Code Red

Prologue: Girl In Orange

Blinding lights flashed and clicked. Unfamiliar voices shouted and roared above everything and everyone. Icy cold metal stung the young girl’s wrists like a magnet, although the handcuffs were fairly light it felt like they were dragging her down to the marble floor below. Like they were weighing her down, she couldn’t carry her feet forward. The lump in the back of her throat made it impossible to swallow as tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She looked down at her hands as they shook uncontrollably like an earthquake, that shook her to her core. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as they approached the dark oak doors that would lead to her pending doom.

The doors swung open, she had a long time to think about this. She had realized that nobody would ever listen to her plea, nobody would think twice about throwing a compulsive liar with a horrible expulsion record into jail. Especially after what she had just done, she didn’t even know if she could forgive herself. Even if deep down she knew it was all a big mistake. It was the craziest thing, nobody would ever believe. She didn’t even know if she could. As she shuffled her feet down the long aisle among seats filled with people. She didn’t want to look up, she didn’t know if she could. But the second she did, the second she got up enough courage to. She was met with her father’s eyes.

His eyes were full of disappointment. He was upset, worried, angry. She didn’t blame him, of course, he was angry, she knew deep down he knew she had to pay for what she had done. She also knew another side of him wanted her to make it out of this, come home with him and talk it out. Just like they always had. Hopefully, they always will. She didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her, not like this; and not behind bars. She wanted to win, she didn’t want to go to prison, she was only fifteen. She wanted to have a normal life, she wanted to go to college. But this might be the final straw. As she approached the bench, her attorney was sitting there neatly with her briefcase. Paper laid out neatly and pencils all in a row,

“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?” she asked me, “Are you scared, upset, angry? All are understandable!”

She wanted to roll her eyes, she was starting to sound like her therapist, “I don’t know I’m just… numb.”

The woman just nodded and looked over some of her papers, she sighed and looked over, “That’s understandable, Daeva. I want you to know I’ll try to do everything in my power to get you out of this,” she paused, maybe to choose her next words carefully, “Situation!”

She knew deep down she looked like a monster, all the local newspapers and news stations depicted her as one. What power does a fifteen-year-old have against a jury filled with adults? She got the courage to look around, her orange jumpsuit stuck out like a sore thumb. Nothing was going to get her out of this situation, she would just have to pray,

“All rise for Judge Winston,” an officer called out.

Daeva rose with everyone else in the room and watched as the old man approached the desk in his long black robe. Everyone sat down and he hit his gavel down on the desk. The judge got all of his things together and looked over at my attorney,

“Mrs. Kimberly, we’ll hear your side first.”

Mrs. Kimberly nodded and stood up, taking her place in the center of everyone, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’d like to ask you to look at my client. Does she look like anyone you think would kill someone? She’s a freshman in high school! Remember what you were all doing in high school? You were running around having the time of your life. This girl is stuck in court over something that was self-defense. Daeva Dennis has told me without stuttering, without hesitation, without fault that William Johnson was trying to kidnap her on her way home from school. She used what she had to her advantage. Kids can be very misunderstood in today’s society. I ask you again, look at this frightened girl. Does she look like someone who would look in the face of a supposedly innocent person and kill him? Without reason? I don’t think so.” she turned to the judge, “Thank you, sir.” she nodded and took a seat next to Daeva once again.

The judge nodded, “Thank you, Mrs. Kimberly. Mr. Olsen, please tell us your side of the story?”

The man in a gray suit stood up, he slowly walked over to the center and looked at everyone, “Look, I’m not here to prosecute a young girl for the fun of it. I’m only here to state the facts that the evidence pleads. If Daeva was doing everything in self-defense, I’d love to hear her excuse as to why the victim was found electrocuted on the sidewalk. Yes, I will repeat for everyone, William Johnson was electrocuted to death. That is all I have to say, I will also give the judge the coroner’s report and picture proof from the police officers up at the station. Everything is real and was pulled from the scene.” he handed the judge a thick folder.

The judge nodded and looked over the papers, “Mr. Olsen, I will allow you to ask Daeva Dennis any questions. Which she will answer honestly.”

Mr. Olsen nodded and walked towards the desk. Daeva’s hands started sweating even more than they were. Her heart pounded a mile a minute as he walked closer, step by step. This man looked mean, he looked cold-hearted. His face was slim and pale. His defined cheekbones and jawline made him look skeleton-like. He wouldn’t give in to the case solely because she was a “helpless” child. He wanted to win, maybe for the money, Daeva had no clue,

“Ms. Dennis,” he eyed her, “I don’t like to “butter” people up for the sole purpose to expose them. So I’ll save everyone here time and cut to the chase; why did you electrocute William?”

“I didn’t mean to,” Daeva stuttered out quietly.

“You didn’t mean to,” he repeated louder so everyone could hear, “Then how do you think it happened, Ms. Dennis?”

“I-I don’t know,” Daeva exclaimed truthfully, fidgeting in her seat.

Mr. Olsen crouched down to Daeva’s sitting eye level in front of the desk and looked at her dead in the eyes, even though all he saw was fear, he didn’t back down, “You have been sworn in Ms. Dennis, you cannot and will not lie to me. Nobody accidentally shocks someone… to death. I don’t know what kind of “self-defense” you call that, but I’d like to hear the truth NOW.”

“She is telling the truth, now back up Olsen!” Mrs. Kimberly yelled while glaring at Mr. Olsen.

He sighed and got back up, he turned to the judge, “I rest my case, sir.” he walked back to his side of the room and sat back down at his desk with a small smirk on his face.

Mrs. Kimberly stood up, “If I may!”

“You may not!” the judge quickly silenced her, “I don’t believe I need to hear your “side” Mrs. Kimberly. I’ll be back in a few short minutes with the results of this… conflict.” he stepped off his platform with his desk and left the room.

Daeva knew it, no matter what Mrs. Kimberly told anyone; she wasn’t getting out of this. Although it was an accident, nobody would believe her. It was impossible to escape now. Nothing could get her out of this situation. She was going to go to jail forever… maybe she’d be out in time to live at least some of her life. She continued to mutter little prayers under her breath. She had never been the type to feel so scared, so frightened, so helpless. She was always the one to be loud and state her opinion loudly. She didn’t care what people thought of her, as far as she was concerned nobody could ever get past her. Now she was crumbling to the ground. She felt like she was surrounded by people being kicked at from all different angles as she was in the fetal position. She truly wasn’t lying. But did anyone believe that, did her attorney even believe her truly?

The judge finally walked back into the room. Daeva’s heart stopped, her blood stood frozen in her veins. Even though she knew what was coming, she wasn’t ready for it. He sat at his desk and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, although she wasn’t sure if it was needed,

“I have decided, with all the overwhelming evidence given to me by Mr. Olsen along with several witness reports filed at the local police station has to lead me to the conclusion that Daeva Dennis will be charged with 2nd-degree murder. The family of William has chosen for the court to treat Daeva as a child so she will be treated as such. The sentence is thirty years in prison, the first three years will be in juvenile detention, the rest she will live out in our main prison. Case closed.” the judge hit the gavel on his desk twice.

Everything hit Deave like a bus, it felt like someone was pressing down on her chest, she couldn’t breathe. Everything was blurring in and out. This couldn’t be happening, it wasn’t her fault, this was all a mistake! The cops walked up to Daeva to take her back to her holding cell. The second they grabbed her shoulders, it triggered something in her brain,

“GET OFF ME!” she screamed, she looked up with teary eyes at the judge, “I DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL HIM I SWEAR ON MY LIFE! PLEASE YOU’RE MAKING A MISTAKE!”

They had a few more officers grab her to try to carry her off. At this point, she was crying uncontrollably. She started kicking and screaming. Trying to get out of the tight hold she was in. She had to fight for her freedom, it was all she could do. She felt a strange sensation come over her hands, she had only felt this once before. It felt as if sand was being rubbed against her fingertips and they were vibrating in a weird unnatural way. A surge of energy shot through her veins through her arms, she could have sworn she saw yellow sparks fly from her fingertips; but she wasn’t the only one who saw this. A man stood up and looked over at the girl, his eyes filled with curiosity. A small smile formed on his face, it almost seemed somewhat evil in its own weird way,

“STOP!” the man yelled over the top of everyone else.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. He looked no older than twenty. His dark brown hair was neatly greased back and his crystal blue eyes shined from the sun coming through the small windows. He turned the crowd and fixed his dark blue suit coat as he gestured to the cops to stand down. They all raised an eyebrow and moved out of the way a little, keeping a hold on Daeva’s shoulder. To Daeva, his eyes seemed reassuring in a way, they were calming. The man placed his hand out, gesturing for Daeva to put her’s in his. Daeva slowly placed her shaky hand into his,

“Extraordinary,” he exclaimed under his breath, he looked up at her with caring eyes, “You didn’t know what you were doing… did you?”

Tears streamed down Daeva’s face as she shook her head. The man let go of Daeva’s hand and turned around to face the judge,

“Judge Winston, my name is Colfer Brown. I am the CEO of M.F.P.C, Mental Facility for Powerful Children. I can tell you with confidence Ms. Dennis isn’t a normal child. I have devoted my life to studying children with rare and amazing abilities as such Daeva holds. I’d like to ask you to reconsider your sentence and allow her to be sent over to my facility.”

The judge looked stunted, “I-I… I’m going to need to see legal proof of this “facility” if you don’t mind Mr. Brown.”

“Doctor, if you please, and of course.” Dr. Brown nodded and walked over to the desk pulling out a piece of paper, he placed it gently on the desk, “Full licensing of the company is listed as so. As is the full consent of the USA government. We have permission to take children with such abilities and train them to control what they have. We also are considered a prison of sorts, we have high security and in our ten years of running, we haven’t had one escape, death, or incidents happen. It will just be more hassle to move Ms. Dennis to the main jail in three when she can just stay in the same place since we have all age ranges.”

The judge looked even more shocked as he looked over the paper with his glasses sitting on the edge of his nose, “I’ve never heard of such a facility.”

“We try to keep our work “underground” sir.” Dr. Brown smiled a little as he held his hands behind his back professionally.

“May I ask why a young man like you are running such a big company?” the judge looked down at him.

“It was originally my father’s business, unfortunately, he passed a year or two ago. Leaving the company to me. I’ve controlled it from then on.” Dr. Brown said confidently.

The judge sighed and handed the certificate back to him, “Very well. As the judge I revoke the previous sentence to Ms. Dennis and hand her over to Dr. Brown of the M.F.P.C.” he gestured to a few more officers, “Follow his orders as to where to put the girl.”

“Thank you,” the doctor nodded and turned to them, “First things first.” he started,

“We’re going to need stronger handcuffs.”