A Wave Of Desire

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Reef

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"Judge, I would like to call Dr. Abraham Malachi to the stand next." Theo stood with his next person being called before the Judge could tell him to do so.

"Very well. Dr. Malachi, please take the stand." Judge Saltwater pointed to where the man needed to be seated. Abraham didn't hesitate, he rose to his feet, with his leather bound notebook in his hand. He was going to be the last witness that was called. Well, aside from the recalling of Brittney. I had a feeling that Theo was going to destroy that girl on the stand, and I just couldn't wait to see it.

Abraham sat in the chair at the witness stand, turned to the bailiff and raised his hand before he was even told to. Then the bailiff was closer, he put his hand on the coral like he was supposed to.

"Dr. Malachi, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you by the Gods Poseidon and Neptune?"

"I do." The swearing in process, which was very similar to the human one, didn't take that much time at all. Now that he was sworn in, Theo was able to question him. And there was a very eager look in Theo's eyes. He was so looking forward to this. We all were.

"Thank you for coming today, Dr. Malachi. I know you must be so busy."

"It's my pleasure, Theo. I want to see justice prevail here today. That is why I brought plenty to back up my testimony as fact and not as just hearsay. I know that it must be reviewed by the judge, prosecution and defense before it can be given to the jury, but I am fine with that. I have absolutely nothing to hide about myself. I will be telling you the complete truth and can even show you so much more than the others have been able to."

"Of course, I believe you. You are a pillar of your community and an exceptional being. It is not often that we get a sea dragon such as yourself coming to help us with a case. I am sure that all of us will be interested in hearing what sort of testimony that a dragon can give us."

"A..a dragon?" That was the first outburst that Brittney had made since the judge had silenced her. "He can't be a dragon."

"And why is that?" Abraham asked her himself, not waiting for someone else to take care of it for him.

"Dragons aren't real. That's why."

"And humans would say that a Siren such as yourself is nothing more than a myth or legend, yet here you are. You are very real, and so are dragons." Everyone here except for Brittney already knew of the existence of sea dragons. We all knew that they were exceptionally rare, but we knew they were real at least.

"W..well, it's not the same thing." She tried to argue her way out of what she thought was a misleading statement by the witness. She couldn't do it though. She was already losing her edge with him. He was intimidating her without actually doing anything.

"Enough." The judge snapped at that moment, silencing any further attempts to deny things that Brittney might have made. "We that grew up in the sea know of the existence of dragons. You and your ignorance are not the focus at the moment, Miss Cartwright. Hush and let the proceedings resume." That made the girl snap her mouth shut and her eyes narrow. She was getting so pissed off right now.

"Now that the interruptions are over, Dr. Malachi, can you tell me how you came to know about this case?" Theo smiled at him.

"Well, I was working in the ER last week when the boy, Ocean, was brought in. He had suffered massive head trauma, as well as injuries to other parts of his body. I was perplexed as to how he was injured so badly when he was a shifter. I didn't have time to worry about that though, since I was working to save the boy's life as well as hiding his true identity." Abraham went right into his explanation.

"That must have been stressful. Did you ever figure out why the boy was injured so badly? How was someone strong enough to do that to him?" Theo was still playing the gentle soul that didn't want to get angry with anyone.

"Well, the person that had been the aggressor in his attack, the one that injured him, had been bespelled by a Siren. And as we sea dwellers know, when a human is bespelled with negative emotions, all of that negativity grows. The human had increased strength and stamina on top of a supernatural rage that he was unable to control."

"Yes, we all do know that, don't we?" Theo was nodding his head at the explanation that Abraham had given. "So, Dr. Malachi, what did you learn in the course of the case? I have been told that you did much of the investigation alongside Mr. and Mrs. Rivers."

"Yes, I did do some of the investigating. And in that process, I searched the memories of the human boy that attacked Ocean. I saw the moment that Brittney bespelled him and the moment that he actually attacked Ocean. I know how all of the events unfolded."

"And you are sure that it was the defendant, Brittney Cartwright, that bespelled the human boy? You are completely sure, without a doubt, that she is responsible for all of this. There was no one else?"

"No one else. She was the one that manipulated the boy. I removed the memory from his mind and made him see it a different way, but I have access to the original memory."

"WHY DON'T YOU TELL THEM THE REST OF IT! WHY DON'T YOU TELL THEM HOW YOU THREATENED TO KILL ME!"

"Miss Cartwright, kindly keep your voice down and stop interrupting my court."

"Thank you, Judge." Theo nodded at the man after he reprimanded Brittney. "Now, Dr. Malachi, what forms of evidence did you bring for us? Anything you want to share with us?"

"I have a copy of the boy's memory. I can show you what happened when Justin was bespelled, as well as the way that he attacked Ocean."

"Oh my. Anything else? I would like to have it all reviewed by the judge all at once." I think that Theo was excited to get those memories shown to the jury. At least, that's what his eyes were telling me.

"Just a few other memories that can be shown. Those ones are copies of my own. It would be the memories from when I first met the girl in person, and the way that she was acting. She held no remorse whatsoever for what she did."

"That's a real shame. If someone doesn't show remorse for what they have done, then they obviously would try doing it again. At least, that's what I have seen in my experience."

"Indeed." Abraham nodded at him.

"Judge, I would like to have these memories reviewed so that they can be played for the jury. If that is alright with you." Theo looked up at the man and I could tell he had already gotten his permission.

"I will have my assistant review them for authenticity and relevance. If he deems them so, you may show them to the court. Until then, would the defense like to cross examine the witness?"

"Yes, your honor. I would definitely like to interview this man." Lizette was looking at Abraham like he was a monster. And I know that it had to do with Brittney. UGH! Now I knew why the boys had so many unpleasant names for her. She was truly vile. 

"Gup, please take these memories back to my office and review them. Pay very close attention to them. Whether or not they are viewed as evidence is solely up to you." I saw the man, Gup, gulp in fear. That wasn't hard to believe either. This was a rather timid merman by the name of Guppy. And he was also the judge's nephew. He knew very well what his uncle was like. And being told that it was up to him if this evidence was allowed meant that if it wasn't then the people that wanted it shown, like Theo, would be mad at him and not the judge. It was a strategy that the judge knew how to use well. Good luck, Gup. You're going to need it.

"While my assistant gets to work on these memories, we will take a short ten minute recess. The witness will remain under oath and return to the stand immediately upon the time that the court reconvenes."

"Yes, Judge." Abraham nodded at him and stepped down. He met Analise and I at the door, and together we walked out of the room.

"Here, Abraham." I told him, picking up a specialized water bottle. It was filled with fresh water and it was made so that no salt water would get inside of it. We may all come from the ocean, but we prefer fresh water over salt water when we have something to drink. We also, even when under water, preferred to eat inside of these domes because it made it so that the water didn't get into our food either. Though we weren't eating here right now, we would be later. And I definitely like my food to not be soggy. I guess I was spoiled from living on the land for so long.. It's just the way that I prefer it now.