The cell was exactly how I had imagined it. Grey, lonely, cold, with a dark concrete floor and scratched white walls. There was a rickety old bed on one side, and a decrepit, small plastic table on the other one. The light was dimming through the small, only partially see-through window, so I figured it must be late in the afternoon. The door was metallic and vast. The cell smelled of scarce ventilation and dampness. I compared the cell to the previous place I had stayed at – the suite at the Plaza – and I almost laughed at the irony of my situation. The most luxurious and the most degrading places I had stayed at had been consecutive.

But I didn't have enough strength to laugh. I couldn't even cry my frustration out. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't care. I just needed to get out, and find the rest. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that until the trial, which was supposed to be the next morning. I found it partly relieving to know that I would see the sunlight in less than twenty-four hours, but I also knew it was probably going to be for a very short time, before I was back at that nasty cell, or at an even worse one. We had no chances of winning that trial. We didn't have proof. And our lawyer was locked up next to us. That strange woman they had brought me to help me defend myself didn't know me at all. I couldn't share everything with her. She didn't get it.

I shouldn't have let him come with us. I should have kept a distance; I should have kept it professional. I had told my lawyer I loved him. Those had been my last words while I was free. I had played like a high school rebel instead of taking my situation seriously, so the only one to blame for how things had ended up was me.

An Abbey. My mind drifted back to the conversation I had had with David at the Turf Tavern, to that first message that we now knew had being from him. He did know David and Lucy, but did he want the best for them? Of all the respect and affect he had shown for me, had any of it been true? I had had suspicion of Luke, of David... Of my true loves. And I had never, even once, questioned the integrity of the corny man that had been suspiciously on my side all along. It should have been clear to me, since he had stated he believed me in New York; I should have figured it out.

I thought of mum and dad next. Had they found out about us? Were we already all over the news? Had Luke read about what had happened?

Maybe we did have a chance. Maybe he was it. I closed my eyes as hard as I could and prayed for a miracle, for him to put together the remnants of his love for me and fight, fight for all of us, for the world. I prayed because there was nobody else I could talk to, because a part of me deeply believed that Nora would show up and make some life-changing revelation. I wanted to go back to our time at the Carfax Tower. I would take up Nora's wish to fly, and would abandon that claustrophobic wreck.

"Miss Blake." someone said, and the metallic door opened.

A policeman holding handcuffs waited for me. Was it already the morning? Perhaps I had been numb for some hours, submerged in a shock triggered by treason and impotence.

I followed the policeman across a corridor as decrepit as the cell, and finally got to the street.

"Tessa!" Lindsay shouted, and I caught a glimpse of her just as another policeman shoved her into a car.

"Lindsay! Lindsay!"

I tried to run, but the policeman guarding me held me back. I fidgeted in his arms.

"I wouldn't advise you to fight, Miss Blake. Do as you are told."

They put me in another car, and we drove through a deserted highway. The tears that hadn't formed during the night came out then, even though I tried to hold them back, because I didn't want to be perceived as even more vulnerable and fragile than I usually was.

After approximately half an hour, I started to make out the skyline of London. We drove past the futuristic buildings of the city, and, before I knew it, we were at Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court. That imposing stone building had been a prison before. I shivered. That was the final judgment.

The entrance was covered by eager journalists held back by the police.

What a triumphant arrival.

Lindsay got out of her car and we looked at each other, but we didn't yell this time. We knew better, and we wouldn't have heard each other over the fuss that the journalists were making, anyway. As I was dragged inside the building, more cars arrived, each of them containing one of my friends. They all looked scared and small; even Africa's fiery hair looked dainty.

The only exception was David. His jaw was clenched, and his usually dreamy stare was aggressive. He looked like he was going to put up a fight, like he was going to be the one to act stupid this time. I hoped I hadn't transmitted him my recklessness in our kisses.

The courtroom was made of dark wood. I was told to take a seat next to the strange woman that was my lawyer now. I could see each of my friends' position just by looking through the corner of my eye. I sensed them. We were united.

I turned around to see who else was watching, and my heart skipped a beat when I found mum and dad at the back of the room. Mum was crying, and dad tried to fake a smile to make me calm.

Abbey wasn't in the room. Cowardly son of a bitch.

The judge was a young woman that showed a kind of assurance in her eyes that reminded me of Kate Rosewood. She had been successful from a very young age, and she lingered on the power and pride that fact provided her with. I hoped she didn't sympathize with her akin because of that. I was surprised when I didn't find her in the room. It seemed like she would have enjoyed watching me go down.

The legal clerk organized some papers and cleared his throat before he started reading.

"Thomas Bishop, Attorney at Law, in the name of the enterprise Fleming&Florey, exposes that, after carrying out all the necessary investigation, and taking into account the clear, precise, detailed, and specific relation of the events in time and place, it is mandatory to accuse Miss Tessa Blake of robbery of four million pounds of medical material and of usurpation of intellectual property, and Mister David Wellesley, Miss Lindsay Blake, Miss Africa Garnett and Miss Alexandra Giles of assistance in the crimes."

It was strange not no hear Luke's name in the list of accusations, having been him the one to find out about Abbey. To the rest of the world, he was not a criminal, but he would never be a hero either.

I was told to stand up and walk to a desk in the middle of the room. My legs were unexpectedly strong as I walked, but began to shake as soon as I stayed still and watched the courtroom from my new position.

Thomas Bishop stood up and started to pace before me.

"Miss Blake, did you steal syringes, test tubes, electrophoresis and PCR material, macrophage solutions, and virus solutions containing telomerase from Saint Thomas Hospital?"

I leaned into the microphone.

"Yes, I did."

"Wow. That was easy." he said, showing exaggerated astonishment on his face, and the crowd from Fleming&Florey laughed.

Was he even allowed to make jokes? My legs started to shiver more vigorously, but I forced myself to put on a tough expression. I looked at David and tried to imitate the way in which he clenched his jaw.

"Miss Blake, do you claim that Fleming&Florey's patented immortality treatment was originally your idea?"

"Yes, I do."

"What a certain young lady."

The crowd laughed again, and, this time, my lawyer stood up.

"Objection; badgering."

"Agreed." the judge said.

Thomas Bishop continued to pace.

"Miss Blake, how do you explain that origin of the treatment, and what happened with it afterwards?"

I hesitated for a few seconds. This was a good moment to tell the truth.

"How do they explain it?"

David looked at me and shook his head, as if to let me know that I wasn't taking things in the best direction. But I didn't have anything to lose.

"Excuse me?" Thomas inquired, taken by surprise.

His momentary lack of control made me laugh internally.

"How did they come up with that idea?"

"Miss Blake, I don't know if your lawyer has walked you through this, but it's me who asks the questions. You just answer, briefly." he said, smirking.

"Okay." I agreed. I wanted to punch his scornful, pathetic face. "I... I lived in a hurry before, so I didn't live. I didn't live during my best friend Nora's last months, because... because I knew they were her last months. I couldn't stop... I couldn't really drench myself in something that had a deadline."

I was sure he was going to cut me any second, but he didn't. His disdainful, joking expression had turned into a more serious one.

"My sister, Doctor Lindsay Blake..." I looked at her and she smiled weakly. "... explained to me how our bodies deteriorate, why we die. We even got to watch it happen in an eight-year- old patient, Danny Smith, suffering from Hutchinson's disease, at full speed. I devoted myself to dismantling the timebomb that I had learnt we had inside. I dreamed to live forever, so I could live the here and now."

"Objection; rambling." Thomas Bishop said.

"Please, get to the point, Miss Blake." the judge said.

"I carried my research out at King's college, in a group led by Professor Timothy Abbey. I believe he sold my research to Fleming&Florey."

There was a loud gasp in the room. My eyes fixated on Hugh. He was staring at the floor, nodding.

"Do you have any proof of that, Miss Blake? Any correspondence between the two parts you accuse, perhaps...?"

"I don't."

"So it's all a supposition."

"No, I do have..."

"No further questions, your honour." Bishop stated, satisfied. I really wanted to punch him.

I walked back to my seat and watched Lindsay, Alex and Africa stutter and crumble behind the desk. There was no way out. David was the last one to go.

What did you think of this chapter? What do you think will happen next? Do you think that Tessa will win the trial? Let me know in the comments! :)

There's only 2 chapters left till the end of the novel! I will upload them tomorrow.

Remember that the first chapter of the sequel - "If I live forever, can I live now?" - will be up on September 15th!

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