BLACK CRESCENT

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CAMILA

I was sore and nervous. On the drive into Connecticut, I almost had to pull over twice. I sat in the courtroom, trying my best to remain as still as possible as we waited for the judge to come back. It was enough to drive me crazy. We had been waiting for an hour already. Lauren sat next to Zayn at the defense table, and both of them looked as relaxed as humanly possible. I just couldn't understand how they could do it. If we failed here, there would be no appeal, and most likely my father would die in prison. But what could we appeal with? We had already presented all the evidence to the judge. This was it. All the reasons for a new trial had been stated, and they were good reasons... right? Would they be enough? Maybe I should talk to them?

"Everything's going to be fine. They were amazing up there. And one day, we will be too," Vivian whispered, taking a seat next to me in the back.

"Thanks," I said slowly, surprised by the fact that she was talking to me now.

She clasped her hands together. "I quit my job... my other job."

I was surprised that she still had time for her other job.

"That's great."

"I just wanted you to know... and I wanted to say... I wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything that's happened, and for what I said to you. I'm sorry. You're good lawyer Camila and your personal life shouldn't have been judged; least of all by me. So, I'm sorry Camila."

"That's a lot of sorrys in one sentence," I said as I took her hand in my own and squeezed it lightly. "Thank you though, because right now, I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Eventually justice will be served."

"All rise," the bailiff said, and we all stood.

As the judge entered, I tightened my grip on Vivian's hand. I wasn't sure if her other hand on my shoulder was there to comfort me or to free herself from my vice grip. Either way, she didn't say anything. My stomach was like a vast pit of butterflies, and everything in me, my heart, and my mind, were getting sucked in.

"I have looked over this case carefully, and although I do agree with the defense on the troubling extent to which Alejandro Cabello's case was handled I cannot, in good conscience demean a new trial, further adding to the Van Allen's' suffering. Therefore, Ms. Jauregui, your motion for a new trial is denied."

He slammed his gavel against its wooden counterpart, and just like that, he was gone.

Denied.

That means no.

That means everything we had done was a waste. It's over, we lose.

We've lost.

"CAMILA!"

Vivian caught hold of me as I collapsed backwards and into the chair.

I couldn't feel any part of my body any more. Everything hurt on the inside, it was as though my lungs were filling up with water and I was slowly suffocating. My vision was tunneling. I heard people clapping, like this was something to be happy about. This wasn't justice. Justice was an illusion. Hope only caused more pain, and right now, I could no longer move.

We were supposed to win.

Our evidence was good, everything was working in our favor. We had the newspapers, media outlets, activist groups, everyone was behind us, pushing us forward, rooting us on and yet still, we had lost. We lost in with three sentences.

"This isn't over."

I don't know why, but in that brief moment, it didn't feel like I was falling. Turning to her, I hadn't even realized that I was crying until Lauren wiped my tears away.

"Don't give up on this. This is just a setback, albeit a big one, but we can—"

"Thank you Lauren." My voice cracked, but I went on anyways. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. But can I get a moment alone? I'll be right out, but I just need a moment."

She looked torn, but she grabbed her things and left. The whole place was empty and I wept. With my hands over my mouth, I wept.

It was only when my throat went dry, and my eyes were swollen, that I stopped. Just like I was when I was younger, I wiped my face with the back of my hands and I reached into my bag for my little bottle of eye drops. Then, I stood up, brushed off my clothes, and walked out of the courtroom, only to see the back of Lauren's head as she spoke to the press. I didn't want to see either of them now, not like this.

However, as turned to walk down the stairs, I noticed someone coming up them, towards me. His eyes were dark, almost black, and he glared directly at Lauren, enraged. He reached into his jacket and once again my stomach dropped, my ears burned and my heartbeat fastened. It felt as though time itself had slowed down. Everything fell out of my arms as I ran towards her. Lauren looked at me like I was insane and mouthed something, but I couldn't hear anything over deafening explosion of the shot...

BANG

It rang in my ears, then the pain came, and I wasn't running any more.

"CAMILA! CAMZ!" Lauren screamed down at me.

Her eyes were so wide, they looked like they were going to fall out of her head.

Why was it, that no matter how dark everything was becoming, she could give me such clarity? She was like this never ending candle in perpetually dark room.

"CAMILA! CAMILA CABELLO! FOR FUCK SUCK SAY SOMETHING! !!"

The lights dimmed, then went out.

ZAYN'S POV

"Today, on the front steps of the Connecticut state house, twenty-three year old Camila Cabello, daughter of the recently deceased, legal Penelope Cabello, and the infamous criminal, Alejandro Cabello, was shot.

"Police were able to capture and detain the shooter. This news comes on the heels of the shocking ruling by Judge Thomas, who denied Ms. Jauregui and her client, Mr. Cabello, the right to a new trial, leading many to speculate that this was attempt to silence the young Ms. Cabello and her attempts to free her father. Doctors say her condition is critical—"

Turning down the radio, I tried to get that scene out of my mind. It had all happened so quickly that my hand was still shaking.

One moment Lauren and I were sitting in the courtroom, shocked by the judge's ruling, and the next, we were outside speaking to the mob of reporters, trying our best to make sense of what had just happened when out of nowhere, Camila screamed out for Lauren, running—no, jumping in front of the bullet like she was getting a fucking hug instead.

She flew. I swear to God almighty, she flew when the bullet hit her. She flew back into Lauren's arms, and all Lauren could do was stare down at her with a frown, as though she didn't understand what she was seeing, while everyone else ran for cover. She, like a statue, kneeled, staring as her blood poured out of her and onto Lauren. Then, the reality of the situation must have caught up to her because she started to shake and scream Camila's name.

She pressed her hands to Camila's stomach, trying to stop her from bleeding out. Lauren called out to her, but Camila didn't speak. Apparently I had called the police, but I don't remember doing it. Just the sight of Lauren, in tears, on her hands and knees with the woman she loved bleeding out in front the court building. The image would be with me forever.

"How is Lauren? How is she? What is going on? Where do we need to go?" Taylor ran out of the house when I got home.

Her parents held on to Bellamy, and I walked to them, taking my daughter out of their hands and pulling her into a hug.

"Zayn," Taylor sobbed, and I pulled her into my arms as well.

They were safe. They were okay... as they should have been, but I just needed to see it... to feel it.

"What happened? We've been trying to contact Lauren, but her phone is off. There was a gunshot, and then all cameras turned off," her mother said, as she came up to me.

For some reason the sight of her made me angry... maybe I was angry at the world, but right now, Mrs. Clara Jauregui was the focus of my rage.

"YOU LEFT HER, CALLED HER AN ABOMINATION , YOU DEGRADED YOU OWN DAUTHER FOR WHAT  " I said as I handed Bellamy back to Taylor. "She was going up against the world. She told you the truth, she went out to seek justice for your friend who was murdered, and to free a man who's been in jail for almost twenty years for a crime he did not commit. And you left her, you both left her out in the cold!

"That family, the Van Allen's that you care so dearly for, I think they just tried to kill your DAUGHTER, and the twenty-three year old who found out ten minutes before that her father was likely going to spend the rest of his life in jail for a crime he never committed, leapt in front of Lauren and took the fucking bullet. Keep turning your face from the shit but that doesn't stop you from smelling bad at the end of the day now does it?"