At Dawn, in the Forest
Chapter 22

“It is of utmost importance, Dawn, that you only speak when spoken to, and when spoken to you have to speak,” Caspian warned.

“You cannot become angry in front of them, even when you disagree with their statements,” Larisa pressed.

“You have to speak the truth,” Mateo said solemnly.

“Look at the person who speaks to you, but not in the eye, that way you may appear challenging, but you also have to acknowledge them when they speak,” Rue advised.

“Lastly, you must remain calm,” Boaz stressed.

Dawn and her family as the Alphas from the Red Wood Pack as Aiden all arrived at the council’s building for the two hearings. One concerning Dawn’s status as a wolf in the community and the other regarding the criminal acts of both Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein.

Dawn was appointed a representative during the hearing. His name was Thomas and acted as a lawyer would during a court case. Both the doctors had gotten one as well, to make the hearing fair. Thomas hadn’t talked and interacted much with Dawn, but he did try to prepare her as best as he could. He wished he had gotten more time with her, only the people around Dawn didn’t want to put too much strain on her as they noticed their sessions were intense. Their first concern was her health after all.

“Yes, all of that is important, but there is one thing that surpasses them all. Be yourself. Show them who you are and what the impact was of those doctors. You may show emotion but silently and it shouldn’t interfere with the process of the hearing. Do you understand Dawn?” Thomas asked.

The young woman nodded even though she had a hard time making a difference between showing emotion and showing emotion silently. She got many pieces of advice and her head felt full. Dawn was glad she had a representative. She was afraid she had to do it all alone. The guidance of Thomas would help to highlight the important parts of her case, making it clear where those horrible humans went wrong. For that she was grateful. It also helped that Thomas was patient and knew somehow a way of getting information from her without triggering her trauma.

Thomas shrugged his left arm, making his watch visible, and looked at it. “Alright, it’s time. Dawn and others, I will try my very best to get the best outcomes in both cases,” He winked and marched his way to the hall where the hearing took place.

Dawn felt lightheaded, her legs wobbled. She was nervous about today. Nervous about seeing Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein again. Nervous for speaking in front of the council. Nervous about her status. Nervous about the punishment the doctors would get. Nervous that the day she hoped for over 3.285 days had finally come, her captures being caught and convicted for their crimes. So much could go wrong and she had no idea how she would deal with that disappointment.

Dawn was so lightheaded and nervous that she didn’t notice the beginning of the first case, regarding her status.

“After reviewing Dawn Carson’s case regarding her status as a wolf in our community, I don’t think we need to debate this for long. There is clear evidence she was taken against her will in a facility, making it impossible for her to claim her place in our community,” The older man in the middle of five said. The five people who represented the council were a mix of both genders, three men and two women, all from different descendants. They appeared less intimidating than Dawn imagined them to be.

“Thank you, Your Honour,” Thomas said. “I won’t mind, of course, making my case for my client before you, but I think everything in front of you in those documents is self-explanatory.”

“We agree,” The woman on the far right spoke up. “So, not to waste anyone’s time we announce that Dawn Carson's status will be set at ‘non-chosen’, this will give her the same choice as any werewolf coming of age to choose any pack and we will give her two years to make that choice.”

“Thank you, your Honour,” Thomas thanked them again. He smiled at Dawn, which she mirrored with a timid smile. She turned around to her family and friends who were seated on the benches for audience purposes. They all smiled back and held thumbs up, happy they won their first case in their favor.

But now the real battle had to start.

“Alright, let’s move to the second case of today. Bring the two suspects in and their representative,” The middle man announced.

Dawn took a sharp inhale when she saw the two doctors entering the room. Everything became so much colder and darker. She had to fight with all her willpower to give in to her urges, to rip them apart. In slow motion, she saw them walking to their places at the desk, similar to hers on her right. There were only a couple of feet in between them when they sat down.

Both doctors didn’t make eye contact with the young woman until Dr. Willow was about to sit down, he carefully cocked his head to Dawn and displayed a wicked smirk on his lips. Before Dawn could even stand up Thomas had already his hand on her arm. “Don’t, he is trying with everything he has to make every word leaving your mouth not credible,” He whispered.

“After reviewing this case we stumbled upon a divergence between the two stories, that of the doctors Willow and Klein and of Dawn Carson. This hearing is to offer some clearance on the crime that is committed to ensure a fair verdict. The word is to Mr. Callaway.”

The representative of Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein stood up from his chair and buttoned his suit jacket. “Your Honour, we live in times where humanity’s biggest threat is their own body. In the last decades, we discovered numerous amount of diseases, viruses, and cancers for which we have yet to replace a cure. In this fight to keep humanity healthy, we hit walls, dead ends, and undesirable results, and these negative test results might push one in the wrong direction to get quicker to the finish. Today-”

“Mr. Callaway, may I remind you that we are not in a courtroom, but in a council hall. You have no jury to convince,” One of the council members spoke up.

“I thank you for the reminder, you Honour, but I still have to convince you all that the accusations made by this young woman are incorrect.” The representative pointed at Dawn.

“Yes, that is right, but here in our way of right and law, we do things more efficiently, less theatrical. I am going to ask you to keep your story to the point, Mr. Callaway.”

“Alright then… Today I am going to convince you all that it wasn’t Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein who conducted experiments on Dawn Carson but Jack Sullivan.”

Silence fell around the people in the council hall. Dawn’s heart dropped. Thomas had his suspicions they knew a way to discredit her accusations, but this was not what they expected and Thomas had to switch tactics fast.

“Mr. Baker, what is your response?” The middle man asked.

“We deny it. We will convince everyone that it was indeed Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein who medically tortured my client for over nine years.”

“Mr. Callaway, what is the basis of your statement?” The councilwoman on the far right asked.

The arrogant representative walked around the desk picked up a stack of papers and held it high in the air for everybody to see. “These are all the statements made by the prisoners of the lab. In not any of these statements is being said anything regarding my clients and their interactions with Dawn Carson. None of them witnessed the three of them together in a room or even seen them remotely close for more than a minute. Two men did state, however, that Jack Sullivan liked to brag about watching over a young girl and-or woman in the facility. Of course, who this woman or girl is, is an assumption, but I think we can state that Mr. Sullivan was talking about Miss Carson.

“Also if you look at the amount of ‘patients’, or prisoners, were present you can see that the two doctors had their hands full with examining them. They both state that they put Mr. Sullivan in charge of Miss Carson as she was a minor when brought in and she wasn’t of use until she would grow older.

“We have also Mr. Sullivan’s entries in the system they used at the lab, it was only he who excessed Miss Carson’s files-”

“Your Honour, objection! You cannot use their system’s history as evidence that is highly biased and can be tempered with,” Thomas spoke up.

The man on the far left held up his hand to silence Thomas. “Mr. Baker, we are well aware of the questionable nature of this evidence and you just took the words out of my mouth. We will discard this piece of evidence.”

Thomas muttered a thank you and sighed. “We as the council would like to question the doctors. First up, Dr. Willow.” The middle-aged man had to stand up and take a seat in the chair in front of the high desk of the five council members.

“Before we start the questioning you have to swear to tell the truth, Dr. Willow. It doesn’t have to be sworn on your God. It’s a formality so you know you are under oath and any lies that are being told during questioning will be held against you in our ruling.” Dr. Willow nodded his head. The woman on the far right asked, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”

“I swear.”

Then she started her questioning. “Tell me, Dr. Willow, why did you capture such a young werewolf if you weren’t going to use her for your experiments?”

“Her capture was a mistake, we aimed for the adults who were near her, but due to the circumstances we got her.”

“Why keep her then?”

“We figured she could be of use later when I and my wife knew more about the werewolf autonomy so we could conduct more precise experiments on subject 400185.”

“Dr. Willow, I am going to ask of you to refrain from calling Miss Carson by any other name or number than her legal one,” The councilwoman warned.

Dr. Willow clearly showed his annoyance with the demand that was set. He frowned and fidgeted in his chair. He was losing control of the situation.

“Fine,” He finally muttered.

“Did you ever conduct these precise experiments you are talking about?”

“No, we didn’t get the chance, yet.”

“Did you have an idea or a plan set up what you were about to do with Miss Carson?”

“What do you mean?” Dr. Willow asked.

“For what kind of experiment did you two want to use her for?”

“We were going to try to replace a cure for cancer as your healing abilities are extraordinary.”

Dawn felt sick to her stomach. Both the lies spread by Dr. Willow as their casual questioning about her horrific time in that place made her feel awful. Terrifying memories flashed through her mind and her anger was bubbling up. She had a hard time sitting through both their questionings. They were similar in questions and answers.

When both doctors were questioned the council wanted to move on to the other party until Thomas put a pause to the hearing. “Your Honour, I am going to ask for a brief break, my client isn’t feeling well.”

“Break is granted, we will resume in fifteen minutes,” the middle councilman announced.

Dawn didn’t wait and ran to the toilets and threw up her breakfast and lunch. Aiden was right behind her. “You are doing so well Dawn, you are being so incredibly brave sitting there.”

When she was done heaving and stood up she replied, “I don’t feel like it.”

“I know, but after the break, it’s Thomas’ turn and he will convince them.” Dawn wasn’t so sure of it but nodded her head regardless. “Let’s replace the others.”

Upon nearing the others Dawn and Aiden could hear how they were arguing with Thomas. “What point is there for them to deny their crimes against Dawn if they will be charged for those against the other prisoners?” Boaz asked.

“It’s to lessen the charge of time. Their experiments on the other prisoners are in a lower category of torture so to say. It is not in a literal sense, but they are portrayed as such,” Thomas sighed. “I am going to try my best to turn this around, but we have to take into account that there might be a probability that they will win this…”

When the group saw Dawn nearing and noticed she heard their eyes widened. Thomas cursed under his breath. “I have not given up Dawn, I am going to fight.”

A/N: I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I am curious what you think of the plot, please let me know in the comments.