B is for Blame

Hello!  Welcome back!  I hope you are ready for the next blog post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  If you missed the last blog post, definitely go read that one.  Click here, or you will be very confused in reading today’s installment.

For this story, I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  I felt that this was a really good opportunity for me to not only express my creativity, but challenge myself to building a very long story that could be cut up into multiple parts.  And for it all to make sense!  So if you want to follow along with other blog posts in the challenge, check the hashtag #AtoZchallenge to follow along.

This story would be categorized as Dark. Thank you so much and I will see you tomorrow for the next installment.  Enjoy!

B is for Blame

“NO!  If you take the gun you will use it against me!  I don’t think so.”  Jacob lunged forward at Aspen and she pulled the trigger out of fear.  There was a loud bang and Jacob fell face first onto the floor.  A large puddle of blood started to pool around him.  Aspen screamed, her brain didn’t register what had happened.  Why was the gun loaded?  How did she just shoot her boyfriend?  She dropped the gun and fell to the floor, crying as she waited for the police to come.

“Jacob!  Jacob wake up!”  Aspen reached out and shook his shoulder.  There was nothing.  No life, no breath, no warmth.  Tears flowed down Aspen’s cheeks.  “JACOB!  PLEASE!”  She shook his body again hoping for a different result.

The front door flew open.  “Police stay on the ground!”

“Please!  It was an accident!  I just had the gun to scare him!  I didn’t know it was loaded!”  Aspen wanted to make sure she was heard even though she was blubbering like an idiot through her tears.

One of the officers grabbed her arms and handcuffed her.  “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.”  He lifted her up and set her feet on the ground.  “And I highly suggest that you remain silent.”

Aspen was led outside and put in the cop car.  She was taken to the the station where she sat alone for quite some time.  An attorney was assigned to her and he sat in the interrogation room with her.  He cleared his throat.  “Hello.  I’m Ross Peterson.  I am your attorney.  And I have looked at what happened and I want to get your side.”

She swallowed.  “Um…my boyfriend was very manipulative.  He tried to change me to be a person that I wasn’t.  I pushed all of my family and friends away because of him.  I bought a gun from this guy online just to scare Jacob.  I didn’t know there was a bullet in it.  I know nothing about guns, I just wanted something to scare him into knowing that I was serious.  But he lunged toward me and my finger was on the trigger and I was so scared that I pulled the trigger.  And then he was suddenly on the ground in a puddle of his own blood.  I…I didn’t want him to die.  I just wanted things to change.”

Ross leaned forward on the table, getting closer to Aspen.  “You know people are going to blame you for this right?  They are going to say nasty things about you.  Are you ready for that?”

Aspen nodded, tears still trickling down her cheeks.  “I know they are going to blame me, and why wouldn’t they?  I bought a gun and accidentally killed him.  Of course I’m the one to blame.”

Ross reached his hand across the table.  “You are not the one to blame.  You were trying to protect yourself.  You were hurt by someone and you were trying to be safe.  You are not to blame.  Trust me.”