Aligned | Finn Hudson

The Trial: Part 1

Today I have to face the people who almost took him away from me.

I walked through the halls of the courthouse and found the hall I needed. I headed past other victims from the shooting and felt anxious as ever. One man had a scar going across his neck, and a women had makeup slightly covering a bullet hole on her temple. I guess God gave her another chance at life.

I eventually found Finn pacing by himself. Damn did he look so handsome. "Hey." I walked up to him. He stopped to hug and kiss me. "Why are you wearing glasses?" I asked. "I read online last night that if you wear them, they make you look like you know what you're doing." Finn's goofy smile appeared. I rolled my eyes and couldn't help but laugh. "Well you do look handsome." I grinned. "Alright everyone, listen up." A women in a dress came from inside the courtroom. "The final trail day will be starting in thirty seconds. Does every one know what they're doing?" All of us replied with a 'yes' as she peaked her head back into the courtroom to talk to someone

"Okay ladies and gentlemen, please make your way to your assigned seats at the risers on the left." She and an officer opened the door. I gripped onto Finn's hand as we headed into the court room. Press cameras, photographers, and news channels were filming us, and everyone was staring as well. Me and Finn stopped and hugged each other. He kissed my forehead and took his seat as I went to mine. I hated how ours were separate. I crossed my legs and quietly greeted the man and women on both sides of me.

Then, they came in.

Officers held their arms on both sides as men from a somewhat Italian decent made their way to their tables with the lawyers. I felt the sweat begin to drip under my arms as the judge went to the stand. I looked at Finn one last time before the judge hit the gabble and dismissed the viewers to return to their seats. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Today will be the final day of the Lima Bean shooting trial. The twenty seven victims are joined with us, as they each will deliver their witness account from the day of February twenty-eighth earlier this year at the Lima Bean Cafe in the Lima Mall Plaza. Also, the jury will be deciding the future fate of Markus Patrick Jean, James Carter Sullivan, and Jonathan Wayne Reeve and how they shall be sentenced." The judge read from his paperwork.

The next two hours went through the first few victims. Some sobbed, others had a few choice words to throw out there. Hearing their point of view from the shooting shook me up, and the whole time, the three men didn't even make a sound or change their facial expression.

"Finn Hudson, please take the stand." The moderator looked at him. I swallowed my spit as Finn went to the man and put his hand on the bible. "Finn Matthew Hudson, do you swear that the evidence that you shall give, shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Yes sir." He nodded. He took a seat and I looked at Carol in the viewing section. My aunt was holding her hand as she trembled for her son. "Mr. Hudson, just as you've seen for the first set of people who were at the Lima Bean that day, please give your account as to what had happened that evening." The moderator asked.

Finn nodded and adjusted his glasses. "That day, my current girlfriend and I went to the Lima Bean to just chat over coffee and catch up since school had taken over for a little bit." "Your girlfriend is Ms. McKnight over there, correct?" The moderator pointed to me and my heart dropped as all heads turned towards me: even the shooters. "Yes sir." He nodded and looked at me. "Thank you, continue." "We had just gotten our coffees and all of the sudden, I could hear the glass windows shatter and fall onto the tables and people under them. And as they fell, I could hear gunshots with them too. There was a brief second where there weren't any. Then, they started sounding off again, so I pulled myself and Camila under the table and held her so I could figure out what was going on."

"When you saw the men and their actions, what did you think and do?" The moderator interrupted. Finn stared down at the table in front of him and answered. "I needed to protect Camila and myself. I looked around and found the entrance that I knew would take me upstairs to the storage room. I knew it was there because one of my friends works there and they showed me around." He looked back to the moderator. He nodded and Finn continued. "We quietly and quickly crawled behind the tables that had fell over and I could hear people being shot and slit in the throat, it was mortifying. We got to the stairwell, went up it, and shut the door. I locked it and she helped me barricade it with a filing cabnit."

"Did any of the men follow you up?" He asked. "No, not that I knew of." He shrugged. He was signaled again to continue. "Once I got the filing cabnit set in place, I turned around and-" I heard Finn choke on his words. I saw his eyes become glossy as he looked down to himself and let out a tiny cry. I blinked my eyes around to try to keep from joining him. "I could see terror in Camila's eyes, and I knew I had to do all I could to keep her alive. And as I was calming her down, one of the men began to shoot at the door knob. So I grabbed her and went into one of the closets on the side and locked the door."

"Did he know which one you were in?" The moderator leaned on a railing. "No sir, he got the first door open once we were inside the closet." Finn grabbed a tissue from a box on the desk and wiped his eyes. I couldn't help but let out the tears from my eyes. "Finally, Mr. Hudson, what happened?" "I held her tightly until I heard no noise. I thought he left, but as you could tell, he didnt. I let go of her and I couldn't see where she was, nor where I was at in the closet, so I stood in place. Then, a gunshot rang out and I found myself on the ground."

Finn stayed silent and I could tell he was just aching in his heart remembering the incident, and he wasn't alone. "Thank you for the cooperation, and we all are truly sorry you were apart of this incident. If you would please take your seat." The moderator asked. Once Finn sat down, the judge banged his gabble. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be taking an hour recess to give the jury time to catch up on the eye witness accounts." He hit it one more time. As everyone got up, I watched Finn walk out with everyone.

When I finally made it out with the crowd, I saw Finn and he still had tears in his eyes. I walkes over to the bench he was sitting on and sat next to him. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and cried into my shoulder.