Here's the next installment of our Metallum Nocturne story. If you need to catch up on any of the previous episodes, click here.
Episode Forty-Three
Claire woke next to the obsidian pillar, lying on the concrete naked. She was awake enough to witness her jet-black skin slowly turn back to the pink freckled flesh that she'd been born with. No trace of the night metal remained.
As she shifted onto her rear, she found she was holding the lump of night metal which was proof of her journey to Umbra. Claire worried how she was going to get back to Metallum Nocturne without clothes, until she noticed a pile on the opposite side of the pillar in a pattern that suggested they'd collapsed after she passed through the portal.
After dressing, she stepped outside, finding the orangish-red light of morning cast across the sky. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to call for a cab until she saw the date. It was the morning of her court appearance. She'd lost three days in Umbra.
"Please pick up, please pick up," she repeated after dialing Dawn.
"Where have you been?" asked Dawn. "I've been worried sick."
"No time to explain, but I need to get to the courthouse."
"Where are you? You know I don't have a car."
"I know, I know. But I can head there straight away. I need you to bring my clothes. I'm going to be late as it is," said Claire.
"I have class, but fine, I'll skip it," said Dawn.
"Thanks, you're the best!"
It took the last of her funds, but she managed to call a cab to take her directly to the courthouse. The events in Umbra, including the Night Mother's directive, swirled around her brain. Claire had no intention of killing Annette, which meant eventually she was going to have to find a way out of Nocturna's trap.
A photographer snapped a series of pictures when she got out of the taxi. He seemed surprised by her appearance. She ran up the stairs, but stopped halfway when she heard her named called. Dawn was running down the sidewalk, holding up a clothing bag, her loose brown curls bouncing at each step.
"I think I'm having a heart attack," said Dawn with sweat dripping from her nose.
"I owe you!" yelled Claire as she sprinted up the steps and maneuvered past the short line, hearing complaints, but not caring, given she was late. The stalls in the bathroom were full, so she stripped in the open area, much to the amusement of two older ladies. Seeing her own flesh without the dark metal striations was startling, even as she knew it was still there beneath the surface. Pinballing through the busy hallway, she collected herself before entering the courtroom.
The entire audience turned when she entered. The judge had been in mid-sentence but paused, his nostrils flaring at her late arrival.
"Justice waits for no one," said Judge Ambersand.
"I'm sorry, Your Honor," she said as she hurried to the spot next to Lamar. "I...I have no excuse for my lateness."
Her lawyer leaned over. "I thought you'd fled the city."
"What did I miss?" she whispered.
Lamar jerked his head towards the side of the courtroom where eight stone-faced men and women sat on benches.
"Already?" she asked.
"You're three hours late." His forehead wrinkled. "You look like you slept on the sidewalk. Fix your hair."
Discreetly as possible, Claire ran her fingers through the tangled mess until it wasn't a rat's nest. The whiplash of leaving Umbra and heading straight to the courthouse left her looking around trying to decide if it were real or her imagination. The experience of meeting the Night Mother and the original Metallum Nocturne patron hadn't completely sunk in. She'd almost forgotten about the directive until she glanced across the aisle to Annette Block sitting beside their three high-priced Vindicators. Adolphus' final words about killing the mayoral candidate or she'd be dragged back to Umbra was not lost on Claire.
The courtroom proceedings should have been her focus, but Claire found it hard to pay attention. She was only nominally aware when the opposing counsel stood to offer his opening statement. He was a handsome middle-aged man in an expensive suit and Clare found herself begrudgingly liking him despite his well-constructed argument about why she should be charged with negligence in Mara Block's death. The jury nodded along to his speech, which she took as a bad sign.
When Lamar stood to give his opening statement, she felt like she'd already lost. It sounded like a lot of nonsense to her as he went on about her being an upstanding member of the magical community, a rising star in her Hall, and the unfortunate bearer of the blame for Mara Block's death. The argument sounded to her like the kind you made when you were at fault and hoping someone took pity on you.
The trial switched back to the plaintiff side after Lamar sat down. The Vindicator called Annette Block to the stand.
"Objection, Your Honor," said Lamar, half-rising. "Mrs. Block has no relevance to the proceedings since she's not a witness to the event."
Judge Ambersand frowned. "As we discussed in pre-trial, I will allow it. Since the deceased cannot speak for herself, and the case will rest on points of safety and negligence, we should understand the young lady's character. Overruled."
The way Lamar sank back into his seat suggested that this was bad for her. Annette took the stand in a powder blue dress with a few well-chosen pieces of silver jewelry. The outfit gave the impression of a busy mother who dutifully made their child's lunch every morning without fail. She looked on the verge of tears, the corners of her mouth lifting hesitantly as she checked back to her husband. The next half hour felt like a tribute at the funeral. Mara Block, it seemed, had been the greatest daughter in the history of the world, who'd never made a mistake in her life, if her mother's testimony could be believed. Mara had been a high grade point student, assistant captain on the lacrosse team, a volunteer at the Humane Society, and had never been in trouble in her life. By the end of the testimony, half the jury had tears in their eyes and a few were openly sobbing.
"Why don't we take an hour break for lunch," said Judge Ambersand.
After the gavel strike, Claire sunk into her chair defeated, wondering if she should have taken Annette's offer the previous week.
"Do I stand a chance?"
Lamar didn't answer at first. "It is a civil case. A lot will depend on how the jury interprets the law regarding criminal negligence. Though our opposition counsel did a good job of making this case emotional rather than logical."
A pang of hunger rocked through Claire's stomach. Lamar raised an eyebrow.
"I haven't eaten."
"Clearly," he said. "I have some notes to write. You go to the cafeteria. I'll catch up."
Claire bit her lower lip. "I don't have any money. I blew the last of it on a cab here."
"Where were you?"
"I don't think I could explain if I wanted to," she said. "Sorry, I know that's a shitty answer given everything you've done for me, but it's all I've got."
He lowered his voice. "Does this have to do with the Terrors?"
"No," she said. "I'd actually forgotten about them."
"You know they haven't forgotten about you."
When her stomach grumbled again, he reached into his wallet and handed over a twenty-dollar bill.
"Thanks, Lamar." Claire paused, half-raised. "They must have really done a number on you for you to be helping such a sorry defendant."
"Go eat, before your stomach implodes and causes a black hole," he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes.
As Claire left the courtroom, she spotted Elle in a flowery dress with a matching handbag in the reporter row. She looked relieved, but also concerned, which made sense given how poorly the trial had begun. Elle grabbed her notebook and left, staying a few people behind Claire, since she really couldn't be seen with her or put the neutrality of her reporting in doubt.
Outside the courtroom, a gaggle of reporters with microphones yelled questions at Claire, but she ducked her head and hurried down the hallway towards the cafeteria. As she turned the corner, she saw Annette had stopped and was answering the reporters' inquiries with her chin raised defiantly.
Pushing through the cafeteria doors, Claire grew dizzy and stumbled forward right as the same photographer that had taken her picture outside snapped another. If it hadn't been for Lamar's suggestion to ignore the press, she might have said something, but she was feeling too light-headed to bother. Claire filled her tray with food. She was ravenous and had to put two items back when she realized it would be over the amount Lamar had given her. Claire found a table in the corner with her back against the wall. She devoured the club sandwich, fries, and chicken fingers in what felt like seconds before sucking down the entire energy drink in one long draw, hiding her belch behind a cupped hand. Her stomach quirked from the sudden influx of food and drink, but the indigestion passed quickly. The wall made a convenient spot to lean. While she strangely wasn't exhausted after theoretically—since she didn't know how time worked in Umbra—being awake for more than three days, Claire felt thin, like metal that had been folded too many times without proper reheating.
The approach of the older woman went unnoticed until she was standing before Claire's table with a big soft drink cup in her hand. Claire barely had a chance to look up before the woman pulled her hand back.
"You monster!"
The sticky liquid hit Claire right in the face, splattering her clothes and shocking her from the self-induced stupor. Before Claire could say a word, the woman rushed away as security guards chased her out of the cafeteria. Camera flashes recorded the aftereffects of the soda being thrown in her face. Claire was almost too stunned to wipe her face, but eventually came to enough to clean up. The entire cafeteria stared warily as she put her trash into the bin and left for a bathroom to clean up.
The mirror was not kind. Claire couldn't help but see herself as a watered down villain. Nocturna's directive rang through her mind: kill Annette Block or I'll drag you back to Umbra. After cleaning the sticky liquid off her face, and standing beneath the hand dryer for a few minutes, Claire stepped outside to find Lamar waiting for her.
"Are you okay?"
"Just a soda. I guess it's good I didn't spend any time on my hair," she said, gesturing upward.
Lamar shook his head. "I've already talked to Judge Ambersand. He agreed to end the trial for today. It's unfair to have you join the proceedings after being attacked like that. You should go home and take a long shower and get some sleep. You look like you're sleepwalking through life. We'll reconvene in two days."
