The night before the trial Alex was plagued by nightmares. She couldn't help it, couldn't escape from it, the one night she needed to. The entire atmosphere had darkened even before she and Justin had gone to bed. The day had been fine, mostly the two of them cooped up in the room (Alex had actually asked the guards for a deck of cards), and in the morning it hadn't seemed so bad. But once the day began to settle into late afternoon, a heavy pressure of anxiety began to weigh down on the two of them.
They tried to keep the mood light, telling jokes, and trying desperately to keep their minds off of what was going to happen in the morning. It was inevitable. Eventually they succumbed to it. They sat there quietly on the bed, Justin's arms holding her to his chest, for about an hour before actually going to sleep. By that point, trying to get rid of the tension had been impossible.
Alex squeezed her eyes shut and tried to roll over in her sleep. She found that she couldn't, because Justin was holding on to her. At another time, she would have smiled, but she was too stressed to even try. She gripped him tighter. She was so afraid of what the Council would say. What if she lost him?
She thought back to when Justin had told her he didn't love her. She remembered how she had felt like her heart had been torn out, and how broken she had felt. This was worse, because then there had been a chance Justin would return to her. This time, if the Council chose against them, there would be no going back.
The thought of losing Justin forever made her want to die.
She couldn't lose him. How could she live if she did?
Opening her eyes, she gave up on sleep for the moment. The room was completely dark and she could barely make out Justin's face. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his breathing was even and his expression was calm. She reached out a hand to trace his face since she couldn't see it. She traced the muscles in his jaw, and then began to make little patterns on his chest. He still continued to sleep, and she felt a little envious of that.
Closing her eyes, she laid her head back down on his shoulder and tried desperately to think of happy thoughts, but all that came to her mind was "What if…?"
She managed to drift off into an uncomfortable sleep, where figures in hooded cloaks chased her down endless marble hallways, chanting words she couldn't understand as she ran screaming for Justin.
She gasped and woke up again. She could tell that at least a couple of hours had passed, because she could see Justin's face more clearly. He looked almost awake; his eyes were on the ceiling. She poked him.
"Hey," She whispered. "You awake?"
He turned to her; his hair was slightly mussed from sleeping. "Yeah," He whispered back.
"I can't sleep."
"Me neither."
"You were sleeping just fine before."
"Yeah that was before I started dreaming."
Alex sighed. "Yeah I had nightmares too."
Justin scoffed. "I said dreams, not nightmares. The J-man does not have nightmares."
"If they were dreams why are you awake?" Alex asked.
"Because."
"Because why…?"
"Because those dreams made me sad."
Confused, Alex propped her head up on one hand so she could look at him easier. He was staring at the ceiling again, his thumb tracing a line down her spine and back up again. She shivered slightly, but refused to get distracted because she wanted answers. She waited, and finally, he spoke.
"I had dreams of us," He said quietly.
"And that made you said?"
"In all of those dreams, they were scarily accurate. I could remember everything clearly. Except, you were all different. Every time I reached out to hold you or kiss you, you turned to smoke."
There was a moment of silence as Alex took it in. "So you did have nightmares."
He turned to give her what she assumed was an exasperated look. "No I did not. I had dreams that made me sad."
"Aw, so you're sensitive, how cute," Alex kissed him on the forehead. "It's ok, I'm right here."
"That's not funny Alex," He said. "It was really scary."
"Aha! A nightmare!"
"No, not a nightmare. It's just that they were scarily close to how I feel right now!" He hissed in the darkness.
Alex swallowed and became serious again. "It's ok Justin. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," She soothed, and ran a hand down his arm.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine," He said, but she noticed his grip tightened on her slightly.
There was another moment of silence before he broke it. "So, what were your nightmares about?"
"Running," Alex said, and yawned. She actually felt tired now. And safer.
"Really? I didn't know you could run."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Shut up. Just because I don't do it in P.E. doesn't mean I can't."
"Well it was in a dream…" Justin said, and she could tell he was smirking.
"It was really scary," She said, but she was beginning to close her eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm right here."
"Yeah I totally trust you to fight off a group of black-cloaked monsters."
"I'm going to ignore the sarcasm in that statement and pretended that you meant it."
"Justin, go to sleep." Alex yawned again.
"You're the one who wanted to know if I was awake."
"My first mistake."
"Really? Is that how you feel?"
"Justin, what will it take to get you to sleep?"
"Hmm," He pretended to think about it, and then he surprised Alex by rolling over and pinning her beneath him. He bent down and kissed her on the lips, softly at first but then began to add more pressure. When she felt like she was going to explode, he pulled back and grinned. "There, now I can sleep." And then he flopped back down and pulled her to him to assume their original positions.
Alex pouted. "But now I can't."
Closing his eyes, he merely said, "Go to sleep Alex."
She groaned but closed her eyes anyways. After a couple of minutes, they were both asleep. Alex expected more nightmares, but instead she got only one. She was running again, down the hallway, but she couldn't tell who she was being chased by. All she knew was that she was searching for something. For what, she didn't know, couldn't know, but it didn't matter. Eventually, the hallway dissolved, and everything went black as Alex was allowed to sleep peacefully for the next couple of hours.
He was back to the night before seeing the Wizard Council. They were already finished, and his arms were wrapped around her like they were now. She felt so warm and real, that at first he didn't realize he was dreaming. But then, like all the others, she started to slip away. He tried to grab onto her, but she was fading, like smoke, into the dark night. He called her name, but received no reply. He could only watch her disappear once more, as he felt completely alone, and sad, just like he did at the end of all the other dreams.
Yet despite the fact that he knew it was a dream, it didn't help him not be affected by it. He couldn't help it, these dreams were bugging him. All he wanted was some sleep, and instead he got his worst fear, over and over: Losing Alex. He lay back on the bed and waited for another dream to start. His mind didn't disappoint.
This time, they were back at the room in the courthouse. He was trying to get her to tell him what she was thinking. This time though, he was having an out of body experience, and he watched himself kiss her.
He waited impatiently at the end of the bed for the dream to finish. Because once the dream finished, another one would begin. And another. And he was sick and tired of it. He just wanted it to be time for him to wake up.
He watched as Alex turned into smoke, as he tried to reach out and grab her. She floated away, just like always, untouchable, and untraceable. And once again, he felt alone.
Gasping, Justin woke up for the second time that night. He groaned and tried to go back to sleep as quickly as possible, but first he had to make sure of one thing. He looked down, and sure enough he was still holding Alex. She looked pretty even when she was sleeping. Her hair was in disarray, her eyes closed tightly, and he could see a faint crease in her forehead. Her mouth was slightly parted, and he could hear her breathing gently.
Justin bent down to gently kiss her forehead. For a second, he was scared that she would disappear, but when he made contact with her skin he could feel that she was very real, and when he kissed her she didn't go away. This time, she was real.
Relief flooded him at the same time dread coiled in her stomach. For now, she was here, but just how long would Alex stay real for?
He looked down at her once more. "Alex, I love you," He whispered, before closing his eyes again and waiting for the new dreams to take him over.
The morning was silent. They both woke up slowly, not wanting to acknowledge that this day was happening. For a few minutes at least, they were able to pretend that this morning was like any morning. They were going to wake up to their mom calling for them to go to school. They would wake up in their normal bedrooms, and would be able to walk downstairs and look across the breakfast table and know that the person they saw wouldn't be going away any time soon.
As Justin woke up fully, a question came to his mind. It was one that he had never considered before, and would never want to.
What if he had never, really, loved Alex? Would all of this happen? Would he have been happier?
But even as those questions came to his mind, he realized that no, he could never have not loved Alex. Somehow, someway, they balanced each other out. There was no way another girl could have been meant for him. She would have had to have been an Alex-copy. And he would have risked everything for that girl. So, no, he would not have been happier. He truly did love Alex.
Of course, he had already known that, but with this realization, the answers to the questions he asked himself only reaffirmed that he did. And for some reason, it made him feel a little better, despite whatever this day would bring.
The door opened, and the guards walked in with a new pile of clothes identical to the ones they had given Alex and Justin yesterday. They deposited them on the edge of the bed and almost left the room silently before turning around.
"Miss Russo, it is advised that you stick to the dress code and wear what we have provided for you."
Alex merely nodded as the door shut.
They were standing outside the door again. Only this time, Justin could feel his own nerves creeping in. Alex was a mess. She was gripping his hand tightly, and he could have sword she was shaking, but that could have just been him.
"One more time," Justin whispered to her. "Are you ready?"
Alex looked at him, and then leaned up to kiss him once before settling back. "Yeah. I'm ready. You?"
"Yeah," Justin said.
The group of six came walking back out silently just like last time. Only this time around they actually acknowledged Alex and Justin's existence by nodding once in their direction before pulling the door open with the same eeriness as yesterday. They walked in, and Justin and Alex were ushered forward by the guard, who this time escorted them in and took their places lining the back wall of the room.
Justin and Alex walked down the aisle. The two chair from before were gone, and they were led by an elf to the first bench in the first row. They took their seats, and cast glances to the other side of the aisle, where a group of people sat, staring at the curiously. They recognized some of them: their parents, Max, and Chief Green, but the others were simply strangers.
The Council Leader stood, and the elves came rushing forward carrying the podium and a single chair, which was placed beside the podium. Then the elves disappeared. Justin managed to see that this time they exited off a small door tucked in the corner of the room.
The Council Leader approached the podium, and cleared his throat before speaking. "Among this group of people is a mixture of witnesses. Some have been in contact with Justin and Alexandra Russo; some have merely been given an overview of the case. Some are wizards, some are mortals."
A murmur went through the crowd at the last words.
"Do not worry; they will forget everything after this is through."
The crowd went silent again.
"Now," The Council Leader gestured to the first witness. "We may begin."
I know, I'm evil, making you wait for the next chapter for the whole trial. But put it this way, the story will last longer (yay?) Anyways, the story is almost done, about 2-4 chapters (depending on if I write an epilogue or not).