The courtroom is quiet. No one is speaking. Finally, the booming voice of Judge Griffith disrupts the silence.
"Let's bring in the jury."
Everyone stands as the jurors reconvene.
"Please be seated, the record will show the presence of the jury, the defendant, and all counsel. Ladies and gentlemen, I understand you have reached a verdict."
The jury foreman nods. "Yes, Your Honor."
"The bailiff will please approach with the verdict. The clerk will read and record the verdict."
Standing with his attorney, Damon grips the table's edge so tightly, it almost feels like it'll break off. He holds his breath and hopes against all hope that the verdict will be in his favor. Still frozen, Damon feels his father's reassuring hand on his back.
"State of Virginia vs Damon Salvatore. We, the jury, duly empaneled and sworn in the above-entitled action upon our oath do find the defendant as to count one first degree murder.
Guilty.
5 premeditated, 0 felony murder 7 find both premeditated and felony. Signed floor person."
An audible gasp from the audience is followed by an uproar in the courtroom. Damon remains frozen.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
Unable to breathe.
The judge slams his gavel on its stand. "We will have order! Do I make myself clear?"
A hush washes over the courtroom.
Judge Griffith turns to the jury as he asks, "Is this your true verdict say one and all?"
Upon their nod, the clerk polls the jurors. All of them respond "yes" that it is their true verdict.
Judge Griffith turns to Damon. "The court has found you guilty of the murder of Elena Gilbert."
All Damon can do is stand rooted to his spot.
"Mr. Salvatore, do you understand what I am telling you?" The judge asks flatly.
The room is spinning, his life has spun out of control, and he had no idea how it got to this point. He hears the judge ask, but he has no coherent thoughts, the only thing he can think is that this is wrong, the whole thing is wrong; his head is telling him this is a mistake, a horrible mistake.
Damon's jolted from his thoughts when the judge's gavel beats harder.
"Mr. Salvatore?" He repeats.
Damon turns to the Judge as he speaks, "Do you understand?"
After Damon nods wordlessly, the judge continues, "You are hereby remanded into custody to await your sentencing hearing."
Watching his client internally break, Elijah says. "Thank you, your honor." Turning to Damon, he squeezes his shoulder. "We will appeal this."
Still, in shock, Damon turns and falls into his father's arms.
Looking over his son's shoulder, Giuseppe asks, "How did this happen, Elijah? They had no real evidence. Everything was circumstantial. They didn't even find a body."
Elijah closes his leather briefcase before looking at the elder Salvatore.
"I don't know, Giuseppe. You never know what a jury will do. We will appeal and we will win. I'm going to let you all have a few moments."
Walking down the aisle of the courtroom, Elijah catches a glimpse of Bonnie with tears flowing down her face.
Pulling back from his father, Damon's once stoic face is full of pain, and he struggles to maintain his composure. The last year has broken him down to nothing.
His eyes which were once full of intense blue fire are empty. His face is gaunt from not eating and he has aged well beyond his 32 years. Glancing at the crowd of family and friends that have joined to support him, Damon locks eyes with a pair of brown eyes that are so familiar to him.
"I…I didn't do this. You have to believe me. I loved her more than life itself," Damon pleads brokenly.
Rushing over to Damon, Miranda Gilbert envelopes him in her arms and holds him as he uncharacteristically breaks down. Rubbing circles on his back, she reassures him. "No, honey, we know you did not do this. I promise we'll do everything in our power to find who's really responsible."
"Mr. Salvatore, you need to come with us now." The guard says as he jangles a pair of handcuffs.
"No, please, please don't," Guiseppe protests, "please give us just a few more minutes."
The guard puts them back in his holster. "10 minutes," the man says and takes a few steps back.
"I don't know what to say," Bonnie states as she looks winsomely at her best friend.
Barely able to speak due to the lump in his throat that was making breathing nearly impossible, he chokes out, "You believe me, right?"
Nodding, Bonnie wraps her arms around Damon's neck. "You know I do. I have no idea how, but we'll find whoever did this and they will pay."
The echoing sound of the handcuffs clicking is enough to bring the strongest man to his knees. Giuseppe grips the back of the bench seat in front of him as they lead Damon out of the courtroom before finally collapsing in the seat behind him and letting out a gut-wrenching wail.
The guard unlocks his cell and gestures for Damon to go inside, he grimaces at the metallic slam of the door.
Sighing, Damon sits on the cot and pulls a photo out from under his pillow. Looking at the image of Elena, he whispers, "Where are you?"
Let me know what you think.
Big hugs to Eva, Florencia7, and CosmicAdventurer for all of their encouragement and support.
Credit to Lanixo as the original idea for this story belonged to her. She wrote some DE things on Live Journal but deleted all of her stories around 2013. She did publish some original work on Wattpad, but she deleted all of them, too. I have no idea what happened to her. I used the plot and rewrote the story with many changes including dialogue, situations, flashbacks, etc. Much the same as I did with Sweet Home Alabama for my story "Home". "Caught Up in You", etc, and a few have others.
There are still a handful of chapters left to post for F&G, so I'll probably finish that first and then start posting this one and TQR.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend.