Life On The Inside

[Red Ranger 1]

Aww I'm glad you didn't get rid of Belle all together. Given it's you though I'm not expecting a happy Adelle ending but I can still hope.

Hope Belle will realise her feelings for Aden soon one day

Oh, I was trying really hard not to give people false home with that one...It's me.They're not going to walk off into the sunset at the end.Sorry.Hope you keep reading.

CHAPTER 11

The counsellor that Rachel had recommended was called Doctor Robson and Aden was beginning to wonder if she’d made a mistake.He didn’t seem any different from any other stuffy middle-aged man.“Why do we have to go through everything again?”he complained,“You know what happened.”

“This isn’t about what I know,”Robson told him gently,“It’s important that you know what happened, that you know why you did what you did.”

“I did it because of what my father told me, because of what it meant about what happened to me.I did it because I wanted him dead.”

“Are you sure it’s as simple as that?”

Aden couldn’t understand where this was going.He’d had it all straight in his mind.He’d spent the last few months thinking through everything that had happened, over and over again.And now someone was telling him he’d got it wrong?“What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s a difference between wanting someone dead and actually trying to make it happen.” Robson let the comment hang in the air for a moment.“The boy that your father killed.His family.Do you think there have been times when they wished he was dead?”

“I guess so.”

“If one of them had been in your place, do you think they would have reacted the way you did?”

Considering they’d been friends once, Aden hadn’t had much to do with Axel’s family.But from what he knew of his parents and Danielle, it was hard to imagine them being so desperate for his father to die that they’d lock Rachel and Belle in a shed.He remembered when he’d met Melody at the clinic, blaming herself for Axel’s death simply because she’d prayed for it to happen.Something told him she wouldn’t have tried to do it herself.“No,”he said at last.

“And why’s that?”

“Because…because they’re good people.”

Robson smiled at him sympathetically.“You’re going for the easy answer again, Aden.Almost everyone has felt anger or hatred towards another person at one time or another.That doesn’t make them bad people. It’s just they’ve learned to control those feelings, to express them in a way that isn’t destructive towards themselves or others.You had your childhood taken away from you so the lessons you should have learnt then you’re having to learn now.I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy or that it isn’t going to take time. But it is possible.”

“You’re Aden Jefferies, aren’t you?”

Aden looked at the man who was standing over him, one of the new arrivals.He was tall and thickset, maybe ten years older than Aden, and fixing him with a steely gaze.“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I wanted to sit there.”

“Okay, yeah, sure.”Aden got up and waved the man into his seat.Then he sat in the one next to him and held out a hand to him.“So who are you then?”

“Ted.”There was a trace of uncertainty and confusion in the man’s voice as he shook Aden’s hand.

“You in here for long?”

“Four years.Armed robbery.”

“I’ll probably see you around then.Nice to meet you, Ted.”As Aden got to his feet and walked away, a smile spread across his features.He had a feeling that Ted wouldn’t know how to react to him now.And that seemed a lot more satisfying than a bout of fisticuffs.He wondered if it was right for him to derive such enjoyment from seeing his confusion.But then, as Robson had said, some things took time.

[Red Ranger 1]

I can sense the finishing line. I’m hoping for some major event, near cataclysmic to occur. On the other hand it could just be an anticlimax.

Um, possibly leaning towards anti-climax but tell me when we get there.It may have been a mistake to drag this one past its originally planned ending but I kept thinking up more scenes I wanted to write. This is definitely going to be the last chapter proper and I'll try and post the epilogue shortly.

CHAPTER 12

“Any more thoughts, Aden?”Robson asked gently.

Aden sat quietly for a moment, turning over the contents of his head.“There is something.Something Rachel said when I spoke with her.I kinda dismissed it at the time but since then it’s been worrying me.”

“Go on.”

“She said she was worried that if my father had died, I’d have killed her as well, so she wouldn’t tell anyone.And I could see why she’d think that but I knew it was wrong.I’d told her all along that once I’d got what I wanted, once she couldn’t do anything to save him, I’d let her go.”

“And that was a lie?”

“No, no, I was telling the truth.I was going to let her go.”Aden paused, swallowing hard.“But what if I changed my mind?”

“Is that likely?”

“I think I’ve been looking for a quick fix, an easy answer.One thing that’s going to make everything all right.I thought being with Belle would solve everything, that if I could have a proper relationship, if I could love her, then that meant I was all right.And it worked for a while.I forgot about my problems.”

“But there’s a difference between forgetting about your problems and solving them?”

Aden nodded.“And then when I found out my father could have stopped what happened to me, before it even started, if he’d just had the guts to tell someone about my grandfather…I thought that if I could make someone pay for what had happened to me then that would be it, I’d have peace.But it wouldn’t have worked.So I think I’d have started looking for something else.And if Rachel had been there, maybe I’d have thought…that that was the reason, that I didn’t have peace because I was scared that she’d tell people, that I’d go to jail. Maybe I’d think that was the solution.”

“You think you’d have hurt her?”

“I don’t know.That’s what scares me.I really don’t know what I would have done.It’s like I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong.”

“But you know right and wrong exist.That’s a start.All you need to do is learn to tell them apart.”

In spite of everything, Aden found himself smiling.“All?”

“Are you looking for the easy answer again?”

He sighed.“I know.Doesn’t exist.”

“Step by step, Aden.Step by step.”

Aden had felt relaxed when he’d left the counselling session but he tensed up again as he came back onto the wing.He could see Ted coming in his direction and wondered if he really had defused any tension between them.Persevere, he reminded himself.Step by step.He nodded a greeting to the other man.“Ted.”

Ted returned the nod.“Aden.”

Aden smiled, not with the self-satisfaction he’d felt before, more out of sheer relief.Maybe there really was a better way of handling things.He carried on to where Trevor had been watching the exchange open-mouthed.“I don’t get it,”Trevor said as he came in earshot,“When that guy came in here, he was talking about ripping your head off.”

“Really?It usually takes longer than that.”

“What did you do to change his mind?”

Aden could only think of one answer.“I guess…I was nice to him.”

Trevor took this in.“Gotta try that some time.”

Something suddenly occurred to Aden.“Wait a minute.You knew that and you didn’t warn me?”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t think of that.”

Aden sighed.“How much longer are you in here for?”

“I’m up for parole in six months.I’m quite hopeful.”

“You want to make a pact?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“That when we walk out of those gates, we never come back.”

Trevor nodded.“Yeah, I’d be up for that.”

[Red Ranger 1]

Got here at last, everyone!Hope you like it.

EPILOGUE

Aden checked his watch as he headed down the corridors of the clinic.He was going to be late for his appointment but he couldn’t resist the temptation to check in at the IT manager’s office first.He knocked on the door once before pushing it open.“Trev, you in here?”

Trevor looked up from his desk and grinned.“Aden!Aren’t you supposed to be meeting someone?”

“Probably.Just wanted to check you were keeping out of trouble.”

“I’m keeping out of trouble?You were the one who ended up in the medical wing, as I remember.”

“I was a victim of circumstances.”

“You nearly got yourself a reputation.Remember that guy Ted?He thought you were the guy he had to take on to earn respect.”

Aden laughed as he remembered the incident.“That’s what that was all about?You’ve no idea how glad I am I decided not to wind him up.”He patted Trevor on the shoulder.“Just stay away from the bank server. And try not to start World War Three.”

“Now that was a scurrilous rumour.I’m sure the conflict wouldn’t have been that major.”

Aden gave him an indulgent smile before leaving the office.The presence of his old cellmate at the clinic was one of the few reminders he had left of those days.He’d gone back to live with Roman and Nicole when he’d got out of jail and he was still in contact with them.He even got a letter from his dad once in a while and sometimes he replied to them.Belle…He hadn’t heard from her in a while.She was still in Melbourne as far as he was aware, married to a local doctor.At least it wasn’t a policeman.

The receptionist, Linda, gave him a reproachful look as he approached the front desk.“Late again, Aden?”

“Yeah, sorry.I haven’t kept him waiting, have I?”

“Fortunately for you, he’s late as well.”She handed him a file.“Get yourself up to speed on the case.I’ll let you know when he gets here.”

Aden headed towards his office, pausing, as he often did, to note the irony of the words ‘Aden Jefferies, Counsellor’ on the door before going inside.

The teenaged boy sat opposite Aden was looking everywhere else except at him, looking as though he didn’t want to be there.Aden looked at him with a trace of amusement.Surly, uncommunicative, pushing away people who were trying to help…he could definitely relate.“So, Jase.Do you have any idea why you’re here?”

“Probably because I tried to burn down my school.”

“And why did you want to do that?”

Jase shrugged.“Just thought it would be a laugh.”

Aden examined the contents of the file.He already knew what it said but he was making a point of the fact.“Your father’s in hospital, isn’t he?”

Jase shifted uncomfortably.“Yeah, that’s right.”

“What happened?”

“He had an accident at work, broke his back.They say he might be paralysed.”Aden could see Jase putting his defences up.“But that’s got nothing to do with it.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Jase’s eyes were drifting around the room again, trying to avoid Aden.They alighted on the framed newspaper page on the wall…and stopped there.He turned back to Aden, stunned.Aden smiled and gestured for him to take a closer look.

Jase got to his feet and went over to the frame, Aden just behind him.He took in the photo, the headline: “Local boy jailed”.He scanned the article before looking back at Aden.“This was you?”

“Oh yeah.I’ve got a few skeletons in my cupboard.”

“Then how did you end up here?”

“Lots of teenagers go off the rails, Jase.Sometimes because of events that are outside their control.But there comes a time when you have to take responsibility for your actions and make a choice, whether you’re going to keep on going or whether you’re going to stop and try and get your life back under control.”He paused before asking the question, the same question he’d had to think about back then. “Which are you going to do?”

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