The Supposed Terrorist

Chapter 9

The 20 something year old thin guy was dragged out of the room by two policemen. His face was sweating and he sorrowfully gazed at his parents. The mother was wiping his face with her scarf, handing the boy a bag filled to brim with supplies. The father continuously repeated 'We know you are innocent, we know you are', repressing his tears.

The photograph in the pocket of my gray jacket gained weight as I watched the scene.

"The hearing should begin soon," Artem said, appearing to my right.

"Okay," I said.

Artem Wing was a moron. Yep, you heard it loud and clear! Moron!

Did he still tell me what he actually found out? Nope, he did not! He freaking did not. What he did instead was loosely go over how things were going to forge ahead in the courtroom today. And yes, the eye contact thing. We weren't anywhere with that either. He still wasn't dispensing a look at me.

He was just looking ahead.

The court proceedings began shortly. The judge ordered for the prosecution to proceed first. Cunningham took the stage and summarized for the court, mixing his own opinions cleverly in. He called for me to the witness stand.

"Miss Wayland, were you in room 201 when the police arrested you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Were you trying to flee?"

I stayed silent.

"Answer me, Miss Wayland."

Silence.

"The statement of every officer present at that scene says you were. Why were you trying to flee, Miss Wayland?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.

Cunningham made some convincing arguments and points about room 201 and my confession. It was all mostly predicted by my lawyer. Artem did not object once and just listened.

The defense was asked to speak and he went to the center.

"Your Honor," Artem started. "I would like to place forth the entire explanation for this case."

The judge gestured for him to continue.

"Rico Wayland lived under the guardianship of her uncle and aunt, after the death of her parents. In 2017, there were three disappearances reported by the people of Brightwood Colony, as stated in their testimony. Of her uncle, aunt and her. But only two are in records. Hers is nowhere. According to Mister Cunningham, she murdered a boy of State High School and became a run-away.

The documents are in front of you. And there was no reported murder of a boy from State High School. No boy was murdered in Brightwood Colony or SHS in 2017. Then, my client supposedly committed more crimes. But there are no previous reports against her. In fact, there is a huge time lag in legal documents of the very existence of my client. Now, I would like the footage from floor 2 of Palais Hotel to be played."

On the LCD screen, the video was displayed. I had seen it 5 days back. The two masked, muscular men carrying a sack of what seemed to be containing a human in it and they dispose of it in room 201. The video dated back to the day I had been caught by the police.

"This is the footage the police did not even bother checking," Artem continued, after everyone's eyes were back on him. "My client had no memory of this when we reviewed it."

"So, Mister Wing, are you trying to establish a gripping story or your client as a liar?" Cunningham interrupted.

"Neither. The point I am trying to establish is," Artem's blue eyes bored into mine for a miniscule second that felt like an eternity and were back to the judge again. "Rico Wayland was brainwashed."