Day 46 – Closing Arguments
They were all exhausted. None of them had ever imagined it would take this long. They had been sequestered, stripped away from family and friends, due to the media circus surrounding the trial.
She watched as he was led into the courtroom. His piercing blue eyes landed on each of them as he took his seat. There was something about him that she couldn’t get out of her mind. The clean-cut, well spoken man was accused of unspeakable crimes but the case was no slam dunk for the prosecution. Some had called his argument weak, at best.
Each attorney stood as they finished their extravagant courtroom dance. She stole a glance at him and was taken aback that he was staring directly at her. She held his gaze as he gave her a wink. She blushed, turning away.
The jury was given their instructions. She quickly glanced at him one more time before heading back to deliberation.
* * *
The jury filed into the courtroom. A hundred eyes turned to them, attempting to decipher what their blank stares could mean. Guilty? Not-guilty?
The verdict was read. A mix of cheers and screams of anguish filled the room. She lifted her head and looked directly at him. He smiled at her before turning to shake the hands of his supporters.
* * *
Life quickly returned to the normal she had known before the trial. Work resumed. Errands were run. The phone had finally stopped ringing off the hook. The media circus had moved on to its next target. She was slowly beginning to forget about his eyes, the way they seemed to penetrate her soul.
That night, she climbed into bed, suddenly happy that her life was hers once again.
* * *
It was 3am when she suddenly woke. Fear gripped her heart. She felt him there and knew at once she had made a terrible mistake. When she slowly turned to face the window, the last thing she saw was those piercing blue eyes.
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Join the Trifecta Challenge
Word Count: 333
1: lacking strength
2: mentally or intellectually deficient
3: not factually grounded or logically presented
Arden Ruth 
AMAZING!!! see this is why you got the award!! totally gripping!!
Haha! Thanks 🙂
PS — I started doing my award posts at the end of the month. I don’t want you to think I’m dissing your award and not participating! Haha
Haha….naaaa I wouldn’t think that!! you know that’s an excellent idea!! 🙂
Creepy, creepy creepy. Nicely done!
Thanks Matticus! I’ve been going the creepster route lately .. not sure why.
Sometimes that’s just what we have to do. 😉
……
I pulled up the Yeah Write challenge for this week (#121) (I didn’t have time to look at it last week before the submission deadline), and I’m completely lost! I understand the word count limitations… but what am I supposed to write about? Help!!! You can email me at djmatticus@yahoo.com if you want to take the convo out of your comments section.
Email sent! 🙂
Nice story.
Thanks!
Well s*#%…Very nicely done! 😀
Haha Thanks! 🙂
gripping
Thanks 🙂
Aaack! This was creepy. Hard way to realize a mistake, though. His dress, his normalcy, reminded me of Ted Bundy. {Shivers}
EEK! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I suppose this what you call- “pay for your mistakes”…a pity that it was her life she paid with !
Haha a pity indeed! Thanks for stopping by!
That’s cool, turning the courtroom trope a bit on its head. I like it.
Thanks!
Creepy and engrossing. She was undone by the birds and the bees.
Haha yes she was! Thanks for reading!
This is excellent! Very gripping story.
Thanks so much!
Ooh! This is creepily awesome. Loved the pace, tone and ending. Yikes!
Thanks! 🙂
Nice – that last paragraph has a total horror story feel to it. Good one Arden!
Thanks so much!
With the recent big court cases in the States, you had my interest from the get-go. What a creepy ending. Great job with the prompt.
Thanks! I’m really enjoying the challenges.
That truly was gripping… well done.
Thanks for stopping by!
Nicely done! You managed to build up tension, making the reader a bit anxious, and then you really deliver. It wasn’t what I expected. Good stuff!
-Alicia Audrey
Thank you so much! Such kind words.
Like Janna, I immediately thought of Ted Bundy. I’m just grateful that it’s not quite time for bed, because I’m pretty sure sleep would be along time coming after reading this. Yikes!
Haha. Thanks so much! Exactly what I was going for 🙂