" "You will speak only when she calls for you!" He said this in a most authoritative manner.

I very desperately bit my sore lip and sank even deeper into my chair. My lawyer, however, had been quiet the entire time and now leaned closer, looking harassed. He looked as if he had resigned already, afraid to argue against whatever Daniel had conjured.

"Can't you do anything? "Anything at all, to prove that I am not lying?" I asked him in a frantic whisper.

He avoided my gaze and asked for a forensic examination of the evidence. The judge, however, waved it off almost immediately. "Not needed," he replied, and the finality in his tone was as forbidding as a door being forcefully shut.

At that moment, I understood how far the reach of Daniel's arm had gone. This judge did not care about the facts or justice; he was simply waiting for the right moment to put the case to rest and file me away to the bottom.

I looked around the courtroom in confusion where I was drawn to Emily in the audience. For that brief second, there was a surge of optimism in my heart. Emily was my best friend, the girl I confided in. If only she would rise up, speak out, lend truth to the situation, perhaps they would heed her call.

"Is there any way Emily can come and testify on my behalf?" I inquired, my remaining shred of hope making my voice quiver.

Daniel's lawyer faced Emily, bending his head and speaking something to her. She instantly turned her back and refused to even face me. My heart sank when I understood that she, without hesitation, dispensed with my side and decided to support him.

Sudden sunken awareness enveloped the room, and the judging man's face seemed to become icier still. At the last second, words were pronounced in a most ruthless manner, devoid of any emotions and with the utmost nonchalance.

"The court finds Ellie culpable for the attempted offense of misconduct and assault," he said. "A prison sentence of four years in rehabilitation is hereby imposed."

The sentence fell onto me like a lead weight, numbing everything within. I barely noticed my attorney's quiet regret, or Daniel's smug grin as I was escorted out, wrist cuffs a stark reminder of my defeat.

One week later...

This afternoon, when I was fast asleep, I was alarmed and was taken out of my pathetic little cell to be taken to the facility. I airily stepped into the van, my body too tired and my mind completely lost in thoughts of betrayal and love disaster.

The next moment, I felt that we were slowing down, and I spied through the small barred window a road blocking a black car. I remembered the car too well. My heart began to sink.

A moment later the van had its doors opened and Daniel got in the van with a pleased look on his face. "So, Ellie," he said, seating himself in the chair opposite me, "we meet again."

I balled my fists and the words came out hoarse with tiresome anger. "Haven't you done enough already, Daniel? You have taken everything from me. What more do you want?"

Daniel bent himself towards me, smugly completing his smile. "Oh, Ellie." "There is more to come," he said, whispering in a voice frostier and sharper than a knife. "I will make sure you know your place. Every day you will remain in that facility, you will be reminded that I am the one who placed you there."

Fear fluttered for a moment in my heart but was quickly crushed. "What else do you want, Daniel?" "Haven't you received all that you have been looking for?"

"Not yet," he said breathlessly. "I shall bring you down as an individual." I shall isolate you. So that by the time you are out, there is not even a shell of you."

With the sound of closing the door, he chuckled out loud yet again, as the van moved on. However, as we continued, I began to realize a different kind of emotion slowly creeping in.

Yes, he raided and took everything, including my home, friends, and freedom. But looking down the seemingly endless road that lay before me, I felt something deep within me begin to spark. I have lost everything, but I'm still present. I am still alive, still resisting.

And it is true that Daniel might think he had defeated me, but he is wrong. This was not the end; it was merely the onset of a new endeavor.