Chapter 15

KRISTIN BAOK

Kristin Baok could barely sit still. His whole body trembled and he bounced his leg up and down endlessly.

Zip shot him a concerned look, to which he replied with a dismissive hand wave.

I'm fine, he mouthed. Just nervous.

Zip didn't look very convinced, and Kristin looked away.

The trial was nearly complete, and the defenses were giving their closing statements, talking about how their clients had done bad things but weren't fully guilty in this trial. It was the others who were guilty instead.

The prosecution had cornered each of the defenses into admitting some responsibility in Ashley and Alaska's cases and forcing them to find new ways to explain away damning evidence.

Kristin could see the prosecutor's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear words. He hadn't been able to hear much of the trial. Every time he glanced at the Trinity, he could only see Ashley's body on the tray when he learned his brother was dead. The too-pale skin, the cold hands, the gashes and wounds he could never unsee. He could only see the trees he had spent so long in looking like towering clawing fingers, the wicked trap his brother spent his last moments in. He could only see his brother taking his last breaths with people who wished him harm while Kristin slept peacefully, unaware of how much his brother needed him.

He had spent most of the trial staring at his shoes and holding onto the little mouse Ashley got him and doing everything he could not to cry.

But soon the jury was leaving the courtroom with an order from the Judge of Raconteur to deliberate and come to a decision on whether or not the Trinity were each guilty or not.

Kristin knew the order was coming. He had known it since before the trial even started, but he still found himself getting more and more worked up.

Zip and Ferris led him from the courtroom, with Charlie, Ren, and Kansas trailing behind.

They found a quieter spot off to the side of the courthouse where they were hidden away enough that reporters weren't swarming them but where they could still go right back in once the jury returned.

Kristin paced back and forth. The rest of the group sat down on a bench. Zip fiddled with a pen, and Charlie twirled the bracelets knotted onto her water bottle. Ren scanned the crowd in the hallway.

"Are they done yet?" Kristin asked.

"It's been, like, five minutes," Charlie replied. "Don't think so."

Kristin took a deep breath. He had sat through every day of the trial. He had spent most of the time looking at the ground, unable to bear seeing the Trinity's faces or see any of the videos and images shown as evidence. He didn't want to see everything the Trinity had done.

But he still heard it all.

How Ashley had finished most of his supply run and made it to the Books Galore shop before Sprague Fetch brought him across the street and walked with him across the parking lot of Deanna's Bakery. How security cameras outside the bakery captured the last images of Ashley alive that Kristin couldn't make himself see because he didn't want to see Ashley walking to his death because he only wanted to remember Ashley as he was. How the Trinity then captured Ashley and took him to Silverlight Forest, where, at Chad Malcolm's request, they tried to figure out what Ashley knew about the claims the whistleblower would later make, the same claims Chad said were all him. How, in the end, the Trinity murdered Ashley and took his life.

He heard how the Trinity had abducted Alaska near her job, and then her body was later found near the shopping center in Corville. How Jason Starr had hired the Trinity because Alaska had broken up with him and had told him that she had no intentions of getting back together. How the Trinity had carried out Jason's wishes of if he couldn't have Alaska, no one could.

Kansas's face had scrunched up in pain and silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

And now Kristin wanted justice, both for Ashley and Alaska.

The minutes ticked by, giving way to an hour. And then another.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Kristin sat down, stood up, paced around. The rest of the group did the same, and Kansas twisted the sleeves of her jacket.

"What's taking so long?" Charlie grumbled, slouching down on the bench until she was nearly sliding off.

"Jury's still... they're still de-deliberating," Zip murmured in reply.

Kristin wanted to snap, to demand they deliberate faster, but he knew that wasn't how things worked. They had to discuss the evidence, everything they'd heard. He wanted them to talk through whatever they had to so it was a fair trial, but he wanted justice.

He wanted the guilty verdict.

And so he would have to wait.

xxxx

Another half hour ticked by, minute by minute.

Kristin watched each one go by on his phone. He tapped the screen to see the time, hoping more than one more minute had passed by, but he was disappointed.

He sat down next to Ferris and pulled out Ashley's mouse from his pocket. He set it on his thigh and smoothed out the fur. Its beady, stitched-on eyes stared at him.

I wish you were my brother, Kristin thought at the mouse.

It didn't reply.

An officer stepped out into the hallway.

Charlie reacted first, leaping to her feet with an exhausted finally! The rest of the group followed suit, and Kristin slipped the mouse back into his jacket.

"The jury has returned," the officer said.

Everyone filed back into the courtroom in a controlled chaos of a crowd. Reporters swarmed, snapping pictures and capturing film. Cameras flashed, and Kristin held up a hand to block out the glare, ignoring the questions hurtled at him.

The group returned to the same seats in the front row, and Kristin saw the Trinity where they had been when everyone left.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the Judge of Raconteur asked once everyone was seated.

"Yes," the lead juror replied, voice steady.

"How does the jury find Mayil in the charge of the first degree murder of Ashley Baok?"

"Guilty."

Kristin closed his eyes and exhaled. He felt relief that at least someone would be held accountable, but mostly he just felt anger at what was taken.

"How does the jury find Mayil in the charge of the first degree murder of Alaska Wendell March?"

"Guilty."

Kristin's ears rung, and he could barely hear, yet he clearly heard each time the lead juror said guilty four more times. Twice for Brenley, and twice for Ander.

Guilty on every count.

They were all guilty. They would go to prison forever.

Kristin felt relieved but not happy.

He just wanted his brother.

Kristin gripped the mouse tight.

He glanced over at Kansas and saw her crying. Beside him, he heard Zip sniffle. Tears watered in Kristin's eyes.

The Trinity was guilty, and so was Chad.

It was over.

xxxx

A week later Kristin felt ready to leave the camp.

He wanted to go to the bluffs and see Ashley in the only way he could.

They all piled into the car. Zip drove, like usual. Ferris opened the passenger seat and gestured for Kristin to get in. Ren took the seat behind him, and Charlie took the middle.

Twenty minutes into the drive, Kristin glanced back and saw Charlie asleep on Ferris's shoulder and Ferris dozing against the window.

Kristin watched the cars drive by, one by one. He wondered what they were up to, if they knew about Ashley. If they'd remember Ashley as Ashley, or as one of the people the Trinity killed. He hoped the former.

Zip piloted the car down through the Warren, and then up the winding road to Cat's Cradle.

Kristin looked out the window, out onto the familiar streets he had spent years living on. He saw places he and Ashley had slept, curled up together for warmth. Places they'd worked. He saw new buildings under construction and old ones he'd walked by a thousand times, run down and leaning to the side.

But eventually they left Cat's Cradle, and Zip drove up to the bottom of the bluffs.

Zip parked the car, and Kristin took a minute to ready himself before getting out. The group waited for him outside. Everyone remained quiet.

Mixed feelings flickered within Kristin, snapping back and forth like a flag in the wind. Grief, relief, sadness, some far-off feeling of peace that he wanted.

The bluffs were chilly and breezy, and Zip offered Kristin a jacket, which he took with a soft thanks.

Kristin looked up at the path. It still zig-zagged up the side of the bluffs, overgrown grass damp with rain. Bushes grew along the path.

Kristin blinked and found himself back when he was at the bluffs a year earlier, heart still aching and unable to accept Ashley's death. He still couldn't really now. He'd cradled Ashley's urn in his arms, the last hug he would ever get from his brother, as one-sided as it was. He still remembered the cool touch of the metal, the weight in his arms that felt so foreign but it was all he had.

Ferris started up the path, with Charlie trailing a half step behind. Kristin followed behind, Ren and Zip walking after him.

The plants along the path had grown in further than they had a year ago, and Kristin had to push young, spindly branches out of the way with his shins as he walked. He spotted a couple butterflies fluttering amongst the leaves and flowers.

No one spoke as they all made their way up to the top.

Cat's Cradle sprawled out below, a mishmash of buildings that leaned against each other. Grasses grew down the slope of the bluffs.

Kristin found Ashley's tree and sat down on a rock beside it. The sapling was a little bigger now with a year's worth of growth. New needles grew in bright green bundles that were soft to the touch.

The rest of the group settled down on nearby rocks. Ferris shrugged on a jacket and zipped it up. Charlie wrinkled her nose against the cold. Zip curled up on a rock, and Ren settled down, closing their eyes and resting their chin on their interlaced fingers.

"Hey, Ashley," Kristin whispered, looking out over the bluffs. A gust of wind blew by, stirring the grasses around the group. Kristin hoped it carried his voice all the way to his brother.

"We got them," Kristin continued, feeling the weight of Ferris's gaze on him. "We got the Trinity and Chad. We got them, so you can rest easy now. It's over."