25 June 2012
Chapter 1. Believe Me!
"How do you find the defendant?" The judge asked the jurors.
"Guilty."
The verdict was expected. We had all seen the evidence. I turned to watch Crystal in the dock. I wanted to see remorse on my girl friend's face. Surely she could be sorry for what she'd done to her colleagues, her friends.
Crystal was watching me. Her big blue eyes full of tears begging for forgiveness, "I didnt do this." She wailed. "Believe me! I'm innocent."
The Crystal I knew would never have done this but now I'd seen the footage. She wasn't the sweet girl I thought I knew. She had brutally attacked her colleagues and locked them up in the freezer; there was no denying the truth. It had been seen as 'Exhibit A', an unquestionable truth. It had broken my heart to see it for myself, to know she had lied to my face, professing her innocence over the course of weeks leading up to her trial. I'd felt sorry for her. Even now, she was still at it. Guilty as sin and yet she wanted me to believe her.
I wanted to believe. Her red lips quivered against the pale silhouette of her skin and ice blonde hair. She looked like an angel with those piercing blue eyes that had shot through my heart the first day I had seen her.
"How could you." I yelled back, now standing.
"Please trust your heart." She sobbed. The guards now had hold of her arms and were cuffing her to take her away. She was becoming hysterical, thrashing to try and be free and the guards got more rough as the tried to restrain her. She continued to scream at me. "Dont let them get away with this. I've been framed. Prove I'm innocent. I have no-one believing me. Please dont desert me. I love you, Alec. I love you! Believe me! Damn you all! Believe me!"
As she went out the door, I could hear her screaming in frustration that she was being forced away. I heard the doors shut. I knew I'd never get to say bye.
Lets adjourn Court for ten minutes to allow the defendant time to regain composure." The judge said calmly to the jurors as if this sort of thing happened every day. "When we commence we shall begin sentencing."
I left. I wasn't hanging around to see her get sent down. We didn't need to say bye. We both knew it was over. I felt stupid for believing her in the first place and heart broken that she'd never been the girl I fell in love with.
1. Guilty Until Proven Innocent • Opuss № I