Ensaine did a double take. 

“What?!”

Synitha stared at him coldly from across the room. Her green eyes hardened as she spoke, showing no sympathy whatsoever. “It’s true. Your brother killed that man in cold blood. There’s no doubt about it.”

He stared at her, not knowing how to comprehend any of her words.

“But… but… Usilo could never do such a thing! You d-don’t know him like I do!”

Her stony expression didn’t change. “It doesn’t matter how much you love your brother, Ensaine. You can’t change the fact that he did it. Besides, we have camera footage that recorded Usilo covered in blood and exiting the apartment where the body was found.”

Ensaine felt like he was going to faint. He had almost never been scared in his life, but this time was different. He took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself down, but he didn’t feel any better. 

Synitha watched him carefully. After a minute or so, she pulled out a chair and motioned towards it.

“Would you like to sit down?”

Ensaine looked at the chair, then looked at her again. After a moment, he took a breath and replied.

“Y-yes please…”

He walked over to the chair and sat down in it, his knees shaking. He tried to collect his thoughts, but the attempt was futile. He was still trying to make sense of all this new information. How could this happen? Why would this happen?

He suddenly felt furious at Synitha, for making him go through all of this. How could he know if he could trust her? He hadn’t even known her for two days! His face contorted into a grimace, and he loudly stood up.

Synitha looked at him again. “What is it now?”

His voice boomed and echoed all throughout the house. “I don’t believe Usilo could do this horrible thing!”

She stared at him, showing no sign of fear. “If you like, I can show you the footage from the apartment’s camera to prove it.”

“I would accept nothing less.”

She got up and left the room, looking for the camera. After she was gone, Ensaine collapsed into his chair, unable to stand anymore. He was still trying to comprehend everything that had crashed upon him. His heart was racing, yet he felt quite tired at the same time.