Hybrid's Trial Page 8

  Sam nodded. We ended our

  conversation and I headed off to Levi’s room to talk to him before going to bed. That was one thing that was staying consistent. Back home, him and I always used to go to his room and talk for a good hour before we went to bed.

  I plopped down beside him on the bed. He had his nose stuck in a book when I walked in and even though I couldn’t understand anything he was reading (he was almost halfway through the book at this point) I didn’t want to interrupt him. There were only two things in this world that could calm my brother down better than anything else: reading and writing.

  After a few more pages, he finished the chapter he was looking on and finally put his attention on me. He closed his book and yawned, leaning back against his pillows. “You’re awful happy tonight, Taz,” he

  observed through his yawn.

  I grinned and nodded as I lay down beside him. I told him what my plan was for Bali. “Taz, you’re allergic to flowers, Bud.” Levi reminded me gently.

  I shrugged, “Only Lilies. And besides, the worst they do is make me sneeze awhole lot. I’ll go through that for her. Bali needs a reminder that she’s not alone more than ever right now.”

  Levi smiled slightly and put his arm around my shoulders. “Alright. I guess there’s no stopping you. But I’m going with you,” he decided, “That way I can help you figure out what to get.”

  *** Honestly, I was more than happy to have my older brother’s help. He was much more thoughtful than me when it came to thinks like what different flowers symbolized.

  So, the next morning we headed out to a floral shop a few blocks from the house and I immediately felt my allergies begin to act up. This

  particular shop was full of lilies, but it was apparently the only place near Caeruleus Incorporated.

  Levi leaned over to me, “We’ll hurry, I promise,” he whispered comfortingly into my ear. I quickly followed him to the counter where the florist grinned brightly at us and asked what we wanted. I was fighting back a fit of sneezes, so I quickly just handed her to the paper Levi had used to write down all the flowers (and their meanings) on.

  Carnations for pride and beauty, Queen Anne’s Lace for sanctuary, Bird of Paradise for joy, Daffodils for the power of inner beauty and clear thoughts, and a touch of Baby’s Breath just because it was pretty and one of Bali’s favorite flowers.

  The florist obviously sensed my discomfort and quickly made the bouquet for us. Levi sent me out while he paid her and I wandered over to look into the window of the jewelry shop nearby. Sam had given us extra money and told us to look and see if we could find anything for Mom in the jewelry store, so that was what we were going to do.

  Once Levi caught up with me, we headed inside and we both wandered over to the necklaces. Mom wasn’t much of a bracelet or ring person, and she always wore the same earrings (a couple of amethyst studs Dad got her for their anniversary).

  Levi watched me rather curiously. Obviously, I had quite the focused look on my face as I studied them.

  “Mom likes butterflies, right?” I asked my older brother as I glanced up at him.

  Levi nodded, “Yeah, she loves them,” he replied, evidently quite proud of the fact I remembered something like that.

  I don’t know how I was supposed to forget. Mom had always had a thing for butterflies for as long as I could remember. I think it was because they reminded her of Dad, but I wasn’t totally sure.

  I pointed out the charm I wanted. It was a butterfly with four different crystals– one in each section of the wings. Levi wasn’t that great at the meanings of crystals, but after watching Mom for so many years, I couldn’t shake the meaning of them from my brain.

  The crystals in this charm were perfect, too. Amethyst for peace, agate for protection and courage, lapis for memories, relationships, removing anxiety, and emotional pain, and quarts for power, protection,

  harmony, and balance.

  Levi and I got the charm and the necklace chain for her before heading home and writing notes for the both of them (one from each of us). Shortly after, I sent them off and had them appear on the island in the kitchen.

  Chapter Twenty-Six (Lily)

  “Don’t play the victim to circumstancesyou created.”

  K– Unknown

  yan and I knew that

  Samuel had arranged that

  little shin-dig in our aunt and uncle’s apartment before he ever arrived in Rockfell. Judge Granges was a family friend of ours and Daddy had paid her to tell us exactly what he was doing to prepare for the hearing. You know, so that we had a fair shot

  at winning.

  She notified us of something much

  more interesting, though. Samuel had

  actually found that knife under the

  T.V. stand. You see, we knew it was

  there all along. Daddy just paid the

  officers to pretend like it never

  existed so that we could blame it on

  the Rizos and get back at them after

  all these years of us being the

  “underdogs” (even though we have

  more money).

  However, since Samuel found it,

  Judge Granges warned us to make

  sure that we got it and disposed of it

  before he could get to it and try and

  test for fingerprints. Daddy sent Kyan

  and I out immediately after that

  warning was delivered. Kyan was

  furious that we had to go to this dark

  and dingy apartment with him so allergic to mold and me so heavily pregnant (vampires are only pregnant for two months as opposed to a human’s nine months), but we did it anyway. We didn't want to risk our standing with our father for something

  as petty as not wanting to go.

  Kyan and I walked in to see that the

  yellow tape was taken down. We

  looked at each other for a moment.

  That tape had been kept up for so long

  to keep anyone from getting smart

  and investigating the scene for

  themselves. If the tape was taken

  down by anyone in the system, they

  were going to pay a lot of money to

  my father.

  “Stay here. We don't need you

  getting into anything,” my brother

  ordered before advancing towards the

  T.V. stand that was causing us so

  much trouble. He knelt down and quickly the sinister smirk on his face melted into a confused, devastated

  frown.

  I stared at him for a few moments,

  “What? What is it?” I demanded

  angrily. If we came into the apartment

  for nothing, Lazarus wasn't going to

  be the only person on my list.

  “The knife isn't here.” Kyan

  announced slowly. He got to his feet

  and quickly began to scour the area.

  “Maybe Caeruleus doesn't know the

  difference between a T.V. stand and a

  dresser,” he said to himself. When he

  didn't find anything, he shouted

  furiously and knocked over the tall,

  glass China cabinet. He grabbed me

  by the arm and dragged me out of the

  apartment without a word. “Granges

  is going to pay for this.” He

  announced finally as he shoved me into the car. “Lily, you're going home and I'm going to the courthouse.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven (Bali)

  “ We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because

  thorn bushes have roses.”

  –Abraham Lincoln

  It had been a little over two months since the boys left with Mr. Caeruleus to find

  refuge in Crystalhills, but that wasn't making the system hurry any. Only today did we find out that the hearing was in two days, which meant the trio were going to be coming back to
Rockfell today.

  Not a moment too soon, either. Missing the boys was all but eating Hazel alive and I know she had been beginning to regret agreeing to let Mr. Caeruleus take her boys. Not to mention, Levi's birthday was coming up (December 31st) and that was only making matters worse.

  I was hoping that he wasn't going to have to spend his birthday in jail but hoping wasn't going to do much for them. Now it was simply a test of how well Mr. Caeruleus did to make sure he was doing everything he could to prevent the boys from losing.

  And somehow, I knew he was going to.

  Hazel and I were eating breakfast in the kitchen (I had gotten pretty used to being on the upper floors of the house in the past few months because I was trying to keep Hazel company) when she broke the news about the boys coming home. I hesitated

  momentarily.

  Part of me was waiting for her to say that she would make sure that the first place the boys went was down into the lair to see me, but the other part of me obviously decided to override its other half's vote.

  “I want to stand outside with you when you go to wait for their car to come.” I announced decidedly.

  Hazel looked up at me in surprise.

  I half expected her to argue with me, but she didn't. “Bali, I don't want to force you to go out there.” She replied.

  I shook my head.

  “I want to go. I'm not going to let Hermes win by me never going outside again. Besides, people know about me now. There's no point in trying to hide.” I insisted.

  Hazel smiled softly and nodded.

  “You know, Bali? I was a little skeptical when Levi named you after a tiger, but you just keep proving that you deserve that namesake.”

  ***

  The second time I went outside, I was strangely more comfortable. Maybe it was because Hazel and Cobwebs were with me (Cobwebs kept refusing to leave my side), or maybe it was just because I now knew I had nothing to hide. Everyone knew I was a Metamorphic now.

  If they were going to hunt me for my wings and horns there was

  nothing I could really do to stop them.

  The boys arrived at about noon. I didn't know I was going to be as happy to see them as I was. As soon as Taz got out of the car, I hugged him tightly and pulled Levi into our little hug once he got out. Mr.

  Caeruleus chuckled softly at the three of us as he moved over to Hazel’s side. She allowed him to hug her, but she didn't say anything. I couldn't say I was surprised. Hazel was never one for words.

  We walked inside and Taz grinned at the vase of flowers sitting on a table by the door, though he kept his distance. “You kept them,” he observed happily as he moved to my side.

  I nodded. I still remembered as plain as day when Hazel and I walked into the kitchen to see the flowers and necklace sitting there. Reading the note to her, that was the first time I had ever seen Hazel cry.

  Taz grinned and hugged me once more before heading into the kitchen to talk to his mom. Levi walked up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

  “I really hope you realize that you just made his day, Bali,” he told me gently. I nodded.

  “I know. I've been working so hard to keep them alive. It's really been keeping me, you know, occupied.” I replied. I didn't want him to worry about me, but I also didn't know if he knew about the whole thing with Hermes yet.

  Levi smirked, “You actually missed us?”

  I shrugged, “Of course, I did. It's beenreally quiet without you two.” I mused. Levi grinned and patted my shoulder before heading into the kitchen. I quickly followed him and listened as Mr. Caeruleus filled Hazel in on what evidence they had against the Watchers.

  He seemed pretty confident that they were going to win, but I didn't know what to think. Obviously, I wanted them to win, but the Watchers had a lot of worshippers in Rockfell, especially in the system. All Gabriel had to do was wave a few hundreddollar bills in Judge Granges’ face and she would do whatever it was that he wanted.

  I didn't even know if it was smart of Mr. Caeruleus to bring Levi and Taz home with two days to go before the hearing. It was all too possible that the Watchers could use their

  homecoming to their advantage and come up with something else to charge them with so that they

  wouldn't even have time to prepare.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight (Lily)

  “ Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”–

  IA braham Lincoln t was the night before the hearing and I couldn't sleep (no, vampires aren't

  nocturnal. The only reason we made up that silly little story of burning in the daylight was so that humans wouldn't actively search for us). The baby was driving me crazy and I was worried that the bump would show underneath the dress I wanted to wear. Daddy wanted to try and hide the pregnancy so that I could say the baby I had was so demonic that he actually attacked me, but it wasn't going to work. I was huge.

  Waiting until full term wasn't going to work anyway. Daddy was going to be livid when he found out that my child wasn't even slightly demon or witch. The only way to keep that from happening was to go to the hospital and make them induce me while everyone was sleeping so I could give up the baby and no one would ever know.

  I threw on a pair of sweatpants and one of Kyan's hoodies before

  sneaking out of the house. I Changed into my bat form so that I didn't have to risk stealing Daddy's car and wake everyone up by turning it on

  (vampires have heightened senses) and flew all the way to the hospital where I landed and Changed back to my vampire form. I walked into the building and screamed and cried until they finally agreed to do as I said.

  *** Four hours later, my daughter was finally born. She was quickly taken from me so that they could perform the usual tests. They had to test her to tell if she was hybrid, it was required by law and no amount of money could get me around that. I wanted to keep her, I really did, but I knew Daddy wouldn't allow it. He hated mermaids and the Watcher bloodline was completely pure. No hybrid has come into the family and made it back out alive.

  So, I had no choice but to give her up for adoption. The nurses praised me for doing so, promising that she would go to a good home, but I knew that wasn't the truth.

  They released me soon after that, and I went home to sleep and form an excuse for giving birth to the baby without telling anyone.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine (Samuel)

  “ Noone ismorehated than he who speaks the truth.”-Plato

  Kiki, Missy, and I did

  everything we could to make sure that the boys had a chance to win the case, and today we are going to find out just how much our work is going to pay off - if it does at all.

  The three of us arrived at the Rizo s’ house at about seven o'clock in the morning and - much to my surprise the boys were already awake and dressed. They let me into the house. Once I reached the living room, I turned and looked at them. “Where's your mom?” I asked.

  Taz shook his head slightly, putting his finger to his lips. “She's still asleep. She stayed up super late last night,” he mused. I nodded slowly. I started to say something when my cell phone rang.

  “Excuse me for a moment, boys.” I requested before hurrying out of the house. I closed the front door behind me and sat down on the bench on the porch. I answered my phone to hear the familiar voice of a man I hadn't seen in years.

  I had a policy at my law firm. I knew I was quite expensive, so if someone couldn't afford to pay me I still helped them for free, but when it came time for them to help me with another client's case, they had to do so. This man - Kingston - was one of the people that couldn't afford to pay me.

  “Dr. Caeruleus, I'm so glad you picked up. I have some news

  pertaining to Miss Lily Watcher I thought you would want to hear.” Kingston said breathlessly.

  “Well, spit it out, then.” I ordered impatiently. I didn't have time for small talk, not when there was so much at stake.

  “She came into the hospital
last night and bribed the doctor to put her into induced labor. She gave birth to you'll never believe this - a vampiremermaid hybrid,” he said excitedly.

  I was a little excited, too. This was information I could work with. Giving birth was on public records. They couldn't tell me I couldn't have those. I thanked Kingston before hanging up with him. Just after I put my phone back in my pocket, the boys came outside.

  “Is everything okay?” Taz asked cautiously. I smiled and ruffled his hair.

  “Everything’s just fine, Taz. There's no need to worry.”

  *** My part of the hearing went

  smoothly - as per usual - but now it was time for the Watchers to present their side of the case. I watched Taz and Levi for a few moments before looking back down at the table and pulling out my notebook and pen so that I could take notes on what was being said.

  Eventually, I got bored of that and only when I caught myself doodling and coloring in all the letters that had circles in them did I start making a tally of how many times Lily set off the water works.

  She sat up beside Granges as she retold the “story” of how Taz allegedly assaulted her.

  Tally.

  She relived how devastated she was when she found out her “beloved” aunt and uncle were murdered by a Zephenrite.

  Tally.

  She described (in full detail) how painful it was for her when her amazing brother came home battered and bruised from the brutish attack by “Lazarus and Leviathan”, as she called them.

  Oh, hey. Two tallies for that one.

  Cool, at least she's shaking things up.

  Taz elbowed me in the ribs and discreetly nodded towards the jury. I had only watched them for a few moments before I realized what he was talking about.

  It was obvious a lot of the jury were getting frustrated, and rightfully so. Lily did keep changing her story. None of them spoke up, though (probably out of fear of being

  removed from the jury and tortured until they said they were working with Taz and Levi). I didn't care if they spoke up at this point, but I did hope they were starting to realize that the Watchers weren't as pure and truthful as everyone once believed.