Darkness

Chapter 24

Calum's POV

The day was finally here, the day I'd have to stand up in court in front of all of the judging eyes, deciding whether I was a free man or whether I'd have to spend much longer in prison.

My cell door was pushed open and a police officer stood in the doorway, holding a black suit in his hands. "Here, put this on. Your lawyer should be here in the next 10 minutes." He told me in his deep voice as he handed me the suit.

I took it from him without saying a word and placed it down on my bed. The door was pulled shut again and I began to get undressed, pulling on the smart black suit that was provided - masking me from the "criminal" image I had been given for the last couple of weeks.

There was no mirror in here so I had no idea what I looked like, but it felt better than the other clothing I had been given to wear. There was a sound from behind my door, the shaking of a keychain, and then it was pushed open. I was presented with a small middle aged looking man - my lawyer I guess, accompanied by the previous police officer.

"Hello Mr. Hood, I am your Lawyer, Lee Gold." He announced, holding his hand out to mine as I took it, shaking his.

He took a step into my cell and nodded to the police officer, which then closed the door to leave us alone.

"I have done my research on your case. Now you are to plead guilty today, that should knock off at least one year for telling the truth. Now this act is seen as manslaughter, so you may not get off lightly but if you follow my instructions you may not have to serve anything at all. Do you understand?" He said, looking from his papers up to my face.

"Yes." I replied, the first thing I'd said to anyone for days.

We spent the next hour discussing my hearing and what I should say and what I should not say.

The cell door was opened and the previous police officer was stood there yet again. "The hearing starts in 50 minutes, would you like to follow me please?"

We both nodded and followed the police officer through the building and into a silver car. I spent the whole journey staring out of the window, trying to focus on what I was going to say to appear as innocent as possible.

We pulled up outside of the court entrance and the driver pulled open the silver car door. I stepped out and was instantly blinded by the flashing lights of cameras shining in my face. I squinted my eyes, adjusting my vision and looked forwards - pushing through the paparazzi and journalists with Lee.

"Calum! Is it true your girlfriend ran away?" A loud voice came from behind me.

I shot my head round, anger and confusion inside of my mind. "What?" I replied.

"Is it true your-" He began to repeat before being muffled into all of the other journalists shouting. I turned away, looking down at the ground in front of me and began to pace towards the court doors.

We finally entered the court, escaping all of the cameras and questions. "Don't worry, the media just create havoc to try and make a headline. None of it will be true." Lee reassured me, making me feel a bit better.

I nodded and we continued through to the waiting room in the court. I took a seat, putting my head in my hands as I tried to clear my head; knowing this would be the day that could make or break my life.