THE CONJURING

CHAPTER ONE: THE CALM

there was one thing Marley Jameston hated, it was being late.

And she was exactly that.

Late beyond measure.

Still struggling to pull her shoes on as she hopped down the hallway, she caught a glimpse of her father already setting bacon out on a plate, was he even supposed to be home?

Maybe he had a day off.

She didn't even know if she had enough time to ask.

Using her teeth to pull her sleeve up, she looked down at the watch's hands as they ticked along their route, she had a few more minutes she could waste without getting yelled at.

Finally tugging her shoe on she quickly strode down the hall and into the kitchen where her father was humming as he stood at the stove, taking a closer look as she grabbed a few slices of bacon, she took note of the apron he had comfortably draped over his dress shirt and the front of his black dress pants.

"Don't you have work today?" she questioned quickly dropping a piece of the greasy substance into her mouth.

Bringing the pan of bacon back to the counter where his daughter stood, he gave a slight shrug of his shoulders, "trial at one, until then all I have to do is make sure I have my things before I drive over to the courthouse."

Offering a slight nod of her head as a response, she set the last piece of bacon in her mouth and chewed for a few moments before smiling and wiping her hands off on the kitchen towel, it didn't matter how greasy her hands were, she could always wash the small towel later.

Biding her father a quick goodbye she grabbed her bag from where she'd left it down in the hall and quickly rushed to the door hoping to make it out to the bus stop before it came to pick her up, and much to her luck, it was only a block away by the time she got out to the road.

It seemed for once that the universe was blessing her with some good luck.

But it seemed that luck was short-lived.

Sort of.

When the bus stopped in front of the university, all seemed normal, for the most part.

That was until she went to her first class and realized chaos was breaking out all over the place, and it seemed their teacher was the main cause of said chaos.

She was packing a large briefcase, one that they usually only saw in their mock trials and on a rare occasion when someone was lucky enough to get the privilege of attending a real trial with the teacher.

It'd only happened once that Marley could recall, and it was with a second-year student that she'd taken a class with last year.

The boy's name had been Edward and he'd been a quiet boy, undoubtedly one of the smarter ones among his class, he'd been just as surprised as the rest when he'd been picked.

But Ms. Andrews always seemed to be looking at the students that no one else bothered to glance upon.

Looking up from her briefcase, she found that the teachers eyes had brightened at the sight of her, "You!" she spoke gently stabbing a finger in the girl's direction, Marley- somewhat taken aback- glanced over her shoulder in hopes of finding someone behind her, there was no one.

Turning to meet the women's gaze she pointed at herself, "me?" the woman scowled, "yes, you. Hurry up and grab your things, if you want to come along you must at least be prepared."

That was even more confusing to the girl, had she been picked?

Or was she simply to run the woman's errands like Aimee did most days? Because if that was the case, she might as well just tell the woman she didn't want to go with her.

Once again looking up from her briefcase, the teacher stopped her actions and frowned, "do you want to attend the trial or not young lady?"

That was enough to set Marley in motion, checking her bag to make sure she did indeed have everything she required, she found that the only thing she was missing was a writing utensil, one she could easily replace by looking anywhere in the classroom.

Casting a quick glance around the room, she was able to locate the small jar that sat upon a short children's desk at the back of the classroom in the left corner on the way in, one she had hardly ever had to borrow from.

The amount of excitement coursing through the girl's body was almost unexplainable, it was like she relying completely on adrenaline now and she had enough to last her decades, maybe even centuries.

She hoped that the teacher got an interesting client, one that she would know how to help, one that may be an easy win of sorts. Maybe she would even get to help.

She shook her head, she wouldn't be helping with any cases till she graduated, she knew that much.

To even think she had a chance was foolish. She needed to partake in more mock trials before she moved onto the real thing.

"Check that you have everything before we head out to the car, we mustn't be late." Marley nodded her head tightly pulling the strap of her bag tighter as she moved to wait at the door for the teacher.

How long would it take to get to the courthouse?

Rethinking her question to herself, she realized that there was no point in asking it, if it was as far as she'd originally thought, the teacher would've left earlier to ensure they got there on time, no, it was particularly close.

Probably along the outskirts of the city. Marley let out a sigh, she would have to tell her father about her trip once she got home, surely he'd be excited enough to listen.

She hoped.

Ms. Andrews moved faster than any teacher she'd ever bared witness to, she moved with speed and grace, her dress skirt softly swaying as she walked through the classroom with her briefcase in hand.

Quickly approaching the exit, she offered Marley a small smile before pushing out through the door without waiting for the girl to smile back.

Worried she may be left behind, the girl was quick to push out into the hall and catch up with the teacher all while clutching onto her bag for dear life.

The two silently maneuvered through the school with no difficulties- more than likely since the mere sight of the teacher sent students running in the opposite direction- and within minutes they were stopping at the front of the woman's car to wait for her to locate her keys.

"So, you excited to see how an actual trial works?" Marley met the woman's gaze, or at least tried to.

"Yeah- I'm really really excited, I just wanted to say thank-"

"Don't get all sappy on me, straighten your posture, I don't want a sloppy student with me in the court. Don't think I won't send for someone else." Marley gave a rough shake of her head with her lips drawn into a tight line, she wasn't going to screw this up for herself, she'd been picked for a reason, one which she still hadn't learned.

"Now, climb in and buckle up, we don't have time to dilly daddle."

Doing as told, the girl slipped into the front passenger seat and set her bag down on the floorboard as the woman settled herself into the driver's seat and started the engine.

The girl blinked a few times, she couldn't believe it was actually happening.

She was going to an actual trial before graduating.

She would get a sneak peek of what she was to experience before taking up the family business.

She held back a smile.

Ms. Andrews wasted no time in backing the vehicle out of her parking spot and into a straightened position between the two rows of cars before pulling off to head out into the intersection.

Marley wished she had a car at times, but she couldn't afford one, not yet at least.

And her father was still hanging onto the one he'd shared with his wife.

He couldn't bear the idea of possibly trading it in for a newer model, it was one of the few things he had left that made him feel as if he were still connected to her.

Marley felt bad for him.

He'd known her longer than the girl could have ever imagined herself living, the young adult had only had her mother for eight years before her death, which was hardly anything in comparison to the number of years her parents had been together.

She could remember a few nights where she'd heard his sad little sobs through the vent, she'd wanted to comfort him, but she didn't want to make it worse for him.

Better for him to think his pain had gone unheard.

"Get your book out, start studying up, you're going to be participating."

Marley's eyes widened and she let her head swivel to the left where her teacher sat, "I thought I was just watching, you never said-"

"Stop mumbling like a caterpillar and do as you've been told."

Marley, too worried to find a response, lifted her bag from the floor and silently dug through it before locating her book and pulling it out onto her lap.

She stared down at the thing for several moments before she opened it and began to look through all the small bookmarks and notes she'd left along the pages, most being simple vocabulary, if you were going to do something as important as being a lawyer, you had to have the vocabulary to match it.

Right?

That's what she'd always thought, if you sounded smart people thought you were smart. Which made it easier for people to believe you.

Which in turn made it easier to win juries over.

But she didn't know if that worked in the real world.

Probably not.

Maybe if the jury were of higher intelligence levels like those of the teachers at her school the vocabulary theory may have a higher chance of working, but still, that wasn't what she needed to be worrying about.

Fifteen minutes further into the drive and Marley found herself looking up from her book as they approached a large building that the girl almost dared say resembled a library she'd once seen on a postcard somewhere.

But, she kept her mouth closed.

She didn't need to be scolded, again.

Without waiting for the woman to give her instructions, she slipped her book back into her bag and leaned forward with wide eyes to watch as the woman pulled into an empty parking spot before turning the car off.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments before Ms. Andrews shifted in her seat to face the girl "don't embarrass either of us, do you understand me Miss. Jameston?"

Marley gave a few nods of her head in reply before looking out at the building again, it was absolutely beautiful.

"If you do well, I'll add it to your record, it'll be good for you in when you go to work for a firm."

The girl perked up at that, she smiled to herself, maybe participating wouldn't be so bad.

"Now, tidy yourself before we head in. If we look like slobs that's how we'll be treated."

Too nervous to respond, Marley popped the car door open and stood up before pressing her skirt down to rid it of any wrinkles, now that Ms. Andrews had mentioned that they couldn't look like slobs she felt extremely uncomfortable in her own clothes.

Maybe she should have ironed her shirt earlier, had she added enough detergent to her laundry?

What if she smelled?

No, she'd taken a shower the night before, she was fine.

She was going to be fine.

She took a deep breath.

She was not going to let a courtroom best her.

Releasing the deep breath, she turned to meet her teacher's gaze as she'd done before, "I'm ready." she stated tightly holding the strap of her bag against her side.

Ms. Andrews smiled, "good, because we're about to meet the client."

And with that, the woman had begun to walk down the sidewalk towards the entrance, taking another short breath, Marley followed after the woman.

She was ready.

At least she thought she was.

THE CONJURING

CHAPTER ONE: THE CALM