Undercover

Chapter 35 - Trial

Fred had been transported back to his homeland and had been left in an adjacent jail cell until further notice. The cell was dark, damp and cold. He had no idea what time it was out there since he had been immediately transported from the windowless bunker. The only light source he had was from a tiny flimsy lightbulb which didn't illuminate much. From the centre of the cell, he could only see the floor a meter in radius. Everything else was black.

Fred's survival instinct had kicked in. He took long deep breaths to conserve his energy for the cold he was about to endure for an indefinite amount of time. Slowly, he bent down and curled himself up to conserve body heat. Days, or maybe hours, or maybe even minutes had passed by; Fred could not tell. Two prison guards entered his cell and grabbed him by his armpits and dragged him out of the cell.

Fred was disorientated in every possible way. His eyes had a difficult time adjusting to the sudden light of the outside world. He winced at the sight of it. Furthermore, he had been curled up for such a long time that any other motion he had to perform felt foreign. He was so cold that he had lost the sensation of his legs. It took him a while to relearn how to walk.

The guards, of course, didn't have any time to waste. They dragged him forward whether he liked it or not. He had a hard time keeping up with their pace that they had to drag him most of the way. Fred's eyes hadn't fully adjusted until several minutes later when they've reached the seventy-five feet arch to the grand entrance of the court. The intricateness of the carven stone and wood archway dated all the way back to 1700BC. The whole courtroom had been carved by hand. This gave the whole atmosphere an authentic aura. As they entered the room, they are greeted with one of two feelings. Pride and fear. As Fred enters the building, his eyes first darts to the ceiling that stretches upward for miles. All around him were seats like a football stadium that were enough to hold hundreds of people. The largest structure was the judge's podium and the stained glass pane behind it. Next to it on either side (smaller compared to it) was the prosecutor's stand, the attorney's and the smallest structure of them all, the 'accused' seat. The very spot he was going to sit.

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Tessa came to school the next day with an aim in sight. She knew deep down that Beth and Wayne both knew something and she was going to do whatever it takes to squeeze that information out of them. Based on her observation, Wayne is a very prideful person, he is also in the group of the 'popular guys' in school. So, getting him and Beth alone is going to be difficult as he is mostly always with friends. She mentally reminded herself to never step on his pride. Beth on the other hand was the complete opposite. She guessed that if Beth and Wayne were never introduced to each other when they were kids, they wouldn't be as close as they're now. She could never imagine them being friends in the present days given that Wayne was such an extrovert and Beth an introvert. She needed to play her cards right to be able to squeeze out all the information she needed.

Tessa pondered, "I guess friendship does go a long way..."

During her study hall period, she decided to devise a plan to get the two of them alone without sounding too suspicious. It didn't take long before she flipped the light switch. Just as the bell rang for lunch, Tessa immediately took for the door. She knew that Wayne and Beth always brought their own lunch so they would never be in the lunch line. She approached the outside bench where she knew for a fact that Wayne and his buddies always sits.

"Alright, Wayne first," she said giving herself the extra confidence boost she needed. She jumped excitedly when she saw Beth also having lunch with him and the others. "Hey, can I sit here and join you guys for lunch?"

The whole group eyed her suspiciously but didn't say a word.

"I usually sit with Maddie but she moved so..." Tessa gave a shrug to try and prove her point. The whole table dropped silent. Tessa grew tenser and tenser as what felt like an eternity passed.