Hybrid's Trial

by Abbie Payne

  gardening herself.

  I walked up to the door. It was two tall, black, Victorian style doors with two identical tiger knockers on the front. I used one of them to knock on the door before standing back.

  I fidgeted around as I tried to find a place to put my hands.

  Behind my back? Too formal. In my pockets? She might think I’m hiding something.

  By my sides? I don’t want to seem like I let myself go.

  Folded on top of my chest? Now I’m just being silly… I didn’t have time to figure out where to put my hands before Hazel swung open the door, so I quickly just shoved my hands in the pockets of my pants and shifted my weight on the platforms of my feet so that I was leaning a little forward and forcing my spine to be straighter.

  Hazel shifted her weight and rested her hip on the door frame. “Tell me you didn’t bring the boys back.” She begged breathlessly.

  I quickly shook my head. I kind of figured things weren’t going well over here.

  Hazel let out a sigh of relief as she looked up at the sky thankfully. “What are you doing here, then?” She asked.

  I shrugged. I didn’t want to tell her what I was really doing. Not yet, anyway. “I just came to check up on you and Bali. The boys really miss you and I would really love to give them some closure from you. And I just want to make sure Bali is okay from that beating she took before I tell the boys what really happened with her,” I explained.

  A small glimmer of a smile

  appeared on her face when I said that her boys missed her.

  “I miss them, too. It’s really hard not hearing them come flying down the stairs every morning, and I know I complained about the mess they always made, but now that they’re not here I find myself almost creating a mess for them,” she answered

  somberly.

  “And Bali?” Hazel sighed as she studied my face before shaking her head, “The best way I know how to describe her is by saying that it hurts me to look at her. She’s so paranoid now that I can’t even act like I’m going to touch her or she’ll scream bloody murder.”

  I grimaced as I imagined the pain she was in, the intense feeling surging through my body like water going down a drain. I had hoped that she would be doing better than that, but I knew from the pictures that that was just wishful thinking.

  “How did she get away from him?” I questioned. That was a curiosity that had been circling through my mind since the moment I got the notice that there were more lawsuits against the boys.

  I knew very little about Hermes and Genesis, but what I did know didn’t exactly put him in the best light.

  Hazel looked behind me for a split second before stepping back and motioning towards the foyer, “Well, come inside so that the whole

  neighborhood doesn’t hear.”

  I arched my eyebrows as I looked around behind me. There were no houses for miles in every direction, and that was how Hazel and Lincoln wanted it when they bought the house. They just wanted a quiet, secluded place to raise Taz and Levi. I turned back to Hazel in question.

  The witch just rolled her eyes and gave me a look that said everything she didn’t dare say out loud before turning and walking back into the house.

  I quickly followed her and looked down as the old family cat – Cobwebs

  – jumped down from his perch in the window sill and rubbed against my legs before padding into the kitchen and down to the lair.

  Hazel led me to the living room where she left me while she went to make some tea for the two of us. I looked around as I sat down on the old gray sectional.

  There were pictures all over the walls of the boys and Lincoln at varying ages as well as a couple of Bali that were obviously quite recent, and a beautiful brick fireplace stood in front of the couch with a crackling fire going. I closed my eyes as I let the fire warm my body.

  I knew Hazel preferred to keep the house quite cold. I was slipping into what would have been a nice nap before I came back to full alertness as the cushion sank down a little and I heard the clinking of a metal drink tray hitting the top of the antique wooden coffee table.

  Hazel cleared her throat as she poured me a full cup of tea and handed it to me before getting herself a serving.

  “Sam, you know Cobwebs, right?” She began. She was treading quite carefully with her word choice. It was fairly easy to tell because of that she was a little hesitant to admit whatever it was to me. I nodded, wordlessly urging her to continue on with what she was going to say.

  “Well, he’s not just a normal cat. He’s a familiar; which basically means that he can change from a human to a cat at will and he is essentially bound to this home as a protector.” She told me.

  I furrowed my eyebrows slightly, but I still didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to cut her off for fear of her getting sidetracked from her story altogether.

  “ When Bali was attacked, I wasn’t at the house. I was at a Council “meeting” – I got fired from the Council, by the way– and she and Cobwebs were the only ones that were home. He rescued her and I came home to see him in his cat form in her lap as she stroked him.

  Cobwebs has been looking after her ever since that… that animal beat her like that.”

  I smiled. I always had the suspicion that Cobwebs wasn’t just another cat. Lincoln never liked cats and I kind of knew that the only reason he would allow one in the house was if it served a purpose.

  My phone went off in my back pocket with a quiet ding. Hazel

  watched me as I quickly pulled it out of my pocket.

  It was a text message from Judge Deborah Granges - the woman that was in charge of Levi and Taz’s case

  – telling me that if I wanted to look through Daisy and Sylas’s apartment I needed to get there in the next ten minutes.

  It was thirty minutes before the time that they had designated, but she clearly stated that if I wasn’t there in the ten minutes she was allowing then the deal was off.

  I didn’t want to leave Hazel yet. I still had a lot of questions for her, but as I hurriedly got to my feet and turned to her all I could see was the small smile on her face.

  I opened my mouth to apologize, but she just grinned and shook her head. “Go ahead and go, Sam. I’ll be here when you get back. It’s obviously important whatever it is.” She

  permitted.

  I gave her a silent, thankful look before rushing through the house and out the door when I met my driver.

  “To the old apartments on Guo Street, and step on it.” I demanded as I fell into the car.

  The driver read the urgency in my voice a lot quicker than I had

  expected and barely gave me enough time to fasten my seat belt before slamming on the gas and zooming down the dirt road to our destination.

  I stared out my window as we pulled into the ragged parking lot of the abandoned apartment complex. The parking lot was bumpy enough to make you feel like a milkshake with how much it rattled and the building was creepy, to say the least.

  It was made with old bricks and most of the windows were shattered or swung open to reveal the tattered curtains that still clothed them.

  There was graffiti all along the sides

  – some parts of it being art and other parts of it being… something less than art– and the doors were stained with green and had a paper pinned to it was might have once said

  something but was now completely faded.

  To see these apartments in such a state was slightly heartbreaking. I used to live in these apartments and they were always at full capacity because of their lower prices, yet spacious two-bedroom apartments. However, I guess after the death of Daisy and Sylas took place everyone decided to move out and the owner never found anyone that would fill them back up.

  I got out of the car and slammed it behind me to make sure Frederick got the hint that I didn’t want him to follow me before I headed inside the building.

  The walls were peeling and the ceiling seemed to be collapsing from the weight of so muc
h mold in the air ducts. Judge Granges was standing by the stairs with her arms impatiently crossed over her chest. I made my way over to her and offered her my hand to shake before having it

  blatantly denied and allowing it to fall and meet my other hand behind my back.

  “Five mi nutes, Mr. Caeruleus. You may take one picture, so make it a good one. You may only go to the room that was the scene of the crime and that is the living room. No notes or anything. Do I make myself clear?” Granges stated in a harsh tone as she shoved a small digital camera into my hand.

  I nodded in reply, figuring that it was best not to speak. She stretched her arm out toward the old staircase that stood before us.

  The creaking sound that came from them was unsettling, to say the least, and whether or not the noise came from the settling of the building made me wonder if I really wanted to add any weight to them.

  “Mr. Caeruleus, if you're not going to go, please don't waste anymore of my time.” Granges grumbled.

  My heart skipped a little when I saw her fangs gleam under the sliver of sunlight peeking in from the

  windows. It was nothing new to me that she was a vampire, but her temperament and thirst for blood was enough to throw me back into a tornado of flashbacks - all of which had Gabriel as a recurring cast member.

  I started up the stairs, cautiously testing it with one foot at first before quickly going up to the penthouse apartment where Daisy and Sylas lived.

  The room stank of preservatives and the gothic decor that once mirrored the splendor of the Watcher family now better mirrored the splendor of a garbage dump.

  The walls - like the rest of the place

  - were peeling, but unlike the bland beige the rest of the complex had, these walls were covered in a deep red damask wallpaper. The floors were covered with charcoal black carpet that was starting to pull up and mildew at the edges.

  I sneezed when I breathed in too deep, kicking myself for forgetting my horrid allergy to mold and

  mildew.

  There was still crime scene tape posted despite the fact it was now beginning to fade so much that you couldn't even read the lettering but it helped me figure out where to look since I didn't have any guidance for that.

  Obvious bloodstains were still on the carpet and I was about to snap a picture of it. When a Zephenrite kills someone, no blood is spilled, so all I would have to do is figure out how to prove it. However, a cockroach scurrying along brought my attention to something more interesting: a bloody knife under the T.V. stand. I suppressed a grin as I looked up at the officer in the room that was obviously there to keep me from breaking Granges’ rules.

  “ I demand a fingerprint test on the knife under the cupboard. I will pay all expenses - and I wish to see it happen.”

  The officer broke into a sweat, “That's not allowed, Sir,” he muttered. He was looking down to the left when he said it. He was lying.

  “How do you know that?” I

  demanded. “Well, Sir, it's on record of what you're allowed and not allowed.” He replied.

  I didn't need to see his eyes to know that was lie. Nobody in this town kept anything that didn't make them happy or that was important.

  “Then let me take it. I'll get the supplies and do it myself.” I insisted. The officer stiffened, “Sir, you have two minutes left.” He replied simply. I barely resisted the urge to press him more as I turned and carefully aimed the camera so that I could get the bloodstains as well as the knife in the photo. The camera wasn't focusing great, but I suppose it served its purpose.

  Once he heard the click of the camera, the officer roughly grabbed my arm, dragged me out, and pushed me down the stairs.

  I shot him a look over my shoulder when I almost ran into Granges. He was either too blind to notice or too dumb to understand what the look meant because he carried on like I had never done a thing.

  I; however, wasn't done fighting for the fingerprinting on the knife. I left my driver to make sure that no one took the knife from the apartment before I could get my hands on it and my bodyguard took his place.

  Granges had her car escort mine to the courthouse so that she could have my picture printed and we sat in the courtroom while we waited. She didn't say anything and - for a while neither did I.

  When the man came back with my picture I got to my feet and moved over to her bench and showed her the picture. “You see the knife, don’t you?” I asked. I gave her a small look that she didn’t even look up at me to see that dared her to say that she didn’t see it.

  She glanced up at the photograph for maybe a minute before looking down at her paperwork. “Yes.” She replied nonchalantly.

  “I want it tested from fingerprints.” I tried again. I didn’t like when people didn’t make eye contact when I was talking to them, but I didn’t dare cross Granges’ path more than I already was.I didn’t want to make things worse for the boys than they already were.

  “No can do, Mr. Caeruleus. You know the rules.” Granges mused. I wanted so badly to get in her face and scream “What rules?”, but I knew I couldn’t. Not if I wanted this to go my way. I sighed and bit my lip. I didn’t want to make this promise to her, but I still had to do it. It was the only way to not only get the last piece of the puzzle I needed, but also to give Taz some piece of mind that he really didn’t kill Daisy and Sylas.

  I knew from personal experience what effect other people’s words can have on how you view yourself.

  “Just let me take the knife and I’ll have my people test it. If it comes back with even a sliver of a possibility that it could match Lazarus’s

  fingerprints, then I’ll have him plead guilty and this whole thing can cease and desist.” I insisted, practically begging her to let me take the knife.

  Granges looked up and studied my face for a moment. Her cold, dark eyes shined with hatred and anger as she looked at me. I knew why. I was standing up for something that wasn’t well supported.

  I was disrupting her reality. But you know what? Sometimes you have to do that. That’s the only way change happens.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve coming in here and demanding these things, Mr. Caeruleus. You know I’m not supposed to give you these things. But just this once, I’ll let you do what you want.” Granges sighed, writing down a warrant and giving it to me. I grinned my thanks before turning and heading straight for the door.

  I had some evidence to collect.

  Chapter Twenty-Four (Kyan)

  “ Exteriorbeauty without the depth of akindsoul is merelydecoration.”–

  UnknownWho did the Rizos think they were? Did they really think they could actually beat us at our own game of getting information?

  To be honest, if they actually won this case I would be disappointed and disgusted with our system as well as disappointed with my family for letting two hybrids(it tastes like I’m drinking acid just saying that term) topple the empire that has taken us generations to build.

  I mean, come on. A jock that thinks he’s all that just because he’s the star athlete of our town (which isn’t that big, so it’s not like it’s the biggest deal) and a nerd that has to rely on his little brother to stand up for him. It wasn’t like that was much of a challenge.

  Whatever.

  This was starting to get fun anyway. It actually gave me and Lily a

  challenge and everyone knows at least this one thing about us:

  Watchers aren’t quitters.

  Chapter Twenty-Five (Lazarus)

  “F or what it’s worth: it’s nevertoo late to be whoever you want to be…” –F. Scott

  E

  Fitzgerald ven though Sam was only gone for a couple days (literally two days and one

  night), it felt like he was gone for an eternity. Maybe it was because neither me, nor Levi felt confident enough to go outside the walls of Sam’s house (although, I did venture out to the park to play with the orphan kids once more after doing it the first time), but neither of us really cared that much.


  We just didn’t want to give people more of a reason to hate us. Sam finally got home at about nine o’clock on the second night and I couldn’t be happier to see him. It reminded me of when I was younger and my mom would come home from her long Council meetings. I heard the door open and I ran from the living room two rooms away from the foyer to see him come in with his brief case and something in a brown paper sack.

  I was going to ask him what the sack was, but before I could do so he had already passed it off to Kiki for “testing”, as he called it.

  Sam then grinned at me and pulled me into a small side hug, “Did you two behave while I was gone?” He teased, obviously mocking my mom (all in good fun) when he said it. I nodded slowly and followed him, talking his ear off as he went to the elevator to go up to the level with all three of our rooms on it. I allowed myself to slip in a word about the orphanage.

  Sam looked up at me momentarily in surprise, but then only smiled and looked down at his feet again.

  “Your father used to volunteer there all the time. After he passed away, I took up the responsibility in his honor,” he explained coolly.

  I nodded slightly, “I wonder what his reason was.” Sam just shrugged, “Your dad was one of those people that never had a reason for doing anything– especially good deeds.” He replied.

  We fell silent momentarily before I looked at him. “Sam… w-what happened to Bali?” I asked quietly. It was something that had been

  bothering me for a while. I already felt guilty for not being there to protect her, so when he told me exactly what happened I only felt worse.

  “Do you think I could buy her some flowers? Just to let her know I’m thinking about her?” I added.

  Sam smiled as he looked up to me, “Of course. I’ll even give you the money to do it. Although, you do realize that you won’t be able to take them to her, right?” He asked.

  I nodded, “I’ll just teleport them to her.” I replied. I already had that part figured out. It wasn’t easy for me to teleport objects around (it took a lot of energy to do so), but I was more than happy to take that risk for Bali. Not to mention, Levi and I had been talking about getting something for Mom anyway– just to let her know that we were thinking about her and that we really were okay.