A Wave Of Desire

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Reef

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"Alright, Miss Cartwright, you may step down for now. However, you may be called back to the stand later. Please have a seat next to your attorney."

"Yes, Sir." She smiled sweetly and gave a set of puppy dog eyes as she left the stand. She also looked at the jury and pretended to sniffle as she walked past them. At that moment, I watched at least three different jurors roll their eyes at her. She thought that she was doing so well but they weren't liking her at all. They were calling bullshit on her like the rest of us spectating and waiting to testify were. Well, all except for maybe her mother. She might be the only one that thought that she was telling the truth. And that was only because this was her daughter.

"Theo, please call your next witness." Judge saltwater instructed him and I knew that he was about to call on the rest of us.

"Thank you, Judge. I call Reef Rivers to the stand." He turned to look at me and I stood to walk toward the bench.

The bailiff came up and had me swear in the same as he did for Brittney. After that was done, Theo came over to start questioning me.

"Hello Reef, thank you for coming today. I would like for you to tell me what you saw in the hospital a week ago. What happened when the girl went to visit your future son in-law?"

"Of course, I will tell you. It happened just when my wife, Analise, and I arrived at the hospital with our son, Makai. When we got to the door to Ocean's room, we heard a voice singing."

"Really? And what was this voice singing about?"

"I have it committed to memory. She said: Hear me now Ocean. Listen to my voice. Hear my words and follow my orders. You won't have a choice. You will leave the school. You won't want to come back. You will leave Makai. You will run away and never come back. If you come back to school, you will kill yourself. If you don't leave Makai, he will kill you. No one wants you, Ocean. Doesn't that make you feel bad?"

"Wow, those are some seriously bad lyrics. That definitely doesn't sound like the song of a Siren." Theo laughed as he said that. "What happened after that? Was she able to bespell the boy?"

"No, I think that her lyrics were too bad, but when my son went into the room, she tried to do the same thing to him."

"Oh my. And what did she sing to your son?"

"Well, I stopped her before she could finish, but she had gotten as far as this: Go away Makai. Jump out the window into the sky. Die now and never come-. That was when my wife and I stepped forward and I put my hand over the girl's mouth. I needed to stop her. We learned shortly after that attempted bespelling that the girl was in fact a Siren and that she was behind what happened to Ocean."

"That is definitely not what she said happened. Are you sure about all of that?" Theo looked concerned, though it was an act.

"Deadly sure. I have spoken to that girl a number of times since that day and each time she has been vile and nasty. She's evil and needs to be locked up."

"Objection. Your honor, the jury does not need to hear the opinion of the witness, just the facts." Lisette jumped to her feet and pointed her hand at me like I had just been very offensive.

"Overruled. Reef Rivers is a man whose opinion holds a lot of weight. It is very beneficial to hear his thoughts on this." Lisette sat back down with an angry look in her eyes.

"Those are all the questions that I have for you, Reef. Thank you."

"Lisette, you may cross examine the witness now." Judge Saltwater offered her the floor.

"Thank you, Judge."

Lisette stood then and moved to take Theo's place. I could tell she was trying to be intimidating, but I wasn't affected at all. When you have a brother as high powered as mine is, you don't get intimidated all that easily.

"Hello, Mr. Rivers." Lisette nodded as she approached me now. "I have some problems with your testimony. It directly contradicts my client's statements and I believe that you are being untruthful."

"Well, counselor, it's either me or the girl that is being untruthful. And I do not need to lie. Her guilt is obvious to see. You know it and so do I."

"Has she ever admitted her guilt to anyone? Or is it all just your word against hers?"

"She did. Just the other day she was taken to remove the spell that she put on a human boy. The one that she bespelled to kill her ex-boyfriend."

"Oh my. Another time that you are going to recite what she said. How fitting. And how is it that you remember this all word for word?"

"I have perfect recall. I can pull up any memory and recite it perfectly. I learned it from a friend of mine that is excellent with memories." I smirked. It was meant for Abraham but I didn't know if he knew that. He probably did, though.

"Well, then, let us hear her supposed confession."

"Sure. This is just one of them. The other happened later. In her confession, she said: I wanted them dead, so I did something about it. And I would do it again too. Those fucking assholes ruined my life. Ocean and his merry band of queers think that they can do whatever they want, but I won't let them. I am going to stop them. I am going to get out of here and I am going to sing to whoever I have to just so I can make sure that they are gone forever. I will do whatever it takes. I will kill them myself with my bare hands if I have to. I will kill them. I will kill them all. I will-."

"Why does it end there? What happened?"

"Ocean hit her in the head with a book. None of us wanted to hear her anymore."

"He assaulted my client? And isn't being punished?"

"She tried to kill him. He was distraught. I think that speaks volumes."

"Oh, of course it does. Now, you said she had another confession, when was that?"

"Later that same day. Before she removed the spell from the boy. She went on a rant and said: If you all think that you can stop me, that you can keep me in that prison, then you have another thing coming. I am not going to stand for this. I will get out, and I will make you pay. I will make all of you pay. Ocean will pay for all the shit that he has ever done to me, not just today's incident but all of it. Makai and his fairy dick that stole my boyfriend will pay. Justin and his stupid, weak ass will pay. Makai's parents will pay for what they did to me. Even you, you asshole doctor, you will pay for drugging me. I will sing my fucking heart out in that prison, and I will make it so that I am released the moment that I go back. I will get out of there and then you will all die."

"I..I don't believe you. There is no way that my client said all of that. You are making it all up." Lisette was clearly rattled.

"You can ask the other witnesses. Or you can have my memories previewed to see if it was true or not. I am willing to prove this in any possible way. I don't want that girl anywhere near my boys."

"Your boys." She scoffed at me. "That would be your merman son and his gay merman lover?" She obviously had a problem with my son being with a man.

"Yes, that would be my son and his mate. They have marked each other and everything. They are a mated pair that is meant to be together."

"Th..they marked each other?" She seemed a little taken aback.

"Yes. And I would like to say something else. Ocean did not break up with Brittney at the hospital that day. She broke up with him almost four months prior to that, at the hospital, when Ocean had been taken in for an examination following a head injury at a school event."

"He sure ends up in the hospital a lot for a shifter." She looked at me skeptically as she spoke.

"It was a formality. He had been with the school at the time. They needed to make sure that he was OK."

"Hmm. Well, I guess that makes sense." She nodded and walked away. "We are through for now, Mr. Rivers. I can see that you are not going to stop with your lies." She sat down then, and the judge turned to look at me.

"Mr. Rivers, you may step down. Your time on the witness stand has come to an end. You cannot be called back to testify.

"Thank you, your honor. However, my offer stands to be used as evidence. I will do whatever it takes to prove the guilt of this girl."

"If that does become necessary, then we will let you know. For now, please have a seat and wait to be informed of the necessity of that later."

I did as I was instructed and moved to sit near Analise and Abraham again.