Chapter 10: The Amnesia
Chapter 10: The Amnesia
The courtroom smelled of polished wood and hollow justice. David sat in the gallery, his entire body rigid, every muscle coiled like a steel spring one fraction of a millimeter from snapping.
A few feet away, sitting lazily at the defense table, was the monster. He didn’t look like a towering demon. He just looked like a pathetic, unshaven man in an orange jumpsuit.
The prosecutor read the horrific details of the assault. The room suffocated in a heavy, sickened silence. The judge looked down from the bench, his face tight with disgust.
Then, the monster was asked to speak. He didn't look back at the family he had destroyed. He just shrugged, his voice a lazy, dismissive mumble.
"I was blackout drunk. I don't remember a thing. If I did it, I'm sorry, I guess."
I guess.
Those two words echoed in the cavernous room, hanging in the air like a grotesque insult. David’s vision literally tunneled, the edges of the room bleeding into dark red. The roaring of his own heartbeat drowned out the judge's gavel. He stared at the heavy wooden chair in front of him. He calculated the exact weight of it. He knew exactly how many seconds it would take to clear the aisle, leap the wooden barricade, and crush the man’s throat with his bare hands.
He leaned forward. The wood of the bench groaned under his white-knuckled grip. A low, feral breath rattled deep in his chest. He was going to kill him. Right here. Right now.
But then, he felt a soft, trembling hand wrap around his rigid forearm.
Sarah wasn't looking at the monster. She was looking at David. Her eyes were drowning in tears, shaking with a silent, desperate plea.
May you like
If you kill him, you go to prison. If you go to prison, Chloe loses you forever.
David stopped. The realization hit him like a physical blow. He slowly released his grip on the bench, his chest violently heaving. He slumped back, forcing himself to swallow the blood in his mouth from biting his own cheek. He had to let the monster breathe, just so his daughter wouldn't have to face the dark alone. He had never felt so violently, agonizingly helpless.
