Chapter 13
FERRIS DIPPER
One Year Later
The trial was held in Raconteur.
Ferris Dipper liked and hated the fact. He didn't have to be in the same place Ashley was last seen, but it was directly where Waverwell News was located. However, he knew the real reason was so the trial was in a different location than the murder; Waverwell law required a fair trial.
Zip drove out to Raconteur in one of their cars. The drive was silent and somber. Charlie fiddled with the buttons on her jacket, an attempt at wearing something other than sweatpants and an old T-shirt. Kristin stared out the window, holding the mouse Ashley got him on his thigh and petting its fur. Ren sat with their eyes closed and looked as though they slept, though Ferris knew they weren't.
Ferris toyed with the sleeves of his button down shirt. He'd had to dig it out of the back of his drawers. He rarely wore such clothes.
Zip drove over Teller's Bridge and crossed into Raconteur. Only a handful of other cars occupied the streets, which were mostly empty.
But as soon as they pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, a horde of journalists and camera people rushed up to them. Lights flashed as they took photos, interviewers shoved microphones in their faces and shouted questions, trying to talk over each other.
"Excuse us," Charlie said, trying to shoulder her way through. Zip tensed and followed close behind with his hands over his ears, nearly stepping on Charlie's heels.
Ferris flinched when a microphone nearly caught him in the jaw.
"Excuse me," he said, angling around the reporter.
He kept his gaze low as he made his way through the parking lot toward the Raconteur Courthouse, a small building compared to the one in Corville. Officers from every precinct stood guard at every point in the Courthouse, and Ferris knew the Trinity wouldn't be left alone for a second, nor would they be kept too close to one another. Temporary fences lined the Courthouse to keep curious citizens and the media at bay. Only a select few from Waverwell News and Did You Hear?! were allowed in.
Stone walls formed the exterior of the Courthouse, and intricate designs had been carved into the columns supporting a small covered entryway, one far smaller than the Corville Courthouse.
Inside people swarmed about in organized chaos. Officers led everyone into lines to get checked in and be verified on their identity. Ferris showed his id and walked through a metal detector before being led into the courtroom.
He took a deep breath. Kristin walked in first, holding Zip's hand tightly.
Polished oak formed most of the furniture of the courtroom, and rows of seating sat before a railing, where four tables stood in front of one large bench. Most of the seating was already taken, but a row in front off to the right was empty. Kristin took a seat, and the rest of the group followed suit, leaving Ferris sitting in the aisle.
He eyed the door on the far left, where he knew the Trinity lay somewhere behind it. Where he knew the Trinity would soon be walking through.
Ferris had spent hours reading through every article he could find on the case against the Trinity. Against Mayil, Brenley, and Ander. He saw pictures of Ashley sprinkled throughout them, the same pictures Kristin chose to share with the media. He recognized each one and remembered when it was taken. A snapshot after an afternoon out at the picnic table in the camp, a big smile across Ashley's face. An image of Ashley holding Pyxis when they first got her and she was nearly too big to hold. Each image had been another dagger to the heart, snipping away the threads beginning to knit back the hole in his chest, but Ferris had forced himself to continue reading. He had to stay updated. He needed to know.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
As he had read, he saw images of the Trinity. Mostly their mugshots from when the Moonfall Precinct first arrested them, but there were a few of them being led around in handcuffs and prison jumpsuits, snapshots captured by the media.
Ferris didn't know how they'd look in person. In real life, not just pixels on a screen.
"C-can I, uh, sit here?"
Ferris looked up and saw Kansas Sampson March standing above him. She gestured to the spot beside him.
"Sure, of course," he replied, shifting over a bit to make more room.
"Hey, Kansas." Charlie leaned forward and offered a wave.
"Hi," Kansas replied, unable to meet her gaze. She kept her eyes on the ground, and pulled her rumpled jacket a little tighter around her shoulders like a shield.
"Are..." Kansas trailed off. "Are you nervous?"
Kristin closed his eyes and took a breath, adjusting the sleeves of his jacket. "I don't know what I'm feeling. It's been a year and it feels like this is just bringing it all back. A part of me doesn't want to hear it all, but I also can't not be here."
Kansas hummed. "I feel the same way. I miss Alaska. I don't want to hear how she died, but at the same time I can't just be sitting at home. I need to do something for her."
"I can ge-."
Kristin cut himself off as the door on the far left of the courtroom opened.
Ferris's head shot up and he waited, and the soft murmuring in the room stopped in an instant. The silence felt so loud, and Ferris's heart thumped in his chest. Each second ticked by, each seemingly slower than the last until he saw a shadow on the wall. It creeped closer to the doorway like a stalking predator until a figure emerged.
Ferris shuddered upon seeing the Trinity in person. Mayil, Brenley, and Ander.
He had seen their faces on the news. He had spent hours digging through articles and staring at their faces. Their mugshots haunted his dreams, and the images of their cold eyes bored straight through his soul. He knew what they looked like.
Even still, he wasn't prepared for their presence, the way they filled the room like they were a hundred times their real size. Like a looming shadow stretching far and wide. Icy prickles trailed across his skin like a chilling caress, and the hair rose on the back of Ferris's neck.
The courtroom fell silent as the door opened and officers started leading the Trinity out one by one. Officers lining the walls stood a little taller, and Ferris couldn't help but sit up straighter to eye the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zip grab Kristin's hand. He felt Charlie hold onto his arm, and he leaned into her, unable to tear his eyes from the doorway.
Ander was led in first by a team of officers, assigned attorneys following close behind. Ander towered over them by a head and shoulders, and his prison jumpsuit wrapped tight across his massive frame. Silver glinted on the handcuffs and chain restraints keeping his wrists bound at his waist. Officers stood guard at either shoulder, eyes never straying from him.
Brenley was next, and her hair flared out to the sides in tangled knots. Her piercing eyes locked onto the crowd, peering out at everyone. The chains at her ankles jingled with each step, the only sound in the silent courtroom.
Finally, officers escorted Mayil to the final desk. Her steps fell evenly and smoothly, and she almost seemed to float across the ground. Her lawyers set a stack of folders on the table, and one pulled out her chair and helped her sit down. She offered a smile in response that made Ferris's skin prickle.
No one took the handcuffs off the Trinity.
xxxx
Ferris could only stare at the back of the Trinity's heads as they sat at their desks and chattered quietly with their lawyers. None seemed fazed by their prison jumpsuits or the handcuffs.
Mayil turned in her chair, looking out at the two sides of the courtroom. Several officers perked up, hands on their weapons. Mayil rolled her eyes but continued scanning until her eyes fell on Ferris and the rest of the group. Her gaze raked across them, eyes a solid black, and she gave a lazy smirk, lifting her cuffed hands to wiggle her fingers in a wave.
A wave of disgust roiled in Ferris's gut. He had seen Ashley give the same wave. Charlie often gave it too. A wiggle of fingers, sometimes teasing, sometimes just a quick goodbye, see ya. But with Mayil, Ferris could see the claws, the bloodstained talons, the hands that had dealt untold suffering.
One of Mayil's lawyers nudged her shoulder to get her to turn back around. They leaned in to whisper something to her. She shrugged but turned around.
Just as her back was turned, a door at the back of the courtroom opened and the Judge of Raconteur walked in. Her robes flowed with each measured, even step, and she held her head high with a serious expression. Slight wrinkles crinkled the corners of her eyes, and her hair curled gently at her jaw. The courtroom was silent as she made her way to the bench and sat down, opening a thick folder.
"Mayil, Brenley, and Ander," the Judge of Raconteur said, her voice ringing clear through the courtroom, "you all face two charges of first degree murder in the murders of Ashley Baok and Alaska Wendell March. If convicted, you face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole."