Title: In Need of Rescue
Chapter 13: Court Date
Edward's POV
(FOR THIS CHAPTER ONLY…everything said will be in vampiric so there will be no italics!)
Today was the big day. I was able to call out of my job for the night; luckily one of my coworkers was able to take my position. I got ready to go down to the court when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it up to see my whole family there, ready to stay on my side. "Hey everyone."
"Hey Edward!" Alice said, pushing her way through as everyone else followed. They all knew that Alice and I had always had a great friendship and between everyone here, she was always the one to be able to push me around and get away with it. If anyone else had pushed me aside, I probably would have tried to push them back, not out of anger but just to show them that they can't push me around.
Carlisle had compared it to the big dog/little dog syndrome. Where because I am bigger than her, I know I can easily hurt her so I choose to allow her. I just say I'm being nice.
"I'm so glad you all can come." I said straightening my tie.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Esme said to me.
"Who wouldn't miss such a dramatic turn of events?" Emmett said earning a glare from me. He just grinned, out of all of us; Emmett was the one to get used to the customs the fastest. I think it had a lot to do with him thinking of this whole world we lived in more as a movie than real life.
"Let's go." I said as we took two separate cars. My plan was to have Carlisle, Esme and Alice testify. Carlisle and Esme has known me the longest and Alice has always stuck by my side.
Once there, we parked our cars in the parking lot and got out. I was so nervous.
"Don't sweat it Edward, we are all here for you." Jasper said to me.
I nodded toward him.
We walked inside as I saw everyone getting ready through the day. We were the fourth court for the day. They were still on their third right now. We stayed outside of the court until it was done. No one talked, knowing that anything we said would be heard by everyone. I could hear everyone's thoughts, they were all telling me the same thing- we would get her back.
The door was opened and a man was taken out as he was screaming. It turned out he was caught trying to leave town without the right papers. That would be five years in jail and if he was lucky he would have to stay in this town for another five years. Sometimes they will make you stay here for ten years depending why you were leaving.
Once it was cleared, the door opened. A man stepped out, clearly the bailiff. He looked at his paper in front of him then said, "Cullen vs. the state." I walked in with my family as Carlisle, Esme, and Alice followed me to the front of the court. We sat down.
They had a man start to walk around, checking everyone's papers. This was to make sure no one had a power that could stop the court from deciding on their own. Quite a few vampires had powers that could manipulate you. They stopped at Jasper as they read his papers. Sure enough, they made him leave. Being able to manipulate emotions could surely mess with a person's decisions. 'I will wait outside. I hope everything goes well' He thought to me as he seemed angry. He had always hated being the odd man out and like any other time, this was no exception.
The men got to me and Alice as they read our papers. Mine was fine because I could only read minds but they were talking about Alice's power. Finally they decided to allow her to stay seeing as how her powers only worked when a person had made a decision. A few others were kicked out as well as everyone else sat down patiently. Everyone rose as the judge came in.
The judge then called out, "This trial is considered Cullen vs. The State. Cullen is being charged for three things, failing to comply with documents, no manner's training for pet, and collar off the pet. State is asking for the return of the pet to the farm and in exchange is willing to pay back what Cullen paid and Cullen is asking to keep said pet and to make sure he is allowed to keep his job at the farm." He looked up at us. "Is this right Cullen?"
"Yes, sir." I nodded.
"Is this right state?"
The man to run for the state also nodded his head, "Yes, sir."
"Then let the trial begin. Cullen is being offered three people to come up and testify for him. State is allowed two to testify. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir." We both said.
"Cullen you are first."
"I choose my father, Carlisle Cullen." I said to the judge.
Carlisle stood up and walked toward the bench. He sat down as the lawyers came up. "So your name is Carlisle Cullen is that right?"
"I am."
"And you understand that there is a vampire here who can tell if you are lying and will let us know if you are doing so?" he looked over at the vampire who sat in the corner. All courts had one. There were times when I had to work for the State so I knew all the questions to be asked.
"Yes."
The man looked at Carlisle's papers, "You don't know who you parent is."
"I do not."
"Do you have any thoughts on who it may be?"
"I do not."
"You are the father to the one that is being charged, is that correct."
"I am."
"So you had taken responsibility from the beginning for him?"
"I have."
"It is safe to assume that you have known him the longest is that right?"
"Yes, I have."
"Are you aware that he was charged on three different accounts?"
"Yes."
"Number one is failure to comply in documents. Did he not write in document that he would bring the girl to you, Carlisle Cullen, in order for her to be checked for any problems as to why he can't hear her thoughts?"
"He did but he said that had talked to the people about not doing it. He paid them a thousand dollars to ignore that section."
"And you chose not to ask about it?"
"I have known him for over a hundred years and he has never lied to me before."
"I see. The next one is no manner's training for his pet. What do you have to say about that?"
"I have to admit that he hadn't mentioned manner's training at all but she is a very well behaved pet. When I took care of her at the hospital, she always took whatever I did to her unlike a few other humans who would try to fight back."
"I didn't ask for your life story." The lawyer said.
"Sorry sir." Rule of thumb, answer the questions straight forward.
"And for being seen without a collar, do you know about that one?"
"I have said many times, I will not go to any of my children's houses if they have a pet so I do not know what goes on at his house."
"You're children? So you have changed more than one?" The man knew he did, it was in Carlisle's papers.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Four."
"Names?"
"Edward, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett."
"Do they all have pets?"
"Rosalie, Emmett and Edward do. Esme is my wife…" He thought about it for a second then corrected himself for the court, "Esme is my mate and we have yet to get a pet."
"Why don't you have one?" I knew where this was going.
"Esme and I are still particular on the traditional ways of humans and vampires coexisting."
"So you would most likely say anything to get the pet back to Edward?"
"No sir, if I ever deemed Edward not fit to have a pet; I would most surely say so. Like I said I don't believe in the pet/vampire relations. I would be more likely to say have the state take her back than him keep it."
"Then why aren't you?"
"He is being good to her. He keeps to the rules and he feeds her. There's nothing to say bad about it."
"That will be all." The lawyer walked away.
Carlisle got up and walked back over to us. Then the man from the state stood up, "May I have Lizzy come forth?"
Damn it, of all the people. I would have to say Lizzy was the only one other than my family that had figured out my like for Bella. I saw it in her mind but she kept it low.
The court went into a ruckus when they realized she wasn't there. "Sorry." The man from the state said. "She is with the pet right now. She will be right in." He smiled.
I watched the door open as Lizzy walked in with Bella right behind her. Bella's eyes met mine immediately and I couldn't help but smile seeing her walk around after the last time I saw her. Lizzy told her to sit in a specific chair that was near the door. Bella did as she was told; I could see in Lizzy's mind that she had already told Bella everything about court before she brought her. For some reason Bella had made a huge impact on Lizzy.
Lizzy came up front and sat where Carlisle was. The lawyer went up to her.
"Hello Lizzy. You come here a lot for legal cases, so you know all of the details in this court right?"
"Yes."
"May I have your full name?"
"Elizabeth Shimon."
"And can you tell us where you work?"
"The pound."
"Are you aware of why Bella was brought to your place?"
"I was told that her owner had gone against a few rules and I had to take care of her for five days until the court date."
"Very good. I believe that you had run into an accident while she was there. A fight had broken out."
"Yes sir."
"And how long had it been before the last fight?"
"Six weeks sir but if I can say…"
"I'm sorry I didn't ask you to explain." The man said.
"I object." I said standing up, knowing what she wanted to say. "If she has something to explain to the court about this then she should be able to do so."
The judge nodded, "Let her explain."
Lizzy nodded her head, "Well, Bella hadn't started the fight. The other girl that was there did. The other girl doesn't like to share anything. I accidentally let the two play together. Bella didn't throw one punch. She took every hit, cowering away. I was shocked at how pacifistic she was. Not once did she talk back the whole time she was there either, something that is rarely seen in the pound."
"I see. Why did you let them play if you knew the other would start something?"
"The girl hadn't for five weeks; I assumed she may have gotten over it."
"What did you do to the other girl?"
"Much to my disproval, there was nothing more I could do. I had her for four months which is the maximum I could keep them." She looked so distraught, this was unusual for most vampires when they talked about a human in today's world.
"What did you do to her?" The lawyer snipped.
"She was put down two days ago when the fight occurred. I realized there was nothing more I could do."
"I see." The lawyer walked off and turned back around. "So you had to call both sides when this fight occurred. What happened?"
"The state said okay and never came to check on her. Edward came down as fast as he could to see the pet."
"Did he not threaten you?"
She looked down, "Yes he did threaten me but it was only out of fear of such things happening again."
"I see. If you had to pick whether state or Edward got the pet. Who would you choose?" The man asked.
She was conflicted, weighing out her options, "Edward seemed much more into her well being. I would have to say him."
"That will be all." The man said. Lizzy got up and walked over to Bella. She had Bella stand and walked out with her.
The judge looked at me, "Who is next?" he asked.
"Esme sir." I said as Esme got up and walked to the front.
Her answers were similar to Carlisle's. Then it was a person from the state who went up. They talked for a while about the documentation and what I had signed. Then Alice went up. She was my last person to testify. Something deep down was telling me that I should have had Carlisle last. Alice was a great person but sometimes her mouth shot out words before she could stop herself.
Finally the questions were ending, so far so good.
"So you are saying that Edward is a great pet owner?"
"Oh yes!" Alice said. "He takes very good care of her."
"Would you recall a time where she didn't have a collar on?"
"Once." Alice said.
"When?"
"It was my fault actually, I had just given her a bath and Edward and I got to talking and I had let her walk into the backyard without it. I realized half way through our conversation and I ran out there to get her. I quickly snapped it on."
"Do you realize that you are supposed to call the federal courts to let us know if a pet is ever found without a collar?"
"Yes, I have called on some pets before but this time around she was in his backyard. I didn't see a need to call the court up."
"Last thing."
"Certainly."
"You have had a pet before the one you currently have?"
"Yes."
"What happened to it?"
Alice looked somber. We didn't talk about that time.
"Please say it."
"She was killed."
"How?"
"Out of my negligence."
"What did you do?"
"I didn't follow the rules, I had five strikes."
"So if you already had to watch one human get killed thanks to your negligence, why didn't you remember this time?"
"I told you it was an accident!" Alice yelled. "I didn't mean for it to happen. Not back then and not now!"
"But it happened once and you didn't care enough for it to not happen again." The lawyer shot back knowing that he was working into her nerves.
"I do care! I love pets! I agree with Carlisle and I want humans and vampires to have a relationship like they used to but I don't want to see them get killed!" She was in hysterics.
"You love them enough to where you will forget the rules?" The lawyer snipped back.
"Enough!" I said.
"What is it?" The judge asked me.
"He is saying many things that are not needed to be brought up. Alice has a lot behind her past that she doesn't want to talk about. I think he should accept that. We all make mistakes."
The judge nodded, "That will be enough."
The lawyer smiled, "The case will rest on the jury's opinions then." He walked away, allowing Alice to walk off. She came over to Carlisle, Esme, and I. We tried to console her the best we could. The pet thing that happened so long ago still hurt her to this day. She hated knowing that she was the cause of a human's death.
It was rare to see Alice bring down her guard like that but she was still the soft Alice from so far back, we were all soft once we were alone and away from the public eye.
I watched as the jury came in and sat down. Lizzy walked in with Bella now as the two sat at the door. What the jury said next decided whether the state or I would get to take Bella home. We were all on the edge of our seats as one stood up and started to say the speech that would say what my future held.
Uh oh…What will the jury decide? I know the court that I had wasn't exactly like the real courts out there. I know exactly how courts are, my father is a court reporter and when I was younger on my days off he would take me to watch the courts. Real court is so boring! I never thought it would come in handy though =P
I gotta fix something I said last time. For a period the blood isn't pooled in the vagina it is pooled in the cervix (think that's right). I haven't had to take a reproductive class in a few years.
I asked for questions from you guys that I could possibly put up and use scientific POV to answer them! If it gets too awkward let me know and I will stop these here. If I get too many of them, I may just write my own story dedicated to this stuff! My first one came from Amelia Writer so I will answer that one first! She asked how a male vampire could possibly get an erection if there's no blood flow…my first reaction was that it can't happen and it's impossible! Then I had a rum and coke and realized that perhaps there is a way. I have three thoughts. First- So a vampire's skin was said to be like marble, hard and solid. Perhaps they don't get an erection, perhaps it's hard all the time. Two- Then thinking about it more, there is some blood flow if they have to drink blood. I mean they drink blood and it has to go somewhere, perhaps they just have to drink more blood after the deed is done. Three- My other thought was their venom (according to the book) runs throughout their whole body almost like our blood would, what if their venom worked like our blood did? I honestly thought of all this after a rum and coke, which is when I can honestly think the best scientifically. (I am over twenty one and no I don't condone underage drinking so if you are under twenty one DON'T DO IT!)
Does anyone else have any questions they would like answered from a scientific POV? =P I'm still in school but I'm up for it!
Please review!