The Blood Lake

Court

When I wake up on the day of my court date I feel my stomach flip. This could go one of two ways, My life can go back to being as normal as it possibly can be or it will be over. I won't be leaving till after breakfast, so I will have time to say goodbye ad hopefully for good. I just have to make it four more hours here.
" Good morning Dellah." Ivie chirps. "You leaving us today?" She asks.
"Hopefully." I smile. "No offense." I finish.
"None taken, I hate this dump." She grins and the guard cuts our conversation short.
"Grub time ladies." She smiles at me, It's the one from visitation. She guides Ivie through the door and stops me. "I know you'll win, you will get out of here sweetheart. I know it." She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Oh, and I am driving you today." With that, she sends me out the door.

I sit at the usual table and I eat what hopefully will be my last bowl of soggy wheat cereal over watered-down milk.
"So big shot, hows it feels to be getting out?" Buffy jokes.
"We don't know that," I say nervous.
"You are in here on a hunch that has no proof, You are getting out."Ivie chimes in.
"I'm going to miss you," Millie whispers.
"I'm going to miss all of you and hopefully I am out of here long enough for that to happen." I smile
When I finish eating I am called to the front desk for departure. When I get into the cop car she doesn't cuff me, she just hands me a pocket brush and a baby wipe.
"Clean up girlfriend." She smiles and turns on the ignition. "Big day today." I open the brush and am greeted with a little mirror, I clean up my face and then run the brush through my curls.
"Thank you." I smile.
"You are welcome, honey." She beams. "If it were up to me you would be up front." She turns her attention to the road and I feel the urge to know her name, I don't want to ask so I look for a name tag in the rearview, and I am unsuccessful.
"Hey, what's your name?" I blurt.
"Romona." She replies.
"Do you think I am going to win Romona?" I probe.
"I know." She continues to look at the road and we are quiet for the rest of the ride.

We pull into the parking lot and my stomach does a flip. The entirety of my future is on the line and so are my relationships, I have already lost so much. I don't think I can stand to lose anything else.
"You ready peach?" Romona asks.
"As ready as I'll ever be." She cuffs me and escorts me in, when I get to the table with my lawyer everyone's eyes are on me. I never thought I would be in this situation in my life and here I am. I scan my surroundings and I see my mother, she looks like shit, it is like she hasn't slept since I left. I am suddenly aware of my appearance, I am wearing a set of deep purple scrubs and am suddenly grateful for the baby wipe-down and the brush in the car.
"Defendant please stand." The judge bellows. "Do you promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
"Yes, your honor." I half smile.
"Ok please come to the stand." I make my way over and sit down, my hands sweat and shake.
"Ok so Dellah Anne Everdeen, can you explain to me what exactly happened on the lake that day." The lady in the Forrest green pantsuit asks.
"No need, that is in her statements, which I'm sure you've read." My lawyer snips.
"Okay then, how about you tell me about your relationship with the victims, and the days leading up to the event." She probes.
"Well, Amelia and Marcus are...were, my best friends." I swallow hard. "I loved them like siblings, and I still do. There is not a day that goes by where their memory doesn't flash in my mind." I choke.
"Ok, what happened by the fire that night?" She asks unfazed by my grief. "Your statement says something about an argument."
"Well, that would be Marcus teasing Amelia and scaring her with the rumors about the killer, which were proven to be true just moments later. He teased her, she got scared, and she ran off to her death. Marcus then followed after then me after." I wipe my cheek. "I am lucky I made it out alive, he almost had me."
"How do we know this isn't a cover-up?" The lady sneers. "You could have used the killer as a perfect solution to the perfect crime." My heart falls out my ass and I can't breathe, why would I brutally murder my whole world? Who does she think she is?
"Ok, that's enough dawdling." My lawyer smiles.
"What would that mean Mr. Smith?" The judge inquires.
"Well we swept the area of the crime and found that there are tree stands in the woods, and along with those some hunters set up wildlife cams to monitor what wildlife or game hang out in which areas." He explains.
"Ok, your point?" The bitter lady pushes.
"We have acquired the footage from those cameras and I will broadcast it here." He grabs a remote and sets up the screen, I stay frozen. "Now if any family, friends, and loved ones would like to exit the room now would be the time." He rambles. The only one to leave is Mae. "Ok, here we go." He presses play and I immediately start to tear up, the video starts with Mel walking through the woods and it cuts between cameras the further she goes. I hold my breath, then I hear his voice, his awful voice.
"Hi, sweetheart." Then Mel's scream is followed by the saw, blood splattered the lens and then it cuts to a second angle. I hear Charlotte start to loudly sob and she gets escorted out of the room by her husband and who I assume is a shrink.
"MEL!" Marcus's voice comes over the mic. He looks at her body and stands frozen for a few seconds before he sees her killer and his own. He sprints but trips over a hunting trap, when he gets up he is pinned against the oak now dead. Then there I am. I feel eyes on me but I can't stop looking at the screen.
"Can we shut it off now, I think we have seen enough," Miles asks.
"Almost over." Mr. Smith dismisses him. It plays his voice and I space out for a moment, my cheeks are wet. I watch the chase and then the video stops. "Now the cabin security footage." He quips. He flips to the next video and I see me laying on the dock and that monster attempting to assault me, it feels like hours until I finally see myself kick on the chainsaw and drive it into him, I hear gasps surround me and when I push him into the lake and drop to my knees I hear applause, all I can do is stare and cry.
"Ok everyone settle down." The judge warns. "Not guilty, case dismissed." I hear the gabble and my knees buckle, I make it off the stand and fall to my knees, Miles rushes over and scoops me up. Here he is saving me and worrying about my trauma when he just watched his sister die.
"It's ok Angel, you are coming home with me." He kisses my forehead and drags me out like a baby. I am embarrassed but I have no energy to fight it. My parents get permitted to bring me home and promise to drop my scrubs at the station and pick up my personal items tomorrow. Tonight I am just focusing on the fact that I am finally going home.