Devil on the Doorstep
Nothing to say about this chapter… Oh yeah, it won't be like all the others, most of this will be in Seth's Third POV.
Devil on the Doorstep; Chapter XVIII: Everything Burns
Seth entered the room silently, his grey hair combed over his disfigured face. He sat down, flanked by two guards, and scanned the room for his son, who was sitting in the front row, next to Bryan and Lee. His hands were chained in front of him and he winced as his foot hit the ground.
"All rise for His Eminence Justice Bob Geldof." Someone called. A portly old man stepped into the room. Seth shivered. There was something about that old man which reminded him of his father.
Seth walked at a painstaking pace towards the witness box, delighting in the fact he was annoying his captors.
"Name?" The witness for the prosecution asked when he had finally sat down.
"Seth Dimitri Hiwatari."
"Date of Birth?"
"October 9th, 1976."
"Nationality?"
"Russian. Archangel." Everything Seth said was in a clipped tone, every word measured.
"Next of kin?"
"Kai Erik Alexander Hiwatari." Kai sat up. Where the hell did the 'Erik' come from?
"How do you plead to two charges of Grievous Bodily Harm, twenty charges of kidnapping and one of attempted rape?" Seth stared at Kai, gaining hope from the younger boy.
"Not guilty." He replied unwaveringly. The prosecution wrinkled his nose. "May I have a boon granted?" Seth continued.
"Depends on the nature. What is it?" The judge leaned forward in spite of himself.
"I wish to have my mask." Kai put a hand in his pocket and fingered the delicate object.
"Absolutely not!" Seth winced and looked down. "That is one of the most absurd requests I have ever heard. And pray reveal your face, the rules in this courtroom are to not obstruct your countenance." Seth brushed the heavy fringe away with a shaking hand. A gasp rang around the courtroom as he looked up, revealing the empty eye socket and abnormal face.
"Good heavens!" The prosecution placed a handkerchief to his face in horror. Seth's eye glimmered with tears on humiliation. "I would like to bring the first witness to the stand." Kai stood up, that was his cue.
-
He no longer cries to himself, no tears left to wash away, just diaries of empty pages, feelings gone astray…
-
"Name?" The prosecution was really getting on Kai's nerves.
"Kai Erik Alexander Hiwatari." Kai pronounced his new middle name carefully.
"What is your relationship with the accused?"
"He's my father."
"Now, Kai – can I call you Kai?" Kai nodded silently, the very epitome of his father. "I understand that there are two charges which relate to you, one of GBH and one of kidnapping. Is this so?" Kai nodded again. "Did this man kidnap you?" Kai looked across the room to Seth. He closed his eyes. Please, God, forgive me…
"N-no." Kai choked out. Seth's head jerked upwards. Kai met his eyes coolly. "Not the way I see it anyway, more like… borrowed." He added, smirking. Seth quickly looked down, to hide the smile on his face.
"I beg your pardon?" The prosecution's mouth opened so wide his glasses fell off his nose.
"Oh dear, is your age affecting your hearing?" Kai smirked. "I said no. Nada, nein, nyet, non, umm… NO!"
"Very well, did this man harm you in anyway?"
"Umm… yes." Kai was struggling frantically to hide a sneer; he just loved infuriating older people.
"How?"
"He decided to try and stop me committing suicide." Seth rolled his eye.
"Right… you may go." The prosecution was really wishing he hadn't picked up this case.
"And let that be a lesson, boys and girls." Kai said as he walked down. "Even if you have just seen the Phantom of the Opera, don't forget to make your witness swear or you will get a load of mumbo-jumbo!" Seth shook his head in admiration for the younger boy.
"I call the next witness, Lee Laan, to the stand." Lee stood up nervously as Kai slid into his seat. He staggered up to the witness box. "Do you, Lee Laan, swear on the bible to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
"…No." Lee said calmly, even though his hands were shaking.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I refuse to swear on something that means nothing to me. I am not a Christian." Lee hooked a thumb under one of his fangs and winked.
"Then what religion are you… Muslim? Hindu? Scientologist?"
"None of them." Lee was beginning to get into this whole 'irritating as hell' routine. "I'm a Confucian. I follow the teachings of … " The prosecution looked confused. Lee sighed. "Look, how about I just swear on my honour?"
"Very well." Lee's hands began to tremble again as they got onto the important bit of the interview. "Did this man touch you in anyway?" The prosecution pointed to Seth. Lee groaned inwardly. Now he had to tell the truth.
"Yes…" He whispered inaudibly.
"And how did he touch you? Do you have any idea why?"
"He touched my arm and stroked my hair, to try and stop me crying." Lee replied stoutly. No one doubted his words.
"And why were you crying, Lee?" The prosecution attempted to fake a concern.
"I…" Lee took a shuddering breath. "Someone tried to rape me… I felt so…" Tears glimmered in his amber eyes.
"Leave him alone!" Seth suddenly shouted. "You've received the information you want, now let him be!" The prosecution nodded at Lee, who walked away.
-
Walking through life unnoticed, knowing that no one cares, too consumed in their masquerade…
-
"I want to call my first witness for defence." Seth stated, pronouncing every syllable, which he knew from experience really annoyed people in charge.
"And who would want to stick up for such a pathetic worm as you?" Bob Geldof hissed.
"I call Spencer Demonov to the stand, if he wishes." Spencer nodded and stood up, crossing the room quickly.
"Name?"
"My name is Gay, but you can just call me Koren." Spencer replied crisply, quoting one of the many lines Tala had come up with. "Actually, it's Spencer Demonov."
"Age?"
"Twenty."
"Old…" Bob mused. "Old is good…"
"And that's what makes you great!" Seth burst out laughing.
"What can you tell me about Mr Phantom of the Opera over there?"
"He doesn't like you. And he's dangerous with a bottle opener." Seth rolled his eye and started hitting his head on the wooden frame of the box. "Oh yeah… he's obsessed with Phantom of the Opera… to the extent he has a wicked cool lair. And his favourite colour is purple." Seth raised his head.
"It is?" He asked.
"Is now." Spencer replied firmly.
"About the case." The prosecution said through gritted teeth.
"Oh… Not much then." Seth rolled his good eye.
"What do you know?"
"That Seth risked his life to get us lot out. And that he drew Boris' attention away from me by using himself as a distraction. And that, despite the fact that Voltaire removed all ligaments, tendons and cartilage in his left foot, he still ran half a mile to save Kai, and then stood barefoot on the edge of Bakuten Bridge and got his feet impaled by half and inch spikes. Not exactly the work of a kidnapper, is it?" The prosecution gaped at Spencer as he strode down the steps and back to sit down beside Tala, and then proceeded to hit Ian across the head as he snickered.
"Is this true?" Seth nodded silently.
"All true, and all happened in the past three weeks."
"Umm… I want to call the next witness to the prosecution. Tala Ivanov." Tala stood up, his head held high, cerulean eyes like chips of ice.
"Name?"
"Oglington Fartworthy."
"Name?"
"Tala Ivanov."
"Age?"
"Older than you."
"Age?"
"Fifteen."
"What can you tell me concerning Malformed over there and the case?" Tala's eyes narrowed as Seth flushed.
"Nothing much, other than the fact he was the one that fixed my fingers."
"What happened?"
"I broke them."
"How?"
"Umm… A Phantom stepped on them." It wasn't a lie exactly; no one knew the Phantom was Seth…
"You mean Ugly over there stepped on them?" Dammit.
-
'Till everything burns, and everyone screams, burning their lies, burning my dreams…
-
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Prosecution was working himself up.
"Why don't you tell me? I can tell you are dying to." Seth glared back.
"You say you are thirty, yes?" Seth nodded briefly. "Your son is fifteen." Another nod. "Then you had your son at the age of fifteen… this is not looking good for your case. A sexual predator at the age of fifteen… how old was your wife…"
"Shut up!" Kai yelled, standing up in the courtroom. He cast a worried look at Seth.
"Have you ever been hated by your only relation? Have you ever wanted to commit suicide because of something your father said?" Kai had never ever seen Seth this angry. "No? Then you wouldn't understand the feeling of wanting to hold onto someone who actually loved you. Cared for you, actually bothered to see if you lived or died. But you wouldn't understand, you with your happy suburban life!" Seth stood up and strode from the room, his limp even more pronounced than usual. Kai followed quickly, joined by the Demolition Boys.
"Dad!" Kai wrapped his arms around his father. Seth turned around and hugged his son to him, burying his face in Kai's thick hair.
"The jury have just gone out." Lee said quietly, entering the room. "The judge and prosecution are extremely certain of the verdict." Seth sat down with a sigh. Kai squeezed in next to him, Kasi sat behind him, rubbing his shoulders, Spencer sat on the side, a firm hand wrapped around Seth's wrist, Ian managed to perch himself on the Phantom's knee and Bryan sat down on the floor, leaning against Seth's knees, with one of the Phantom's hands entangled in his silvery locks. Lee smiled ruefully.
"We must keep our hopes up. A miracle may yet happen." Suddenly, Kevin poked his head through the door.
"They've come back in!" He said nervously. "It was a quick decision." Seth's grey eye snapped open in shock.
"Then… then we must go back." His voice trembled slightly as he stood up. Kai stood up with him and wrapped an arm around him, steadying him as he walked to the stand.
"We the jury, find Seth Dimitri Hiwatari…"
-
All of this hate, and all of this pain, I'll burn it all down, as my anger reigns…
-
BWAHAHA… another cliffy! So, what do you think will happen? Will Seth be found guilty? Man, I've now got obsessed with Dracula 2000 – and I haven't even seen the damn film! Blame Alice (Eriksbestfriend) and please check out her story, it's in dire need of reviews! (Even though it's a POTO story.) Would you believe that her first review was a flame? And it's a very cool story… Anyway, do you think I should write a prequel to this, starting from where Seth meets Bryoni ending up about where he becomes the Phantom? I'd probably co-write it with Chu-Chi Face, so you would have lime! Tell me what you think!
'My name is Gay, but you can call me Koren' is (c) Amz and 'Old is good - And that's what makes you great!' is (c) The Suite Life.