"The king's son was beside himself with pain, and in his despair he leaped down from the tower. He escaped with his life, but the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes."

 

A silence filled the courtroom, but it was not the comfortable or awkward silence many people encounter. No, this silence is suffocating. It inflated the room, making everyone, judge and jury, twitch and shift in their seats, swallowing as if to help clear a passageway in their throat.

 

The silence was cut by the deep voice of the judge. ”Five counts of manslaughter…”

 

As the list grew, I thought of the irony of this situation. Perhaps I was going too hard on them. Even after giving them evidence to convict me, these bigoted police still have not found a quarter of the crimes I have really committed. I smiled inwardly, this whole game has been too fun. After all,

 

“You can’t spell slaughter without laughter.”

 

The judge droned, on. ”Six counts of dangerous driving… twelve counts of trespassing-“

 

“Well, if I may contradict that statement please.” I looked around the room, seeing that it was silent, I continued.

 

“First of all, you are wrong. It is 23 charges of dangerous driving. It would be 24, but I do not personally count that as a case of dangerous driving.” My innocent smile morphed into a darker, more sinister smirk. “She was being quite annoying. She was begging for me to kill her and it was starting to give me quite the headache. So I took care of the problem myself.” Looking at the judge, I saw his eyes alight with horror. Seeing this, my smile came back.

 

“Oh dear me! You don’t really think I killed her did you?” hearing this, the audience visibly relaxed. “Why of course I didn’t kill her! Why would I dirty my hands with her filthy blood? I just gave her the gun and she did the deed herself.” I wiped my hands on a towelette before continuing, “The blood unfortunately got on my clothes, so I had to rush a bit to get them washed before the stain set in.” The statement echoed around the room, filling the stifling silence with the melodic tenor of my voice.

 

The court room was in utter shock. For how could a pretty teen like this become so maniacal? Madness incarnate, that is what he is.

 

"Miss, would you please come to the witness stand?" The prosecutor asked.

 

"... Fine." I stood up, irritated, and in a dignified way, walked over to the witness stand.

 

"How did you attain these drawings of the victim's?" The prosecutor asked after a long period of hesitation.

 

"I drew them!”  I turned towards the folder of evidence, gesturing for them to hand it to me. Once it hit my hand, I opened my mouth to speak. “I wish for the Jury to see them as it would help deliver my verdict.”

With a nod, the judge gave his consent. The prosecutors turned the t.v on, causing the machine to emit a loud screeching noise. The screens hues eventually leveled out and the aggravating buzzing ceased as well.

 

The audience allowed their horror to show, faces and eyes slackening into dead stares.

 

Vile images appeared, shuffling through image after horrible image. Beheading, stomachs split open, arms, hands, feet, legs all amputated, vital organs cascading from the mouths of people were revealed. After the first two images all the jury had turned a pearly white color.

 

While the first half of the slideshow revealed the extremities of the bodies, the second half of the video showed both men's and women's ual organs. Some were torn beyond recognition, while others were adorned with clearly visible wounds.

 

"These drawing depict murders that have happened all over the state, and for all we know the murderer is still unidentified. These drawings show the bodies just before or even days before the police identified them. You could have alerted the police and become a key witness, but you are the only suspect that does not have a set alibi. Therefore, you must be murderer. Do yo-"

 

"I didn't kill any of them, they killed each other. That is, if they even had the chance to kill each other before they killed themselves. Most of the mutilated bodies were done by 'Art' runners." I interrupted.

 

"Art runners?" He asked.

 

"People who jog around scenery then draw it later," I explained "They looked a little tired so I gave them a lift and took them to an... Inspiring place." I smiled with a little ‘teehee’ at the end.

 

“Miss, are you saying the artists did this?" He asked.

 

"Truth be told I'm a guy.” I gritted my teeth, grinding the enamel down.

 

"What was that?"

 

I sighed and continued, my voice betraying my cool composure. "Yes! I drove the artists to an area they could draw something inspiring. Sadly though, most of them weren't any good so they died and made beautiful drawings for others." He explained.

 

"So you took them hostage and forced them to draw dead bodies." The prosecutor tried to correct what I previously stated. He turned to the audience and gestured to me with his left hand. “As you can see, Miss Allen-”

 

"Stop calling me Miss. I am a man. If you call me Miss once more, by the end of the day, you will be lying dead on this courtroom floor. Understand?" I smiled.

 

Everyone, including his parents was disgusted by this 'human.' What sins has he committed? What blood has he spilled?

 

Seeing the shock on their faces only made my smile stretch wider. I let my act fall, exposing how ugly a person I really am. My grin split my pace face in two, teeth white and flashing. My eyes were open wide, pupils dilated.

 

My sweet, sugar coated speech flowed out. “Do you know what the best thing is? I am not the murderer! Because I never touch any of them! I just speak to them. Because in the end, they kill themselves!”

The trial was adjourned exactly 1 hour, 32 minutes 5 seconds later. Maximum security lifelong imprisonment was my punishment.