"I am sorry, but there is no Emily Wagner on the list," the guard behind the security glass said for the one hundredth time while shoving my Passport through the slot. "Only the victims and the close relatives of the victims may speak at parole hearings."

"Jessica Hawkins is on the list, right?" I questioned as I picked up my Passport. "I am her... cousin!"

"But you're not on the list," the guard continued.

"Please, she's here, isn't she? Call her down, she'll confirm it!" I pushed.

"I cannot call someone down," the guard glared.

"Fine, I'll contact her myself," I rolled my eyes.

After 20 minutes of waiting to get to the front of the line when I was already late for the parole hearing, the last thing I needed was to be stonewalled by a prison guard for another 10. Time was ticking and part of me wanted to give in and admit that I was MC, but I wasn't that desperate just yet. The next person in line pushed past me impatiently to get to the front desk while I was pulling out my phone.

MC: Hey so I'm here, but there's a bit of confusion at the front. Could you come down?
MC: By the way, my name is Emily Wagner and I'm your cousin. (I'll explain later.)

After a couple of minutes of waiting, there was no response from Jessy, so I started to get a bit nervous.

"There you are!" I heard a familiar voice. "Emily!"

I turned and saw Cleo on the other side of the security door with a guard, "See!? She knows me!"

One of the other guards opened the door to let Cleo through. She walked up to me, and we hugged.

"Are they giving you trouble?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Yes! Apparently, I'm not on the list!" I exclaimed.

"Strange, let me see if I can convince them to let you in," Cleo winked and pushed up to the security desk. "Hi, yes, Emily is with us. I believe she's speaking for MC since MC couldn't make it."

The guard sighed and rolled his eyes, "Fine, hand me your ID again."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from rubbing it in and pushed my Passport through the slot in the security glass again. The guard gave me a sideways glance, then entered in my details from my Passport into his computer. After a moment, a visitor's pass with my fake name on it printed out on my side of the glass. I took it and peeled off the backing on the sticker to slap onto my chest.

"Fischer will escort you to the hearing room," the guard waved towards the security door where Cleo's escort was waiting.

"Thank you," I said half-honestly.

"Sorry for not coming down sooner, Jessy is speaking at the moment," Cleo explained as we walked over to the door. She nodded to the guard operating the door and the door opened again. "She threw me her phone when she saw your message."

"I'm sorry I'm so late!" I rebutted as we followed the prison guard down the hall.

"Honestly, I am surprised you even showed up at all!" she exclaimed. "I mean, I heard the news about that thing with you and you know who. By the way, you have a lot of explaining to do!"

I laughed, "Yes, I know. As soon as we put Richy away for his full sentence, I'll tell you everything. How is it going in there?"

Cleo sighed and shrugged, "I don't really know. The room is so hard to read. And it's so heavy. Hearing Amy's parents speak was so heartbreaking. And poor Lilly. Hannah asked her to speak on her behalf. She did so well to keep her cool."

"Well, let's hope what I have to say seals the deal," I patted the folder in my hands.

"What is that? Chat history?" Cleo questioned.

"You'll see soon enough," I nodded.

Our escort took us to a set of double doors and opened them for us. I took a deep breath and marched straight through the doors with Cleo. The room wasn't as big as I had expected, no larger than a classroom. There was a long table at the far end with three well-dressed and imposing individuals. In front of them was a table to the side where Richy and his lawyer sat. On the other side was a podium for people to approach and speak to the board.

Jessy was standing at the podium, speaking in German. I didn't need to know what she was saying to know she was recounting how the one person she thought she trusted attacked her more than once. Dan stood to her side as support. Cleo joined the others sitting in the chairs behind Jessy. Thomas and Lilly looked over their shoulders when they heard me enter and were relieved to see me there. Dan saw me and lightly touched Jessy on the shoulder. She paused and glanced behind. Wiping her tears, she smiled at me.

I couldn't even look towards the other side of the room even though I felt his eyes on me, even though I heard him mutter my name.

The older man sitting in the middle of the table looked at me with disgust as I entered, as if my presence offended him. He interrupted Jessy and asked something in German, which I took to mean, "Who the hell is this?" It was possibly said more politely, but given his sour expression, the intent was there.

"This is MC," Jessy responded as I approached the podium.

"Sorry, I don't speak German," I bowed my head slightly. "I have come a long way to speak at this hearing today, if you would allow me."

"MC?" the man shuffled through his papers, trying to figure out who I was again.

A man walked up from the back of the room and came up beside me, "MC was instrumental in locating Herr Roger and Fräulein Donfort in the Ironsplitter Mines. Her assistance with police will not be forgotten."

I nodded to Alan and whispered, "Thank you."

"How is it exactly that you came to be involved?" the head of the board questioned.

"By a strange set of circumstances, but I was asked to stay and help find Hannah, and I did," I explained. "By Richard Roger himself, who fooled and misled me to help convince the others of his sick horror story. I saw firsthand how he uses his charming personality to deceive all those around him to make them play his game."

"You believe his good behaviour is an act?" the head queried.

"I do, and not only that, Richy- I mean Richard is an extremely reckless individual that acts out on sheer impulse, endangering all those around him," I pulled out the photos from my folder. "These photos are a prime example of the consequences of his behaviour. This is John Doe, discovered two days after the fire at the mines on the side of the road by Terrendale, with burns covering 25% of his body and an infection that nearly claimed his life."

Behind me I heard Lilly cry out in a mix of disbelief, shock and pain. I stepped out from behind the podium and carefully placed the photos down on the table, spreading them out for the board to see. They grimaced at the photos but pushed them away. Alan stepped up behind me and put his hands on my arms to pull me away from the table.

Richy's lawyer jumped up out of her seat, "This is not a trial!"

"She's right, MC," the head sighed. "This hearing is regarding the crimes that Mr. Roger was convicted of. There is nothing in his file about his arson causing injury."

"That's because there was no victim," the lawyer sneered.

"Yes, there was!" I exclaimed, keeping my attention firmly on the board. "These are his hospital records! He suffered because of Richard Roger! It's all there!"

I could hear Richy's breathing become distressed, but I ignored him. Cleo and Thomas struggled to console Lilly as she started sobbing.

"Additional charges against my client must be brought up in a courtroom, not at his parole hearing! If, that is, you have evidence that he is even responsible," the lawyer argued. "As my client stated in his confession, he was alone in those mines. He is not responsible for anyone who may have been recklessly inside a closed mine!"

"Come on, MC," Alan mumbled.

"What of these two US agents that were found dead?" the female board member to the right questioned. "Why is this not included?"

Two dead federal agents? That was the first time I had heard of anyone getting hurt, never mind dying in the mines that night.

"Because the US agents entered the mines after the fire was extinguished, after Herr Roger was apprehended," Alan answered. "Their cause of death was ruled to be unrelated to the explosion."

"It was believed that there may have been an internationally wanted fugitive in the mines when my client ignited the fire. My client had no way of knowing this," the lawyer pushed. "The US agents showed up after my client had closed the entrance to the mine."

"Herr Roger?" the head turned to Richy. "Is there something you wanted to say?"

"I-... I didn't see anyone. I thought I was alone. I wouldn't have done what I did if I had known he was there," Richy spoke solemnly. "MC, I truly didn't know."

I turned to glare at him, but instead I was shocked to see what had become of him. If I had met him elsewhere, I would never have recognised him. The right side of his head was completely covered in burn scars and what remained of the left side of his face was absolutely lifeless. With his prison buzz cut, he looked nothing like the Richy I remembered.

"Fick dich! You don't have a right to speak to her!" Dan yelled.

"Herr Anderson!" the head shouted.

"Without any way of proving that this individual was even at the mines, this board will disregard all mention of this John Doe," the head ruled.

"No!" I exclaimed. "He was there!"

"Who was?" the head looked at me. "And where is this man? Why is he not here to give his statement? Why has he not pressed charges against Herr Roger after five years?"

"Please! He suffered so much because of him!" I screamed.

"MC..." Richy's voice shook.

"Halt die Klappe!" Dan bellowed.

The head barked out orders to the guards in German while motioning to me and Dan. I took it to mean we were no longer welcome in the hearing room.

Suddenly the lights went out and the emergency lights turned on. The room started to panic. A static noise was heard from behind me. I turned around and for the first time I noticed two large television screens on the rear wall facing the board, one on either side of the door. On each screen a red eye flickered on. A fit of laughter overtook me. Alan shouted out in German at the top of his lungs. I didn't need to understand German to know he said, "Cut the internet connection!"

"You asked for his statement!" I yelled over the commotion. "So you better be prepared to receive it!"