True Deceit

Chapter 31: POV 1 Janus- The Hearing

Janus shifted fretfully in his courtroom chair, his waist leash holding him firmly in place. His fingers were attached to several sensory wires, and his chest and shoulders were strapped with a heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff. He flickered his gaze over to Patton, who failed to appear reassuring despite his best efforts. 

"Don't worry, I'll be a better lawyer this time, I've learnt."

Janus swallowed, nodding slightly. He glanced a distance to the jury box in which sat Remus, Virgil and Thomas, all of whom were whispering amongst each other. He then turned his eyes to Logan, who was staring at him over from the prosecution stand with vengeful eyes.

Roman cleared his throat before banging his gavel. "Hello and welcome to the hearing of Janus Sanders. Until the declared end of the hearing everyone is under oath. I will now read out the charges. Firstly, imprisoning Patton and Logan Sanders in a cell, both of whom are present today. secondly, injecting Logan with a toxic venom rendering him challenged and thirdly, physically threatening to strangle Patton Sanders. Janus, how do you plead?"

Janus's heart raced, his forehead sweated and his lungs thrusted for air. "Uh, I'm... I'm not..." he let out a pained hiss, failing to fight his lying instincts. "I'm not guilty."

Roman continued to read. "I would like to first call Logan to the stand." Logan entered the witness box, straightening his back. "Logan, were you indeed held prisoner by this man before you?"

"Yes, your honour."

"For how many hours were you held prisoner?"
Logan was quiet for several moments before responding. "Roughly 12."

Janus held his head in his hands, taking short, distressed breaths.
"How many times were you injected with snake venom?"

Logan turned to Janus with daggering eyes, their gazing meeting for a brief moment. "Three."

Janus's eyes widened. Three? No, I only injected him twice! He jerked his head to Patton, clenching his fists and whispering. "Logan just lied, I only did it twice!"

Patton's eyes teared up behind his glasses as he murmured sorrowfully back. "Please don't lie to me Janus, I'm trying to help you. Trust me, okay?"

Janus clenched his jaw. "I'm serious, he's lying! I need you to object!"

"Were you given access to basic human needs, such as food, water and bedding during the injecting and when you were in his cell?

"Yes your honour, when I was in the cell. Not during the injecting however, he in fact he denied me a drink."

"No!" Janus raised his voice, slamming his hand down against the table. "I object, that did not happen!" Virgil, Remus and Thomas were all staring at him from the jury bench, their gazes burning his cheeks.

"Janus, your lawyer needs to object for you." Roman spoke sternly.

"Patton wouldn't do it, I had no choice!" Janus struggled against the leash, his heartbeat throbbing in his temples. He took several sharp breaths, gripping his hat firmly atop his head. Janus could hear his inner voice screaming. You need to escape, get out of there, now!

"Janus, deep breaths, try to calm down," Patton spoke concernedly at his side.

Janus squeezed shut his eyes, shoving his face against the table surface and wrapping his arms around his head. Think Janus, you're a snake, there is always a way out.

Roman cleared his throat and continued. "Thank you Logan. I will now invite Patton to the stand."

Patton nodded to Janus before entering the witness box, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Hello Patton. I first must confirm, were you held captive with Logan for the duration of the 12 hours?"

"Yes your honour," Patton smiled to Roman.

"Did you return to dark side voluntarily after you were released?"

"Yes."

"For what reason?"
Patton placed his hands on his hips. "Janus may have needed my help, I wanted to check if he was okay."
"And was he okay?"

Patton turned his head to Deceit before shaking his head. "No your honour. He had bruised knuckles and was struggling to eat."

"Do you know how he got the bruising, or the cut on his chin?" 

Patton glanced behind him. "I'm not sure what happened with the bruises, only that he had the chin injury when he came back from chasing Thomas."

Roman nodded comprehensively. "Virgil claimed that you admitted to him that Deceit strangled you. Is this true?"
"No," Patton replied strongly. "I didn't."

"Then what did occur?"

Patton inhaled deeply before recounting the previous day's events, ending with, "It was all an accident."

The courtroom was silent until Roman finally spoke. "Thank you Patton. Thomas, you're next." Thomas seated himself into the witness chair. "You were chased into a corner by Deceit during the attempted freeing of Patton and Logan. Do you know what happened to Deceit's chin?"

"Yes your honour. It was my fault, I hit him in the face."

"Whilst you were both alone, did he do or say anything to you that prompted the attack?"

Thomas adjusted the tie around his neck. "Well I mean, he had the keys to the cell. But nothing else happened, in fact, he told me that he didn't want to hurt me, albeit snarkily."

Roman appeared stunned. "Can you elaborate further?" 

"He said things like, 'Hand them over, I wouldn't want you to get hurt too.'"

Roman cleared his throat. "Right. Could I now invite Virgil to the stand?"

Oh no, Janus said to himself. Please have mercy Virgil.