I know who you are. Each and every one of you. I know what you want. You want to know why I did it. Sit.

I've known Gary for 19 years now. It was my second year of school, I remember it well.

He had arrived early and so was getting the breakfast club treatment. I was one of the first to arrive that day; dad couldn't drive me because of his hangover, so I got the bus. Though it technically wasn't allowed for a seven-year-old to go to school without adult accompaniment, I had no choice sometimes but to try to sneak into and out of school without any teachers getting the chance to question. It wasn't difficult; the education system didn't get as much funding back then as it does now. I wasn't particularly unhappy about getting in early either if I'm honest. I wasn't exactly popular in my class.

When I arrived into the 'Beavers classroom', I saw Gary pressing his pencil to a sheet of A4 paper on a desk in the centre of the room. I sat down next to him in one of the tiny plastic chairs (that dates the story) to see that he was drawing a low-quality drawing - though impressive as far as drawing standards at the time were - of a king of some kind. It took him a while to actually notice that I was there as his attention seemed to be occupied by watching some of the popular kids who had arrived before me: Charlotte, Catherine and Manny. When Gary finally noticed I had sat next to him, he laconically said, "Gary." This was shortly followed by "You?"

I should've known what he was going to try from the very start; I'll beat myself up about it every second of the day until I die. I'm Freddy, I'm 26 years old, as you well know. I am here to prove how I've been framed by the serpent from the sea.

As I got to know Gary, I recognised his obsession with the Royal family and the idea that there used to be a single person who could rule everyone. I, too, liked the idea that I could help people who the government weren't, such as the poor. I'd also ban alcohol. It wasn't uncommon for people to like the Royal family back in the day. After all, it was a great distraction from the politics of things like Brexit and any possibility of war. We became good friends rather quickly. We didn't have a lot in common, but it was like my mother always said: "Opposites attract; just look at me and your father!"

Before I knew it, Gary and I rose through the ranks of popularity in our class. I didn't completely understand how, but it gave me a sense of purpose. From the insignificant amount of speech he could pull together when he first joint our class, he seemed to have been making an impact with his voice. He'd developed at least three inside jokes in the half term it took to rise like we did. Who'd have thought I'd be hanging with the popular kids?

As we grew up, I found out more about Gary. For example, he was born on Madagascar to his explorer parents and was raised by the locals for most of his life whilst his parents were 'busy'. That explained the small amount of speaking he could make out originally. 'Madagascar, ey?' I'd always say and he'd just smile and look out towards the sky, as if to note that he was far from his real home.

When he was only 15, he got a job working in the local shop called "Harley's". What a guy, I'd think to myself. I was still wondering who he was. I knew so little about where he wanted to be. He wasn't at home. By the time we were 18, he was the owner.

By this point, I'd met Ellie. Ellie was and still is the love of my life. We met at the college that I and Gary went to. When we were 19, we got engaged and married. Gary was best man, obviously. That shows just how close the two of us were. I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna take a lot of thinking for me to decide whether or not we are still close. He'd sold the shop to a big company and was now loaded with cash. He even helped fund the honeymoon, especially considering the location. We even let him come along.

Madagascar: me, Ellie and him. It was amazing. We kept extending the honeymoon to the point that we were there for an entire year. We saw the beautiful place where he was born and lived the life he had as a child. He seemed very proud of his family and the place that he was born; I thought that I finally had worked out who he was, simply an ambitious man who wanted to get as far in life as he could whilst staying true to himself. He wanted his mark to be forever seen.

I didn't, though, realise the lengths which he would go to reach where he wanted to be.

When we got back to our actual home, he got the position he apparently wanted to get. He got a position as a driver for one of the Prince Andrew's children (I forget). I wasn't sure how he got there that fast, but he just suddenly was. Not bad for someone with only a few years experience of driving. At this point we were 22.

Me and Ellie had twins who we called Emily and Kylie when we were 23. We had to move further away from Gary to find affordable housing for our family. We called Gary as soon as we arrived to make sure he knew we were fine. He seemed to be content with his life. He told us that he'd been promoted to some real high up position. He didn't give the specifics. We were happy for him.

Later that day, we turned on the news. I'd forgotten that it was elections. I'd voted, obviously, I had just forgotten the results were being announced. A party I'd never heard about had won. It was called the "One" Party. Who was the leader? It was Gary. He was our new prime minister. Beats the previous one, Kevin Gatens. Why hasn't he told us? We phoned him again but didn't get a response.

It was a bit surreal that my best friend was now head of the country. That's where he always wanted to be, right? That time he drew the king in class. He sure wanted a position of power.

Though Parliament still had a group of different parties, most were MPs from the "One" party. That meant that whatever he would say would go. Not even then did I get concerned.

He was very popular. Lots of people complimented his excellent charisma. I suppose that's why we were always the popular ones. I guess that's how he became head of that shop. And now he was prime minister.

He was prime minister for a long time.

Now we're all twenty-six. Gary occasionally popped round for tea because he was always great. Me and Ellie, by this point, now had four children. George was born on her 24th birthday, and Rachel was born only eight weeks before today. It was two weeks after Rachel was born that everything began to happen.

Everyone was in distress across the world.

A fire had unexpectedly burnt down Buckingham Palace over night. King William was no more. I think everybody was shocked at how such a thing could happen. Nobody could've got so close as to cause a fire on purpose? How could nobody have noticed a natural fire either? Everybody loves the monarchy, I thought to myself. The night following this, I got a call. It was Gary. He sounded distressed.

"I've made a grave mistake." He called. The call ended. I was confused. I didn't link the two events until it was too late.

'George ends it all' read all the papers. Mourning because of his father, he ended the long line of monarchy in England. It was over.

He was as close to the king as he could be now. The highest position in England. It all made sense now.

It all made sense now.

That night, I was pulled from my sleep by armed police who accused me of the murder of the King of England. Can you tell me now, all of you, that he didn't betray me? Of course you can't. He lied. He is a lying, criminal snake. From Madagascar. I declare to you that he is the serpent from the sea.

I know he's won already, but I just want to see my children again. I thought that he was my friend, but he's just been playing me since we first met.

I'm being blamed for the murder of the king. I plead not guilty. Not that any of this will matter. I shan't win.