Blinded In Chains -Synacky-

Chapter 28 - Penultimate Chapter.

Brian’s POV

When the warden came to get me, I was already waiting by my cell door, tapping my foot impatiently against the concrete floor. I grimaced though, as I saw him approaching, and I noticed that it wasn’t the black guy that was nice to me; it was the white warden that for some reason couldn’t stand me and couldn’t help but fire insults at me whenever he passed my cell.

‘C’mon, faggot,’ he snarled as he unlocked my cell, and I sighed as he grabbed hold of my wrists and cuffed me, yanking me out of my cell and causing me to trip over my own feet.

I tried to keep my eyes straight ahead of me as I was pushed down the hall, doing my best to ignore the purrs, murmurs and calls all being aimed at me from the cells either side of me.

‘Good luck, pretty,’ I heard a deep southern voice growl, and I felt a shiver run down my spine, momentarily looking down at the floor. Why did every guy in here have to be so… gay, towards me? Not that I’m not gay myself, but still. This is just creepy and cringe-worthy.

I took a few deep breaths as I was pushed through doors, hallways, past people; how the fuck was I going to hold myself together for this? I know that I’d told Zacky that I was fine and that I had no real reason to worry, but I wasn’t feeling too good about all this. My stomach was in knots and my mouth was dry, my palms were sweating and my head was throbbing.

How am I going to do this?

Third Person POV

Zacky was silent whenever he could be. He did his best to keep his eyes away from everyone else’s, not wanting to see anything. He didn’t want to be here, not one bit. He felt violently sick, the entire time. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, some of them judging him, some of them confused over what they’d undoubtedly heard about him and Brian. Let them judge, Zacky thought to himself. Let them judge.

He flicked his eyes up just once, looking to his right to see Brian staring intently at him. He felt himself shudder under Brian’s gaze, and after ignoring the older man’s false smile he turned away, the vomit building up in his throat. He didn’t feel sick because of Brian, no. He felt sick at himself, the fact that he had done this, it was his fault that he and Brian were sitting here, in this room. He’d never thought he would be capable of such a thing, of murder… And it was starting to destroy him, inside and out. The nightmares were vivid, the daydreams were disturbing, and the images that were constantly being replayed on a loop inside his head…

Well, they were far above sickening.

Zacky had to speak, once. And it wasn’t just a word, or a sentence, it was a five-minute long speech in the form of an overly, painfully detailed witness account. He had to go over every single thing that had happened in the past two months, his voice occasionally wavering and his lip trembling as he went over certain memories, his fists sometimes balling up at his sides once or twice as he was forced to transform moments of pure and utter bliss into horrible, filthy lies. He felt his insides knotting up and tensing as he was forced to mention the sex, having to turn something that had been so perfect, into fucking rape…

He kept looking down as he talked about the murder, using his barely-there acting skills to get him through it. He swallowed the lump in his throat countless times, not wanting the thickness in his voice to give him away. He could feel his palms growing sweaty and his heartbeat was picking up, and he held his hands firmly by his sides, not wanting to nervously wring his hands in case it gave him away.

But he knew that, somehow, he’d told a convincing story, because of the looks on the faces of the people in the jury.

He rushed back to his seat when he was allowed, and once he was seated he stole a glance at Brian, who he was surprised to see grinning like an idiot. Even in the mood he was in, Zacky forced himself to raise an eyebrow. Brian calmed his smile and shook his head, discreetly sticking his thumb up as if to say ‘well done’. Zacky looked away, once again feeling sick. Why the fuck was Brian smiling?

He was hoping, then, that Brian had the chance to speak, the chance to get himself into even deeper trouble. Zacky didn’t want Brian to be in this position but, if things were going to be this way, then Brian should at least be able to say something… Right?

‘Mr Haner, please stand,’ said the stern-faced judge from the front of the room, and Zacky was suddenly startled by Brian standing bolt upright in the blink of an eye. Zacky gulped, uncertain as to what was coming next.

‘Mr Haner, the evidence against you is outstanding. Do you have anything you would like to say for yourself, as you have no one to defend you?’ There was a pause before Brian spoke.

‘No, your honor, I don’t,’ he said, his voice ringing loud and clear. Zacky was surprised; he hadn’t expected Brian to be this… confident.

‘Well then, in that case…’ There was a pause as the judge cleared her throat, and Zacky drew in a shaky breath as he realized what was coming next. He knew it was coming but he didn’t want it to. He still had so much to say to Brian, things that he hadn’t dared say before…

‘Mr Haner, you are being accused of the kidnapping and murder of Gena Paulhus, and the kidnapping, rape and attempted murder of Zachary Baker. How do you plead?’

Zacky felt his insides writhing and squirming at the judge’s words; attempted murder? Really? It had been an attempted suicide on Zacky’s part, and Zacky thought of this now, wanting to slap himself hard around the face.

‘Guilty.’

‘Oh fuck no,’ Zacky moaned quietly, resting his head on the table in front of him, feeling incredibly light headed and somewhat nauseated. The room was silent, shocked, and even the judge widened her eyes with surprise. The first sound to be heard was the low muttering of the jury, and Zacky knew that they would need little or no time to decide on Brian’s fate.

‘I am sure the jury need no time to confer?’ The judge asked, and then a bloated middle-aged man stood, clearing his throat before speaking in a whiny, nasal voice.

‘Your honor, we find the defendant guilty,’ he said, and it was then that Zacky felt like slamming his head against the table until he went unconscious. The judge sighed, her face turning grave, before she turned to address Brian.

‘Is there anything you wish to say, before I read you your sentence? You will not have another chance to speak, so if you have something to say, say it now.’

Another pause.

‘No, your honor, I don’t,’ Brian said again, as he had said before, in the same loud voice. Zacky sighed shakily, his muscles tensing up as he waited. Brian could feel sweat pricking up on his forehead and he resisted the urge to wipe them away, his arms frozen in place.

‘Very well. Brian Elwin Haner Junior, you have been found guilty of murder, attempted murder, rape, and kidnapping. I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment and death by lethal injection.’

The room erupted then, a chorus of laughter and victorious cheers, but Zacky did the only thing he could think to do; break down in tears.

‘Brian!’ He cried out as he caught sight of Brian being taken away, his hands cuffed in front of him, his head lowered to the floor. Brian looked up in search of Zacky’s voice, and the moment their eyes met, the first tears began to spew from his eyes. Zacky threw himself at Brian, his arms managing to encircle the taller man’s shoulders for a few seconds.

‘You’re a fucking idiot!’ Zacky sobbed, greedily inhaling Brian’s scent and relishing in the feeling of Brian’s body against his. ‘I love you…’ Zacky had just about managed to bury his face in Brian’s shoulder when their bodies were roughly pulled away from each other, Zacky’s arms torn away from the man he couldn’t bear to let go of.

‘Brian!’ Zacky screamed, clawing at Brian’s body as he was once again pulled away, someone’s arms fastening on his hips and keeping him at a distance from Brian. Brian outstretched his cuffed hands desperately, trying to get Zacky’s skin to brush his for a second. And it did, time seeming to stop as their hands touched for a moment. Their teary eyes met for a second, and then just as quickly as their hands had met, they were tone away and in the blink of an eye, Brian was gone.