1 Prologue

Her hands were bound in cold metal as she sat in the pale, dull room. Her legs crossed under the steel grey table as she leaned forward on her elbows. She looked intently at the woman seated across from her, studying her face and tilting her head slightly in curiosity.

The woman; Lonnie Cane from a well-known newspaper, had curly brown hair that was put in a loose bun at the bottom of her head. Her eyes resembled honey and were gazing at her files with interest and...admiration. As her gaze turned to the 19-year-old girl in the chair across from her, her eyes shone with sympathy and an odd sense of respect.

"Hello Annie, my name is Lonnie Cane, I'm a journalist for 'The Hawthorn newspaper'"

"Hello Lonnie," the girl responded with a look of amusement clear on her face.

Lonnie crossed her hands over the table and leaned back slightly. Annie tilted her head slightly as well and copied Lonnie's hand movements as if to mock her. Lonnie had found the young woman's attitude entertaining letting out a small chuckle at her antics. The two women stared at each other for a while before one spoke up.

"Well Lonnie, though I enjoy our little staring contest, I'm almost certain that's not the reason you drove all the way out here." The Hawthorn state prison was at least a 2-hour drive from any major cities, and other than her parents, no one ever came to visit Annie. She was one of the many criminals that would spend most of their lives behind cold iron bars, so when she was told a journalist had come to interview her, she was intrigued.

"You're quite right about that Annie, I am here because I want to know what happened… from your point of view". Lonnie was a new hire at the newspaper, and that was the reason she thought her editor had tasked her with this story, a 19-year-old girl brutally murdered a 21-year-old boy from her city. What was interesting about that?

"It's a long story Lonnie, and to be honest there's nothing interesting about it. If you want to know, look at the police reports. Although…" she paused glancing at the files the journalist had set out on the table "I'm sure you already have".

Lonnie glanced down at the files she was able to get from the police, there was nothing interesting in it, only the details of the case that were made public. There was no motive, no backstory, nothing that showed how or why, an honour student in her first year of a prestigious university, became a murderer.

"Like I said Annie" she spoke, glancing back at the girl "I want to hear what happened from your point of view".

"Why?" the girl asked.

"Because it's the only point of view that matters, and the only one missing. I want to know why, and if your story is as long as you say, and we run out of time, I'll come back every day until you finish. I genuinely want to know what happened, how did a girl like you become…. A killer?"

Lonnie thought for a moment that perhaps her words were harsh, perhaps calling her an outright murderer wasn't the nicest approach, then again it was true. Then she thought, did murderers deserve kindness? As she looked at Annie and the small, sad smile on her face she thought that perhaps this case was different. Maybe it was because Annie wasn't that much younger than herself, or maybe it's because the look on her face just seemed satisfied yet… remorseful.

"It started more than two years ago, back then I was just a kid with no clue as to what was going on around me, but I think I'll start where it began with me" she began.

"Start wherever you like" Lonnie pulled out her pen and notepad and pressed the record button on her phone. The interview had begun.

"I used to get nightmares, they weren't necessarily scary, they were just dreams of her and I think that scared me more than anything..."