I know, I know, I kind of fell off the face of the earth for a while, but I'm back! Leave me some feedback and comments, reviews make my day and my chapters much better. ;)
PREVIOUSLY:
"Court is closing in an hour and the jury has decided completely impromptu that they have enough evidence to make a final decision. I've called the final witness to the stand."
"Who?" I said, apprehension building in my stomach. Lissa looked me dead in the eye.
"You."
I didn't even have time to think. I just ran, and Lissa took off next to me. My heart was pounding. I had barely registered her words by the time we arrived, huffing and puffing, at the courtroom. I was going to testify. After everything that had happened, after all the ups and downs and bumps in the road, all that was left was my words. What would I say? I had thought so long about what I would say, how to say it, how to get the best reaction out of the jurors, I'd worried myself sick. But now, I realised that all I could do was be honest and hope for the best. Lissa seized my arm, cursing under her breath.
"This way. They're at the entrance. Useless idiots," she muttered. I couldn't help but grin.
"You're getting all "Law and Order" on me, Liss. And who's an idiot?" I asked, craning my neck. She shook her head.
"Not important." We rounded a corner and she swore again. "Goddamnit."
"Are they…Reporters?" I asked, squinting at the crowd near the courtroom doors. She nodded grimly.
"Yep. Keep your head down and use your elbows," she advised me.
"Why…Why are they here?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her. Lissa spun to look me squarely in the eye.
"Rose, I don't think you understand how huge this case is. Whatever you say in the next fifteen minutes will send a high-profile member of one of America's most notorious gangs to prison."
"Gee, no pressure," I said sarcastically. Lissa flashed me a smile.
"You're an actress, Rose. You work your best under pressure."
"Point," I agreed, and we prepared to push our way through the crowd.
"Rosemarie, Rose, what are you going to say?"
"Rose, is it true you're a schizophrenic?"
"Rosemarie, is he going to jail?"
"Ms Dragomir, how long will his sentence be?"
"Ms Dragomir, are you confident about the success of this case?" I winced painfully as a flash camera went off in my face, then copped a mike in the nose, but tried to keep calm as my panic started to build. It was more than stage nerves now. I felt surrounded, boxed in, unusually claustrophobic.
"Excuse me," I muttered, shoving my way past a reporter, watching the stairs get farther and farther away as more people blocked my path.
"Hey!" Said a loud voice. "Leave the nice ladies alone, or we start breaking fingers," a voice called out authoritavely over the media's din. I glanced up to see Mason, who winked at me.
"Can't leave you alone for a minute, can we?" He asked, and I smiled gratefully. I felt a hand at my elbow, and glanced over to see Dimitri standing next to me, glowering at and successfully staring-down the few remaining brave reporters. I couldn't help note with a degree of amusement that he looked like a freaking FBI agent- he was wearing a dark suit and similarily dark sunglasses, unusual for him, and his usual unreadable expression. My heart had frozen when I saw him, unsure whether to scream at him, apologise, kiss him or just try and talk. As if to spare me the panic, he shook his head very slightly, as if to warn me this wasn't the time for an argument or conversation. Lissa rearranged her blouse and gave me an empathetic smile.
"Okay. Let's go. You okay, Rose?" I nodded determinedly.
"Yeah. I'm ready." We proceeded into the quiet interior of the building, and I could feel Dimitri's presence at my side, even though neither of us spoke.
"Thanks for the back-up back there, Mr. Bodyguard," I muttered under my breath, and, as we reached the familiar door, I was rewarded with a slight smile. He squeezed my shoulder briefly in support, then looked at me with a cryptic, almost sad smile.
"You don't need a bodyguard anymore, Roza," he murmured, and quietly entered the courtroom, Lissa and Mason following suit. I stepped through after them, uncomfortably aware that nearly every eye was trained on me.
"Finally," I heard the Hawk mutter, and the judge gave her a look of ice. Lissa pretended to ignore it, and instead faced the judge with a calm expression.
"I call Rosemarie Hathaway to the stand," she said coolly, and looked over her shoulder at the Hawk, who looked like she wanted to kill me.
"Do you have anything you would like to ask my client?"
"No," the other lawyer said with disdain.
"Very well." Lissa nodded to me, and slowly I walked to face the courtroom, unsure where I should look, then deciding to focus my gaze on my best friend's lovely face.
"Rose, please tell the court what happened," Lissa said simply. I took a deep, shuddering breath, knowing and not relishing that I had to delve back into those memories. But that was an old life now, an old Rose. I drew confidence from that, and before I knew it, I was speaking. I spoke simply and quietly, my voice gaining strength as I progressed with what had happened. I told them about going home and what had happened the first time, then the second time, after which I left. I told them about how he found me once after that and beat me, leaving me lying on the street, and how a group of them had chased me in Westlakes when I first arrived. I finished by telling them about how he had found me once more only six months ago, threatening to kill me if I went through with this case, and that final assault which had eventually lead to his arrest. By the time I had finished, uninterrupted by any lawyers or judges, my pounding heart had settled. I felt as if I was at peace. I looked around, gathering the courage to look at the jurors, and saw to my surprise that many of them were looking down with tears in their eyes. Others looked straight at me with sympathy and compassion, and a few were glowering at Jesse as if he was the Devil reborn, a sentiment I wasn't inclined to challenge.
"Thank you, Rose," the judge's voice said softly. "Are there any further questions for Miss Hathaway?"
"Yes," the Hawk said hastily, elbowing a few people out of the way to stand in front of me. There was a gleam of desperation in her eyes, a look that said she knew she had fought a losing battle, and now would grasp at any straws she could find.
"Ms. Hathaway," she began. "You have told the jury here today of the alleged attacks my client inflicted upon you. It is to our understanding that your relationship lasted nearly six years, and that these were the only incidents. Don't you-"
"OBJECTION!" Lissa roared, and the judge nodded her head.
"Observed. You are out of line," she told the Hawk coldly, who quickly faded back to her seat looking white.
"If I may," I said quietly. "I kind of get where she was coming from. But the thing is…Sometimes, the worst people, the worst things that can happen to you come into your life disguised as the best. It's only after that breaking point that you realise their true nature." My thoughts flashed to Dimitri all of a sudden. And sometimes, the best things in life come disguised as the worst ones, I thought, looking towards him.
"That's all I have to say," I finished, and Lissa gave me a grin, squeezing my hand as she lead me back to my seat.
"The jury will please retreat to the juror's room," the judge announced, and then the room was alive with conversation.
"Did I do okay?" I asked nervously.
"Sweetie, you were fantastic," Alberta said with a smile.
"You couldn't have done anything better," Lissa told me simply. "It was perfect." I hugged her tightly.
"No matter what happens now, guys, I'm so thankful for all of you," I said, my throat tightening.
"Don't get soppy on us now, Rose, I just ate and I don't wanna throw up," Christian drawled, and I mock-glared at him.
"You're an arse, fireballs. Watch it." Suddenly, a loud knocking noise made us all look up. The head juror stood at the door, all the others behind him.
"The jury has reached a decision," he said formally. I glanced at the clock, my eyes widening. Wow. That hadn't even been five minutes. My heart was pounding as they all filed back in, almost feeling sick to my stomach with fear and excitement with the fact that everything had been leading up to this moment right here. Once they were all present, the head juror passed the envelope to the judge, and the noise she made while unfolding it was nearly unbearable. You could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet in that room. Eventually, after a moment of silence, the judge looked up, a strange expression on her face.
"This jury has unanimously found Jesse Zelokos guilty to all charges," she announced, and my jaw dropped. "I sentence the accused to a minimum fifteen years in prison. That will be all." And with that, she-no joke-banged her gavel, and stepped down from her seat. There was silence in the room for a split second, and then I turned to Lissa wide-eyed.
"Lissa!" I screamed, throwing my arms around her. "Lissa, we did it!" I screamed, half-laughing, half crying. The room was filled with applause and cheering, people were patting me on the back and congratulating me, but my head was still buried in Lissa's hair. After a minute, we emerged, both a little shaky, stunned and happy from our success. One by one I embraced Eddie, Mason, Christian and Alberta, then turned to Dimitri somewhat hesitantly. He regarded me solemnly for a moment before his face split into a real, actual grin, and I flung my arms around him, completely and totally happy for a few blissful seconds.
"Congratulations, Roza," he murmured. "You did it." And for a moment, I just forgot everything, stood there rocking in the arms of the man I loved, surrounded by people who believed in me, had fought for me, loved me. It was the best feeling in the world.
So it only makes sense that that moment was shattered by the worst feeling in the world.
"Hathaway!" A voice screamed at me over the din, and the entire room went silent. Jesse's face was twisted up into a sneer as two policemen were manhandling him out of the door.
"You'll pay for this!" He screamed. "I'm gonna find you, you bitch, and when I do, you'll be sorry!" He shouted. I clenched my fists, and gathered my nerves.
"You don't scare me. I hope you rot in hell," I replied, and turned my back on him, allowing my friends and family to begin pushing me out of the courtroom. As I went, one face stepped in front of me, pale with black hair.
"Rose," the voice said quietly, seeming to shake a little bit. "I'm sorry." I blinked.
"Tasha?" I barely had time to register who it was before she stepped closer to me, giving me a small smile.
"Yeah."
And that was when she shot me.
I screamed as fire ripped through my body, unsure where I should be looking for a wound. I heard screams of horror all around me, clattering, people yelling orders. Suddenly I was on the ground, blinking up blearily at the people surrounding me- Lissa, Dimitri and Alberta.
"Where?" I managed.
"It's your arm," Lissa said shakily.
"Don't panic, sweetheart, you're not going to die," Alberta told me very matter-of-factly. "It just nicked you. She was a terrible shot."
"Still hurts like a motherfucker," I grumbled as somebody got a bandage and wrapped my arm in it, stemming the bleeding. Lissa helped me to my feet, checking me over.
"Oh my god, Rose," she cried. "I can't believe that just happened." I gave Dimitri a dry look.
"Really? You can't? Catastrophe makes a conscious effort to follow me, Liss." She half-laughed.
"Come on, let's get you over to the hospital."
"Awh, man, do I have to?" I complained, but was silenced by two very scary "yes, you do" looks from Dimitri and Lissa. I took a final glance around the mayhem that had become the courtroom- Eddie and Christian were sitting on Tasha whilst Mason informed her "how much they were going to fuck her up for that", the judge was furiously talking to the hawk and Jesse was still fighting the policemen, who had become distracted when Tasha had pulled the gun.
And then there was the second gunshot. And the third, fourth and fifth.
Lissa screamed. The jurors started running for the door, as did Jesse as one of the policemen crumpled. Nobody could figure out where this shot had come from, and more quickly followed. I felt Dimitri tackle me to the ground and we landed in one of the aisles, holding on tightly to each other as police fired at whoever the hell was firing back, and then there was a strange, whooshing noise.
"He's got a gun!" I heard Mason shoot, and my insides went to ice as I knew instinctively that he meant Jesse.
"Where's Rose?" I heard Lissa scream amongst the gunfire, and then there was another, louder rapid blast of bullets and I cringed, waiting for the pain. But nothing came. A silence fell over the room, and after a minute, we found the courage to stand up, gripping each other's hands tightly. The judge was bending over an injured policeman, Mason and Eddie were standing with opposite to us, all looking stunned. The jurors were scattered around the room. Christian was clutching a very white but unhurt Lissa into his chest. But the person I was looking for could not be found. And then I saw him.
Jesse Zelokos was lying no more than three meters from me, in the next aisle. My gaze shot to the round, red hole straight between his eyes, unable to tear my gaze from it. He was dead, eyes vacant and unseeing, a pool of blood surrounding his head. I looked away, following the line of the bullet to the main doorway to the courtroom. A tall figure stood in the doorway, hands shoved in the pockets of a dark suit. He raised his eyes to look at me, and slowly removed a dark, expensive-looking pair of sunglasses. The gaze that found me was awfully, confusingly familiar, mainly because the eyes that stared back at me where my own, copied almost exactly. A slight, uncertain smile crossed his features for a split second. The man walked until he was no more than a meter away from me, eyes never once leaving mine. I felt as if I knew him so, so well. Like he was a missing part of me, something I'd always wanted but never quite been able to put my finger on.
"Are-are you-?" I stammered. An easy smile crossed his features as he nodded calmly at me, his eyes bright with emotion- longing, fear, sadness, happiness. Abe Mazur cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
"Yes. Hello, little girl."
THEY WON! AND ABE'S HERE! AND HE SHOT JESSE! Yay for happy endings! (Even though Rose got shot.) There's one more chapter and then two epilouges to go! Review to make me go faster!
Em xx