Bellamy Holmes
I sat in the highest level of seats in the courtroom.
Overlooking a single chair in the center of the black and white tiled flooring and a row of seats before it.
Chatter began to fill the air as others soon piled in from reporters to vloggers, and nosey mothafuckas that couldn’t help but watch the downfall of the Great Marvin.
T. Holmes. Civil Rights leader above and below and the reason or main reason this has all started.
He would have to answer for his family’s crime sooner rather than later.
Adjusting the tinted frames, I kicked my feet up onto the chair in front of me and smiled when I saw the judges come from behind the door cloaked in black robes, taking their seats with each having a folder in hand.
I glanced at my phone seeing Namir’s message come in before silently sucking my teeth in annoyance.
“Sorry I’m late.”
I looked up as Seth slide in between the rows of seats before patting his suit down with his hand and took his seat.
The bright yellow eyes were always telling of his true nature if it wasn’t for his dog-like scent that caught your nose first. His curly hair was pulled back into a fluffy hold and his nose began tweaking as he got a sense of his surroundings.
“Did you get the text from the coach?” He asked.
“I did. I cannot do anything until they are ready to do so,” I muttered under my teeth.
“How much longer do we have to wait?”
“I don’t know.”
The large double doors closed as everyone began to settle.
“Please take your seats so we can begin with the hearing!” A woman shouted. “Everyone take your seats so we can begin! There will be no talking once the doors are closed!”
Seth reached into his pocket to pull out a folded piece of paper before handing it to me.
“This is what’s going on at the Grounds,” he whispered.
“There will be no talking!”
A tense silence fell like a blanket over the courtroom as I unfolded the crumbled flyer to read.
State of the Grounds
Keep our schools safe.
Hosted by Xavier Martin.
The illustration of an exaggerated vampire with white hair attacking a helpless student played in a loop as I smiled.
Seth looked at me for any sort of reaction before pulling out another one.
A cartoon version of a werewolf was being dog walked by a black woman with white hair.
Only to twist around as the werewolf suddenly attacked by tearing her body limb for limb.
The flyers played over and over as I smirked.
“Thought’d you find it funny,” he muttered with his own grin. Seth and I were too similar in ways that probably wasn’t healthy for us to be this close.
The doors suddenly opened as the police escorted a tired and withered old high yellow man with silver thinning curls and a receding hairline. His pale eyes looked like the same color of chalky water and the same old retired gray and red suit began to look loose on him.
Wherever they were holding my grandfather they were going to starve him out.
These sick fucks were going to starve him out until he requests for blood because in reality, that’s what they want to see in the end.
These people want to see a vampire, a true vampire…
not a human with an illness. Not a man who needs blood to survive. They wanted to see a monster.
“Marvin Holmes…you are here on this day to continue our line of questioning before a sentencing can be placed. Can you prove to us you are in fact Marvin Holmes by revealing your fangs to everyone present.”
I could see Marvin was offended by the lack of the doctorate title but as he stood before his chair, he raised his chin and showed fangs from the top before they pulled back in as if he were scared to reveal them for too long.
“Have a seat.”
Marvin took his time as lowered himself in the wooden chair. The officers reached down to chain his ankles to the legs of the chair and his arms down to the desk.
“Need I remind you the chains are made from the strongest metal, handmade and designed specifically for this setting,” one of the judges said. They were faceless. Nameless. Powers to be that played a background role in setting up the Underground, but they always took a backseat to the First Family.
“As another reminder, you are not obligated to answer anything we may ask but your silence is more telling than not. To the media, please refrain from speaking only those with special permission and a permit by court are allowed to film and record. Now, let’s pick up where we left off.
Marvin Holmes. You are being questioned for crimes against humanity, the mythical community, and exposure of the Underground. You are also being tried for…”
I began to tune out as I looked at the flyer again, watching it play in a loop. So the witches were gathering.
“Your granddaughter, Maggie Grey is the daughter of who?”
I sat up as Marvin kept his head up, staring solely at the judges with a blank but tired expression. He wasn’t giving anything away except for the fact that he looked over it.
“You have a daughter that lives above ground is that correct? Otherwise, how can it be that you have a single granddaughter named Maggie Grey. Dr. Holmes…do you know the whereabouts of Carmilla Holmes, Wesley Holmes, Draco Holmes, and a Lovely Holmes?”
Seth nudged me while I shrugged. I wasn’t sure why I was always left off the family tree.
“We can safely confirm Wilhelmina has been held above ground,” someone whispered on the stands.
Did that mean she was alive? What happened to the young woman who was the writer?
The judges leaned in towards each other, talking under their breath but just about anyone here could hear.
I glanced across the way at a particular detective with dreads sitting with his colleagues as we locked eyes.
“We don’t believe they died the night of the church incident,” another whispered. I felt my chest tighten, and my jaw shift.
“Dr. Holmes,” the judge began. “I encourage you to answer the questions. Is Maggie Grey who is now considered a threat, would you consider her the last living relative of your lineage? Maggie Grey and…” looking down at the folder, “Bellamy Holmes… his whereabouts also unknown.”
“Right here,” I muttered.
“It is just me,” Marvin replied, voice raspy and low. “There is no one else to take the blame for my sister’s wrongdoing but me. The First Family in the Underground became a dying breed shortly after this was formed.”
“You, and your grandchildren apparently and their mother…”
“Just me.”
The court became silent before they spoke again.
“You’re on record killing and draining over–––”
“I know what I’ve done…I’ve lived a long time, longer than you can even count,” he said as his chin raised. “I know I’ve killed many.”
“Can you confirm Maggie Grey is in fact the reincarnation or the human form of Gaia…”
Everything became silent at the tricky question.
Some believed it, others didn’t. I know what I’ve seen with my eyes and as someone who didn’t believe it.
Once I saw what Maggie was capable of, I never questioned it again.
She was something so far gone from the reality of what the First Family is…
She almost made me want to believe the stories again.
Almost.
“Dr. Holmes, what is IPV-13? Immortal Pathogen Variant… what was that intended for?”
Marvin remained silent at first. The rest began taking notes in order to spew it back to the public with some twisted headline.
“My sister believed she came up with an injection…a disease if you will, to mimic what we are…”
“Do you know if it was a success or not?”
“I assumed it was, which is why I tried stopping her. I have not heard of any incidents so I can only further assume it did not work.”
The court began to stir as the judge leaned in to listen to his council before clearing his throat.
“You are also on record for the mass detainment and near extinction of the Taluwi tribe of sirens, do you deny your wrong doings? There was an investigation involving the kingdom but there have been no such claims outside of what you’ve allowed to happen with the tribe…
Do you recall this investigation or your involvement with the private territory?
” Marvin kept quiet, refusing to answer.
That charge would be swept under the rug because no one truly cared.
“Dr. Holmes, can you confirm or deny knowing your sister’s intentions on creating more vampiric mythics above ground to bring below… ”
“I didn’t know at first.”
“Yet you knew of her aspirations of wanting a larger family.”
“So which is it? Do I know where this massive First Family is hiding, or did I know my sister’s aspirations on wanting to create more because our family was dying out here…She wanted power and control. She wanted to be a mother more than anything, something she was unable to fulfill in her life.”
“You were heard saying there is no such thing as Gaia. You and your family have led the Underground to believe you are all reincarnations and descendants of Gaia, the Moon. We were told this is the most powerful magic one could only hope to achieve, and your family was believed to possess such rare magic. Is that no longer true? Have you misled the mythics of the Underground?”
“Gaia isn’t real,” Marvin said. The place began to stir with unease as I could see the betrayal and regretful faces. People needed to believe in something that was a higher power, and he just shattered the very thought.
“You’re now on record stating that you lied this entire time about your family?”
“I lied. Yes. Gaia is not real. We are simply diseased humans that feed off of others. It was a way to weaken the defenses of the less fortunate prey in order for us to sustain a basic quality of life. The Underground took away the right to have children and progenies. The Underground took away the rights for vampires to feed and kill until we slowly began to die off. What more do you have to fear?”
“What are you?”
“A man who owns the largest institution in the Underground. My source of food is you. My source of income is them…and my way of life is this…”
I cracked a small smile. Smart ass. Even while he’s being questioned in his worst state, he was a smartass.
“So what is Maggie Grey?”
He refused to answer. The judge leaned to the side at his council as they began to whisper amongst themselves once more.
“Do you realize how damaging it is to mislead an entire generation of people with lies in order to strike fear in them?” The judge asked.
Marvin slowly rolled his neck from side to side, uncaring of it all as he looked up at the ceiling.
His fangs pulled down from his gums, silently hissing at the bright ceiling before closing his eyes as he lowered his head. “You lied in order to–––”
“I created an entire economy that is made up of multiple factions with healthcare being free and education being a top priority. I created a place for us where the world above isn’t as forgiving.
We would have been hunted down…We would have been in museums, and labs had this place not exist. You all have the jobs, the homes, the food on your FUCKING TABLE!
” He shouted angrily before suddenly calming down and reeling it in.
“You have everything because of me, and you all put your trust in me because of Gaia. You’re claiming I used lies to put fear in you all in order to remain in control.
I used an old folklore, a mere rumor, in order to protect and maintain what I’ve built and to keep you safe!
Now it’s being threatened…the Underground is being threatened to…
.” He suddenly went quiet. What is he talking about?
No one said anything. It was as silent as a library as everyone took in the biggest shock of Underground history. Gaia wasn’t real. It was all a lie…The First Family was built on a lie only that wasn’t the case anymore.
“Are you the last of your siblings?”
He remained quiet as people started to shift uncomfortably in their seats.
“That is a direct question Marvin. Are you…the last of your siblings? The others died at the hands of Wilhelmina. Are you the last living relative and descendant of Gaia in your generation?”
He stared as my brows came together, confused.
He knew something. The old fuck knew something.
Marvin’s eyes glossed over the room before making eye contact with me as I gave him the slightest shake of my head.
I knew that look all too well. He was getting ready to say screw everything and fuck everybody over to save himself.
“Dr. Holmes?”
He looked back at the judges on the stand before slowly letting his head fall forward with a slow roll of his neck.
“No. I am not.”
…
I pushed the doors open and stepped out onto the court steps of the building smack in the middle of the Big City.
Bright lights, neon signs, pedestrians of all shapes and sizes in the shades of black and blacker were walking by.
The media vans and trucks were just outside waiting for some sort of announcement, but I already knew what was coming next.
“Excuse me.”
The abrupt brush of a short woman with bright orange hair like it was freshly dyed walked by when my phone suddenly caught my attention.
I swiped to answer the call and turned back around to see the woman was no longer around.
Just the media standing around the steps waiting for everyone to walk out for a chance to speak.
“Any news about your sister?” Namir asked as I looked towards the parked cars lining the streets.
“No…Not yet but soon.”