haven murphy had nothing to lose. everything was different after sarah cameron's birthday party, the night her father died. haven just didn't feel right in her own skin. then, on a whim, she befriended pope heyward and got sucked into a wild goose h...
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CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: HELL IS EMPTY (episode five: the darkest hour)
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THE WOODEN BENCH BENEATH Haven was like stone. The courtroom walls felt like they were closing in, squeezing the breath out of her lungs. JJ was sitting on one side of her, hand gripping hers. Melinda sat on the other side, eyes locked on her daughter's face. She'd screamed when Haven first arrived home, shouted herself hoarse with worry. But at the sight of her daughter's tears, her nephew's shattered resolve, every bit of anger seemed to fade. Nothing remained but fear now, the terror for what was about to come when John B's sentence was announced.
"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section fourteen," the judge began, stern voice echoing around the silent room. "You are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."
Shocked murmurs broke out but Haven couldn't bring herself to say anything. She'd looked it up the moment she got home, what the charges were for a situation like this. After reading them, she'd thrown up again, and promptly been unable to sleep for the rest of the night. Was John B going to die for good this time?
"You're honour, he's seventeen," she heard JJ shout before letting her go and standing up over the crowd.
"JJ―" Arden hissed, attempting to drag him back down but he shook her off.
"No, he's seventeen, are you kidding me?"
The chaos of the crowd was enough for the judge to disperse the room. Guards began to lead John B into the back where he'd be taken to the juvenile detention centre to wait for the final verdict. JJ tore through the crowd to get to the front, shouting promises to him that Haven doubted he'd be able to follow through with. They'd already done everything they could. Arden convinced Liam to pay for the best lawyer they could find on such short notice, and she'd tried to give a witness' statement again, but they were stuck, the sitting ducks, while the real fucking murderer walked free.
You wouldn't be able to tell that, though, just by looking at the crowd as they left the courthouse behind. Haven was gripping onto JJ, nodding along to his angry grumbles as they glared at every passing person they heard agreeing with the charges. It was ridiculous. Most of these people had watched John B grow up, and now they thought he was capable of killing someone? It was almost laughable.
"Someone hold me back," Arden huffed as the pogues and Haven gathered at the foot of the stairs. "Before I do something I regret."
"This has to be a joke," Kie insisted. "Like, are we in hell, or...?"
"He's seventeen," Haven repeated what JJ had said earlier. "What kind of fucked up system are we dealing with if they're comfortable killing a minor?"
