It's not me! (Part 2)

Title: It's not me! (Part 2)

Author: Haripriya

Authors Note: Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a happy Saturday! Just a quick note, this story is part 2 of the story I wrote yesterday. So if you have not read yesterday's story, I suggest you start with that one and then read this one. If you have already read yesterday's story, you're right on track! I hope you enjoy the second part as much as you liked the first one!

A couple of days had passed. But not much change occurred. The same old looks, the same old lectures, and me, saying the same phrase probably about the millionth time now (but who's counting?) It's not me! But did anyone believe me? All I can say is in my dreams. I feel almost persuaded by everyone who has been hurting me. They all keep saying that I am the murder. 

Part of my brain is starting to agree with the crowd. I'm having second thoughts about everything. Was I really the murderer? Did I really kill my brother without knowing? Was I sleepwalking with a knife in my hand? 

Sometimes I started to think that I was going crazy. I would go on and on with sleepless nights. Before, my parents used to say goodnight to me, now the way they say goodnight to me is by sulking in my face and telling me over and over again that everything is my fault. They keep going on about what a terrible person I am for doing a huge mistake and saying that I didn't do it. Everyone still thinks I'm lying about this, but I know that I am dead serious. Right?

Soon, I couldn't tell between what was real and what wasn't. I couldn't tell from fact to fiction. Sometimes I could see ghosts making fun of me, and swords piercing me. But the ghosts were just random kindergarteners, and the swords were sticks and leaves. I would have to bang my head a few times to come back to reality. 

Maybe my ghost was the one who killed my brother? Maybe, he never died at all? Maybe he escaped... maybe he ran away. 

I wanted to figure out what happened to him, so silly thoughts came into my mind too. Really, my ghost killing my brother? Come on! Also, my brother really did die. Unfortunately, I did see his dead body lying. 

Suddenly the thought of that gave me goosebumps, and I shook my head hard, trying to forget that moment. 

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Ever since the day this happened, I have changed. I became an innocent person. Usually, back at school (when I wasn't suspended by my terrible principal), no one would even dare to mess with me. I used to scare people, no one would ever want to make fun of me. But now, I just feel so helpless. So miserable, so dreadful, so sullen. I feel like there isn't any point in living now. I bet no one is going to forget or forgive me for what I did. 

Obviously, the police officers did absolutely no research when investigating this case, because the second after they saw the body and heard what the entire neighborhood said, they agreed with the crowd. 

Did those buff guys ever want to ask me what happened? No! Did they conduct any research? Did they look for any single clue, any piece of evidence to figure out what actually happened instead of listening to everyone's lie? Not even in my dreams!

These moments, these events, they keep rotating around my head. They keep coming up, every time I try to forget about all of this. It's like they have sworn never to leave me. I try to think about all the good things that have happened to me in the past, but at the top of my mind, the only one good thing that ever happened to me was... well, becoming famous. 

You know, even when I die, even when so many generations pass, I can imagine the grandparents telling their grandchildren this: "Do you want to know the story of Lee? The Lying Murderer? Well, he was about your age, maybe a little older, when he pushed his brother into the lake, in revenge. Soon the next day, there laid a dead body. Lee claimed he did not do it, but everyone knew he did it. He is still known as The Lying Murderer from then till now. So kids, if you do bad things throughout the year, he will kill you too. Be good children, ok?"

This tale can also be a perfect story for a scary story time. Except for the last part. I bet everyone would be afraid of me then. But it didn't even need years from now for this story to pass. Luckily because of the internet, everyone in the entire world knows this. I bet all the parents are telling their kids not to be like me. They're probably telling them to love their siblings, and never do anything with revenge. They might also be telling the kids to not lie, like how everyone thinks I did. 

Imagining all these things just makes me hate myself. I never, ever wanted to be known as the worst person in the world. I wanted to become a good role model, a good example for everyone. Not a person who no one wants to be like. Who no one wants to look up to.

I honestly wish I could go back in time, and ask my brother why he felt so tensed and anxious at that time. No one would ever commit suicide for absolutely no reason. I wish I could advise him not to die. If I had done that, none of this would have ever happened to me. Not a single one of these unfortunate events would ever have occurred if he told me what was wrong with him. I could have helped him, I really could have. But what can I even do anymore? Prove to the entire world that I'm totally innocent and they were all wrong?

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Suddenly, I got a great idea. 

"YES, I COULD TOTALLY DO THAT!!! NOW EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD WILL KNOW I'M INNOCENT! THANK YOU UNIVERSE!" I yelled into the night sky.

I suddenly realized that I had been outside for a very long time, famished. But food and water didn't really seem too important right now. What was more important was I clear my name. Instead of everyone being afraid of the name Lee Burns, everyone should clap for me, cheer for me. 

I slowly knocked on the door. I knew no one would open it. After all, who would even look at me after this misunderstanding. 

Though unexpectedly, my mother opened the door. I wanted to say good night to her, but analyzing her grim face, it was best I made no small talk and went straight to bed. I didn't want to ruin my mood, for today (after a very long time) I was going to sleep well. I was going to sleep for a full eight hours and wake up with excitement and happiness. 

Good night and sweet dreams Lee!

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It was finally morning. Frankly, I didn't even realize the sun had risen. I was sleeping like a bear. Snoring (maybe?) and sleeping with the utmost comfort. I punched my alarm softly and looked at the window to see the sun smiling at me. It was winking, telling me good luck. I smiled back, and opened the curtains and blinds a little bit more. After all, I needed to get some Vitamin D. 

I jumped up excitedly and folded my comfort and blankets. I carefully fluffed all my three pillows. I yawned and stretched with a wide smile on my face. I was going to get ready for my investigation.

After all of my morning routines, I packed some materials needed for any proper investigation. A magnifying glass (which is really powerful by the way), a fingerprinting kit, a proper detective flashlight I got last year for Christmas, some specimen swabs to help me gather correct evidence, some plastic bags to store my evidence, my spy pen, and lastly a fingerprint lifting tape I got from the school store. Lastly, I put on my fake glasses and my extremely long burnt umber coat to get the proper feel of a detective. I was going to atone for my fake mistake. 

As I was getting down the steps to the ground, I walked in slow motion as the cool breeze waved my hair. I just imagined some background rock music blasting, like how they do in the movies. Finally, I was going to clear my name. I was going to figure out who killed my brother, and why. If the police aren't going to do it, then someone needs to, right?

I held my black briefcase on my right and my magnifying glass on the left.

The first place I needed to check was the lake near the neighborhood. That was the first place I could collect a lot of clues. I taped the approximate spot where my brother was lying dead. I tried to collect fingerprints around the area, but there was no luck. Only some light marks. I figured the water from the lake flowed a bit on the surface, eventually wiping most of the fingerprint substance. Though I did spot my arches and loops, I still couldn't get a proper print. 

I sighed and put the fingerprinting kit inside the briefcase. I thought of trying this magnifying glass to find any hints or traces of weapon... or something. 

When I peeked through, all I found were pebbles, sediments, rocks, and fire ants crawling here and there.

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I was frustrated, but I didn't want to give up. Since there were no witnesses, this investigation became a lot harder. Not only that, but the fact that no one in this community or even the world would want to help me with this case, I was going to have to figure it out all by myself. 

I rushed back home to grab a notepad and a pen. I was surprised that my parents didn't even question what I was doing.

I wrote down several suspects. My brother did have an entire group of arch-nemesis who was so jealous of him because he was basically good at everything except swimming. I separated the lined paper into two columns. One was his group of close friends, and the other column was people who he disliked. 

The good news was that I did organize each person into the corresponding column, but the bad news was I didn't understand what their motive was. If you think about it every single person in this world does something bad because they'll get something from it. Even characters in books make each choice because the author clearly knows what that character's motive is going to be.

I kept asking the question: What's in it for them? but I got nowhere close. The problem in this investigation was that nothing matched. One piece of evidence didn't link to the other one. It was all scattered, mismatched. Almost like a puzzle with so many pieces but they don't fit together. If you were in a moment like that, you would get confused too, wouldn't you?

Well, that's exactly what was happening now.  

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I guess I really can't fix this mistake. I can't clear my name, I'm just not that talented enough. Oh, why did I ever think this whole investigation thing would ever work? Of course it wouldn't! Nothing would make sense. If someone could ask him why he did this, then we might be getting somewhere, but you can't talk to a dead person. I guess I really was going to juvenile for something I never committed. My entire future was going to start and end in jail. I would be so lost in life, without any goal or need to move on.

I guess I deserve this. Whatever I do, nothing makes sense. What the people in my community said kind of does make sense. I guess their entire lie isn't too bad, because it sounds kind of like something I would totally do. Especially the fact that I have no one to support me. No one to stand up with me. Everyone is on one side, and only I am on the other side. 

I can't fight by myself, that's just simply foolish! I had no other choice but to give in and to accept this entire lie. After all, what could I possibly do? Everyone thinks it's me, and now I'm starting to think that they had a reason why they all thought it was me. Even if I tried to defend myself, what argument could I possibly make? I have no proof and no evidence to prove my innocence. 

I can't do anything but accept my new life as a prisoner. I am one of the lucky people to be locked up so early in their life. Especially during school years. My life is now over. I am totally done! But I still know that it's not me.

~The End~