No Smut (Scömìche One Shots)

Sing Me to Sleep (part 2)

The EMTs officially declare Mitch dead in the ambulance after trying and failing to revive him.

They cover his body with a blanket.

I close my eyes when I see his blood seeping through the blanket.

"Time of death, 11:50 PM, June 4th, 2015. May God rest his soul."

~

When I got home alone, I grabbed a sheet of paper and began to make a list of things they had stolen from us.

-My wallet
-Avi's wallet
-Kevin's wallet
-Kirstie's earrings
-Kirstie's necklace
-Esther's bracelet
-Mitch's wallet
-Mitch's bracelet

I blinked away tears as I wrote down the last thing they stole.

-Mitch's life

We still needed to tell his family.

We still needed to tell the fans.

We still needed to tell our friends.

I don't know if we can.

If we tell people that Mitch has been murdered, that's basically telling people Pentatonix was over.

Pentatonix is nothing without Mitch.

I'm nothing without Mitch.

I heard Wyatt mewl.

I stood to look for him.

When I saw Wyatt lying on Mitch's side of the bed, I was overcome with fresh tears.

~

3 days later, I got a call from the police saying they caught the three guys who robbed us.

The one who killed Mitch was charged with armed robbery and first-degree murder.

The other two were already tried but just for armed robbery. The longest sentence they could serve was 8 years.

The one who killed Mitch hasn't been tried yet. He could get the life sentence. According to our lawyer, he could be sentenced to death.

I don't care what happens to Mitch's killer. As long as he pays for what he did.

~

11 days after Mitch's death I sat in a court room with Kevin, Avi, Esther, and Kirstie.

"I call Scott Hoying to the stand." Our lawyer says.

I blink and stood, walking to the stand. The wooden chair creaked as I sat down.

"You were the late Mitch Grassi's best friend, right?"

"Since we were 10."

The lawyer nods. "Can you please give us an account of that fateful night in your own words in your point of view?"

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes, sir. We had just walked out of the restaurant, and the three guys came out with guns. They robbed us, patting each of us down.

"One was searching me and he made some... unwelcome advancements. Mitch stepped to come to my rescue," I looked at his killer before continuing. "And he threatened to kill Mitch if he stepped out of line again."

I heard the jurors writing things down as I spoke.

"Then the other one continued to search me, then spanked me. Mitch stepped out of line again, and..." I felt the tears prick my eyelashes. I blink and take a deep breath. "That man over there shot him, point-blank range right to the abdomen. After he shot Mitch, they ran away."

"And if you look at Mitch's autopsy report, your Honor, it says the exact same thing." Our lawyer says, handing the judge a folder.

She puts on her reading glasses, skimming through the report. She nods. "Thank you, sir." She says, handing the folder back to him.

I was dismissed from the stand and I returned to my seat.

Kirstie squeezes my hand reassuringly. I look at her since she caught me by surprise. She gives me a sad smile before looking forward.

The rest of the trial runs right over my head.

I snapped out of it after I heard the jury come back from voting on the verdict.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asks.

An older man rose, putting his hands behind his back. "Your Honor, we find the defendant..."

The whole room sucked in a breath.

Kirstie's grip tightened.

"Not guilty of all charges."

I didn't erupt into the furor that ensued. I just sat there, the words "not guilty" echoing in my head.

How could they think he wasn't guilty? There's video evidence, my testimony, my friends' testimonies, there was too much evidence against him for him to be not guilty!

I could hear the yells and the arguments raised, but it didn't register in my mind. It just kept playing in my head like a broken record.

Not guilty...

I wanted to cry, but I was too in shock to.

I looked up and saw the chaos that had erupted in the court room.

All my friends were yelling with tears on their cheeks.

It became too much.

Not guilty...

"He killed him!"

"Guilty!"

Not guilty...

"He murdered my son!"

"He was my friend!"

"It was his fault!"

Not guilty... Not guilty... Not guilty... NOT GUILTY

I hold my hands to my head, gritting my teeth and shutting my eyes.

NOT GUILTY!

I finally let out a scream.

Silence fell upon the court room as I screamed with everything I had.

I collapse into sobs, my whole body racking and heaving.

I cried for what felt like hours until someone put a hand on my shoulder. Then another and another.

I heard the gavel pound and I looked up.

"Despite the emotion showed by the victim's friends and family, the verdict still stands. Not guilty." The judge announces, slamming her gavel again.

I looked over at Mitch's killer and saw him smiling.

He killed Mitch.

He's getting away with it.

He's smiling.

And here I am, without Mitch and tears rolling down my cheeks.

It's not fair.

It's not. Fair.

I could almost hear Mitch say, "Life isn't fair, Scotty. Now suck it up." But then he'd say he was kidding and we would laugh.

I missed his laugh. I missed his smile. I missed his sassy comebacks. I missed him.

Now his killer is walking free.