Vanished In Plain Sight

Chapter 1 “Order in the courtroom! Order in the courtroom!” The large judge yelled as he slammed the small gavel on its sound block, silencing the disorderly courtroom almost immediately. Frightened, Misty Lewis stood in front of the stern judge, wearing an orange jumpsuit with faded black letters on the back, advertising the Florida Department of Corrections- her feet tightly shackled and cuffed. Her small wrist was also shackled with her thin arms hanging loosely in front of her. Nervously fidgeting with her fingers, she pulled off her fingernails one at a time while barely able to move her wrist in the tight cuffs. Both sets of her metal restraints were connected and locked at her waist, making any attempt at escape virtually impossible. As her fifty-year sentence was read, her body shook nervously, terrified of what struggles lay ahead. Misty knew, just like her disorderly friends and family in the courtroom that the sentence that was just given was unjust, and that she was innocent, but proving that in this moment seemed to be harder than serving the lengthy sentence that was just handed down to her. Misty was a twenty-five-year-old recent college graduate of Florida State University’s Nursing School in Tallahassee Florida where she received her well-earned, two-year Associates Degree in Nursing a little over a year and two months prior, on August 5th, 2017. She proudly accepted her well-earned degree that went along with her four-year Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. Misty worked extremely hard in the nursing program for six years at FSU and started her career at Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee less than a month after she graduated. Her aspirations were to care for and to help people. She wanted to be, and enjoyed being a caretaker, which is why her charge of murder in the first degree came as a shock to everyone that knew her. Sadly, Misty had been in prison since her arrest on the morning of October 15th, 2017- two months after her graduation. Unfortunately, her bail had been denied due to the vicious murder and the scandal around it. The trial had lasted for almost seven agonizing months, and day in and day out, Misty tried her best to plead her innocence to no avail. The events that surrounded the murder were vague and the evidence that pointed towards Misty as being the primary culprit was limited and very scarce. The biggest flaw in the case however, and what angered everyone was the fact that a body was never found. Misty did not have a lot of money for a lawyer let alone a good lawyer, her family was trying to make ends meet themselves, so Misty had to be represented by a public defender while the family of the alleged victim was able to afford the best Prosecutor that money could buy. Somehow, even without a body, or sufficient evidence, the prosecutor was able to convince the twelve-panel jury that consisted of seven women and five men that Misty Lewis was the one that murdered Elaine Stevenson, who at the time was a twenty-three-year-old Florida resident that Misty had known for nearly two years. The two were known as having an on again, off again friendship after meeting at a function on campus where they seemed to hit it off well. Although Elaine was not a student, she decided to attend the event that was open to the community, hoping to gain information on the different programs the school had to offer. Her plans were to enroll the following semester and luckily for her, there is where she met Misty, who was a volunteer organizer of the function and was helping in passing out brochures to interested event goers. That was Misty, always wanting to help, whether there was money involved or not. Between her work study, and a part time job at a local supermarket, Misty made just enough money to survive college life. Luckily, with her valedictorian status, along with a 4.3 GPA, she had been awarded multiple academic scholarships to enter FSU. Fortunately for her, she would not have to worry about the dreaded, costly student loans after she graduated. Although close in age, Misty and Elaine did not have that much in common other than FSU. At twenty-three years old, Elaine was more of a party girl who enjoyed the thrills of campus life more than Misty. She had lots of friends and came from a family of wealth. Misty on the other hand was into her studies and did not party much. Unlike Elaine, Misty did not have a lot of friends, or a wealthy family background. Misty’s only goal was to be successful and graduate from FSU with honors, just as she had in high school. Being able to help her family was her primary focus. She was an exceptionally attractive woman and had many male admirers, as well as a few women admirers. Standing at five feet, five inches, Misty was blessed with an extremely curvy, and well-toned body that she kept in tip top shape. The one amenity that she did utilize often on campus was its state-of-the-art gym. Misty was sought after by many, no matter where she went. Whether she liked it or not, she always seemed to have a group of admirers that watched her every move. Her soft, ocean blue eyes accented her incredibly beautiful, tanned face, which was draped with long beautiful, stylish blond locks. She had the guys drooling. Unfortunately for them though, they- nor a relationship was what Misty was focusing on at the moment. Regretfully, they would have to take the back seat for now. Misty however was open to having a friend, and Elaine was more than up for the position. What Misty did not know was, although Elaine seemed to have everything, versus Misty’s life, which was less than desirable for the average, young, female college student. There was so much that Elaine was jealous of when it came to her and her simple life. Misty would unfortunately find out the hard way that everyone was not as they seemed, and that her trusting ways would have her fighting the toughest fight of her life. As the judge slammed down his gavel for the third time, Misty jumped like a scared child being scolded for doing something wrong. With tears sliding down her tired face, she looked back at her family and close friends who were sobbing uncontrollably and visibly angry at the system for getting this one wrong. Reality hit her hard as the bailiff grabbed her forcibly by the arm and escorted her through the solid steel doors that led back to the ice-cold cell where she would live out her sentence. With the trial now officially over, and her sentence now confirmed, Misty knew it was going to be a fight to survive in the harsh and cruel world of the penitentiary. Not only would she have to fight to survive, but she was also going to have to fight to prove her innocence. As the doors of the cell slammed shut, Misty stood in the middle of the tiny room, looking at what her promising life had now become. All her hard work down the drain, and what made it so hard to swallow was the fact that she was innocent. As the rambunctious women of the unit yelled, argued, and cursed each other out, Misty fell on her bed and sobbed like a small child that had lost its mother. After a few minutes, Misty knew she could not let the women see her like this, she knew she could not appear weak in a place like this. This had been her home for the past year, but she held on to hope that she would be out soon. Now, knowing the hope that she held onto was gone, she had to get herself together for an awfully long road ahead. She made a few friends on the inside, but she knew she could not trust them whole heartily. She had already learned that lesson with Elaine. As she carefully laid her head against the dingy graffitied wall, Misty closed her eyes and thought back- trying desperately to figure out where she went wrong. January 18TH, 2016