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A song writer once asked a very crucial question. What is life? People have many definitions of life. Some say it is a merry-go-round. A never ending circle. There are ups and there are downs.

Others say it's like a jigsaw puzzle, if fixed correctly will make a perfect picture but if you make a mistake, can take a life time to correct it.

I thought I knew what mattered. I thought that knowing all the definitions of life and graduating from law school at the age of twenty-one meant I got it all figured out. And I wasn't wrong, it didn't just make sense. What I didn't know was that my whole life was designed not to make sense. So here is my definition of life.

Life is an illusion. You see what you want to see even if it's right in front of you. You live in what you believe.

I grew up in a world where I thought the only criminals where thieves, murderers and dirty politicians. This is a story that tells us differently. There is evil in all of us. Some of it is unseen but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

My name is Laura Katherine Montez. I'm a twenty-seven year old prosecutor and I'm not about to tell you a story that doesn't concern you, I'm about to tell you a story you hear and dread. I'm about to tell you the story of the one true face of the Medusa.

⚜

Laura listened attentively as the defense attorney began his opening statement. Logan Greenwich. A bright and crafty lawyer who defended anyone even the lowest of criminals. She hated his guts but even she couldn't deny how good he was although she knew she was better. This wasn't the first time they had clashed in the court room and even though he had a few counts of wins, hers was always more.

She stood as it was now time for the prosecuting counsel to cross-examine the witnesses.

The witness, Mrs Percy, was a fifty four year old widow who had been the housekeeper of the dead victim. Aria Jordan was a thirty-three year old forensic scientist who worked for the government. She was just arriving home from the mall when she was murdered in her apartment. She was disemboweled with the Star of David carved on her palm. The prime suspect was a young man who has been charged with various crimes including rape and attempted murder on his rap sheet. He had also been stalking the victim for months that a restraining order was filed against him. She just moved into her new house two months ago due to paranoia. According to the housekeeper, she didn't feel safe anymore and decided to move.

"How long had you been working for Miss Jordan?" Laura walked towards the witness stand, a pen in her hands as she tapped it on her palms.

"Twelve years. I worked for her mother before she died and after that started working for Ari."

She was trying hard not to cry, Laura noticed. "What was your relationship with Miss Jordan?"

"Ari was an angel. She was like a daughter to me. As you see I have no children, so I took her as my own child. Even before her mother died we were always so close." Mrs Percy wiped her face with a handkerchief, preventing the tears that were threatening to spill.

"So if something was bothering her, was your relationship with her strong enough that she would tell you?"

"Yes it was." She sniffed. "She told me everything. Sometimes not immediately but she always came around."

"And did she? Did she tell you about anything bothering her recently?"

"Yes she did. She complained about noticing someone stalking her. She reported to the police about this. We even had to change houses."

"Did she ever have a face to face interaction with her stalker?" She asked even when she knew the answer.

Mrs Percy made an audible sob making Laura pause a little. "I'm sorry." Mrs Percy said after a few moments. "Yes she did. She confronted him one day in our front yard and warned him to stop following her. Then he started shouting and making some insane comments. That was when she filed a restraining order."

"What insane comments?"

"He said 'Give it to me. I don't want to kill you.' "

" 'Give it to me I don't want to kill you!' Any idea what he was talking about?"

"No and Ari seemed to be ignorant of it also. She kept on saying that he got the wrong person and that was when he hit her." Anger reflected in her countenance.

Laura nodded and looked at the jury. The whole court was quiet. So she continued. "Mrs Percy do you happen to know what he looked like?"

She nodded.

"Please speak out."

"Yes I do."

"Is he here today in court?"

"Yes he is?"

"Can you show the court who he is?" Laura then casted a look at Logan Greenwich as Mrs Percy pointed at the defendant.

"Now back to the day of the murder, where were you?"

"I was at home that day. Ari was not feeling too well so she took a leave from work. I noticed somethings were not in the house so I went grocery shopping. When I came back I didn't see her so I checked the fridge to see if she dropped any note." She gave a small smile. A feeling of nostalgia evident in her expression. "She always dropped notes to inform me if she wouldn't be around. I saw a note on the fridge saying she went to the church then after she would be going to the mall to get some fresh air, so I assumed everything was okay and just continued my cooking."

"The police said you made a call to tell them Miss Jordan was missing?"

"Yes. You see this happened by ten in the morning and I started calling her around twelve but her phone was switched off. I went to the mall to look for her and I couldn't find her. I even called some of her friends from church and her yoga classes nobody seemed to know where she was. That was when I called the police. It was around five in the evening by then. I was being dropped in front of the house by a patrol car since I was coming from the station." Laura could see she was fighting with tears at this point but she had to make her talk.

"And what happened?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "I got to the house that was when I noticed the front door was open. I called out her name but there was no answer so I got inside. I noticed the lights were on and someone was on the floor." The look on her eyes now were like she was back to the crime scene. Like she was seeing everything again. "I moved closer to check who it was and when I saw her pink pimps which she wore I knew it was her. It was a moment later I noticed she was covered in blood and her eyes were open and... lifeless. I knew she was dead."

Laura could see the court was in disarray. Her story was getting to them and to Mrs Percy as she was already crying.

Just hang in there a little. Laura begged in her head.

Laura waited for her to gather herself before she asked the next question. "Then what did you do?"

"I called the police and as they were about to pick my call someone dragged my phone and shouted, 'Don't!' "

"You knew the person?"

"Yes ma'am. It was the defendant."

Laura nodded and turned to the judge. "That would be all for now Your Honor."

⚜

After examining two more witness and the defendant, the trial was adjourned to a month due to lack of motive for the defendant to commit the crime. Laura walked out of the court room not satisfied at the outcome even though she knew it was going to be the outcome before the trial. She was in front of the courtroom when she met her nemesis.

"Hello Greenwitch." Laura smiled as she called him the subtle nickname she gave to him that he hated very well. "How's your pathetic life going? Hope you aren't suffering from any mental illness recently, you know due to the kinds of friends you keep. Not trying to judge you or anything. I'm just looking out for a colleague." She feigned concern and gave a small smile.

He chuckled. "Then you don't need to worry yourself Montez. The only type of illness I suffer is counting how many zeros are in my bank account. It would surprise you how difficult it is to tell if it is a six or a seven." He gave her a look that said ' Gotcha!' And she knew he was right. He was among the highest paid lawyer in the state. That was his price for defending scumbags. What a world!

"I hope this one doesn't lose it and come after you when his sentenced to prison. I heard murderers are dangerous but angry murderers." She clicked her tongue in disapproval. "That's another story."

"Then I don't have to be bothered about that because he isn't going anywhere and if it does you are the one that I'm worried about."

They had a staring contest for sometime until someone came in between them. "Okay that's enough." It was her best friend Rhonda or officially known as Detective Sanders.

He smirked. "Good afternoon Detective. Hope you enjoyed the show?"

"You got one thing right. It was a show. Let's leave here Laura." She left there making Laura follow her behind.

"I hate that guy." Laura declared after moving from earshot.

"Isn't it obvious? And to make you feel better, you're not the only one."

"Just see his expression as he talks. 'If it does you are the one I'm worried about.' " She said in her best mimic of his voice. "He is such a jerk."

"That he is."

"And you know what makes me more mad?"

She stopped walking giving Laura a confused look. "His mustache?"

Laura scoffed. "Forget his stupid mustache. It is the fact that I crushed on him in college. Can you imagine?"

"Don't beat yourself. You were seventeen and he was hot. Frankly speaking, if you take out his stupid mustache, which I do find hot by the way, don'tkillme-" Laura gave her a death glare. "-he is a fine man."

"Whatever." Laura rolled her eyes as the reached the parking lot. "You're coming with me or you brought The Beetle?" The Beetle was the name of Rhonda's car. Why she gave a Toyota Avalon 2010 model The Beetle is still a mystery to Laura.

"Yeah."

"Laura!" Someone called her. Someone she knew too well. She turned to look at him walk towards her. Even in Laura's anger and annoyance, she couldn't deny how hot he looked.

"Hey." Laura said as he stood in front of her car towering them both for he was about six foot tall. Normally Laura always found his height and muscular physique sexy, but now she just saw it as a big scary turn-off.

Rhonda coughed. "I'll be going now. See you two later." She looked at him before entered her car and drove off.

After some seconds of awkward silence he talked. "So you have been avoiding me?" He nervously scratched the back of his dirty blonde hair with his piercing blue eyes staring at her expecting a reply.

"I haven't been avoiding you Nathan. I can't even if I tried. We lived in the same house remember? You just decided you wouldn't notice." She said with spite in her voice.

Even when she hated him that much, she didn't know why he still had that effect on her. She was always a confident woman. Her perfect physique that showed the results of her morning runs and exercises but not too much, her perfectly tanned skin and her brunette hair, which was now cut in a professionally styled bob, that complimented her striking blue eyes. Laura was the perfect definition of beauty and brains. But every time she stood near her now ex-boyfriend, she felt like she was neither.

"Look Laura-"

"No you look, I don't have time for this and especially not when I just came out of a court room with Logan. And let me not remind you we are in the parking lot. If you want to have a talk you know where I live." Laura opened her car door.

"Which you wouldn't be living anymore, right?" That made her stop. How did he know? "I received a bank alert of you paying a deposit to a house. We have a joint account remember?" He said answering her question.

Next time Laura, when you want to go independent and all make sure cover your bases. She scolded herself.

"I guess that takes away my element of surprise." She said being her usual snarky self. "Oh sorry about that. I could have told you before the bank informed you. And I fixed an appointment with the bank. I want to separate our accounts."

"You are getting it wrong here. First you moved out of our apartment. Then you bought a house! And not just any house, our dream house! Then you don't even tell me."

She looked around, people were starting to stare at them. She needed to stop this.

"You're clearly not in the right mind to talk Nat. We'll talk later." And she entered her car, took a deep breath and drove off.

How I hate my life.

⚜
Colorado Central Morgue wasn't the place she excepted herself to be at that time but Laura had no choice. She had business to attend to.

Walking into the building, she felt a part of her soul freeze. She couldn't allow her self to dwell on the fact that majority of the residents in the building were dead.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure." Chief Jamison Mardsen walked towards her with a smile on her face. "You look like you've seen a dead person." He joked. She didn't understand why he always made death jokes but maybe it was a coping mechanism for him so she didn't let it bother her.

"Hello to you too Jamie." Jamie was the Chief Medical Examiner in the Colorado Central Morgue. She followed s