"Hey, Kevin! You hear about that serial killer?" A blond-haired young man asked as he approached a table where another young man sat, his face stuffed with food.
"You mean the one that killed and eaten over a hundred people?" Kevin replied as he swallowed a mouthful of food. He adjusted his glasses a bit before continuing, "Yeah, I just heard the news today. It seems they will be putting him on court hearing tonight. What about it?"
"I heard they're gonna show his court hearing live tonight at 8pm on the JDA news channel and you know my television is broken...."
"And you're wondering if you can come over to my place to watch eh?"
"That's right! So, can I?"
"I don't know Steve...my girlfriend wanted to watch The Spacemen and the airing time coincides with the court hearing."
"That can be solved easily." Steve clapped as he explained his solution, "I just so happened to have a copy of The Spacemen movie at home that I can lend to you guys. So, how about it?"
"Hmm, let me call Cathy first." Kevin answered with a shrug as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone.
"Okay! Fingers crossed." Steve replied as he stared at Kevin, his heart wavering at the tension.
Kevin swiped on his cellphone and looked through the contacts. Landing on the name 'Sweetheart', he pressed on it and brought the phone to his ear. After a few rings, the other end answered.
"What's up dear?" Cathy replied nonchalantly. "Did you forget to bring something to school? I'm just about to head out."
"Can't I just call to say I missed you so much?" Brushing some of his brown locks away from his eyes, Kevin replied but a gagging noise caused him to sharply glance at the prankster in front of him.
"Haha, you can...but we all know that's probably not the case."
"Yea...you're right. I was calling to see if it's alright if we watched the court hearing on that serial killer tonight instead. A friend of mine also wanted to watch and he wanted to know if he can join us."
"Eh? I thought we were going to watch The Spacemen tonight?" Cathy pouted, her lip quivering slightly, "You promised."
Kevin could just about imagine his girlfriend's cute pouting face but he sighed and continued, "Babe, I'm sorry. I did promise you but I thought the court hearing would be interesting to watch. It's not everyday you can see the court hearing of a cannibalistic serial killer."
"Then, what about the movie?"
"As for the movie...well, my friend just so happened to have a copy of the movie on CD that he's willing to lend to us."
"Is that so? Well...I heard a lot of gossip about it and it seemed interesting...okay, I guess we can watch that instead."
"Thanks dear! You're the best!"
"You owe me." Cathy giggled.
"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you. Bye, love you." Kevin ended the call and gave a nod towards Steve who was prancing happily upon hearing the confirmation.
"Alright! Thanks for the help man." Steve thanked his best friend once he stopped prancing about. He glanced at his watch and continued, "Will you look at the time...I got a class soon. I'll see you at later."
"Later."
..........
7:50 pm at Kevin's apartment....
..........
*DING!* *DONG!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*
"Coming!" Kevin hollered as he leapt from the living room sofa and rushed towards the front door. He peered through the peephole cautiously to confirm that it was really Steve before opening the door. "Right on time. Did you bring the movie?"
"Yep, here it is." Steve exclaimed as he held up a copy of The Spacemen movie and handed it to Kevin.
Kevin grabbed the CD case and welcomed Steve in. He led Steve to the living room where his girlfriend sat on the sofa watching some weather reports. "This red-haired beauty is my girlfriend Cathy. Cathy, this is the friend I told you about earlier - Steve."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Hi. Kevin told me so much about you." Steve gave a toothy grin as he reached out his hand.
Cathy grabbed it firmly and shook it. "Hopefully all good things, right?"
"Absolutely!"
"Well, Steve brought the movie. We can watch it tomorrow night." Kevin replied as he showed the CD case to Cathy. Then, he placed the CD case on the coffee table next to the wide-screen TV.
"Alright, don't be shy Steve. Please sit." Cathy replied as she grabbed the remote and switched the channel to JDA news just as the opening scene rolled in.
A catching tune, obviously the intro of the news channel, rang out before a dashing news anchor appeared. The news anchor gave the usual introductions and then continued to describe a few minor cases and trials dealing with rape, theft, and arson. After a few minutes or so, the news anchor proceeded with the main topic of the day - the Court Hearing of the Maniac Killer Cannibal. He described some backstory on the crazed killer including his childhood and the events that led to his rise in infamy. Then, he detailed the victims that fell to his hands and the event that led to his capture.
"And so, we will present to you the court hearing of the insane cannibal live from Supreme Court of Justice. There will be some graphic images and obscenity, viewer discretion is advised." The news anchor replied before the screen switched to a live video.
In the court hearing of the psychotic cannibal, there sat a middle-aged, Caucasian female official. Beside her stood an uniformed officer, most likely the bailiff of sorts, and a group of armed bodyguards. As the doors opened, two burly security officers wheeled in the strait jacket and muffler wearing criminal strapped to a dolly. Once they pushed the criminal to the podium and removed the muffler, the court hearing began.
"Matthew Bruce Langman also infamously known as Hellhound, you are put on trial before us for the murders and cannibalistic mutilations of one hundred and fifty-seven men, women, and children." The female official replied, a note of disdain and disgust shone from her eyes. "Do you plead guilty...or not guilty?"
"Hahaha! It could have been an even number if you hadn't interrupted my meal." The cannibal serial killer, Hellhound, smirked as he licked his lips.
"Does this mean you are guilty of your crimes?" The representative of justice coldly stated. If glares could kill, then the criminal would have died several times over.
"What crimes are you referring to?" Hellhound shrugged nonchalantly as he sized up the woman before him.
"The murders and cannibalistic actions of over one hundred people! What do you plead?!"
"Not guilty of course."
"Whoa! This bastard actually pleaded not guilty! Everyone knows he's guilty, can't you believe it?" Steve gasped as he looked disbelieving towards Kevin and Cathy.
"Shhh. I want to hear what happens next." Kevin replied as he stared at the screen with interest.
"You plead not guilty for all the crimes you have done?" The female judge sniffed. She looked towards the bailiff and replied, "Show him the evidence."
The bailiff nodded and brought out a projector screen. He took a CD containing all the evidence on the criminal and inserted it into the laptop that was connected to the projector. Several graphic images of mutilated corpses and half-eaten bodies showed up, bringing a gasp of horror from the trio of students. The bloody images could flip anyone's stomachs. In fact, Cathy even got up to vomit once or twice.
"We had found not only your fingerprints, but also your teeth marks on the bodies of all of these victims. Don't tell me they just magically appeared on the bodies?" The judge sneered.
"Haha...it's true that those marks were mine...but you are wrong about the number of people I murdered."
"You mean to tell me that you had murdered more than one hundred and fifty-seven people?"
"No, not that. You see. I only killed one person. The others were just euthanized."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, after torturing and mutilating them for a while, I was going to let them go...but they kept begging me to kill them that I reluctantly complied." The Hellhound grinned as he ruffled through his black hair. "Hahaha, you can say I did them a service. Hahaha!"
"You despicable bast-! *ahem* Do not play yourself as the good person. All those victims were killed by you no matter how much you downplay your actions. The facts are here. The evidence is here. What else can you say for yourself?"
"I...."
"Yes?"
"I think you'll taste delicious grilled over an open fire and sprinkled with some seasoning."
"YOU!" The female judge pointed at the criminal, eyes bulged and mouth twitching with annoyance. "We know you are guilty. Since you do not plead guilty, we will not lessen your death sentence nor will we give you an easy death."
"...but first I probably need to tender your meat and drain some of your blood to make pudding...." The cannibal continued as he ignored the female official's ruling.
Seeing that she was ignored, the female judge sneered uncontrollably, "Despicable beast! We sentence you to death by electric chair in one month's time! Drag him out!"
After the death sentence was set and the criminal was wheeled out, the live video ended and the TV screen switched back to the news anchor. The news anchor commented about the court hearing and proceeded to end the news report. Cathy turned off the television and the trio sat on the sofa chattering about what they had just watched.
"That was epic." Kevin replied. "Never knew someone could become so evil."
Steve was just about to reply when he suddenly froze. His gaze shifted to something behind the couple. "Guys...what is that?"
"What's what?" Cathy asked as she and her boyfriend turned around to look at where Steve was pointing at. They both gasped in surprise when they saw what was behind them.
A glowing white ball of light was floating in the kitchen room. The light was pretty dim so the students didn't notice it at first. They clambered off of the sofa and cautiously approached the ball of light. Just as they were a couple of inches from the ball, they suddenly felt a pulling sensation...pulling them towards the ball of light.
"What's happening? I can't move away!" Kevin yelped as he struggled to pull away from the orb of light. It seemed that the more they struggled, the more they edged towards the light orb.
With one last pull, all three were drawn towards the orb of light. As soon as they touched the glowing ball of light, the orb of light expanded immediately and enveloped the three young adults. When the light diminished after a few seconds, the three people were nowhere to be found. It was as if they vanished from thin air...as if they never existed in the first place.