The Deal With A Devil

Chapter 3: Any Last Words?

     As the words of Henry echoed throughout the courthouse, gasps and mumbles could be heard. The judge banged on the gavel once more, ordering silence. I couldn't believe my own ears; how dare he say those words? I was not going to let his statement become a reality.
My lawyer stepped up and began to present the evidence. First came the call history on Henry's phone. Proving that he was in fact cheating on my mother. Then, the murder weapon was pulled out. Forensic evidence showed that my mother's blood covered the blade and that Henry's finger and hand prints coated the handle. Then, the final piece of evidence came from the most unexpected item. For Christmas last year, my parents got Eva a spy toy. She was very excited and loved playing with it, recording things, listening in on conversations, and using the walkie talkies. The day of the murder, Eva and I pretended we were on a spy mission and I suppose she left her recording equipment on by mistake. Luckily, I had replaced the batteries early in the day or else this evidence would not exist. My lawyer whipped out the little spy toy and pressed play. That is when I heard the entire night again, everything that happened. My dad came home from work, we ate dinner. My dad said he was going out, my mom confronted him for cheating on her. The most painful part was hearing my little sister cry out for her mother as her voice cracked when she started to cry. As I heard the night being replayed, I saw everything. I grabbed Eva and ran as I heard my mom screaming out for help. The recording stopped, and I was balling. The evidence was uncanny, and everyone knew it. Henry was guided out of the courtroom in handcuffs and was being sent to prison for first degree murder.
     A police officer took me to Jeremy's house and when I stepped out I was tackled by my little sister. I hugged her tight and told her we wouldn't have to worry Henry any more. I went inside as the news reporter was outside the courthouse, "Today was the day that the Jacobson case will be put to rest. Just now, Henry Jacobson, who originally pleaded not guilty, was found guilty. The evidence was overwhelming; the most ironic and surprising piece of evidence cane from a children's spy toy that Henry had purchased for his daughter Eva around the holidays. This toy in particular, happened to be recording when this terrible event took place. Who could've guessed that the innocent toy a father bought for his daughter would one day put him behind bars?" And with that, I turned the television off.
     I went upstairs and changed into something more comfortable. As I came downstairs, I saw Eva drawing a picture. As I crouched down next to her, she turned to me and said, "Look Mason! I drew Bonnie Bunny! You know, from Five Nights at Freddy's!" She held up her drawing proudly and smiled. "That's very good Eva, maybe one day you'll be an artist!" I said as I looked at her with pride. She smiled and went back to her picture.
     She's been playing that game Five Nights at Freddy's pretty often. Even though there are a lot of jump scares, she loves it. She especially loves her favorite character, a purple bunny that goes by the name of Bonnie. I often watch her play and I will admit, that pirate Fox is pretty cool.
     I soon remembered that we were going back to school tomorrow. I was not looking forward to seeing people after what had happened. I was expecting that everyone would be talking and asking about it. I wasn't looking forward to talking about it again, and frankly, I just wanted to ignore it...
     As 9:00 pm rolled around, we decided to call it a night. Tonight, Jeremy slept in his own room upstairs. I slept on the couch and Eva slept on the recliner near me. I fell asleep relatively quickly but before I knew it, I was awoken by Eva tugging at my arm. "Mason, Mason, wake up" Eva whispered to me. "What's the matter sis?" I asked. She had a scared look on her face. "I saw Mommy again Mason, but she was all bloody and she scared me," she continued. I saw her eyes start to glisten as tears welled up in her eyes. I sat up and hugged her tight, telling her everything would be okay and that Mommy wasn't there. Then I pulled her away from me, "Eva listen to me, Mommy would never want to scare or hurt you okay? She loves us. You probably just had a bad dream. She shrugged her shoulders and I wiped her tears away. "How about you sleep with me the rest of the night? What time is it anyway?" She turned to the clock and said "Well I saw Mommy at 4:53 but now it's 5:00." We still had a few more hours but I decided she wasn't ready to go back to school yet, and quite frankly, neither was I. I told Eva we'd share the couch for the night to make her feel safe. She climbed atop me and used my chest as a pillow.  I gave her a hug and kisses the top of her head, then I fell back to sleep.
     When I awoke that morning, Eva was drawing another picture at the table beside me. I slid off the couch and sat down on the floor beside her. "Look Mason, I drew us!" She exclaimed with pride. I looked down at the paper and saw two characters from Five Nights at Freddy's; Bonnie Bunny, and Foxy the Pirate Fox. She pointed at Bonnie and told me it was her. Then she pointed at Foxy and said it was me. She loved drawing characters from her favorite television shows, movies, and video games.
     When I checked my phone, I saw the date was October 21st. It was only a week until Eva turned 11 years old; I knew I had to get her something, but I also knew we were low on cash at the moment. She sure did love that Bonnie character, maybe I'd get her something like a plushie or t-shirt. I'll figure something out soon.