A Wave Of Desire

~~

Reef

~~

I was definitely all for the boys leaving on their little trip. Analise may not have known the reason why at first. However, when I explained to her that the girl's trial was going to take place while they were gone, she was all for it. She didn't want them to be anywhere near us during that time since we were going to be testifying against the girl.

Ocean and Makai had given sworn statements that were going to be read during the trial. They didn't need to be there. I know that they were strong boys and that they could most likely handle it, but I still didn't want to put them through that at all. Ocean had been through a lot, and so had Makai. They didn't need the added stress of the trial and all that it entailed.

No, it was better if we just made sure that they were out of town for the time being. In fact, I am pretty sure that Abraham suggested the trip so that the boys would be out of the way for the trial. He was quite the considerate man, but he hid it behind his rough and tough exterior.

A lot of people misunderstood Abraham Malachi when they first met him. The problem was that he had known a lot of people over the last hundred plus years of his life. And he knew a lot about human nature. As well as the nature of the other types of people that populated this world. He had met and knew a lot of different types of people that were interesting, unique and special, just like him. Having Abraham on our side right now, was a really big boon for us.

Moving on from that, I knew that there was a lot that we needed to do. The boys were leaving on Sunday and the trial was literally starting on Monday. I didn't think that it was going to take long, not with how damning the girl had been to her own case. She had said so much that I just knew they were going to rule against her almost immediately.

Honestly, the only thing that was left to actually deliberate, was what the girl was going to be sentenced to. I knew that she was going to be found guilty. Analise and Abraham knew it too. We all knew this was just a formality that we needed to follow through with so that we can say that we didn't railroad the girl at all. She will get her fair trial and a proper sentencing. That was the least we could do for her. 

You know what, fuck that, this was way more than just the least that we could do. This was a massive courtesy. She had damned herself and this was a hell of a blessing for her. If I had my way, she would be thrown away with the key destroyed. She had hurt my boys and she needed to pay for it. Dammit. Sometimes being so nice is really hard.

The trial for the girl was happening in the ocean. She was being taken to a special building in another underwater bubble dome. That building would be similar to a courthouse with a small jail attached to it. It also had apartments for the prosecution and the defense to stay in during the trial.

We were not uncivilized, and we were quite modern and humanized in some respects. The trial would have a judge that presided over the case as well as a jury that would be selected from the girl's peers. There would be Sirens on the jury if they ever ventured out of their little community. So, in this instance, the peers were all going to be merfolk, Selkies, and sea serpents. It wasn't our fault that the Sirens wouldn't answer our summons.

The prosecutor for this trial was going to be a Selkie by the name of Theo. He was a smart and ruthless man that kind of had an inferiority complex since he was so much shorter than most people, men and women. He would act timid and easy going until the person on the stand started to make fun of his height, then he would go full on asshole with them. He was a good guy though, and I couldn't wait to see how he handled Brittney.

Analise, Abraham and I all left for the court dome early Monday morning. When we arrived at the dome, it was just before noon and it was almost time for the opening statements in the trial. This was where Brittney's court-appointed lawyer and Theo would start their arguments. I don't know how much either of them had prepared with having only a week to get ready, but that was enough in my opinion. They would have a grasp of it all in that amount of time. And I know that the defense attorney, a sea serpent by the name of Lisette, had met with Brittney more than once. I don't know what happened during those visits, but I am guessing that they didn't go very well at all.

I have absolutely nothing to base that off of, I just have a sneaking suspicion that the girl made her attorney's life a living hell while she was there. That just seemed like something that she would do. She was an evil and miserable girl. I don't know how she ended up like that with her parents that loved her so much, but she did.

Oh, that was someone else that was going to be here. The girl's mother was invited to the dome for the trial. She was only spectating and would testify if needed, but other than that, she was just there to give her daughter moral support and to see her daughter one last time before she was locked away.

That might sound harsh of me, saying it like that, but it was the truth. And no matter how much I felt for the parents in this case, I felt nothing but hatred and anger toward the daughter. She was manipulative, evil and sadistic. She would have done anything if it meant that she would have eliminated her enemies. I have absolutely no respect for her at all, and I was looking forward to that verdict when it finally came and said that she was guilty.

When we finally hear the verdict, when she will finally be pronounced guilty and I knew that she was never going to darken Ocean's day ever again, I would celebrate. I would rejoice and remember this day always. The day that evil was put in its proper place.

Before heading over to the courtroom, the only one that was in the entire dome, Analise and I put our bags in our apartment while Abraham put his in the one next door to ours. I was happy that the prosecution and defense had separate buildings, which meant that we didn't need to see Mrs. Cartwright and the inevitable depression that she was feeling. I didn't want that to bring me down anymore than I had already been pulled.

The court room looked about the same that I thought most of them would, only, instead of wooden partitions and doors, it had things that were made of stone, coral, and shells. Think Spongebob meets the Little Mermaid in the legal system. It was all quite unique looking, but it wasn't that out of the ordinary for me and the others. And I could tell that Mrs. Cartwright remembered her roots. The only one that seemed at all surprised by what they were seeing was Brittney. Then again, she had been showing how surprised she was the entire time that she had been underwater. From what the guards at the prison told me, she basically had a meltdown when she realized that she was in the ocean.

"What in the undersea shit is this?" That girl screeched loud enough for everyone in the courtroom to hear her. "This is just stupid. Who ever heard of a giant seashell table? And that bench is made of pink coral. What the hell!?"

"Shh. Brittney, please be quiet. You're not making things easier for you." The mother tried to calm her down.

"What does it matter? The judge and jury aren't here right now. They are the only ones that matter."

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." The other staff members that were present in the room shook their heads as they listened to the girl's response to her mother's words. Clearly, this was not going to be a good day for her. If that was how she was going to be the entire time, then I could just imagine how quickly the trial would be over. I give it about ten minutes until she is thrown into a cell for contempt and the whole thing is settled without her even here.

That's if it even takes that long. Honestly, was she stupid? I mean, she had to be, right? For this to be the way that she acted when she went to court for the crimes that she committed. Who does that? Who behaves like that in the first place, let alone in a courtroom that will be deciding their future? That was just plain stupidity and idiocy.

"Brittney, this isn't like the surface world. You need to be careful. You need to sit down and be polite. Please, if you are too disrespectful, they will punish you." The mother was once again trying to calm her daughter down.

"Your mother is right, Brittney. If you don't stop this, then you will find that they are a lot less lenient with you. I don't want to lose this case, but if you keep that up, then I won't have much of a shot, no matter what I do." 

"Shut up. I don't have to listen to a serpent like you." She snapped at her own lawyer. I don't know how that woman could still defend Brittney with everything that had happened, even just that one comment. That girl was completely reprehensible.