FALTER

CHAPTER 49: Achromatic.

Imti fiddled aimlessly with his fingers as he watched the audience stream into the court room.

He didn't much like being in the spotlight of the biggest criminal case of the decade, and neither did the Church members passing him by, as it would seem. He could usually ignore the dirty looks and targeted comments, but something about being on the edge of the (hopefully) final confrontation was making him visibly sweat. As he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, the police officer tasked with watching over the witnesses returned with two more men.

One of them happened to be Mr. Green, adorned in an orange prison jumpsuit, with chains holding cuffs around his neck and hands. He looked forlorn until he heard the clatter of footsteps echoing off the ceramic, and he looked back to see his daughter rushing towards and bearing down on him with a hug. The officer looked disgruntled, but allowed the family reunion, escorting the other prisoner towards the bench and forcing him to sit down.

Imti didn't look at him, instead letting his eyes rest on the view of the Green family somberly talking among themselves. However, he sensed the prisoner inching closer while the guard was distracted, forcing Imti into a confrontation when he realized who it was.

That awful sneer and loud breathing - it was the man he had caught during the attack at the club all those days ago. Imti felt his body tense up as it went into his fight response, but he kept his exterior guarded.

"Sinner.... just like him." The man's breath almost threatened to choke Imti.

"Excuse me?"

"You're with him, aren't you? That sinning demon who's always around, dirtying this city, flitting around like an insect."

Imti bit his inner lip to stop himself from retaliating. Seeing that disgusting man in the same scenery as Rachel was enough to get his blood boiling.

After enduring a minute of having the man breathe down his neck, Imti was relieved to see Mr. Green bid farewell to his family and walk across the now empty hallway. The older man squeezed in between Imti and the creep, providing some much needed recourse. Imti smiled, but his gesture wasn't returned by the depressed Mr. Green, who's eyes were darting around the floor in an effort to avoid eye contact.

Unable to contain his words any longer, Mr. Green, still staring at the floor, began a spiel. "Young man, I- I've hurt people that you care about, and I've hurt a place you care about, and there are no words in my heart to convey how sorry I a-"

"Hey! No talking." The officer pointed a baton between them. Imti tried to give the man a reassuring smile in response, but it came out rather skewed. The young man was in the incorrect head space to accept any apologies; there was too much conflict swirling around in his head.A few more minutes of internal turmoil and then the sound of a gavel forced the room beside them into silence. Imti shuddered with a deep breath as he heard the judge's words.

"Will the prosecution please present their opening statement?"

Hours of boring litigation passed. Imti couldn't help but inch closer to the edge of the seat just to get closer to the sounds from inside, but the officer seemed dead-set on preventing even the most minuscule of movements.