{"sf1_id":968266,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter Three","author":"IanTheFolf","words":3489,"posted_at":"2016-02-23T20:35:00.000Z","tags":["Action","Character Development","Plot Development","Rage Wolf","Story Progression","War","conflict"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/968266-chapter-three","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/968266","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=968266\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"New Year's came and went as I spent the day packing up for\nthe court trial. I have to report to court at eight in the morning, and then be\npersonally escorted to the Marriot hotel down the street where we'll be\nmonitored twenty-four hours a day for twenty days until this damn case is over.\nA bit too much if you ask me, but nobody was. I mean the government wants to\nmake sure that the terrorist dies, but we have laws in place and everyone is\ngranted a fair and just trial, which is why we're spending all this time and\nmoney to make sure that the jurors find Rashkolnikov guilty, instead of doing\nthe same for other trials. My Country, 'Tis of Thee. \nI honestly don't care what happens to him; it doesn't\ninvolve me nor has he done anything to me. I know that he's a cold blooded\nkiller, but aren't we all deep down inside? We all contain a deep evil within\nus, waiting to be unleashed, and it seems that war brings it out of us.  It's only a matter of time before someone\ndoes something stupid in Russia, and it breeds another world war. I wouldn't be\nsurprised if the ultranationalists were to retaliate against the Americans for\nkilling their best terrorist leader. \nThere was a black SUV outside my house, and two scailes\nwearing black suits and ties with earpieces came and rang my doorbell. I've\nbeen waiting for them for nearly an hour, sitting on my couch in my white tux\nwith my suitcase next to me. I got up, put on my laptop bag, and walked to the\ndoor. I turned the knob and opened the door, and I was greeted by them. \n\"Ah, Glare! It's so nice to meet you!\" One of them said a\nbit too enthusiastically.\n\"So how are we going to kill him?\" I asked, bored. \n\"Excuse me?\"\n\"Oh, well we all know that he's guilty, and he's probably\ngoing to be put to death for committing the most heinous of crimes. I personally want him to be executed via firing\nsquad, but my friend wants to see him hanged. I suppose getting an executioner\nto behead him wouldn't be so bad either, but it to medieval not that ISIS shit;\nI want to see him scream in agony as his neck is hacked again and again,\" I\nsaid as a smile crept onto my lips. I saw the horror on his face, surprised at\nwhat I said, and it immediately ended the conversation between us. I saw the\nother one whisper something into his earpiece before both of them helped me\ninto the SUV and drove off.\nThe ride to the courthouse was silent, none of us talked,\nand they didn't have the radio turned on. I looked around and saw how decked\nout the SUV looked. It looked like an upgraded version of the 2021 Ford Escape.\nThe seats were jet black leather and the floor was a lighter shade of black, up\nfront was a touchpad that had the FBI logo on it just bouncing around. The car\neven had that new car smell. I pulled out some earphones along with my phone\nand turned on some electro swing, tapping my foot and snapping my finger to the\nbeat and rapid pace of the music. I mean it was a two hour drive to the\ncourthouse, so I might as well make the best of it.\nWe finally got to the metro area, and the city was well\nalive with cars and buses bustling everywhere, and people were milling around,\ngoing to their destination. The scalie that was driving turned on the police\nlights and sirens so that we could get there faster. Traffic started to part\nfor is like the red sea did for Moses. People looked at us, wondering where we\nwere going in such a hurry, and I looked out at them, noticing the diversity\namongst the sea of people. So many species in one place; it's a lot to take in.\nDown where I live, it's just mostly canines and felines, with a few equines.\nI've seen all the other species on TV but never in person. I really haven't met\na scalie until early this morning, and they aren't as bad as people say they\nare.\nWe pulled up at the Marriot at around seven, and we walked\ninto the noticeably neat lobby area. One of my escorts pulled out at card and\nshowed it to the receptionist, and then the receptionist gave him two key\ncards. The other agent took my suitcase and led me to my room. I was given my\nkeycard, and I opened the door. The view was truly sensational. I was on the\nfifth floor, and I was given a bay area view with the balcony facing the sea. I\nlaid the suitcase of the bed then turned around and walked out, my two\nbodyguards following close behind me. I went down to the first floor and went\nto the café. I grabbed a plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs with a side of\norange juice and coffee and sat down. I placed a bib over my suit before I\nquickly choked down the food. I let out a quiet belch and finished off my\ncoffee before disposing my plate. It was 7:40 right now, and we proceeded to\nleave the hotel.\nThe courthouse wasn't far from the hotel, just about a block\naway, but even then I had to be driven there. When we arrived at the courthouse\nthe scalie in the passenger seat got out and opened my door. I got out with him\nand we walked up to the building while the driver went to go find a place to\npark. Immediately we were swarmed with journalists and major news networks;\ntheir voices were just one jumbled mess like a middle school lunch room. We\ninched forward and ignored their questions. I rolled my eyes and pushed a\njournalist that was in my way. We finally made our way in the door and\nproceeded down the hall to where the trial would take place. \nI sat where the other jurors were, in the seat than was\nmarked number seven because I was juror number seven. I sat in the back the\nfurthest away from the judge, and I was kind of glad because I didn't want to\nbe noticed as easily. I looked around the room and saw that half of the room\nwas split between journalists with pens and notepapers in their hand, seeing as\nhow phones and other devices that connected to the internet were not allowed in\nthe courtroom. The other half seated civilians and some of the federal agents\nthat are bodyguards for the other jurors. The jury was a mixed bunch that came\nfrom all over the country; in fact, I was the only one closest to the court. I\nmean, some of them must have found it to be an honor to be a part of the trial\nof the century, but some of them must have felt like me and found this a waste\nof time. \nThe judge came in, wearing one of those powdered wigs like\nthey wear in Britain. He looked rather young for a judge, maybe late thirties\nor early forties. We all had to stand up and sit down when the bailiff told us\nto. The judge sat down and so did the rest of us. Now we were only waiting for\nRashkolnikov to get here.\nRashkolnikov and his attorneys walked into the room,\nstriding casually as if they owned the place. The black grizzly sat next to\nwhat I believed was his senior attorney, the leader of his little legal group.\nPeople started booing him, even some of the members of the jury. The judge\ncalled for order, banging his gravel until the people calmed down.\n\"I thought this was supposed to be a fair trial,\"\nRashkolnikov scoffed, his voice carrying a thick Russian accent. \"The members of\nyour jury are even showing their bias towards me.\"\n\"Well you are a quite unpopular figure in America; just\nabout everyone eligible to be a juror, an American citizen, hates you. Our\njurors have come from across the country to be here today, to determine whether\nyou are innocent or guilty of the crimes in which you are convicted of,\" the\njudge replied hotly, the blue husky showing Rashkolnikov who's in charge.\n\"Plus, that is only for American citizens, that in which you are not.\"\n\"I'm guilty!\" he exclaimed with joy, \"I'm the one who\nslaughtered you American pigs, and I would love to do it again! You Americans\nwill never take me alive, and once I'm done with this trial and given my\nverdict, my allies back in Russia will rain fire on your shitty country!\"\nThe whole court was taken aback, then they were seething in\nrage, and there was a mad dash towards him until the bailiff shot a warning\nshot and the judge demanded order. \"We will see about your sentencing after the\ntrial is finished, until then, you just have to wait as we do everything by the\nbook,\" the judge replied.\nThe trial started, and evidence was presented, witnesses\ncame up to the stand to testify against Rashkolnikov, and so on and so forth. I\nwas incredibly bored, playing with my watch, scratching my nails, just anything\nto keep myself from going mad. The next ten days were just as bad as I fell\ninto a cycle of doing the same thing over and over again. After the trial and I\nwas permitted to go back to the hotel, I would. The wifi was tapped to monitor\nall communication going in and out of the hotel, so getting on my laptop\nwouldn't do. I would just sit there and watch the news on the sixty inch flat\nscreen TV. Most of it was just dribble about the trial and the war in Russia. I\nwent out to a local book store and bought a few books to pass the time, really\nto make the trial go by faster by sneaking it into the court, but the judge\nnoticed me reading it nine days into the trial and confiscated it. \nThe tenth day of trial was the same as the other nine, and I\ncould feel my life slipping away. Why can't we just kill him already? It would\nmake everyone's life so much easier. I got sick of looking at Rashkolnikov, our\neyes would meet, and a crooked smile would cross his lips. I guess he thought\nthat since it appeared that I didn't hate him, I would be the one who wouldn't\nbudge and eventually my stubbornness and the other jurors impatience would find\nhim innocent. When we passed each other leaving the trial for the day, he\nmuttered to me, \"Maybe your life will be the only one in which I spare,\" before\nwalking off. So he somehow plans to kill everyone in there, and with his\nconnections, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I honestly don't care, as long\nas my life is not in danger. \nLater that night I was watching the news. It was showing the\nsame old stuff like an American hero at home that rescued a child from a\nbuilding on fire before a breaking news alert came on. \"This just in!\" the news\nanchor began, \"The ultranationalists and nationalists worked together to\nPutin's fascist army. The Vietnamese and Syrian armies have returned to their\nrespective countries, and diplomats from both rival groups have joined together\nand signed an armistice, with the democratic Russians east of the Ural\nMountains and the Soviets on the west. They two groups shall stay there until a\ndate for a treaty should be decided. Chinese and US forces have not left the\ncountry as the Chinese army remains with the Soviets and the American army with\nthe new democratic republic of Russia. The Chinese army; however, has forces\nclose to the border of the new Russia, making the US and allies suspicious\nabout their intentions. Is the world on the brink of another world war? Only\ntime will tell.\"\nI shut off the television and immediately thought about what\nthe news anchor said. That armistice won't last, and I wouldn't be surprised if\nthe Soviets and Chinese launched a preemptive strike on New Russia. More war\nand more American soldiers dying. America has to learn that they are not the\nglobal police force, and trying to be will make them only be hated by the\nglobal community even more. We haven't been had a war on American soil since\nthe War of 1812, and I would like to keep it that way. The worse thing is that\na new radical group that just took over the Moscow government has access to\nhalf of the nukes the Russian Federation had (it was agreed in the armistice\nthat the nukes would be divided between the two sides), so it's putting itself\nin the bulls-eye for a nuclear attack. And Trump is so hot headed that he would\nlaunch all the nukes and before you know it, it's a nuclear holocaust and I'm\ndead, and I don't have time to be so um yea, America needs to tone it down a\nbit.\nThe 20th finally came, and so it was the last day\nof the trial. I wore my favorite white suit because as they say, save the best\nfor last. All those days being forced to go to trial and now it would come to\nan end. We all agreed yesterday that Rashkolnikov is guilty, so the only thing\nwe had to do today was announce the verdict, he would get the death penalty,\nand I would never have to do this again. I'm kind of eager to see how he'll\ndie, I'm really hoping for execution by firing squad, in public too, but I'll\nhave to wait. \nSo the defendant and lead juror got up, and the lead juror\nread the verdict. Rashkolnikov and his legal didn't seem surprised or\ndisappointed, but Rashkolnikov glared at me and I just gave him the same\ncrooked smile he gave me the first time our eyes met. Now this was the part I\nwas waiting for. I strained my ears to listen to and savor every word that came\nout of the judge's mouth. \n\"Well Rashkolnikov, I hereby find you guilty on countless\ncharges of mass murder, terrorism, and manslaughter. You are sentenced to death\nvia guillotine for the whole world to see. I hope you enjoy the rest of your\ndays on this earth,\" the judge said triumphantly. \n\"Oh I will,\" Rashkolnikov smiled before shouting something\nin Russian. Suddenly a few of the federal agents opened fire on the others and\na firefight ensured. I saw Rashkolnikov pull out a small nokia phone and dialed\na number. I strained to hear what he was saying, and all I heard was him\nsaying, \"Do it.\"\nOne of my scalie bodyguards was helping people leave while\nthe other returned fire. Rashkolnikov picked up a pistol that one his men\ntossed to him and started shooting the civilians. I was sitting in my seat,\napathetic by his little show. I decided that I was bored of it and went to\nleave when I caught sight of Rashkolnikov, and he pointed the gun at me. \n\"Such a pity. I had high hopes for you American. Now you\nmust die like the rest of these roaches,\" Rashkolnikov growled, putting his\nfinger on the trigger.\n\"If you're gonna shoot me, go ahead and do it, I haven't got\nall day,\" I replied coldly, walking away. I heard him yell and fire, the bullet\ngoing in and out of my arm. I felt a throbbing sensation in my arm as I lifted\nit up and saw two holes in my suit, where the bullet came and went. This wasn't\nany ordinary suit, it was my favorite one, and this Russian bastard shot a hole\nin it. Oh was he going to get what was coming to him. I let my anger and rage\nconsume me, and I transformed into my rage form. My suit didn't rip because I\nasked porky to make it stretchable in case something like this happened, I mean\nit's a good looking suit, and I paid a lot of money for it. I saw the horror on\nRashkolnikov's face as he pulled the trigger furiously. I felt the bullets\nripping into me, but they didn't hurt, my pure hatred and goal for ending\nRashkolnikov's life was keeping the pain away. He ran out of bullets and backed\nup into a wall.\n\"Wha-what are you?\" he asked, his voice trembling with fear.\n\n\"Your worst nightmare,\" I replied, beaming ecstatically\nbefore grabbing his throat and holding him up against the wall.\n\"Well now I'm ecstatic!\" I exclaimed merrily. \"I was a\nlittle worried; I wasn't a big fan of the whole guillotine idea, but now I can\nend your life any way I can please. Now, what should I do first?\" I extended a\nclaw on my index finger and slowly cut his stomach open, and relished in his\nagonizing cries of pain. Blood started spewing out from where I cut him, and I\ndabbed a little onto my finger and tasted it. I could see tears forming in his\neyes, a grown man, a Russian at that, crying like a little bitch. Pathetic. I\nbrought him close to me and we looked at each other, his eyes full of fear. \n\"It's good that you fear me,\" I said before biting his neck,\nmy canines digging into his skin. He cried out in agony again, and just started\nlaughing like a maniac. I bit him to where if I laid him down to bleed out he'd\nbe dead within five minutes rather than rip his neck out and let him die in\nthirty seconds. I carefully cut his vocal cords and dropped him to the floor,\nwhere started gagging on his own blood. \n\"That's for all the Americans you killed you commie fuck.\nIt's rather unfortunate that I couldn't torture you more before killing you,\nbut I simply have a reputation to protect. Adieu my good sir!\" I exclaimed\nbefore turning back into my normal form and walking out. Already there were\npeople in there who saw me transform, but hopefully no one would believe them.\nUnfortunately for me when I walked out I was immediately\narrested by one of my scalie bodyguards because he saw what happened,\neverything, and wanted to question me on what I was and what I had in\nconnection with Rashkolnikov even though I killed him. I was taken to the\npolice station and I had my picture taken. I smiled for the picture and was\nlater thrown in a cell until I was to be questioned.\nWhile I was there I was watching the news, and I had learned\nthat a terrorist attack had taken place right after Rashkolnikov made that call\non his nokia. The ultranationalists had invaded the New Russian Republic and\nhijacked multiple planes and crashed them into the congress building where\nTrump was giving his State of the Union address. When they finally realized\nwhat was going on, it was too late and all of the attendees were killed. They\ntried evacuating; they even scrambled jets to shoot the planes down with, but\nthe ultranationalists had a head start. The world was shocked as this tragedy;\nthe United States government was crippled in a matter of minutes. \nFortunately, the Secretary of Homeland Defense was spared,\nand it showed him taking oath to become president from a few minutes after the\nattack and it was confirmed that there were no survivors. It showed a live feed\nof him now, giving a speech to his distraught country.\n\"Today, our country has witnessed a great tragedy, one of\nwhich in some ways is worse than the September 11th attacks. The\nSoviets are chosen to strike us at a critical moment and have left us with a\nhalf operational government, but I assure you, there will be mass elections to\nreplace those who we have lost today, and that this tragedy will not go\nunanswered. The Soviets will pay for their negligence. This is an act of war,\nand I hereby enact article five of NATO. Let us not remember this as a day for\nwhen the enemy crippled our great nation, for America has always risen from the\nashes; let us remember this day as the day that America began to fight for her\nfreedom! So I want all the Soviet insurgents out there to here this, the United\nStates government is officially at war with the Soviet Union!\"                                 "}