Excerpt #1: The Trial

November the twentieth was the day. The day of Jack's trial.

Danni tried to keep her excitement to a minimum, but it was very hard. Phantom's own bloodlust making it harder and harder to control. It had only been yesterday, after all, that they had been told about the trial at all. Vlad had not wanted them to 'worry'. Which was code for, still didn't trust them.

Neither Phantom or Danni knew what to do about that mistrust, since they were irrevocably bound to the older halfa. So they just rode it out. Tried their hardest to seem, to be, obedient.

It had been months (two or three) since Jack had been first brought before a judge. The first of many times. He'd been accused of being clinically insane, and was now going to be on trial for everything. The verdict was already predicted. Vlad had paid everyone off too well for it to be anything else. Forever locked in a loony bin, where they did not serve fudge. He wouldn't be allowed parole. He wasn't allowed basic liberties. He was in a cage and Danni was halfway loving it.

She couldn't love it all, because some part of her still believed in the hope of forgiveness. It was a small part, easily swallowed up by Phantom's presence that had corrupted that part of her long ago.

Danni had been given liberty to be in the courtroom with Vlad. Invisible of course, sitting on a beam right above the prosecutors head. Amusing, it was not, because he was a sweating man. His armpits stank, and Phantom kept up a commentary of how awful the whole thing was. Right down to the awful judges wig, the lawyers smell, and even Vlad's particular brand of musk. Which was not at all disgusting.

The trial had started off slow, and did not pick up pace until the very end, where the jury didn't even need any time to deliberate.

All of their answers were the same. With two grand lining their pockets for such a simple thing, Danni was hard pressed to say she wouldn't do the same.

Guilty.

It had been a lovely little thing, watching justice be butchered and served cold. Whoever said money can't buy happiness has never been in a courtroom where this exact situation was being played out. The room was in disarray but silent. Jack was a mess, and Maddie was directly behind him, trying to be strong. Tears had long ago destroyed her mascara. Though Danni had seen her bawling her eyes out in the hallway only minutes before, it still didn't face her an inch when more giant crocodile tears fell.

Danni knew the end. They knew the end.

Happily ever after.

Not.

Danni cared not an ounce for anything in the courtroom, except for Jack being locked up. Well... That and one other thing.

Jazz..

Jazz was her main main concern.

Her older sister was a little black rain cloud surrounded by even more stormy, rain clouds. She was lifeless as she sat next to Maddie's side, giving their mother a wide berth as Jack's sentencing was handed out. Danni thought for a short moment that Jazz looked like a doll. Jazz was not supposed to be like that. She looked very small and fragile, sitting in a big courtroom with people who all hated her father, and her mother to some extent (because of Phantom and Danni and their running away). With her shoulders hunched but her stare resolute, she watched the downfall of her own family with grace.

She was alone as well, with nobody else to help her through the hard time. Danni's heart hated her at the moment. As it ached, she realized she couldn't do anything to help. Either her or her sister.

She had wanted to go down and reveal herself to Jazz. Right then. Right there. Give her a hug and apologize, profusely. But Danni couldn't. Vlad had made it perfectly clear what they was allowed to do in public, when invisible. And revealing herself was on the never-to-do list.

That and streaking.

So she was forced to watch and wish she was the one on trial, because that was how guilty she felt.

The trial ended much too soon for their tastes. Two hours. Vlad had hired corrupt lawyers, paid off tons of people, and assured that Jack would get put away for a very, very long time. And it happened just as he had planned it. All except for Danni wanting to see Jazz afterwards.

"Please." Danni had begged, from the thin air next to Master's ear.

"It is very much too dangerous." Vlad said under his breath, as he smiled at someone who had come to congratulate him on 'putting away that buffoon' for good. It took a good few minutes of polite conversation for the man to leave and Danni to ask again. An invisible hand touching her master's shoulder softly.

"I'll be good. I promise. Nobody else will see me."

"I said no, little badger," Vlad hissed under his breath, watching the crowd to see if they saw anything amiss. Nobody batted an eyelash.

The command stalled any kind of resistance that Danni could cook up.

"Yes, sir."

Something in her voice must have tugged on Vlad's heart strings because soon he was sighing and whispering, "You may follow her until we are ready to leave."

Hope bloomed in their chest.

"I call; you come."

A stronger whisper followed Vlad, "Of course, Master", as Danni touched his cheek softly before departing.

It took a little while to find Jazz, yet when they did, it stopped Danni cold.

Jazz had escaped the journalists and paparazzi by going out the back door of the courthouse and sitting in the alley, behind some garbage cans. She had her knees pulled up to her chin, looking straight ahead at the blank, dirty wall ahead of her. It seemed as if she was seeing nothing for the first few moments that Danni sat and watched, but then tears welled up and spilled over her cheeks.

Then a sniffle followed and she shoved her head into her elbow.

Phantom and Danni floated, watching the girl cry, for a good minute. Danni wanted to reach out, to touch her sister, but knew it would be futile against the Command strumming in her bloodstream. It would harm her far more than anything else, if she broke the Command.

"I hate this."

The Halfa froze, looking down at Jazz who was now glaring at the wall.

"I hate dad," She hissed, rubbing at her eyes as the tears refused to stop.

"And Mom. Oh how I hate them both."

There was such bitterness. It spoke to a side of both Phantom and Danni. Both of them understood.

"And I hate that Danni ran away. I hate that Mom made Danni feel so uncomfortable and horrible that she ran away. And I hate— " Here she choked. "— I hate feeling so weak. And I hate feeling so stupid. And I hate feeling so pathetic. I hate it all."

She leaned against the wall behind her as if she had used up all her energy saying all of that. Saying the truth.

Danni wondered how long all that has festered inside her optimistic sister. How long since it had been that she had turned so much into... her. Pessemistic. Rude. Angry. It was Danni 2.0 if the younger halfa had anything to say about it.

Danni reached out a hand, just to hover it over her sister's shoulder, when her sister said one more thing.

"God, I feel even stupider that I really thought Danni would be here."

Danni froze. Phantom hadn't talked the entire time, just lending his presence, but it was clear now that he needed to intervene.

:Stop. Danni. The consequences -:

:I know.: Danni stopped him before he could continue. Her heart was breaking as she watched her sister, unable to actually do anything about her hurting, but unable to move. The Command had sensed her intent and was now forcing her to back up.

:Oh.:

:You really thought I was going to try and disobey a Command?:

Yes. Yes he had.

And he wasn't wrong. Just that Danni had caught herself before the need had gotten any bigger.

Their mark burned hotly for just a second, a warning to return. Danni hesitated all of three seconds, memorizing her sisters tear stained face, her angry eyes, the set in her shoulders as she rose before the young Halfa forced her hand back to her side, turned and fled.

As she was getting better and better at doing.

Running away from the only thing that should matter in her pathetic life.

:Danni...:

She ignored Phantom as she returned to Vlad's side.