Chapter 2 - The Setup
The cold, unforgiving steel bars of the downtown holding cell offered me absolutely no comfort.
I sat silently on the hard, freezing concrete bench for six incredibly agonizing, incredibly long hours.
My mind raced wildly with terrifying, dark thoughts about Daniel and his incredibly calculated lies.
He had expertly manipulated the responding officers by falsely claiming I attacked him in a completely manic rage.
He convincingly told them he was simply trying to hug me when I suddenly snapped and violently broke his arm.
Suddenly, the heavy metal door at the far end of the gloomy hallway loudly buzzed open.
My father, Frank Bennett, confidently walked in with a deeply furious expression heavily carved into his weathered face.
He paid my incredibly exorbitant cash bail without uttering a single, solitary word to the grumpy desk sergeant.
We walked silently out into the freezing, misty morning air in absolute, heavy silence.
"I absolutely did not start that violent physical fight, Dad," I finally said quietly as we reached his rusty truck.
"I know perfectly well that you did not start it, Claire," he replied firmly, his voice thick with emotion.
"I rigorously trained you for years to be a smart survivor, not a foolish, hot-headed aggressor."
He aggressively started the loud engine and drove us straight back toward my quiet suburban house.
I desperately needed to pack a bag of my clothes and quickly retrieve my important personal documents.
We cautiously pulled into the paved driveway and instantly noticed Daniel's expensive car was completely gone.
I slowly walked up the wooden steps to the front porch and slid my silver key into the brass deadbolt.
The familiar key stubbornly refused to turn even a fraction of an inch inside the metal lock.
I desperately tried pulling the heavy brass handle, but the thick wooden door remained completely and utterly sealed.
Daniel had somehow managed to get a professional locksmith to change the locks while he was sitting in the hospital.
My highly observant father quickly noticed a crisp white envelope securely taped to the living room window glass.
He aggressively ripped it down and silently handed it to me with a very deep, highly concerned frown.
I nervously tore the sealed envelope open with severely shaking, freezing fingers.
It was a highly formal, incredibly restrictive court injunction explicitly signed by a prominent local judge.
Daniel had miraculously and swiftly secured an extreme emergency restraining order against me before sunrise.
The binding legal document explicitly and permanently banned me from ever entering my own private property.
It also terrifyingly stated that all of our shared joint bank accounts had been completely and indefinitely frozen.
I was completely locked out of my own home and utterly stripped of all my financial resources in one swift move.
I desperately looked through the clear living room window to see if any of my packed bags were left inside.
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A tall, deeply shadowy figure was standing perfectly and terrifyingly still in the center of my dark kitchen.
The unknown stranger slowly raised a gloved hand and mockingly waved at me right through the thick glass.
