CH2: On Trial (Damien)

The cold September weather came sooner than it should have, and I welcomed it. I was tired of the flames of Hell and was ready for something new. Regardless of the temperature outside, my blood always ran hot - that’s why I never broke a sweat in the Underworld.

My job was to decide the specific afterlife for the sinners, I specialized in the seven deadly sins. Those who committed all seven sins were sent directly to me. I was considered one of the “judges of the afterlife” and my job was to be sure that someone gets the proper afterlife treatment that they deserve.

Every now and then, I would be sent to the human world to torture someone to death. After a few decades of doing that and really getting the hang of it, I wanted to challenge myself and try my hand at judging the humans during their lifetime as well. Those who had sinned early on and deserved even more punishment than an eternal Sisyphean afterlife. Being a demon, I had the ability to know everyone’s sins just by looking into their eyes, making my job as a judge simple.

I may be over two hundred years old, but I only looked to be roughly twenty. It confused many, how I was so young and so accomplished already, finishing law school, and working as an undefeated persecutor for two years before becoming a judge. I may be a demon, but I still had to play the role of a human to keep up my façade.

The recent trial I have been the judge in was that of Joseph Spencer, a lawyer who was accused, and guilty, of embezzling from the law firm he worked for. I had my eye on the Spencer family for years now, not because I knew that Joseph was guilty, but because of his daughter.

I was still a law student at the time, and at first, I thought that it was her mother, Marilynn, whom I was originally drawn to, but Marilynn was pregnant at the time, and soon after she gave birth, my attention to her dimmed, and I realized that it was their daughter, Abigail Lynn, who I was so drawn to.

When she got older, she came to some of her father’s hearings where he was a defendant, a poor one too. Sloth. The first of his sins that I noticed. I decided to stay in town to watch over her and continue my work in law, eventually becoming a judge.

I could manage people’s questions about my appearance and the fact that I didn’t seem to age with a little mind manipulation, the easiest trick for a demon, and our specialty as a race.

Abigail was cute and innocent, but far too young to pursue. Ages are respected the same ways in the demon world as the human world, and eighteen was an appropriate age to begin a serious relationship. She was like something that was so cute that you just wanted to embrace it and hold it close to you and protect it from everything that could harm it. She was precious to me.

I followed the family her whole life, keeping watch on her. Any bully in school or a backstabbing friend was given nightmares of their future afterlife if they kept up their behavior. Nothing scares little kids more than a vivid nightmare.

While watching the family, I saw Abigail’s father’s other sins; his greed began when he eyed the wealthy law firm that he ended up stealing from, only drawn to the firm because of the beautiful interns, there was the lust. Once he started stealing the money, he bought extravagant cars and jewelry for his wife, that one was pride, and the excessive obsession with wealthy items was gluttony.

His reason for the materialistic things was jealousy and desire to be like the men at the top of the firm, Joseph wanted his name to be on the sign outside of the building, and he thought that having money was the way to get there, that was envy. The only thing left was wrath, which I was only waiting for to be able to send him to where he belongs.

Thinking about Abigail, I didn’t want to send her father to Hell, but I wanted to certainly get him away from her and her mother. Modesty and humility were the most important things in a human to send them to Heaven, and I knew that the Spencer women deserved that. I wanted to protect Abigail from becoming like her father and following in his footsteps, but at the same time, the selfish part of me didn’t want her to go to Heaven, because then I would never see her again. I needed to win her over. I needed to make her the Lady of the Underworld.

I had a sidekick, or a minion, if you will, Hex, whom I had keeping an eye on the embezzled money coming into Joseph’s account. Once he had stolen over a certain amount of money and the case could be considered a civil lawsuit, I would bring it to the light, anonymously, because a more serious a charge meant the longer that I can put him away for.

All through his trial, I had not seen Abigail appear once in the courtroom, and it saddened me. Today was his sentencing and the last chance for her to show up, and I crossed my fingers that she would be there. No point praying to God for it, he doesn’t like me.

I heard the bailiff announce, “All rise,” and that was my cue. Moment of truth.

I walked to my bench and took my seat, grabbing the folder full of papers of transaction evidence against the defendant when I looked up slightly to take a quick peek around the room. My eyes went directly to Abigail as if they knew where she was seated before I even knew that she was here. She quickly looked down and away from me. The corner of my lips twitched, and I had to suppress my smile, I was happy she was here.

She had grown into such a fine young woman, and now that she was of age, I looked closer to her. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back, her skin was fair as if she had rarely been in the sunlight, and her eyes were as big as ever. Her body had filled out well since she hit puberty; her lips were plumper, and her breasts were of perfect size, she had a light denim jacket on that opened only a few inches in the middle, but her undershirt was cut just low enough for me to notice some cleavage. Putting the demon thoughts of her to the back of my head, I continued my work and asked the jury for the verdict.

“We the jury, find the defendant, Joseph Spencer, guilty of embezzlement.” The foreman announced to the courtroom.

“You cannot do this to me! You have no proof!” Insisting that he was innocent, Joseph reacted with wrath at the verdict, got him.