The girl hid behind her black shawl as he slowly made his way to the stand. The deafening silence made her cringe inside, her mind succumbing to the dark thoughts lurking in the corners.
On her left, a ginger boy dusted in freckles had fallen asleep, oblivious to the tension in the room. On her right, an elderly woman clutched on to the cross hidden under her neck, muttering in an unknown language as if she could ward off the demons masked behind human faces with a single chant. She could tell that the prosecutor was talking from the movement of her lips but she didn't hear a single word. All she could focus on was the boy whose golden locks were tousled to the side, his amber eyes consumed with grief and regret, a reflection of her own pale …show more content…
Since her phone was dead, she slipped in a quarter at the nearest payphone and waited. With each passing second, she felt the urge to scream bubble up inside her. Finally, she was connected to the police and the details flowed out of her like a river. When she'd revealed everything she knew, the male officer asked her for her …show more content…
She knew what she should do, but she was already the center of another scandal. She hung up and fled home, locking herself in the sanctuary of her bedroom.
The sound of a gavel drew her back to the present. The accused was still staring at her. She wondered if he also knew she'd been there that night. When he'd first appeared on the six o' clock news the next day, she'd been shocked to discover the wrong person had been nabbed. Rather than capturing a murderer, the police had gotten a hold of a victim. The girl had tried to talk to her mother, but that would have meant coming clean, so she left it alone.
The judge and jury were back from deliberation. The verdict: guilty. She stifled a sob as he was handcuffed and dragged to the exit. The gallery emptied out while she remained a statue. She should have said something but she'd remained silent for so long, that her voice no longer belonged to her. As she watched the police take an innocent boy to rot in jail, a small part of her died inside.
On her left, a ginger boy dusted in freckles had fallen asleep, oblivious to the tension in the room. On her right, an elderly woman clutched on to the cross hidden under her neck, muttering in an unknown language as if she could ward off the demons masked behind human faces with a single chant. She could tell that the prosecutor was talking from the movement of her lips but she didn't hear a single word. All she could focus on was the boy whose golden locks were tousled to the side, his amber eyes consumed with grief and regret, a reflection of her own pale …show more content…
Since her phone was dead, she slipped in a quarter at the nearest payphone and waited. With each passing second, she felt the urge to scream bubble up inside her. Finally, she was connected to the police and the details flowed out of her like a river. When she'd revealed everything she knew, the male officer asked her for her …show more content…
She knew what she should do, but she was already the center of another scandal. She hung up and fled home, locking herself in the sanctuary of her bedroom.
The sound of a gavel drew her back to the present. The accused was still staring at her. She wondered if he also knew she'd been there that night. When he'd first appeared on the six o' clock news the next day, she'd been shocked to discover the wrong person had been nabbed. Rather than capturing a murderer, the police had gotten a hold of a victim. The girl had tried to talk to her mother, but that would have meant coming clean, so she left it alone.
The judge and jury were back from deliberation. The verdict: guilty. She stifled a sob as he was handcuffed and dragged to the exit. The gallery emptied out while she remained a statue. She should have said something but she'd remained silent for so long, that her voice no longer belonged to her. As she watched the police take an innocent boy to rot in jail, a small part of her died inside.