Katelyn and The Witch Party

Chapter 17: The Questions

Katelyn shivered. The question was too close to her mind, to her heart. Why did everyone have to be thinking of the murder perpetrated by her own parents? She wanted justice for Victoria, but was that really the paramount interest of the party? Of course, it is, she chastised herself. Why wouldn't they be concerned about the loss of their own party leader due to anti-witch hatred?

Brittney brightened, however. "First, I would like to mention that the party is taking steps to bring publicity to the ongoing trial of the Valedettes." She turned towards the three candidates. "Go ahead."

"We must shut down the young witch mentorship program," Sylvan declared. A collective gasp filled the room. "It has become too dangerous to allow our members into the homes of staunch conservatives. They call us dangerous, but they bear that same threat they fear from us towards us."

Katelyn turned away from Sylvan's answer. She knew she should listen but the questions about Victoria were making her uncomfortable. Any of the members might identify her just as Brittney had when she had first seen Katelyn. Katelyn knew that Brittney had distrusted her, and from her earlier conversation with Sylvan, it seemed Sylvan distrusted her even more. Brittney had even seemed to suspect that the program would turn out poorly. Even Victoria had seemed to know more. She had joined the program, even knowing she would fall one day.

Victoria had thought it was a necessary risk for the youth of the future, but Brittney and Sylvan did not agree. Nevertheless, Katelyn found her worry and curiosity draw her back to the candidates.

"I think we should continue to focus on the publicity of the trial," Zara answered. "We should continue the mentorship program to ensure the wellbeing of our youth, but only in families who might be neutral or friendly towards our support. They should know that they are dealing with witches."

"The Valedettes did know who we are," Sylvan interjected.

"The mentorship program was designed to support youth who might be overwhelmed in their own homes by their powers," Kristyn emphasized. "If you take the program away from those with the most oppressive parents, you deny Victoria the very cause she died for."

"So you would rather put our members in danger of death?" Sylvan demanded. "Victoria does not need to be a martyr."

"If we raise publicity around the trial and the equality witches hold as human beings, people should not think that it is acceptable to murder our members," Kristyn responded. "We must counter the negative propaganda the wizards are spreading so people begin to question The Constant."

Katelyn felt her breath dissipate. The Constant. Kristyn was blaming The Constant for Victoria's death. Katelyn's parents read The Constant every night. Her father had even been reading the paper just before Victoria's death. But why would a well-known paper be responsible for a murder? It was anti-witch for sure, but surely it was not quite negative to incite hatred to the level of causing murder. Part of Katelyn wished something so simple could be responsible, so that her parents could be released, but she doubted that the paper could be entirely responsible. Victoria was the only person who had died. Her parents had to have acted on the motivation.

Katelyn's parents had committed a murder, and they were claiming that they were not guilty, even though that really only left Katelyn to have done it. Who could she trust if she could not even trust her own parents?

They were denied bail and sent to a remand facility. Apparently, the one murder of Victoria made them a danger to the public. The prosecutor wanted to charge them with a hate crime. It was all so strange in a country that never cared for witches. If it was a hate crime, they were hardly a danger to the rest of the public. They had otherwise been upstanding citizens, but the Crown was determined that there was strong evidence that it had been them. Katelyn had not been brought back to the trial since that first court appearance. It had been meant to discuss bail, but it had been adjourned because of the claim about the newspaper. It was strange, as if the Crown prosecutor had the same ideas as Brittney, although they were embedded in a different system. Why did they care now?