of what happened

make your choice

She sat in the chair, in front of the whole court room. Her hair was orange, newly dyed from her friend Retail. She was the last to tell the jury what happened. She was the last victim. She was in a tee shirt, and jeans. Nothing fancy, she thought, comfortable. Her friends, the first five victims, in the front row. One and the same, she thought, one and the same. Mr. Alston snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Please, Miss.Cade tell the court room what happened to you.”

“First, they never called me Miss.Cade or Taylor. It was Tye Dye, or Tye for short. They sent Retail-,uh, Shephard, for me. To kidnap me. He told me later that they would have killed him if he didn't. I understood immediately because he hadn't even tried to hurt me, then. He used chloroform to knock me out, and when I came to he was still there. I was in a camp chair, there was a fire and he was playing in it. His back was to me, but I knew he was still watching me. His hair was shorter then, and all he wore was black shirts and blue jeans. A little while later he had shown me around camp, the campsites, eventually the campgrounds. He protected me the way your big brother would, Mrs. Halsey.”

“Miss.Cade you just said that Shephard Holbach kidnapped you, not Mr. or Mrs. shumaker. Am I correct?” Mrs. Halsey asked.

“Yes, but they made him do it.”

“Did they hold a gun to his head the whole time, Miss.Cade?”

“No, but-”

“Then I can't see how they made him do it.”

“Objection, your honor, conjecture.” Mr. Alston, her, and all the other victims, lawyer spoke to the judge. Trying to keep her feelings out of the court hearing, he couldn't do anything but object.

“Mrs.halsey save your questions until the end of her statement.” The judge turned towards the plaintiff. “Please finish your story. We really all want to know exactly what happened to you.”

“Yes, sir. After the initial shock wore off, I asked to go home. They told me-”

“Who Miss.Cade?”

“Um, Re-, Shephard Holbach. Tra-, Amanda steiner. Daniel crea. Hol-, Isabelle Rothwell. And str-, Oliver Pritchard, Mrs. Halsey.” She took a deep breath, then started again. “They told me how well it worked with the girl before me. They told me how Mr. Shumaker had bludgeoned her to death, with a shovel.”

“Who did he bludgeon to death Mrs. Cade?”

“Honestly, I never met her. All I was told was her name there was Ace. She was a good shot with a gun. Mr. Shumaker wanted her for it, I honestly believe he wanted to make a commune. He-”

“Is this ‘Ace’, Miss. Cade?” Mrs.Halsey held up a Polaroid picture, from the table thirty almost forty feet away from her. Stretch was so concerned no one would remember what they really looked like so he always took a before photo, wrote their name on it. The real one, and their camp name. She could never remember Ace’s real name, and it didn't matter, she was dead. It was useless to try to remember a dead person’s name, especially someone you never met.

“Um, I can't see it from there.” She could, be she didn't want to admit she use to stare at the photo for hours. It was ingrained into her mind. She knew the face that was staring back at her when looked at it. Pitch black hair, black rimmed eyes, long sweater, and a mini skirt, leggings. She had a pretty face, it was almost like a porcelain doll, she was so pretty. Mrs.Halsey handed the bailiff the Polaroid photo. Who in turn handed it to her. “Y-yes. That is who I have been lead to believe that is Ace.” She took another breath, clearly shaken. “May I finish, Mrs.Halsey?”

“Yes, Miss.Cade.”

“After the group, Retail, Trail, Daniel, Hollywood, and Stretch, told me about how she was killed, I told myself how I wouldn't put myself into a position where that future would even be a possibility. I wanted to see my family again. I was given a job, like everyone else. I had to start the fire and make sure we had enough food. That included hunting. Retail, um, Shepherd Holbach, taught me how to shoot basic animals, how to skin, and prepare them. I fed everyone, for the most part. Trail picked berries. Hollywood-”