They reached a small courtroom there exactly for situations like that when moving the defendant or a witness would be hazardous or more troublesome than bringing the judge over. The wolf had stayed behind in the meeting room and Alice clung to her arm the whole way. Cat felt reassured and at ease with the girl by her side. The rational part of her was amazed at how quickly Alice had won her over. Even Catherine wasn’t whining anymore.
She also feared and felt bad about both scenarios, either telling and not telling her secret. It could strain their relationship later on, especially when Alice was so forward regarding her outlandish story. She did create a ball of light out of nowhere and made it vanish. Although it could be a parlor trick, she’d seen a freaking angel and proved without a doubt that she’d been William Cooper in her previous life.
The three women reached the room and entered it. Two uniformed bailiffs stood at attention and the judge was talking with two men in business suits. That’s when literal hell broke out.
“What?” Confused, Cat asked out loud.
The girl tightened the grip on Cat’s arm and appeared to be on alert, looking at the three men.
The ghost kept screaming nonsense and urging her to leg it out of there. Scanning the room, Cat asked, [Who?]
Agatha and Alice helped Catherine sit on a chair a bailiff brought to her. Jack maneuvered to stand by her side, alert.
“Catherine, what’s wrong?” The lawyer asked.
Cat looked at the three men now staring back at her. One of them had a slight smirk on his face.
She averted her eyes. Alice looked at the man Catherine supposedly identified as a demon and whispered, “Oh, I see what you mean. Keep calm, Catherine. We can’t alert that guy we are onto him. We can’t fight in here.”
Missing the eavesdropping ranger’s surprise, Cat nodded. She almost thought Alice could hear the ghost shouting nonstop in her head. The girl exchanged a hand sign with detective Martinez but before they could act, the judge and the two men approached her.
“Miss Wallenstein, I assume,” the judge said. “My name is Hendrickson, and I'm the judge assigned to your case. I’m sorry we had to meet in such circumstances. Are you okay?”
“I’m an EMT, your honor,” Alice said respectfully. “I believe Miss Wallenstein is having a panic attack.”
"Proceed," the judge authorized Alice to assist her.
“I’m fine,” Cat added. “Just need some time.”
“What do you suggest we do, miss?” The judge trailed off, asking for Alice’s name.
“Alice, your Honor. Let me ask her. Catherine, what do you want to do?”
The guy in black stood behind the judge, examining Cat carefully. It would’ve crept her even without Catherine’s screaming. But Martinez had a point. If she couldn’t get her statement recorded, her life would remain in danger.
“Can someone get me some water? I have panic medication in my purse,” she said. If Cat remembered her prescription well, she could take alprazolam up to three times a day. Not that she wanted to take it for the second time in the same day, but circumstances demanded. While Hendrickson got acquainted with the rest of Cat’s coterie, someone brought her water and she took the medicine. “It’ll take about twenty minutes to kick in.”
Alice made a show of examining her. “She’ll be fine, your honor.”
“Do you wish to proceed with your testimony recording, Miss Wallenstein?” Hendrickson asked.
“Yes, your Honor,” she almost drawled. “I must.”
The two attorneys were talking in the back. The guy in black stepped forward, and Catherine started to scream again.
Was it really a demon? Or was Catherine losing it? Cat tried to look for clues and saw that Alice was on the defensive. If that was a real demon, they were screwed. She didn’t think they could get out of there alive. Unless it had some restriction.
“Your Honor, may I speak to the victim?” The guy in black said with a velvety voice. Alice tightened her grip on Cat’s hand.
“It is highly unusual, especially given Miss Wallenstein's condition,” Agatha answered, cutting the judge. “What do you want?”
Hendrickson glared at the young lawyer for a moment but repeated her question to the defense attorney.
“Nothing that’ll cause her grief, your Honor. I swear.”
She was sure nobody in the room was listening to the ghost scream. Maybe Roger Marthan was if he was as deceitful as she suspected. Cat dismissed the thought. If he could hear Catherine, he’d have reacted differently. In any case, she was in no condition to escape.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Miss Wallenstein? Would you listen to what the defendant’s attorney has to say?” The judge asked.
She felt Jack’s hand grasp her shoulder to reassure her. Cat ended up nodding. She needed to understand what was going on.
“Counselor, you better know what you’re doing,” the judge warned.
Roger Marthan took another step closer. She was not in arm’s reach but Catherine was babbling and keening incomprehensibly now.
“Allow me to introduce myself, Miss Wallenstein. I’m R̴͍̰̟͊́̍ǒ̸͔͔̝͓̯̀͘ġ̷̡̹̟̱̩̳̜͈́͐͊̍̚ë̷̡̢͉̭̟̮́͊̕̕͜r̷̛͖̭̭̔̓͑̐̅͛̎͜ ̶͈͙̬͙̗̲̭̓͑͘M̷̤̟̗̭̖͊̐̎ą̶͕̪͚̙̫̰͇͛͑̈́̍̍͐̚r̶̛̤͙͆̉́̾̃̍ͅt̴̢̪̼̲̤͖̳̀̐ḩ̶̲̭̞̘̙̼̃̏̐͋͜ä̶̢͔̼́͠ņ̸̝̦̃͑̀̅͌͂̚͜͝, the defendant’s attorney. I’m sorry for what happened this morning and I’m glad you are unscathed. What I wanted to tell you is...”
Damn, Cat thought. The medicine was making her dizzy. She was hearing things now. Catherine's wailing and shouting didn't help in the slightest.
Iron Maiden started to blast from someone’s phone, startling the people in the room.
> Hell! Ain’t a bad place. Hell is from here to eternity!
Catherine screamed for her dear unlife as goosebumps spread over Cat's whole body. Cat yelped and jumped on the chair.
“Sorry,” Roger Marthan said. “It’s mine, I forgot to put it in airplane mode. I have to take it, sorry again.” The defense attorney answered the call and mumbled on the phone for a few seconds, then stowed the device in one of his pockets, “Sorry. Well, what I wanted to say is that I agreed with the prosecutor to take a plea bargain. If Miss Wallenstein agrees, of course.”
Hendrickson glared at Roger, then at the prosecutor. “That’s highly unusual. What are the terms of this plea?”
“The defendant will plea guilty of aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree because the victim was drugged and unable to either defend herself or consent,” the prosecutor said. “The prosecutor and I agreed to eighteen years, plus damages.”
The judge looked in disbelief. “What kind of joke is this?”
“I can't exactly lie in court your Honor,” the man cheekily replied. “I believe in justice and giving sinners their due punishment,” he said that staring directly at Cat, causing her to shiver. “Miss Wallenstein here was sexually assaulted and that is the truth. My client is already aware of the bargain, your Honor, and he agreed to plead guilty. I see no reason to prolong her suffering here when she could very well be elsewhere.”
The judge directed his magisterial glare to the prosecutor. “We are ready to accept this deal, your Honor. Compensatory and consequential damages should be paid as requested by Miss Wallenstein's counselor, at the highest value the state of New York allows. Punitive damages should be assigned by the court.”
Judge Hendrickson was pissed. The prosecutor looked more inclined to run away than Cat but Roger Marthan had an indelible smirk on his face. “Where is the defendant?”
Catherine was crying, whimpering, and begging all the time.
“My client is in police custody on this very building,” the man replied.
“I’ll set the punitive damages to twice the total sum of the other damages,” the judge decided, challenging the strange lawyer to do a rebuttal.
“My client agrees completely. I wish I could keep Miss Wallenstein from this eternal torment,” the sleazy man replied nonsensically. “But I think I need to repossess...” He paused his speech as if waiting for something to happen. The judge was about to have him arrested for contempt and the man seemed angry that things didn’t get the way he intended. Maybe sensing the judge’s incoming wrath, he corrected himself placatingly, “I mean, reassess my standing regarding taking these cases. Although I don’t wish to, I more often than not end up dealing with the damned.”
Cat wasn't sure she was hearling more than just words.
“Enough. Counselor, one more snide word and I’ll have you arrested for contempt,” Hendrikson barked. “Since we have nothing better to do now that the defendant got his plea bargain, everyone is dismissed. Miss Wallenstein, I’m sorry to have you put through this, but it is over. I hope you can find the peace you deserve. Take your time, I see you are in good hands. I’ll finish things on my side. You two, with me,” he pointed at the two attorneys and dragged them out of the room with the bailiffs, leaving Cat and the four others alone.
Agatha was the first to break the silence, “We won, but why do I feel like we lost?”
“He’s gone, Catherine,” Alice soothed.
“What a slimy fellow,” Jack remarked. Catherine agreed entirely with his assessment.
“He got out easy, I was sure he’d get the full twenty-five,” Martinez remarked. “Even with all his wealth.”
“I hear you. I just don’t know what to say,” spacing out, Cat uttered her reply out loud.
“I didn’t see anything like that,” she mumbled. ---------------------------------------- Rorgramathan cursed and almost broke his disguise as he stomped out of the judge’s room. He could sense the direction and distance to his mark and he had no doubt that the girl he talked to was indeed Catherine Wallenstein. She should be screaming incoherently and trying to flee when she saw him because the runaway souls marked for retrieval could see straight through his disguise. Instead, she just had a mild panic attack. Worse, when he tried to cast the repossession spell, it failed. It could be the work of the priestess attending her. What a troublesome fellow, that other girl with the cop was. Catherine wasn’t supposed to be alive, much less immune to his magic. The priestess seemed too weak to ward Catherine but it could happen. Rorgramathan would need to rethink his next steps. She looked like a System user. Those were too troublesome. He had to readjust his plans. The stupid stooge he recruited to help him recover Catherine would go to jail but Rorgramathan didn’t care to spare a single second to worry about that rapist. It would be an opportunity to get another Deal out of the guy to break him free from jail later on, and he’d have his soul in his demonic pocket, along with many others he already corrupted. It was even beneficial to put the guy in such a vulnerable position. Not to mention he would probably take the blame for the attacks on the witnesses. Rorgramathan made sure to leave an incriminating paper trail. He’d said quite a lot of lies in that conversation, but mixed one absolute truth among them. He believed absolutely in giving sinners their due punishment. Catherine Wallenstein could’ve escaped it today, but he would be back. If he had anything, it was time. Bruce Dickinson got that one line right. Hell was from here to eternity. ---------------------------------------- "Time to go home," Jack said. "We have a new armored car with two escort vehicles waiting for us, Catherine." She wanted to go visit Oliver, but she knew it would be impossible to get the magic potion to him this late at night. And she was exhausted. "I would send a patrol car with you, until the border, at least," Martinez lamented. "But the case is closed. They have no incentive to attack you again." "Appreciated. We'll be fine, thank you, detective," the former ranger nodded. "What was that?" A baffled Agatha outcried. "I've seen plea bargains, but not that way. The guy was more interested in creeping Catherine out than doing his job." Alice approached her. "Catherine, would you mind if I spent the night at your place? I think I could go with you visit your friend tomorrow moring." "I'd love it, welcome aboard." Cat beamed. Having the super strong magical girl from another world would surely be reassuring. "Will Aura come with us?" "I'll go get your dog," Martinez offered awkwardly. "You girls stay here and do girl stuff." Agatha went home before Martinez returned with the giant wolf. Cat and guests went home wihtout any incidents, although they had to take the Lincoln Tunnel. It would take days to repair the bridge.