Dusk Till Dawn

XII

I walked outside as my phone rang while I was taking a drink from my water bottle as i looked down and answered. "Hello," I put my bottle down when I heard the breathing. I shut my phone off and put it into my pocket. "I hate whoever is calling me," I sighed as I walked over to my car and sat in it as I just leaned on my arm as Nick walked out, wearing a vest and holding a camera as he looked at me and back at Sara who nods as he walks over to lean downward. "Hey," He greets as I smiled at him. "Hey, you going to check out the home of 'killer'?" I asked as he nods. "You okay?" He asks as I shrugged. "I don't know who keeps on calling me and speaks for one call and then breathes heavily on the other calls," I told him as he nods. "Try calling the cops and see if they can investigate the calls," He suggests as I nodded as he hears Sara call him and he waves her down and looks at me and then walks off to get into the vehicle with Sara as I pulled out of my parking lot and drove out of the lot as I headed back to the house, but not stopping by a fast food joint. I grabbed bags of food as I drove back home.

"Kiba, Tsume, Hige! There's food," I called to the boys as the I heard the scattered of dog paws hitting onto the marble and hardwood floor as I grabbed my bag and headed to my room with my food as I went back to my research on Skylar's cousin since I've been putting it off as my phone goes off as I answered. "Hello?" I greeted as I heard a male's voice. "Hello, is this Maria?" I hear a man say as I stopped in my typing and looked at my phone. "Yes, this is she?" I said as the man speaks. "Hi, Maria, this Aiden Callac, father of Mei," he says as I smiled at my daughter's name. "Hey will be coming to town next month," he says as I nodded. "Okay, I will be awaiting your guys' arrival," I said as the man says goodbye with a sweet can't wait. 

I stood in the courtroom listening in on the case as I crossed my arms over my chest while my phone was on vibration. "High school. Even if you're popular, or a jock, or a brain it can be hell. Everybody here remembers what it was like, what it was really like," I thought about my years in high school before it really became hell for me. And it was just all the drama, who was having, who was having a baby, who was being cheated on, who's dating who, who roofied everyone at the parties. It was all just normal high school shit. I mean even the pranks were there as well but never gone to this extent. Hell even Kelly was part of one, that she helped me with a damn teacher. "Now take a look at Marlon West. Take a good, hard look. Not popular...not a jock...not a brain," the DA listed off before he stops and looks at a picture of Stacy Vollmer. "Now imagine what it must be like to be Marlon West day after day after day in the sociological pressure cooker of high school. This imposing, struggling outsider like Marlon resenting someone like Stacy Vollmer, who made it look so easy to be popular, athletic, and smart," A small vision came to my eyes as I saw I was in the high school I went to as I looked to see Duncan and Dominic looking at each other while they laughed while looking at the person who had said it. It was me. I stood with them as a jock and a cheerleader dumped their garbage on the boys in front of me as I stared at the ghostly figures frown at the couple while I helped pick up the objects. "That strong resentment was already festering when Stacy made Marlon's sister the object of a typical high school prank. And that is when Marlon, his resentment boiling over, crossed a line: He stalked Stacy. You've seen and heard evidence illustrating the elaborate pains he took to rig a showerhead to torture Stacy, how he forced her to run and fall and watched her die in a pool of her own blood. You know, for the first time in his life, Marlon feels like a hero. He's not invisible anymore. He's a killer and he is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt," I was brought back to the courtroom as the ghostly figures of Duncan and Dominic were gone. 

"Reasonable doubt." You know, I'm not surprised to hear the prosecution say those words, because its case offers nothing but reasonable doubt." Carol who I believe to be Marlon's lawyer-speak as I watch her defend her client. "Access to sodium?! Marlon couldn't find sodium on a periodic table of the elements, let alone a locked supply closet. Access to library printers? Do you really think a kid like Marlon spends any time in a library? The showerhead. Yes, Marlon's tall enough. He could reach it, but he still would have had to have handled a volatile chemical with expert safety precautions in order to orchestrate an explosion. I mean, ladies and gentlemen, do you know how to do that? I don't know how to do that. Right? You'd have to be a genius," the woman turns to Hannah as she stares at her before turning her attention to Marlon. "Marlon? Not a genius. You know, one of the underpinnings of our justice system is that it is better to send a hundred guilty men free than to imprison even one who's innocent. Marlon West is an innocent man. Reasonable doubt compels you to find him not guilty," She concludes her closing remark as I sighed and the foreperson hands the note to the bailiff who takes it to the judge. He looks at it as I stare at Nick and Sara. Nick looks over his shoulder and stares at me as I kept my eyes on the prosecution not even glancing at Nick who turned back around. "Defendant shall rise," Both Carol and Marlon both stand.

"Madam Foreman, what is the jury's verdict?" The Judge asks the Foreman who answers. "On the sole count of murder in the first degree, we, the jury, find the defendant, Marlon West ... not guilty," I bowed my head as I heard the relief from Marlon's family as I glanced up to the boy as I hear a spirit next to me. "That's stupid!" Stacy screams as I shook my head and spoke quietly to her. "Calm down," I whispered as stared at the boy who was hugged by his lawyer. However, the parents of Stacy cried in each other's arms as I put my hand on her back. "So noted. Court orders the defendant released from custody. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service. The court is adjourned," The gavel bangs on the platform as I see Stacy's spirit scream before she disappears as I stepped to the side to stare where she once was. Poor kid... I looked back to the kid as his sister hugs her brother tightly around the waist while his brother barely reacts to what was going on. 

I stood in the hallway as I looked at the female of the family. Sally and her daughter Hannah sat in the hallway as I looked over to Sarah who turns the corner and walks up to them. "Hey, there," I hear Sara greet them as Nick walks up to me. "Have you seen her?" He asked as I looked at him knowing what he meant. "Her spirit didn't pass on. She is now on the unbound side," I answered him. "How do they um....pass over?" He asks as I looked at him. "It depends on what they want in their living life. Either they want Justice, or they want their killer, dead. It's not an easy thing to know that the spirit wants someone dead for their own justice. But it must happen. Especially spirits like her," I told him as he nods. "Did she tell you who killed her?" He asks as I looked at him. "No, sadly. But I think I know who her anger was directed at," I stared at Hannah who was talking to Sara. "I still think she's hiding the fact that Marlon killed her, and Hannah is taking the blame and that is creating a chain to stop her from getting any justice at all," I explain. The mother steps away and joins her boys at the counter as Hannah continued to sit Sara as I stared at the two. "You were saying?" Hannah looks at Sara who looks around and stops when she sees me staring at the interaction before she walks over to the hallway seats.  

"Here," Sara sits down and looks eye-to-eye with Hannah still standing in front of her as she sighs. "Hannah, with your gifts, you could've done anything you wanted, and you picked murder. You can't take that back," She says as Hannah looks at her. "You're worried how I'm going turn out," She says as Sara nods. "Of course I am. I know it seems like a really long time, but ... in five years, the Stacies of the world would've been behind you," She adds as Hannah looks at her smugly. "Let me guess. You were a smart kid in school. Maybe you feel we're a little bit alike," She says as Sara continues. "There aren't many people like you," She adds as Hannah scoffs. "That's what my parents always say, too. The last four months, all they cared about was the effect of the trial on me, not Marlon. It's been that way ever since I was 14 months old and started spelling words with plastic letters. It's so unfair, and nobody ever sees it. He doesn't deserve to go to jail. If I get convicted, what's the worst-case scenario? I mean, I'll be out in five years with an undergraduate degree. There's no "Son of Sam" law in Nevada that was ruled unconstitutional so I'm free to write a book about all this," Sidle shakes her head as Hannah continues. "The story'll be worth millions. Freaks are always good box office," This is when I stood into the conversation. "You're not a freak," I said as Hannah looks up to see me walking over. She gulps as I stared at her with my silver eyes. But then she chuckles. "When's the last time you had to sit down to be eye-level with a murder suspect who was standing up?" She asks both Sara and I as I looked at the investigator. Who continues on. "Hannah, you are smart," She comments as Hannah nods. "So I've been told," She nods as Sara brought it all down. "But you're not smart enough to get away with murder," Sara says as Hannah smirks at her. "I think I am. A lot of people are smart enough to get away with murder. You probably are, too. But you have to be really smart to make people think things happened that never did," I then asked completely questioning what she was talking about. "What do you mean, exactly?" I asked her as she smiles at both of us. "Please don't worry about me. I'm going to be fine," She reassures us as Hannah leans in close to Sara and whispers. From what Hannah must have said, I knew Stacy was right when her anger was thrown to Hannah. Her brother had killed her, and now his sister was messing everything up. She walks down the hallway, leaving us alone as I frowned and looked away.