Chapter 5: Maria Blackwheel

Pennsylvania, 2019

Maria stood in the dock gazing steadily at the tribunal chairman who adjusted his glasses over the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"Did you kill the boy?" The chairman's voice rang clear in the air.

"I did not," Maria responded.

"But you are accused of murder."

"I did not kill the boy, sir."

She heard the raspy voice of the chairman from a deep black hole in her mind as she proceeded to face the prosecuting attorney. The court was filled when her case started in the morning. As an hour passed, then two, and it became clear that she wasn't going to accept the crime, some people left making promises of taking justice into their own hands if by chance she came out alive. There was only sadness in her eyes as she watched her friends turn their faces away from her in shame.

"It is tragic to see a beautiful lady of your status go to prison. However, no matter the circumstances that might be adduced to explain human ac