Thanks for waiting :)
We all stood up. The monsters that put us in this whole situation so close by. Only a couple of metres away, to the left of us. I was petrified and angry.
Jack was up the front, sitting behind a fancy table, that was high up on some sort of pedestal. His name was written on a plaque. Under the title 'JUDGE' it said his name, 'Jack Kang'. I wondered if he was the judge for every Candor trial...
Eric stood to our side of the room, close to Jack, staring out at the crowd. He was being his intimidating self. Already I could tell, just by the look of him, this was going to get heated.
A middle aged lady dressed in white stood to the other side of the room, facing the crowd, just as Eric was. She had a pointy nose and wispy, wiry hair that was slowly turning grey. She looked almost as scary as Eric. But it was a different kind of scary. She looked like an evil witch. She stood there like she had very dishonourable intentions.
"Could the Prosecutors please state their full name and present faction" Jack spoke loudly, beginning the trial. He had issued to Elise, at the end of our row. I was guessing we were the 'Prosecutors'.
As we all stood, we pronounced our names and factions...
"Elise Nowlen, Amity"
"Amy Raymond, Dauntless"
"Olivia Steven, Amity"
"Jem Stitcher, Dauntless"
"Matisse Naidu, Dauntless"
Then it was my turn... I took a large breath before I spoke...
"Eliza Turner, Dauntless"
The last bit came out viciously. I didn't mean to be so vicious though. It just happened...
"Now, could the Accused please state their full name and faction" Jack said, referring to the guys to our left. They were all still standing, just as we were.
The one closest to me began...
"Emmanuel Doyle, Candor". He was one of the ones that was shot in the leg.
"Mike Smith, Candor". He was one of the ones that was shot in the leg, too.
"Jackson Carter, Candor". He was another one of the ones that was shot.
"Howard Iracus, Candor". He was one of the ones that was shot also.
The next guy was the one that scared me the most. He was the one that lead us through the Candor building, he was the one who was held at gun point and he was the one that gave me my drink.
"Matthew Murdoch, Candor"
Jack told us we could be seated, so we sat. We were all staring at them. Staring at Emmanuel, Mike, Jackson, Howard and Matthew.
"They don't even look sorry" Matisse whispered in my ear. I became even angrier.
Jack kept on talking about certain rules of the trial, Eric was assigned to be our 'defence solicitor' and the scary lady was assigned to be their 'defence solicitor'. Her name was Judith.
"Now, it says here" Jack began, reading from a piece of paper, "that Elise, Matisse, Jem, Eliza, Amy and Liv all sustained minor injuries-" he went on before Eric cut him off.
"Minor injuries!" Eric almost yelled. But he realised he needed to calm down, so he stopped himself and continued in a suitable manor. "I'm sorry... Minor injuries?"
At first Jack looked a bit taken a back but he too conformed himself before speaking. "Yes, that is what it says here" he proved, holding up the sheet of paper.
"Well, no disrespect, but that is wrong... These girls sustained pretty major injuries" Eric voiced boldly.
"Well, do you have a licensed doctor or nurse here to prove that?" Jack then asked.
Eric didn't say anything, he simply turned around, looked to the crowd and eyed someone sitting in the rows of people. Then someone stood up and walked to the front. I recognised her, she was one of our nurses.
"Name?" Jack said blankly. He wasn't showing any emotion.
"Melissa Banks" the nurse stated confidently. Although at the same time she looked nervous.
"And can you please briefly state what types of injuries each girl sustained" Jack asked.
She got straight to the point.
"Elise suffered from a bruised eye, that she cannot see out of at the moment. We are worried it may not heal"
"Amy suffered from air shortage, she could not breath properly for some large amount of time. She also has large amounts of bruising on and around her stomach"
"Olivia suffers from a serious gash near her temple. It is close to becoming majorly infected and it has had to be stitched up numerous times"
"Jem suffers from a sore, bruised face and a cut lip that continues to split open, making it easy to become infected"
"Matisse was choked and suffocated very severely. So severely that she had to wear a neck brace for a few days and now she suffers from major bruising around her neck, making it hard for her to talk"
"Eliza suffered from a torn ligament in her shoulder as well as bruising and she also suffers from sore vocal chords, she has only just gotten her voice back"
"As well as all of this, the girls all suffered from the effects of the several drugs used through their systems" Melissa finished.
Jack sat there speechless. He had not known that our injuries were that serious. He began to jot a few things down on the sheet of paper.
Once he was done he looked up and continued on with his statements.
"It also says here that the girls were given three different types of drugs through the use of alcohol and that the accused were the ones that gave out these spiked drinks. Is this true?" he asked the boys.
They all nodded, heads hanging down. Judith answered for them...
"Yes this is true".
"Very well..." he replied quietly as he wrote something on the sheet of paper. He seemed disappointed. "Now, each person involved in the situation will have their chance to give their own insight. Eric, your side may go first" Jack continued.
Eric motioned for us to all stand up. And this is where it began. It was time for us to spill...
"I should have listened to Eric"
"We were extremely drunk and I most definitely regret drinking now"
"We danced most of the night, continuously drinking"
"Eric came over to us, warning us about some guys... None of us gave a second thought. We weren't aware of any danger"
"They approached us, seeming harmless"
"They had drinks in their hands, at first I thought they were their own but then they offered them to us"
"If we were sober we wouldn't have taken them, but we weren't..."
"We took the drinks"
"I drank from mine straight away"
"They slowly dragged us away"
"They made it look like they were simply dancing with us"
"No one noticed"
"They had taken us down a long hallway, away from the party"
"I knew what was happening, yet I couldn't stop myself"
"The drugs had done something to our bodies, something so influential that we couldn't fight"
"They shoved us into a small room"
"The room was empty, it had blue carpet and white walls"
"All of a sudden each of us were grabbed and held back"
"They whispered rude and vile things in my ear"
"They said they were going to hurt me"
"One by one we all started fighting back"
"As I saw the girls getting hurt I screamed and screamed, but his hand was covering my mouth"
"He pinned me down and wrapped his hands around my neck. I couldn't breathe"
"I tried to fight back as best I could"
"The adrenaline had seemed to kick in"
"When I saw Matisse go down, I broke out of the grasp he had on me and I pinned one of the guys down, but then I was pinned down and punched"
"I saw Elise get hurt and I couldn't hold back. Something had come over me. But before I could do anything, I was thrown against the wall"
"I could tell that Liv was practically unconscious, I ran to help her but I was dragged backwards by my arms and thrown against the wall backing into the hallway. My shoulder hit the wall hard"
"I lay there helpless"
"We all lay there helpless"
"But then the door burst open. I could see the doorway clearly, for I was on the ground right in front of the entry"
"The first person I saw walk in was Eric"
"I couldn't see anything, the door was blocking my view, but I could hear gun shots. Four of them"
We continued to re tell the petrifying moments. We stayed strong though.
Then, it was their turn. What they said seemed to be true. They told the story just as it happened. And Matthew continued with the bits where he was forced to show Eric and the boys a safe way out. Where he was held at gun point. They seemed emotionless and they didn't say anything about their intentions. Which I was sure were bad. And what angered me the most was they hadn't said sorry yet and none of them even looked sorry.
I just had to say something...
"So your not even sorry?" I accusingly questioned, facing towards my left.
"Ms Turner, I am sure they feel sorry" Jack spoke, trying to stop anything from happening.
"Well they sure as hell don't look sorry" I arced up. With that, Eric took a step towards me.
"Eliza..." he heeded, looking at me sternly.
I took a deep breath, calming myself down and I turned to face the front.
"So that's it..." Jack started up again, asking both sides.
We nodded our heads silently, showing him we were finished.
"Well, from what I have heard, seen and from what is written here" Jack continued, holding up his sheet of paper, "you boys are clearly in the wrong. And your intentions were nothing but unwelcome and destructive".
Jack rummaged through a few more sheets of paper, as everyone stayed quiet. It wouldn't be long until the outcome was proven through the verdict.
"It's Candor law, that offenders such as these young men, that commit an offence just like this, should partake in a years worth of 'community service'" Jack then abruptly stated.
Eric looked shocked and angered. "A years worth of community service!?" he questioned.
"I do not see any issue here..." Jack confusedly spoke.
Eric laughed sarcastically, mocking Jack. "These bastards almost killed these girls" he begun, pointing at Emmanuel, Mike, Jackson, Howard and Matthew. "They almost died because of the harsh drugs that ran through them!" he continued, pointing to us.
"But Eric, these girls where not injured any further. They could have been raped and killed... But they were not. I see it fit for Emmanuel, Mike, Jackson, Howard and Matthew to serve a year completing acts of community service" Jack made his final statement.
"No" Eric replied sternly. "This trial will come to an end with the punishment being chosen according to the victims factions way of law. Isn't that right?" Eric questioned, eyeing Jack suspiciously.
"Jack Kang is the judge-" Judith spoke up valiantly, before her speaking time was cut short by Eric's booming voice.
"Isn't that right!" he continued to interrogate Jack. "Your job isn't to stand up for your own factions people or to do a slack job. It is to set things right in a fair way!"
Eric was getting really into this.
Jack sat there, looking speechless.
But then he cleared his throat, sat up straight and took a hold of the hammer thingy.
Finally. I thought. He has made a decision.
But what he said next angered me. It angered everyone in Dauntless...
"This trial will commence in thirty minutes. I need to counsel with both sides and my dignitary associates" Jack stated, almost as if he was furious.
He ended his statement with the bang of the hammer hitting the wood of the table.
Eric turned around, leaning against the table we sat at, facing me, head hung down.
"For fucks sake" he muttered in frustration.
He must've really cared. He was trying so hard. Trying so hard to set things right.
And usually he would never do that...
I took a hold of his hand with my free arm. He looked to my face as I gave him a weak smile of appreciation.
He gave a weak smile back.