Love Song (LGBTQ+) (COMPLETED)

58. Invader

"All rise." the bailiff took a careful step forward as his eyes scanned the room to confirm everyone was on their feet. "Court is in session. Judge Daniel Lutz presiding. Please be seated."

Just before sitting down, the judge scanned the courtroom in the same way the bailiff did before his eyes stopped on Devin for a single, yet seemingly prolonged, second. As his eyes moved away from Devin, I almost felt like they caught mine just before he looked down once more. He was an older man, just like every other judge I'd seen in my life. At the end of the day, he was just a generic-looking judge who carried the air of power around him like every other one. I was just thankful it wasn't Devin's dad or anyone closely related to him. Other than that, who the judge was didn't matter any to me.

The judge looked at the bailiff to his right and then to the jurors on his left. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of the State of Oregon versus Devin Herrera. Are both sides ready?"

Chris stood up swiftly without any extra movements as he straightened out his suit, standing tall and firm in front of the judge. His aura right at that moment was completely different from how he normally came off, from easygoing and carefree to as serious as someone could be. Yet, even within that seriousness, his confidence oozed from every pore of his flawless skin. Over that small amount of time I'd spent with him, it quickly became clear why he was so respected inside and outside of their firm.

"Chris Rivera for the prosecution, Your Honor." Chris slowly turned his head, looking at the other pair of men standing.

"Jeremiah Winslow for the defense, Your Honor." his eyes pointed straight towards the judge as he stood militantly, carrying his hands at his side.

"Will the bailiff please swear in the jury?"

A strong looking man walked over to his left, passing the judge and both tables on his way towards the seated jurors. Asking them to stand and raise their hands, he waited until they all found themselves on their feet with their right hands raised in the air. The bailiff read what had been a clearly scripted oath, swearing them to judging fairly and truthfully, and only those two things. As the twelve or so middle-aged men and women agreed in near unison, they were requested to sit again

Looking around me, I was surprised to see how many people were actually sitting in the courtroom for something like this, which wasn't nearly as many as I thought. My mom had, fairly thoroughly, already explained that court and trials weren't anything close to what people saw on TV. They were dry and to the point, while usually staying pretty boring. Even with what was considered a decently long and successful career in the industry, she rarely saw drama or anything out of the ordinary in the courtroom outside of the cases and trials themselves. It didn't take much more than a look around to see that she was right, even the lighting was more drab than anything I ever saw on TV.

Chris, this time around, slowly brought himself up from his chair as he seemed to rotate and loosen his shoulders in one circular motion. Moments earlier, Chris was as stiff as board in front of the judge, but now he was as loose as a noodle. Slowly, he circled around the right side of the table, nodding towards the judge before moving his eyes to the jurors and doing the same to them with what seemed to be a customary smile. As soon as he stopped in front of the jury, his smile simply disappeared, vanishing from existence while the aura around him continued to change again.

"Rylee Fields. She was taken on what she was told was a date at Ely's local drive-in. Seems completely normal, right? Two teenagers going to see a movie, eating junk food and popcorn, and drinking some soda is commonplace for teenagers. Little did Rylee know that her "date" put in an untraceable amount of gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, which is more often labeled GHB, a known date-rape drug. Once the victim mentioned her dizziness and fatigue, her date was given the only signal he needed to drive off to an unfrequented area, where he continued to strip and further rape her in his car.