Well This Sucks - CoraLee June Page 0,45

that there was some voodoo making me desperately want to please a man that I had known for less than a week. But did Lawrence really deserve to die for that?

“I wasn’t planning to get all political in group therapy, but I don’t believe in the death penalty. I mean, yeah, I’d like to go all Carrie Underwood on his ride, but like murder? It won’t be up to me, right? That’s a lot of responsibility. And like, how do you even kill a vampire? Aren’t we immortal? I bet it’s painful, huh? Yeah. Totally painful. What was the question again?”

I was starting to hyperventilate. “Drew, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I snapped. “I’ve totally got this under control. It’s a lot, you know. I’m living with the person who changed me. I’m unwanted by this new community I’m forced to be a part of. I have to face the person responsible for all of this, and I’m…” In and out. I was for sure hyperventilating.

“Is she okay? She looks really pale,” Betty said, but her voice sounded really far away.

“Dude. I think she’s going to barf,” Kyle added.

“I think we’re having a breakthrough!” Eva’s chipper voice chimed in.

Nope. I was having a breakdown. I suppose both words worked, depending on your perception. Glass was half empty right now.

“Is there a problem in here?” Diego’s booming voice echoed around me. I looked up, though my vision was blurred.

“We were having our normal therapy session,” Eva replied, her voice a bit shaky.

Betty cackled. “Drew is having a panic attack.”

I felt a hand land on my back. I didn’t even see Diego move. “Which one of you upset her?” he asked, his voice a snarl.

“I mean, like technically, dude, it was kind of you that upset her. With this whole trial thing for Lawrence Wright,” Kyle replied.

“What?” Diego asked.

“We were trying to help Drew process her feelings before the trial today. She wasn’t aware that there was a trial, so it’s been a lot for her to take in at once,” Eva explained to Diego.

“Why are you here?” I asked between gasps for air.

“I am here to collect both you and Betty. It’s time to go. The two of you will be interviewed separately before appearing before the council.”

“Now?” I panicked.

“Yes, now.” Betty stood up from her chair and moved to follow Diego.

I didn’t budge from my seat. “But I’m wearing sweatpants!”

“Now, Drew,” he commanded.

“Give me a minute, sir,” Eva said, then came over and knelt on the ground so that she was eye level with me. She reached for my hand and squeezed. “Breathe, Drew. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.” I followed her instructions and matched my breathing to her words. In and out. In and out. Slowly, I started to calm down and got my breathing back to normal. “It’s going to be okay. Whatever happens today, it will be okay.”

Diego took us down to an underground level below the tower of doom. The stone walls were lined with sconces that gave off a soft glow. We walked down the corridor in silence, the only noise coming from our shoes against the slate flooring.

We stopped at an open doorway that strongly resembled a cell, and Diego motioned for Betty to go in. “This is Cecil.” Diego introduced us to a tall, gangly man wearing khakis and a polo. “Cecil is going to take your account of events, Betty.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Betty,” Cecil said, extending his hand to Betty, who rolled her eyes and pushed past him.

“Let’s get this over with,” she huffed and sat down, taking one of the two chairs surrounding the single desk in the room.

“That’s the spirit,” we heard Cecil tell Betty.

Diego closed the door and walked a little further up the hallway. I followed behind and almost slammed into his well-defined pecs when he abruptly stopped walking and turned to face me.

“We are expecting a guilty verdict today, Drew.”

“Are you going to kill him?”

Diego let out a sigh. “We have an executioner. But yes, I’ll be announcing the verdict.”

That felt so extreme. I didn’t understand why we had to go through with this. “You have an entire fucking compound at your disposal. Can’t you send him to prison for a hundred years or something? Or house arrest? Or a couple decades in solitude.”

“I don’t make a habit of making exceptions. He broke the rules and changed someone, Drew.”

I scowled. “And letting him live would make you look bad, huh? Can’t let