I wrote this story after I found out that Auctor resumed posting weekly writing challanges again. This story is considered as bonus content.

Enjoy!

The courtroom was quiet, only the steps of the attorney could be heard as he paced to and fro, eyeing the jury, his business rival, and ultimately at the culprit as he sauntered his way to the pulpit.

"Your honor," the attorney spoke, directing his gaze at the judge, a bespectacled man with salt and pepper hair, casting a cold stare at the attorney.

"Speak." He said in an almost menacing voice, his expression remained the same.

The attorney took a breath. "Your honor, we are here on behalf of our client to present evidence of his innocence." The attorney pointed to the victim of the crime.

The judge looked him over and then nodded, signaling for the lawyer to proceed.
The attorney turned back to his client and began the cross examination.

When he finished, the judge motioned for the jury to take their seats, which they did quickly without question.

The judge began asking the witness questions about his involvement in the incident, how long ago it had taken place, the time the defendant had been in town before leaving.
After questioning the witness, the judge called for the defendant's attorney.

The prosecution rose from his seat and approached the judge, handing him a folder containing several papers, which he took. The judge opened it, reading them thoroughly before giving a nod of approval at some points, making notes here and there. When the lawyer finished presenting his report, he returned to his chair next to the counsel table. The judge gave his verdict and the jury were called back, deciding the guilt or innocence of the defendant.

They deliberated for several minutes before unanimously declaring Guilty on both counts. There was a murmur in the crowd when they declared the defendant guilty as charged.

"Order!" The judge shouted through his gavel as the audience began to disperse. "Any last requests?"

There was a pause before one of the jurors stood up.

"Yes?" The judge asked, clearly expecting a request for mercy.

"Could the defendant please come forward?" he asked.

At first, no one moved; they just stared at the man standing in front of them. No one expected the man to be so...so....different. The trial had not only gone against him, his own testimony had gone against him! The whole jury, including his fellow juror had seen and heard things that they never would've witnessed otherwise.

No one seemed prepared for the outcome, even as the defendant walked towards the stand.

The court reporter handed the microphone to the defendant, whose hands shook slightly as he grabbed hold of it. His fingers began twitching slightly but he managed to keep his composure. The entire audience noticed how shaky his hands were, and they couldn't blame him. They'd seen what he'd done to those people, and they knew that he wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted.
The prosecutor stepped forward, taking the microphone from the defendant.

"Your Honor, I have a few more questions for the defendant."
The judge nodded, gesturing for the prosecutor to continue.
"How long have you known this man, Mr. Youswell?"

The courtroom went silent as everyone waited to hear the answer. Some whispered that it was probably best not knowing who this person was because of his actions, while others voiced support for the accused. The latter was mainly the result of fear, they didn't want the public to see their weaknesses, which made them more susceptible to manipulation by someone like this defendant.

Youswell cleared his throat, his hands tightening around the microphone as he answered in his raspy voice, his accent thickening noticeably after speaking the question.

"I met this guy years ago, he came to one of my matches and was quite interested in boxing. We kept talking and hanging out, he ended up joining the team. Since then, I haven't stopped associating myself with this guy."

The court reporter nodded, writing down what Youswell had said before moving onto the next question.

"Mr. Youswell, why was your opponent brought into the courthouse? Why are you charged with breaking and entering?"
A slight twitch occurred in the defendant's hand but he was quick to suppress it.
"Well he was in the middle of robbing the store. After my fight, he started robbing and assaulting women. I didn't know what else to do, it was either me or him and the women he was harassing."
The prosecutor's eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for the next question.

"What are you watching?" Brienne asked her coworker as she became invested in the crime show.

"Witness." Erica replied as she raised the volume of her mobile.

It was all routine but something in the air felt different. It didn't feel like it should. Something was very wrong about this case. He tried not to think too much of it, however, it wouldn't do any good if the defense thought that they had found their culprit.

"Has anyone noticed something off happening around campus?" Nish asked them.

"Kind of." Erica replied as she watched the show.

The crowd watched on in anticipation, hoping for answers.
Youswell gulped and his grip tightened on the microphone again.
"One time. That's when he attacked me, right on the street and nobody was around..."
He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Did you guys hear that?" Nish asked.

The courtroom became deathly silent.
The prosecutor looked at his counterpart. He looked as shocked as they were, unable to believe the confession.
He was about to ask another question, but before he could utter a sound Youswell cut him off.
"And now that I'm done here, if you'll excuse me."
He began walking away towards the exit.

Whilst the two teachers were watching the show, Nish looked out the window and saw something move outside as a silhouette ran across the courtyard.

As the professors watched the show...

The prosecutor was the first to recover from his shock. As soon as he regained control over himself, he began running after him.
"Hey, Mr. Youswell, wait!" he called out.
Youswell ignored him, continuing to walk until he reached the exit, where he jumped into a taxi and sped off.
The prosecutor cursed under his breath.

Then the show gave a prewiew of the following episode.

He hated seeing that asshole get away scot free, but he also feared how he could possibly expose the entire affair without being caught. He knew he had to tell someone and quickly so that he couldn't let this secret go. He could still hear the people outside clapping and cheering for his client. He needed to call someone, anyone, and fast.

By the time the preview ended, Nish was already searching for where the silhouetted individual might've gone.

A sudden yelp was heard before the cries became muffled. Nish tiptoed to the hall and she had seen a hooded man carrying a petite woman -- no wait! It was Stefanie!

Nish hid herself behind one of the shrubs as the hooded figure passed with Stefanie's body. She had to do something to save her.

But how?!

ON ALL SOULS DAY

The courtroom was quiet, only the steps of the attorney could be heard as he paced to and fro, eyeing the jury, the defendant, and the prosecutor as he sauntered his way to his pulpit before directing his gaze at the judge.

"Your honor," the attorney spoke, the judge was a curly haired woman in her mid-30s, "I would like to bring a witness."

The judge shifted her gaze at the defendant.

"The defendant was caught shooting a teacher on school grounds on Halloween night wearing a bear costume." The videos of the incident went viral. The blood stained fabric of the coustume found was used as evidence.

"This outsider also orchestrated the abduction of 13 college students, only 2 of the students were found." The attorney added.

The two young women were present at the trial. The defendant was a young man in his early twenties, monikered as "Fazbear".

The judge scrutinized the defendant's body language. Fazbear blinked, the judge furrowed her thick eyebrows instinctively.

"The defense calls Mrs. Elena Tarrant to the stand!"
Brienne was completely taken aback. Elena?!

Is that Nish?

The judge motioned for Elena to sit, the defendant remained standing, waiting for his turn to take the witness stand.

She eyed him cautiously as he stared right back at her.

Elena cleared her throat nervously before taking her seat.
Her gaze drifted between the lawyers and the judge. She glanced at the defendant a few times before turning to look at the attorneys. Her eyes darted back to the prosecutor. Her face contorted in confusion as she processed the situation.
"Are you familiar with the defendant?" The prosecutor prompted after a moment.
"Um, no sir. Sorry."
"You don't recognize him? Didn't you attend university together?"

Nish barely recognized him, she had only seen him a couple of times. He was one of Brienne's students.
"Well yeah, I did, but we weren't particularly close. Why?"

The prosecutor sighed. There was obviously no point in trying to fool an experienced police detective, especially since Elena was clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
"Please state your name and occupation for the record, ma'am." The prosecutor asked.

The lawyer took notes on his pad before proceeding.
"And what were you doing at this time period?"
"Well, I gave my students Geology lessons."
The defense lawyer looked up to the judge.
"If your honor will allow, may I ask if this is correct?"
The judge smiled before nodding.
"Yes, Ms. Tarrant, it is."
"Thank you." The attorney responded, turning back to the defendant.
"When you got to campus, did you notice anything unusual?"
Elena paused for a second, thinking carefully before replying, "No, nothing really. All the lights were off, it was quiet, and I saw some people milling around near the parking lot entrance. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary. Why?"
The prosecutor took a deep breath before answering, "Well, there is a chance that the attacker is someone connected to this case."
Elena's brows knitted in confusion.
"Why would that be?"
"Because of all of the attacks."
The judge interjected.
"Ms. Tarrant, can you elaborate?"
Elena looked at the prosecutor, slightly confused. Then, realization hit her. A gasp escaped her lips and she looked around, as if afraid someone was going to overhear her.
"I just remembered, during one of Stefanie's lectures last semester, we had to talk about the history of the attack. One of my students told me that the attacker was most likely related to the incident. He said that the attacker was wearing a black suit, a dark mask covered his mouth, and a hat."
"How did he know that?"
"There's a website called 'Phantom Mine' where you can find information about everything that's been going on lately. It was run by two high school seniors named Anjil and Sarah Wolff. They had access to the site and were able to find out about the attack before anybody else. They have been posting articles on the site since then, and there's been more recent ones recently. My students were interested in those articles and they shared them with the class, which resulted in the attack."
"Who else knows about these stories?"
"Just the students."

"Which explained why the students began to disappear one by one." The attorney stated.

Cassy Anders was a student, an artist, a hobbyist writer, and an avid swimmer. One of the best swimmers in the academy in fact. She was last seen swimming at the pool before the power went out, by the time the lights came back on only her blood stained swimming cap was found floating in the pool.

Many of the students had thought that it was a school prank since Halloween was approaching before more students had began to vanish.

During the second Tuesday of October, four students were by the garden; Star Song had consumed a hallucinogetic drug in the form of sweets. The main ingredient was a psychoactive mushroom used in very small quantity, more addicting than THC.

Tharushi was the one who purveyed the drug-laced sweets along with a bouquet of roses to sell, of every color both natural and plastic ones. Hobi had obtained a white rose as a free gift for buying a marihuana-laced brownie, which wasn't cheap.

Nephtali wanted a black rose to complete the décor of his room for Halloween to go along with the fake blood motif.

"I hear trees talking." Song said as she heard murmurs under her drug-induced state.

"If trees could talk, they'd be rioting about the amount of noxious fumes they had to intake for the last decades." Hobi commented as she held the plastuc white rose.

"It'd be fun to watch haunted trees scaring people on Halloween for funsies." Nephtali prompted, a sardonic grin gracing his lips.

"It be cool if mushroom monsters popped out to bite people in the ankles and we'd be the ones streaming it." Star song suggested it as Tharushi and Nephtali bith sniggered.

"You guys are psychos." Hobi affirmed wholeheartedly while Star Song hobbled to one of the trees in attempts to make a tree bestie or something among those lines."

"Pretty but psycho." Tharushi sang, humoring her. Song leaned on the bark of the tree to give a sluggish embrace when a snake by the likes of the attacker whispered to her in a similar scenario from when the snake tempted Eve, taking advantage of Song's hallucination.

Emma came by to buy one of Tharushi's sweets. Hobi was heading on her way back to her dorm before Star Song took Hobi to the outskirts of the academy. Hobi had no clue what Song wanted to show her before she lost sight of her. As Hobi turned to go back, an arm her by the neck as she dropped the white rose to fight back.

Struggling to fight off the attacker, she felt adark cloth damped with chloroform suffocating her, her movements became sloppy and weak until she passed out. Star Song stepped on the white rose, confused by the time the attacker and Hobi were gone.

The attacker dragged Hobi to a dark place, the same dark place Thackery and Lakisha were held hostage.

"Another evidence shows that the defendant took the phones of the hostages to lure his next victim." The prosecutor had shown the evidence to the judge.

"There were physical copies of the texts to lure Tuania out of the campus, unaware that one of the professors had spotted Tuania leave. Stefanie Moore had seen Tuania cross the courtyard in the wee hours of the night according to the timestamp on the footage of the security cameras." The prosecutor played the video for the judge and jury to see. The incident had been recorded mere six nights prior to Halloween. "Another security camera had recorded Fazbear dragging Mrs. Moore outside the hallway. The previous camera had also recorded Mrs. Terrant walking by the hallway until she caught sight of the attacker and went into hiding."

"This is quite disturbing... The defendant has not been convicted of murder yet, so what does he want with these students and Mrs. Moore?" The judge asked as he examined the evidence.
"We're still searching for an answer, Your Honor." The prosecutor replied.

"Do you have any suspects?"
"We believe that the attack occurred shortly after the date the victims disappeared. We believe that the attacker was aware of the professor's presence at the university, so he decided to use Mrs. Moore to lure her out. This also explains the lack of surveillance on the victim's phone." The prosecutor explained.
"That is quite disturbing indeed..."

"Nish, say something!"

"I saw him drag her to the trunk." Mrs. Terrace confessed.
"Are you certain, Miss Terrace?" The prosecutor asked. The woman didn't seem too convinced.
"I'm sure."
"Very well." The prosecutor sighed. "We'll continue on the case against Fazbear. "You've already seen the results, however. He's guilty."
Mrs. Terrace nodded before walking away from the stand. The prosecutor walked out of the courtroom following after her.
The bailiff escorted Fazbear from the court house. Fazbear had caught sight the headmaster of the academy on the corner of his eye on his way out.

He knew it was the headmaster, the one who found the hostages and opened the shed to rescue them.

The headmaster was aware of the drug consumption being passed around school grounds and hadn't lifted a finger to stop it.

More importantly, the headmaster was the one who called the authorities after she was the one who trapped him and the other students in the gym on Halloween night upon knowing that the students were high on drugs.

He was simply the bear who fell for the snare she placed.