Page 83 of Dig Your Grave

The morning of the trial arrived with a quiet sense of history in the making.I woke before dawn, eyes flicking around the unfamiliar hotel room in the state capital.Anubis and I had decided to stay off campus for the night so we could attend the court hearing early, without paparazzi or last-minute chaos.I was a nervous wreck.

For once, the caretaker administration wasn’t involved, this was a criminal proceeding in the county courthouse.Toccara’s murder was the headline of every article, her face splashed on media updates.And today, at last, the key conspirators were officially on trial.

I rose, sliding from the bed.Anubis shifted under the covers, blinking awake.“Mmm, you’re up?”

“Yeah,” I murmured, shoving hair off my forehead.“Couldn’t sleep.It’s… a big day.”

He nodded, propping himself on one elbow.Even tousled, in a plain T-shirt, he had that familiar intensity in his eyes.“It is.We’ve waited for this.”He patted the spot beside him.“Come here.”

I climbed back onto the bed, curling against him.“We’ll see them in court,” I whispered.“The watchers, the robed man, all of them facing justice.”

Anubis’ jaw flexed.“We might see Sophie too, if she’s fully recovered.She made a plea deal.I’m not sure how much she’ll testify.But rumor says she’s turned over evidence to avoid a heavier sentence.”

A swirl of conflicting emotions gripped me at the mention of Sophie, once the queen bee of Edenvane, complicit in Toccara’s death, the sabotage, my own branding.Yet in the final meltdown, she’d been betrayed by her own twisted formula.Sometimes the punishment comes from within.

He leaned in, pressing a brief, comforting kiss to my temple.“Are you ready, fiancée?”

A ghost of a smile tugged at my lips.The ring he’d given me gleamed in the dim lamp light, a beacon of how far we’d come.“Yeah.Let’s see this through.”

By eight a.m., we were pulling up outside the stately, gray-stoned courthouse in the city center, a swirl of reporters and curious onlookers crowding the steps.Anubis parked the car in a side lot, giving my hand a squeeze before we slipped out.

Cameras flashed, microphones thrusted.The moment we stepped onto the pavement, people recognized us.“Miss Divore!Anubis Edenvane!Any comments before the trial?”came a chorus of questions.

I forced my shoulders back, letting Anubis guide me with an arm around my waist.“No comment,” he said politely, and we pushed through.We’d planned to speak afterward, once the verdict was known.

Kate, who had arrived earlier, waved us over near the entrance.She wore a crisp blazer and skirt, trying to appear professional but still exuding that fierce energy I loved about her.“Hey,” she said, tone hushed.“Media frenzy is wild out here.You two, okay?”

I nodded.“We’ll manage.Did Toccara’s family arrive?”

Kate gestured to the lobby beyond.“They’re inside.Her mother is with some of the scholarship recipients for the Toccara Memorial.They’re all supporting her.”

My heart clenched.“I need to see her after the hearing.”

Anubis nodded in agreement, scanning the throng.“Any sign of the accused?”

Kate’s face hardened.“They’re being brought in the back under police escort.Sophie, too, though she’s a partial witness for the prosecution.Let’s get seats.The hearing starts soon.”

We joined the flow of people entering the courthouse, security screening everyone.I took a shaky breath as they scanned my bag.My brand throbbed, a psychosomatic reminder that every step brought me closer to confronting the men who had carved it into my skin.

We found seats near the front, alongside Toccara’s mother, a gentle woman with grief-worn eyes who mustered a soft smile at my approach.My heart twisted seeing her.I reached out and squeezed her hand in silent support, and she nodded, tearful gratitude shining in her gaze.

Across the aisle sat the defense team for the Skulls watchers, the robed man, who we found out was named Dave Girst, Dr.Lansing, and Sophie in separate areas.I spotted Sophie’s blonde hair, now cut short, her posture subdued.She no longer looked like the invincible ice queen of Edenvane, more like a scared girl whose illusions had shattered.

The robed man, a man I once only knew by his sadistic grin, wore a suit and a scowl.His gaze swept over Anubis and me, full of hate.My pulse spiked, but I refused to look away.He has no power here anymore.

A hush fell as the judge entered, a stern-faced woman in black robes.The prosecution laid out charges, ranging from manslaughter for some watchers to second-degree murder for the robed man who orchestrated Toccara’s drowning.Sophie faced charges of accessory and obstruction.

I gripped Anubis’ hand under the wooden bench.The back of my throat burned.Hearing Toccara’s name invoked in a formal, legal context— “The People vs.The Skulls conspirators in Toccara’s death”—shook me.My mind flashed to the night I found out about Toccara, the terror, the sorrow, the guilt.But I forced myself to stay present.Toccara deserved this justice.

The trial proceedings spanned days, but our part came midway through.Anubis and I were each called to testify about the Skulls’ operations, the threats, the forced sabotage, and the watchers who took Toccara that fateful night.My stomach rolled as I recounted the branding, the infiltration at the library, the final confrontation in the chapel.

Anubis followed, voice steady but trembling with anger as he described the watchers’ attempt to coerce him, the genealogical manipulations, and how Toccara discovered incriminating evidence about hush funds.The defense tried to poke holes, arguing we were biased or had “exaggerated” claims.But each time, the prosecutor countered with the logs, the phone videos, the caretaker’s ledger.Our evidence was too robust.

Neither of us mentioned the grave we were forced to dig and into, what had happened there.It seemed too propitious to bring up.Plus, we had no proof.

Kate, also called as a witness, recounted how her Undercurrent group documented watchers at the river that night.It all pieced together into a damning tapestry.

Sophie was the last major figure to testify.Dressed in conservative clothes, hair parted severely, she spoke haltingly about the gene therapy fiasco, how she believed it was “for the family’s benefit.”She admitted to blocking Toccara’s attempts to reveal the Skulls.The courtroom murmured with disgust as she detailed how Toccara was cornered near the boathouse.Sophie claimed she never intended Toccara’s death, blaming the robed man for “taking it too far.”

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