THE CONJURING

CHAPTER TWO: SILENCING STATEMENTS

Marley, the inside of the courthouse was what dreams were made of.

While it was small, it featured many different paths, all leading to separate courtrooms, one of which Ms. Andrews and her pupil would be welcomed into, by most.

So as she strode behind her teacher she found her eyes continuously shifting to the walls to gaze upon all the paintings and to the staircase leading to the second floor, it had a dark railing with small bits of a gold-like color embedded within, it was gorgeous.

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure the girl was still with her, Ms. Andrews slightly turned to her left to head down a hallway unlike the rest, this one was longer and the doors weren't as spaced out as the others, they were much closer, almost as if they were small waiting rooms.

Furrowing her brows, Marley continued to wordlessly follow behind her teacher, after all, she was the professional.

The girl was but a spectator today.

Or so she hoped.

Within moments, Marley found herself consumed by her thoughts, more so the wonder of who the client was going to be, what were their charges?

What was the sentence the prosecutor's office was going for?

Were they supposed to be the prosecuting attorneys?

The girl shook her head, the more she thought about it the more confusing it got, all she had to do was focus on what was in front of her, that was what she did best at.

Letting her eyes flick up from where they'd rested upon the glassy tile, Marley quickly stopped as her teacher did the same, however, Ms. Andrews had stopped to talk to an officer standing in front of a door.

Gesturing to the door, Ms. Andrews began to explain and within moments had pulled her I.D from her purse to show to the man. Giving it a slow once over, the man hesitantly pulled the door open before stepping to the side for the two women.

Upon entering, the first face Marley saw was that of a young male that looked as if he hadn't seen a good night of sleep for weeks. The second was a female maybe a few months older than her that stared back at her with tear-stained cheeks.

She could only guess the male was the client, more or less because he was wearing a county jail jumpsuit.

Ms. Andrews was the first of the two females to sit, and she sat directly across from the male, neither spoke for several moments, not until the woman had opened her briefcase and removed her papers.

"So, Mr. Johnson, the court has decided to try and charge you with first-degree murder, you mind starting with how that came to be, a story perhaps?" the male looked to the girl in the seat over from him before giving a slight nod and turning back to the woman to begin.

"It all started with David, Debbie's little brother."

Marley watched as he turned to look at the other man in the room, he nodded before watching Mr. Johnson turn back in his seat to continue.

"So we called Ed and Loraine." gesturing to the other male and female in the room he let out a sigh before speaking again, "they said they could help, with Davids... condition. So we tried exorcising him, and when things seemed to be going good, they went bad."

Ms. Andrews leaned forward in her seat slightly her fingers just barely grazing over the tops of her papers, "what do you mean by bad?"

Once again, Marley watched as the male cocked his head in the direction of the younger of the two females that had been with him before their arrival, she softly nodded her head quietly looking away as he returned his gaze to Ms. Andrews.

"David started going crazy, or- the thing in him did, the demon. I knew we wouldn't be able to help him, and he didn't deserve it..."

"So I let it take me instead."

He watched as the woman across the table from him frowned, "what does this have to do with the murder of your landlord?"

Suddenly, and without warning, the man behind him took a few steps forward, "the thing that was in David, was in Arne, and it made him do terrible things... made him hurt his friend."

So that was his name, Arne.

What an odd name.

And although she didn't voice it, she wondered who named their kid Arne.

It wasn't a bad name, just one she'd never heard.

It was unique.

Sort of like the case that presented itself to them.

Ms. Andrews sighed, "so you believe you were overtaken by some other force within you?"

The man behind Arne scoffed, "not a force, a demon."

Narrowing her eyes, Marley watched as her teacher quickly swept her papers into her briefcase, "if we need to discuss anything further you can find me in my office, you know the address."

Standing up- with her briefcase turned to exit the way they'd first come through, "Miss. Jameston, come along now."

Marley held back a sigh, she almost didn't want to leave, but she had to, otherwise, her chances of being picked again were slim to none, and she couldn't do that to herself.

Not when she needed all the experience she could get.

Casting a glance back at the boy as her teacher stepped out into the hall and out of sight, she found she was unable to help herself.

Quickly removing the pen she'd borrowed earlier, she snatched a small slip of paper from her bag and began to scribble down her address and the number of the home phone she and her father shared.

Holding the slip out to the older man in the room she quickly glanced back to try and locate her teacher, "come by for lunch, I'd like to hear the rest of the story, if you need anything you can call."

"Miss. Jameston!"

Swiveling her head in the direction of the door, Marley cast the small group a final look before she quickly exited the room her bag clutched to her side as if her very life may have depended upon it.

"Sorry, I dropped my pen on the way out."

The excuse seemed to be enough to satisfy the teacher as the silence continued down the hall.

"Ms. Andrews!"

It was the man.

The same one that had tried to come to Arne's defense, "Ms. Andrews wait!"

And she did, she had stopped in her tracks and turned to watch the man as he was quickly pushed by the woman that had accompanied him into the room down the hall, "yes?"

Slowing to a stop in front of the pale woman, he gestured over his shoulder, to the people still in the room.

"We need to talk."

Slightly coking her head to the side, as if to gesture to Marley without quite doing so, she stared back at the man with a frown settled upon her lips, "in private."

Ms. Andrews let out a sigh before popping her briefcase open to rummage through it for a few moments, for what exactly, they had no clue.

After a few moments of the woman digging through her bag, she pulled her hand from inside and held her open palm out to Marley, lying flat across the woman's pale skin were three quarters.

"This should be enough for the bus fare home, don't worry about paying the money back, just make sure you get to class early tomorrow so we have more time with the client."

Somewhat shocked by the fact she was going to be returning tomorrow- something that had never occurred for any of her fellow students- she took the money from her instructor with a small smile her eyes just barely meeting those of the man as she turned to make way for the exit.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't the slightest bit curious as to what the people wanted to talk to Ms. Andrews about, but perhaps she'd tell Marley the following day on the car ride over.

Approaching the door that served as the exit, Marley cast a glance over her shoulder, all she saw was the woman wheeling her husband beside the girl's teacher in the opposing direction, maybe they were heading to her office.

She let out a sigh, she needed some sleep, the day had brought excitement and much worry over failure with it.

The girl needed a break from it, but she also had to prepare the house for lunch. She didn't doubt that as soon as the couple finished up their chat with her teacher that they would begin to head in her direction as she'd hoped they would.

Then, once they were gone, she could take the longest nap of the century.

Reaching her hand up to tuck away the stray hairs shielding her eyes from those around her, she used her free hand to push one of the two doors to the courthouse open. If it was the time she thought it was, her father should be heading off to the trial as she stepped out onto the street, she wondered who his client was, what were they being charged for?

All things she would ask when he returned home later that day.

Marley waited a moment before glancing from left to right and making her way across the sidewalk to the small overhang that was supposed to provide passerby shade while waiting on the bus, which the girl found she wouldn't have to do as it turned onto the road and began to head down to her stop.

Tightening her hold on the bag dangling from her shoulder she let out a breath as the bus stopped in front of the overhang before its doors extended to allow her entrance, Marley slowly stepped forward making sure to be mindful of the distance between the steps as she ascended them.

She let her eyes rake over the front of the bus where the driver was currently seated before she raised her hand and slowly slipped the three coins into the small box, looking away from the front and rather to the back, she found that there were several available seats, and one was particularly close to the front.

So she took it.

She didn't want to be too close to the others on the bus, she preferred being able to sit in her own silence with her books and such, they were far more comforting and much quieter than anyone she'd ever come across.

The only person she could ever really remember having a connection with that had made her think otherwise was a girl named Tamilee, she'd been an outcast in their class just like Marley, which was the thing that had brought them together.

They were each other's only friends.

And then Tamilee had headed off to nursing school, it seemed to be the calling of many girls their age, and yet, Marley seemed to be the only one interested in law, and she could understand why, it was an occupation mainly run by men, and the girls of her school were too timid to believe they stood a chance against them.

Not Marley, she was ready to face them, to earn her spot at the top.

The girl had yet to go and visit her friend, much less send her a letter or try and give her a call. There wasn't much they had in common anymore, besides the fact that they were both adults, but that seemed to be about it.

Marley let out a sigh, that was all adulthood seemed to be now.

It had seemed far more exciting as a child and she'd even wished to grow up faster. But now that it had swallowed her whole, she wished she could go back to simpler times when the scariest thing on the news was a missing dog.

Her life, like many others, was different than they'd expected it to be.

Including Arne's.

THE CONJURING

CHAPTER TWO: SILENCING STATEMENTS