3 Chapter 3: The Trial

Shortly after the professor left, a guard came and escorted her to the Courthouse. The moon had risen to a higher point in the sky, and the bell tower chimed out the 10th hour. Had it really only been 3 hours since she had left her house, ready to confess her love? Halloween was turning out to be quite the terrifying day this year.

Angry and scared villagers filled the courthouse, the doors left wide open so the excess could crowd in and poor out, desperate to see what would happen to her. Some hurled insults, calling her a "demon's whore" and "evil enchantress", while others called for her to burn. The same people that she had always been so eager to help and live with now despised her so completely. How one action, one event could turn even the kindest shopkeeper into a madman, she had never before seen.

She was brought to the center of the judgement hall, where she was locked into the defendant's podium, which was little more than a tight square of wood that surrounded her up to her elbows. In front of that was a stage with seven chairs behind a long desk, and in each chair sat an Elder, their judging eyes looking her over coldly.

Behind her, sectioned off by a barrier, sat those who had come quick enough to get a seat, while others filled the aisles by standing, certainly breaking the proper capacity meant for this room. Those outside the room craned their necks, each hoping to catch a glimpse and hear as much as possible.

The Elder in the center, an older gentleman in his late 60s, raised his hand for silence, and was immediately obeyed. He sternly looked over his spectacles at her, making her feel as though she was burning at the ridicule in his gaze.

"Ms. Salem, you have been called here today to answer for your actions earlier this evening. You are charged with Demonic Summoning and Consorting with a Demon. How do you plead?"

She bit her tongue. "Guilty, but-"

The crowd screamed at her and jeered her, calling for her punishment. Again, the Elder raised his hand, and the hall settled down quickly.

"Continue, Ms. Salem."

"I only summoned a demon to help me save the life of Jason Dross," she pleaded, slowly losing her decorum. "I was witness to his car wrecking, and I could not bare to see him die. I... I love him."

The courtroom was silent. Heat rose to her cheeks. She had never spoken those words aloud, and they felt raw and foreign to her now. This was not the way she had planned to confess.

"Please bring in Mr. Dross."

From a side door, Jason was escorted in. He had apparently been bathed and groomed, wearing a fine navy blue suit, and looking as good as ever. She could hear several maidens swoon behind her, but she focused on his face. The face that wasn't even sparing her a glance. Her throat filled with a painful lump, and she swallowed dryly.

Jason stepped into the witness box, and sat down, waving and winking at the crowd. He then turned to the Elders, nodding his head with respect, waiting for them to continue.

"Jason," the head Elder began, "how is it that you know Ms. Salem?"

Jason finally looked at her, his eyes critically taking her in. "I don't know, honestly. I know I've seen her around, but I don't remember ever actually speaking with her." He shrugged and looked back at the Elder. "She's just some girl, honestly."

"Do you remember the events that unfolded tonight?"

He looked like he was deep in thought for a moment. "Well... I was on my way to Elizabeth Thatcher's party, when suddenly something seemed to possess my car and I crashed into the side of an abandoned cottage. Next thing I remember is waking up when the village found me, surrounded by the wreckage."

"Do you know what might have caused the accident?" the Elder asked.

"Well, I assume she did." He waved his hand at Nevaeh, who froze in shock. "After all, the last thing I saw before the crash was her walking down the road, and turning to look at me."

The crowd again exploded in an uproar, calling for her life. The Elder lifted his hand for order, but this time, it was not immediately noticed. Nevaeh could barely hear them, though, her soul turning to ice. Not only was she being condemned for summoning and making a deal with a demon, but now, with two sentences, everyone was convinced she had caused the situation to start with.

Finally, silence was achieved and the Elder turned back to Nevaeh, his face the same critical expression as before.

"Ms. Salem, how do you defend yourself?"

"I... I do not," she said softly, and the crowd again exploded, but she no longer cared. Not only had she been rejected by Jason, the man she had sold her soul for, but he was now turning everyone against her. He was blaming her for something she had had nothing to do with, nor had she never been attempting to be a part of.

How... Why would she harm him and then try to save him? How did that make sense to anyone? No. It didn't matter. Nothing did.

"Nevaeh Salem, by your own confession, you are found guilty of all charges brought forth tonight. By all accounts, your punishment should be death. How do you plead now?"

She lifted her head, her cold stare chilling even the bravest Elder to the bone.

"Kill me," she said, her voice devoid of feeling. "Kill me, so Lazarus can come kill all of you."

.......

The crowd exploded, their cries filled with terror. Never had anyone heard someone speak this way before. It was terrifying and upsetting. Confusion took hold, and everyone began screaming out different ideas, searching blindly for justice.

"SILENCE!" boomed a deep voice, and a flash of lightening hit the floor next to the girl, and from the smoke, stepped out Professor Amaranthine. His scarred face was twisted in anger and pain, as he looked around at all the startled faces. His eyes fell last on Nevaeh, who was still staring straight ahead, but her eyes were glossed over, seeing nothing. She had retreated inside of herself, protected, as it were, inside her own head.

"Look at what you have all become!" he spat, turning his attention back on the village. "Just earlier today, this girl was referred to as the Angel of Opprobrium Village, the talented witch that helped those in need and went out of her way to lend a hand to those in crisis. Not a foul word has ever been directed her way, not once, and she has never done anything of reproach in all her years living among us. Yet, in a matter of hours, after one bad decision, you are all willing to sentence her to death? Ready to accept that she is an evil enchantress, hell bent on destroying you all?"

The head Elder stood up, pointing at the girl angrily. "She admitted to her own guilt, Amaranthine! She just sealed her own fate, calling for us to kill her, so it can summon her demon master, to wipe us all off the face of the planet!"

Amaranthine sneered at the man. "Be quiet, Dante, you insolent fool. You broke the child, and now she is little more than a husk of her former self."

"She is not a child, you old loon! Your affections for this harlot have spoiled her and made her vulnerable to the seduction of a demon! She has brought a great danger upon us all!"

"By saving your nephew's LIFE!" he countered, his eyes piercing through the younger man. Defeated, Dante resumed his seat, quietly brooding as Amaranthine faced the crowd once more.

"This woman does not deserve death. Her actions are abominable, but her intentions were pure. She saved a life tonight, a life-" he turned and glared at Jason, who cowered in his chair "- that almost ended due to a young man's flippant lifestyle, not the jealous throws of a woman's passion. Add to the fact that killing or harming her in any way will, indeed, bring upon the demon's wrath. Not even I can stand against a demon like Lazarus. We would all be slaughtered before her blood can go cold."

He turned back to Nevaeh, who still remained frozen. He gently turned her face to his, but she stared blankly through him. Like a porcelain doll. He bended over and clutched her to him.

"Farewell, dear one," he whispered. He let her go again, her face unchanged except for a small tear trailing down her cheek. Even in her state, she had heard him. Good.

"Nevaeh Salem," he addressed the crowd, "should be banished immediately. Where she goes and what becomes of her, that is between her and her demon."

The crowd cheered, and the Elders raised their gavels in unison and brought them down again, sealing the verdict. The guards came and quickly swept her away through the side door as the crowd started swarming over the barrier, in a mob.

Amaranthine turned away and disappeared, his old heart breaking with the loss of his beloved student and adopted grandchild. Her lifeless face, with those blank, doll-like eyes would not be erased from his mind so long as he lived, and they would haunt him till his last breath.

The Trial of Nevaeh Salem had ended, and a new chapter for her was briskly opening again. The clock struck eleven, and as the final bell tolled, she found herself alone and abandoned, discarded on the opposite edge of the forest, like the trash she had been marked.