Which, Natasha realized quickly, she probably was.
Her suit was cut off at the waist, leaving way to her white blouse. She wore a thigh-length black skirt, which flowed in unison with her hair, as if they were somehow attached. She was beautiful and she knew it, or at least she should have.
Megan walked over to Natasha. “Hello Miss. Mayer.” she said, flashing an obviously fake smile. “Feeling jumpy?”
“Two nights without sleep and staring at psyche reports on a convicted serial killer would make anyone jumpy,” Natasha reasoned, extended a hand.
Megan looked down at the hand, smiled, then ignored it and turned back to Natasha. “Weird. I stayed up with them, and I feel just fine.”
Natasha looked down at her files. She didn’t have half as many as Megan, and Megan had a much stronger case. She frowned, sitting down and staring at the files in front of her. I hope Xander gets here soon, she thought, beginning to organize them.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
TRIALS AHEAD
Xander fumbled with the top button of his shirt, his mouth contorting awkwardly as he fastened it. He stormed down the concrete steps of the police station, one foot following the other, tapping constantly. The shoes were tight and uncomfortable, pressing against either side of his feet until he could feel every ounce of blood that passed through them. Cathy had picked them out the night before. She’d said they made him look smart.
He paused at the street, rapping his fingers against the side of his leg as he waited for a car to pass and then crossed, nodding politely to a blonde woman pushing a stroller as he did.
The courthouse seemed to have grown out of the streets of the city. As if pavement were a living thing like plants and could grow its own buildings out of the earth. Its rough, textured grey was almost exactly like the weathered streets all around it, like a living, breathing part of his city. Massive stone pillars held up the high ceilings of the entrance, with each and every inch carved and decorated with pictographs so small and fine that you didn’t even notice them until you got up close. In the center of the archway was a large, oval clock made of ivory back when ivory was still legal. Animal rights activists had been trying to get the face replaced for years, but right now it shimmered in the mid-afternoon sun for all its glory.
Setting his jaw, he stepped inside, walking briskly down the hall until he reached the large wooden doors of the main docket.
The second he walked into the courtroom, the warm air trapped within hit him as though he’d walked into a wall of solid heat. He felt his own head jerk back a bit at the smell of sweat mixed with the Pine-Sol that had obviously been used to clean the room. The courtroom smelled like an old library. That scent of old wood, paper, and dust. It was a smell he’d long associated with knowledge and felt very much in place here, with its long marble floors and towering bench at the opposite side.
“Xander Drew?” came a deep voice to his right.
He turned quickly and saw the bailiff looking down at him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. “That’s me.”
“She’s waiting for you,” he replied gruffly, nodding his head toward the front.
“Thank you,” he replied without giving the man another glance, turning to walk down the hall towards the head of the courtroom.
The gallery was packed full. Every seat was taken, every corner where a person could be shoved occupied. Parents clutched pictures of children that Genblade had taken from them. Students talked amongst themselves. Journalists sat with their thumbs pressed against the record button of their tape decks, just in case.
From the first step he took, all those eyes locked onto Xander Drew.
Trying his best to keep his eyes facing forward, he marched to the last row and took a seat right behind Natasha Mayer’s desk.
Deep inside him, the true womb twitched. Something deep inside itched at him, begged him to turn just a little to his right, but he would not.
Natasha turned around in her chair, leaning one arm over the back to see him as she moved a strand of hair behind her ear. “Beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” she said with relief.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said, tapping his foot anxiously as beads of sweat started to form on his brow. “So, how do you wanna do this?”
“We’ll play it by ear,” she smiled, showing off duel rows of perfectly white teeth. “Just let me know if something becomes important, and be sure to try and be as positive as possible when I call you as a witness.”
“Today?”
“No, lord no. That’ll be a few days at least. They may not even want to hear from you now. This is just the hearing to decide - -”
“All rise,” the bailiff barked loudly, bringing Natasha’s sentence to a halt. She turned around in her chair swiftly and stood, smoothing out the wrinkles in her suit as she did so.
Xander stood as well, along with everyone else in the courtroom as the judge entered through a door just to the left of the bench. In the corner of his eye, he noticed one person who did not rise. Sweat itched at the corners of his eye, making the lashes twitch. Pretending to scratch his nose, he finally succumbed to the temptation and turned to look at the person just to Natasha’s right.
Adam Genblade stared back at Xander, tight-lipped at first, then opening his mouth in a crocked smile to reveal rows of sharpened teeth. His orange
