The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XCVI

Jake and I were backwards from our normal wakeup positions. His back was against the wall, mine against his chest. I was lying on the edge of the mattress and in all truth, if Jake hadn't had his arm around my waist, I would probably be on the floor. Today was the day.

I rolled myself over so that I was lying chest against chest and slid my hands up his shoulders to the back of his neck.

"No." He said the statement so clearly, I thought that he was awake. But as soon as the syllable left his mouth, he groaned.

"I'm not waking up yet." I giggled and pressed my mouth to the skin in front of my face. "No," he repeated in a more childlike tone.

Less than an hour later, Jake was awake and sitting in Starbucks with me and the dads eating breakfast. Jessica and her sister joined us, as they had every morning since we'd met.

"You ready for this?" she asked my. I just shook my head.

"But whether I'm ready or not, it's time." Jake squeezed my hand then, Dad resting his hand on my opposite knee. All the encouragement that I would need. As we walked towards the courthouse, the nerves that I had been trying so hard to squelch began to bubble once again. Jessica was shaking against her sister, her fear greater than mine. It was the hardest thing to do, but I let go of Jake and walked over to a girl that I had come to know really well over the last few days; a girl that I cared about.

I wrapped my hand around her sand squeezed. She smiled up at me and let go of his sister and walked with me. We met up with the others, joining hands and making a chain; a chain that would put this bastard in jail for the rest of eternity.

Amy was the first one of us to go up, the first victim in more ways than one. She swore in a took her place, every eye on her. And then she began.

"I was a sophomore in chemistry. Mr. Murphy called me into his office, only he called himself Mr. Thompson. We were supposed to be talking about the AP classes for next year and my eligibility." I stopped listening, trying not to let the memories and the fear overtake me again.

Tiffany began after, her story much the same. And then there was Hailey and Veronica. All of the stories were the same, something similar. He called us in to talk to us about being in his AP program the next year. Amy's principal walked in before anything could get farther. Tiffany managed to kick him and run before he recovered. Hailey said he got bored with her when she stopped fighting him. Veronica screamed so loudly that he ran. But more terrifying than all that was the cross examination.

Amy was accused of wearing mid-drift baring tops. Tiffany wore clothing that was meant to seduce. Hailey had been hitting on the teacher. Veronica had been flirtatious. I was scared. How could someone make it sound like we were all asking for it? Our lawyer had told us he would do this, that he would try and make it look like our fault. But it wasn't. And we had to remember that.

But the second they called my name, I forgot everything.

"Ryanne, could you tell the court what happened?" our lawyer asked sweetly. I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts, to swallow the terror clawing at my throat. My eyes caught Jake's, who was sitting in the back row so other people could see over him. He didn't smile, didn't mouth anything. He was silent and strong. And I allowed his strength to give me what I needed.

"I was a junior," I began. "Mr. Murphy asked me to come in and meet with him about taking advanced placement courses; advanced physics."

"Not chemistry?" the lawyer interrupted.

"No, I was an AP chemistry student already." She nodded. "He walked in and asked me to come to a side lab room with him. We talked about decathlon and by that time it was too late. When I figured out what the - what his plan was, I fought." I continued, trying to keep everything subjective. Tears still trickled down my cheeks; I was surprised that my voice remained steady. And then the other lawyer stepped up. Jake stiffened visibly.

"Miss Swan, you are a competitive fighter, aren't you?" I nodded. "We need you to answer verbally."

"Yes, I fight mixed martial arts."

"So would it then be fair to state that you're used to defending yourself?" he continued.

"In controlled environments, yes."

"And you consider a cage a controlled environment?"

"Yes; there's a referee there to stop anyone who gets out of control," I replied. Fighting and being attacked by a monster were two different things.

"You are a title holder in MMA, but you couldn't protect yourself from Mr. Murphy's advances?"

"I wasn't in training at the time." His eyes were narrowing in disbelief. "And I never thought one of my teachers would attack me."

"You said you called out for help because you couldn't defend yourself, correct?"

"Yes, Jacob Black." My eyes flashed to Jake's. He hadn't moved, still staring at me with protection burning in his eyes.

"But Jacob hadn't been in school in a week. Why call for him?"

"He's my best friend. He'd always been there when I needed him. I just wanted someone."

"And someone that you hadn't been speaking to was the person to call for?" There was one of the objection moments where my lawyer was shouting about someone and the other one was shouting back. Finally the judge ordered him to withdraw the comment. "Miss Swan, you are a fighter who is used to defending herself. How did you allow Mr. Murphy to, as you said, 'pin you down'?"

"I know what you're doing. I understand that you're doing your job, but let's look at the facts. Four girls with the same story about the same man. Who cares what we wore or how we acted or if we had a moment of weakness where a 180 pound man managed to take us down and sit on us so that we couldn't move, so that he broke our hand. He had twenty pounds on me and a problem he can't control. He deserves to rot in prison where he can never harm another soul again."

There was another moment where the lawyers were arguing about my statement. "They jury will ignore the aforementioned statement. Answer the question directly, Miss Swan," the judge instructed. "How did Mr. Murphy pin you down?"

"I had thrown the beakers at him and they had shattered on the ground. When he'd finally gotten me on my back, I was too scared and hurt to move around too much. The glass had cut my back. Mr. Murphy sat on top of me, using his weight to keep me down. That's how he pinned me down."

I was dismissed, the jury having been told to disregard my comment about Murphy and his problem once again. Jessica was called to the stand then, where she told her story. All of us listened with rapt attention as she explained how he had locked her in the closet, leaving her there all day and finally coming back. He had made her beg for him to let her out. She was forced to spend the night doing things that were more than illegal. Jake was shaking from his spot between our dads, anger boiling inside him I'm sure. She was found the next morning in his classroom after Murphy had left and assumed another name.

She wasn't cross examined like the rest of us. I think Murphy's lawyer knew that he had no hope of winning that. The jury was sent out to deliberate the fate of a man with a consistent motive, a specific type, and the means to find his people. A warm arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me against a broad chest. I could feel his lips in my hair.

"I am so proud of you, Annie," he whispered. I rested against his body, letting him hold all of my weight.

"It's over now," he breathed against me.

I locked eyes with the other girls, each of us hugging our families. And then I saw him. He looked smug, like he thought that he had managed to get away with this. He wouldn't. There was no way that the jury was going to believe that he hadn't done this to us. There was too much evidence piled up against him.

"Not quite," Dad said, snapping me out of my trance. Murphy was still staring at me. Jake noticed, a snarl building in his chest as he drew me closer. He pointed to the empty jury stand. He was right. It wasn't over yet. We still had to put the bastard away from the rest of his life. Jake pressed a kiss to my temple.

"Everything is going to be alright," he promised me. "They'll do the right thing." God, I hope so.