Jake's P.O.V
I looked at Claire again, I still can't believe for these seven years she has been hiding, living, breathing very well but didn't call me, didn't even text me? I beat myself every day when I thought about the situation she had placed herself in. I knew I was wrong to have left her alone most of the time. I didn't fight for her even when she complained about dad, I used to think that she was making things up.
"Look at your sister and listen to her!" I remember Dominic would shout at me when my sister said something but I didn't pay attention to it.
I knew my dad was of no good, but I still left my sister and never dared to think twice about what she told me.
I was obsessed with the work that I forgot there was someone I needed to take care of. Though she was older than me, I felt like the older sibling who was supposed to take care of the younger ones.
All this time, all these months, Claire has been somewhere, just quiet, plotting for her revenge and making sure she got all the details she had before coming here?
No wonder the way she spoke on the phone when directing us with Dominic was so intense and I would think about her. I even convinced myself that, Dominic knew how to choose a nice girl to replace my sister, but after all, it was my sister we were talking about.
Why would he act sad and withdrawn all of a sudden, why would he sulk, months and even a year after her death?
I don't want to imagine that he was sad because she was not around more often the way she used to be.
She stood on the stage, her brown suit, fitting her body nicely, she had more toned skin than the last time I saw her. Looks like someone had been working out to stay fit in her 'death' days, her body was well-shaped and her face was radiating with light.
She looked in the direction of my father, her hands spread as she looked at her.
Daniel was still surprised when he looked at her, he had buried Claire, threw some soil in her grave and was even among the people present who witnessed the postmortem to determine how she had died.
This makes me wonder, who was placed at the table in our presence?
Maybe I don't need to know anything about that. I think I will just stick to asking my sister about her 'death.'
"This can't be true, I am seeing my things, you are not Claire but some impostor trying to loo like my sweet daughter!"
Daniel was now furious. Every time Claire would shoot him a glance, he would curse at her and condemn her for being an impostor.
"Ooh, poor daddy, " said Claire.
She looked at my father with sympathy, but the way words were coming out of her mouth, didn't seem to match the face that she was displaying.
"Are you still mad at your sweet poor little thing again?" Asked Claire.
This was going to be more entertaining trust me.
I didn't was to move away from the place, I wanted to be close to both of them and watch how they exchanged words.
"Ooh, I am so sorry then. Your little princess is here, maybe you can come and pat me, suck my fucking breast to get what you fucking want you asshole!"
"WHAT!"
Everyone in the room was shocked by her words.
They didn't want to believe that Mr Daniel was so evil. They leaned forward to listen to her talk more.
It seems like the rain was now ready to rain on all the living things without mercy but in range, the rumbling was being heard.
"Look at me, Look at my face! " shouted Claire as she instead on him to look at her face.
Why would she insist on that?
I know right now, Daniel is afraid to look into her eyes, when you have been fighting someone for too long but they keep it in their hearts because they know when to release their monster. You make them beast with your actions, when it's time, you can't look into their eyes anymore because you are afraid of the monster you've created.
This was that time, when Claire is releasing her monsters, as much as I want to go in between them, no, I know that my time is going to come and it's either, she will slap the hell out of me or banish me from being her brother.
Well, I hope it's not banishing me, I would rather take the slap.
"Your Honour, the lady is giving a mere speculation without even evidence, that is not allowed," the lawyer from the defendant's side stood to protest about Claire's behaviour.
She is not the one you can stand up to. She will look at you back and you will wish, you'd rather have shut your mouth instead of opening it up to say something you know nothing about.
I couldn't say anything, if she had waited for all those seven years relentlessly to come and place everyone in their rightful places, with Dominic by her side, she might be having some good evidence that I know nothing about.
The judge looked at the lawyer, his eyes piercing through him like a knife, it was like he was telling him to sit down and let the young lady on the stand finish with her lamentation.
"I am sorry to say this, but whether she is lamenting or saying her things, I don't mind some little drama. This case is serious, but if you know your client is innocent, why don't both of you just smile and sneer, isn't that what people do when they realize that the other party has nothing against them? So sit down and watch the little drama in front of us!"
I like the judge already.
Okay, this is a serious matter, let us treat it as one. I don't want to laugh but it's the judge's fault, making me smile all over because of my sister in front of me. I have my questions for her too, but my priority is to make sure that the audience standing here today, gets the justice they deserve.
"Hey Mr, are you the director of this film or what? You are an obstacle to the people behind you!" The judge said.
I dressed normally and with glasses on my face, no one would know who I am.
I looked at the detective seat, I will just squeeze myself onto his seat and force him out.
He noticed my eyes roaming near his seat and stood up to leave it for me while standing on the corner side.
Claire was not focusing on me, she was glued to my father, Daniel.
I just hate the way the word father comes out of my mouth when I mention him.
I would rather call him Daniel like before than make him be my father.
"I don't care about the evidence, the people in this court who have gone through the pain and suffering of these so-called sacred people are the evidence, from the silent lambs who used to be mistreated every day because they didn't want anything to do with them but they had no otherwise because their parents forced them into it. Why would you ask them for evidence, when all they have are scars to remind them of the torture they once had."
This is going in another direction that I didn't imagine it would go to.
I feel like Claire went through hell and I wasn't there to help her. I had confined myself to business, thinking that money could solve everything.
She was there, looking at everyone in the building, I don't know who she was looking at but all I saw was Dominic walking in front and helping her.
Dee also walked in front!
What the hell were they doing?
I can't just sit here and watch them in front there doing nothing.
I heard a vibration from my phone and it was a text from Dee, "don't come, it's not like she doesn't want you around, she will explain later."
How can I just sit down here and watch as the two are helping her with something while I am here?
Maybe it's something they had planned and I am just over my head, I will sit here and watch.
"Before she does anything, you are not allowed to record anything, she has a right to be told of what is to be recorded. You will have your phone Jammed if you try anything g like that," came the inspector's voice.
Everyone in the room was murmuring, the press that was inside the house was left with no otherwise but to do an audio recording.
Trust me, whatever Claire had been planning, for her to jam someone's phone when they trying to be tricky is something big.
"You need evidence, Mr lawyer?" She started when looking at the lawyer who started claiming that she didn't have anything to support her speculations.
Suddenly her coat suit came off and she was remaining in her bra only.
Is she mad, wait, why would she do that? I mean she used to swim with her body all out but she doesn't have to show off her body like this?
"I don't care what people say about me? That's none of my business, this is me giving evidence for all those people who are hiding their scars for the pain caused."
She is serious now, she is not joking.
She has grown over time, she is not the same girl I knew when she was quiet, she used to fight, yeah, she fought for Dominic until I couldn't let Dominic go.
Today she is fighting this because she feels like it's the best thing to do and can't afford to let people down.
I couldn't see her body from where I was sitting, but the work of Dee and Dominic could be seen, they were there to project the video. This was the only way people could see what Claire wanted them to see.
It's weird but I can't stand in front of these people and walk away saying that I can't see my sister naked.
I don't have otherwise, I guess I will be forced to watch everything that is going on whether it's bad or good.
The only thing k could see, was her normal body, the scar that she got when we were fighting with her, It was still there.
The moment she turned back, everyone had tears to their eyes. Loud gasps were heard from the audience. Sniffing could be heard, it was like people were crying and trying so hard to control themselves.
My eyes popped out when I saw this, I didn't realize tears were flowing down my face until I felt a drop of it in my hands.
Marks, huge marks, of knives everywhere on her body. They were like stripes. In the back area where we have the shoulder blade, there was a hole on each shoulder blade. It's like she had been hooked on something.
I felt something huge stuck in my throat, and as much as I wanted to swallow it, it was still there, it neither moved up nor down, I didn't know at what time was I up but the next thing I know, my hands went flying on Daniel's face and all that was heard was a crack on his nose.
The two guards at the court came and held me down, but they were not as powerful as me, as if breaking his nose was not enough, the next landed on his jaw while shoving it my left hand threw another punch at his right jaw.
"What type of a father are you? What are you, are you even a human being to do that to your daughter? Are you breathing or do you ever feel pain?"
I shouted, but all I wanted to do was kill him, strangle his neck and throw him to the floor. I wanted to cut every part of his body slow by slow, drain blood the way he drained blood from other people. That is all I wanted.
My head was not thinking of anything else, all it wanted to do was kill this monster in front of me, and drain him completely without caring about anything, but Dominic quickly removed me from the scene.
The judge was not bothered, even when the lawyer kept telling him to get an ambulance, he didn't agree to it.
People inside the court were jumping up and down and cheered for me to go on with what I am doing.
"He deserves to die, he is a monster, don't allow him to walk out of this place!"
"What kind of a father foes that to his daughter?" Came the British accent.
"Kill him, kill him!"
"Crucify him! Crucify him!"
"We need him to be killed and erased from the surface of the earth, we don't want him here!"
Everyone wanted him gone, no one wanted to sympathise with him. I don't know what else my sister wanted to justify but she sure had enough evidence.
The guard ask the people to keep quiet, and the judge stood up to speak.
"I know you want him to die, to be killed and all sorts of things. I am sorry to say that I also want the same, " he looked at the lawyer from the defendant's side, placing his hands on the table and removing his glasses, "we have been through enough here in Wood Creek, we needed a saviour, that saviour is not going to be crucified to die for your sins, but she is going to shout out the truth to everyone! The thieves are the only ones going to be crucified today. Isn't that ironical?"
The lawyer didn't say anything, instead, he just rubbed his forehead and looked at the books in front of him.
"As for the audience, let's wait for our saviour to finish her testimony, we can later be given a chance to stone someone to death!"
I knew he didn't mean, physical stoning, all he meant was, to give our judgement. No one is ready for the judgement, everyone is waiting for the time they would be given to deliver their justice.
The audience nodded and calmed down waiting for Claire to co tiny with her show.
"Thank you, all the marks that you see in my body, let's start with the ones on my upper part of the body," she said as she let Dee point to the audience what they were supposed to see.
"That was a knife, a special sword that he used on me when I was twelve, placing it in my flesh stung and I felt like crying. The first thing he told me when I was crying was, 'if you say this to anyone, I am going to come into your room at night and kill you. There was no one home at that time. I was all alone with him. And I feared that it might happen."