IUSTUS

Sarah Benner

Description

Justitia Themis is finally released from death row after eight years of trying to prove her innocence, only with the help of her sister Athena and her brother-in-law Moros, was she able to have her case reheard. Once she is free, she finds out about the unjust procedure of her trial and makes it her goal in life to prevent this from happening to others. She creates IUSTUS.

Sujets

• Thriller

Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781622877409
• Langue: English

Extrait

IUSTUS
Sarah M. Benner


First Edition Design Publishing
IUSTUS


First Edition Design Publishing
IUSTUS
Copyright ©2014 Sarah M. Benner

ISBN 978-1622-877-39-3 PRINT
ISBN 978-1622-877-40-9 EBOOK

LCCN 2014954552

October 2014

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 20217, Sarasota, FL 34276-3217
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL R I G H T S R E S E R V E D. No p a r t o f t h i s b oo k pub li ca t i o n m a y b e r e p r o du ce d, s t o r e d i n a r e t r i e v a l s y s t e m , o r t r a n s mit t e d i n a ny f o r m o r by a ny m e a ns ─ e l e c t r o n i c , m e c h a n i c a l , p h o t o - c o p y , r ec o r d i n g, or a ny o t h e r ─ e x ce pt b r i e f qu ot a t i o n i n r e v i e w s , w i t h o ut t h e p r i o r p e r mi ss i on o f t h e a u t h o r or publisher .
In honor of

Robert M. Benner
my father

and

Marlene Bahl
“Oma”
my grandmother


May you rest in peace
A special dedication

to my

amazing family

and

fabulous friends


Thank you for your love and support
IUSTUS
b y
Sarah M. Benner
Chapter 1

It has been eight years since the state of New Hampshire wrongfully convicted Justitia Themis of murder, and sentenced her to death. Eight years of her life were stolen from her. She was twenty-four years old when she was innocently convicted of the terrible crime of killing her boyfriend in cold blood. She fought for years to prove her innocence. The day has finally come that the courts release her with a simple apology, but that is not going to get her the eight years back. She has no friends left. The only people that stood by her side were her sister, Athena Arete and her brother-in-law, Moros Arete. They believed in her innocence, and fought long and hard to get her freed. Only thanks to them being her strongest advocates, and getting the case reviewed by a judge, were they able to get evidence reintroduced that was once dismissed; evidence that would have gotten Justitia cleared of all charges eight years ago. The judge granted her immediate release, and exonerated her. Justitia is finally free.
Sitting in the car next to her sister for the first time in years, feels awkward, exciting, and above all surreal. There is silence between the two. They cannot seem to find words to say to each other. They are overwhelmed with a flood of emotions. Of course, they are happy, but also angry. The sisters know that they are very lucky to have found a judge that would hear their pleas, and would be impartial to their case. Justitia sobs silently, hiding her face, as she does not want her sister, her rock, her true friend, to hear her. All these years have been taken from them. Every birthday, holiday, special occasion spent apart, has been torture. Justitia wonders. How are we ever going to make up for lost time? How do we move on after this? These thoughts anger Justitia. She has been trying to accept her fate behind bars for years, and struggled with the fact that she would eventually be facing the death chamber. Justitia spent every night crying, not out of pity, but sorrow. She spent many nights wondering how Athena would ever move on without her. The sisters lost their parents years ago, and only had each other. They are very close, and helped each other through a lot. Nothing and no one could have ever prepared them for this. Justitia knows that Athena has been very strong, as she fought every day to free her. She cannot help wondering. What would have happened once there was nothing left to do, and there were no more grounds for appeal? How would Athena live with that? Those thoughts and nightmares have taunted her for eight years, and Justitia is desperately trying to shake them off.
Justitia runs her hand through her sister’s long hair, and gets her fingers tangled. She used to do this when they watched a movie together. It would always relax Athena. She then rests her hand on her sister’s shoulder, and caresses her arm. Justitia tries to smile at her, but her face expresses the emotion of a heartbroken young woman.
Athena turns, and rubs her cheek on Justitia’s hand. “I love you, Sis. Please cheer up. We are almost home. Please, no more tears, or I am going to cry as well,” Athena requests softly.
“I am not crying. I am relieved, and trying to figure out how we move on from here. We have faced such a traumatic event, and it seemed hopeless. Here we are now, and I still cannot believe it,” Justitia replies.
“I promised you I would never give up on you, and look, I am taking you home. Sorry, that it took me such a long time to find the right people to listen to me. I really did try everything I could think of.”
Justitia then realizes what Athena had been dealing with. The blame and guilt, had she been unsuccessful in getting her released, would have destroyed her sister. Every time the court did not grant a hearing, Athena felt like a failure. The image of that breaks Justitia’s heart, and she sobs harder. She tries to compose herself, but cannot. Tears stream down her cheeks, and there is no holding them back. She tries uttering, ‘that there is nothing to be sorry for’, but she cannot speak. Whimpering sounds is all that is released from her vocal cords. She stops, and tries to breathe, but not even that calms her down. Her sister tries to comfort her, but there is nothing left for them to do, but cry together.
Athena pulls up to the house that they grew up in. After their parents passed away, they made it their home. They sit in the car, in front of their house, staring at it in silence. It looks as it did eight years ago. A beautiful two story stone house with white siding, and five elongated steps that curve, as they lead up to the front door. Beds of flowers on each sides of the steps. It is gorgeous. Justitia has not seen anything so beautiful in such a long time. It is even more breathtaking than she remembers. The front door is white, with a stained glass view port.
They each try to collect their thoughts, focusing on a better future, and all the fun they will have. As if knowing what the other is thinking, they turn to each other at the same time, and smile. At first a faint smile, and slowly it gets bigger, and unexpectedly, they start to laugh in sheer excitement. It is a truly heartfelt never-ending laugh. A laugh that indicates, ‘we have had the hardest time, but it is now behind us. We are free, we won, and we are going to have the best life now’.
They step out of the car, and walk towards the house where Moros awaits them.
“I saw you sitting in the car together for quite a while,” he says, as they enter the front door. “I was not sure if you needed a minute alone with Justitia, or if the shock of it all had made you forget how to walk.”
He steps up to Justitia, and gives her a big hug. “Good to see you without those awful bars, and your personal bodyguards. Probably should have taken those opportunities to criticize your annoying quirks when I had the chance, and would have been protected by those guards, and their sticks,” he says in a teasing tone.
“Oh Moros, leave her alone,” Athena scolds. “I am sure she has picked up some moves in prison to lay you on your buttocks with one swift motion. Plus, the hair can be fixed. As for her personality, I love her just the way she is. She must not care for you very much, which is why she has this amazing way to annoy only you.” Athena hits him on the shoulder, as she states this.
He smiles, as he winks at Justitia. “I am just messing with you, and you know you are my favorite sister-in-law; plus, I am aware that you know how to kill a man, so I will never say anything to upset you; I enjoy living.”
“Moros!” Athena shouts, and turns to Justitia to see if that upset her, but to her relief, it did not. It is the exact opposite, Justitia is laughing, since she knows that he is kidding.
Moros walks over to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of champagne. He had picked it up when Athena went to get her sister. He pulls out three glasses from the cupboard, and sets them down on the counter. “It has been a while since we have had anything to celebrate in this house. I got us a bottle of very fine bubbles,” he informs, as he pours the champagne. He hands a flute to each, and raises his glass, as he announces, “Here is a toast to, Justitia! Welcome back to society, and thank you for not getting shanked in prison. I am also glad to see that you are not socially awkward, mean, and rough to others.” He then turns to Athena, and states, “Here is to my amazing, loving, and caring wife. You never gave up hope, and still kept fighting, even when I suggested that you might want to give it a rest. For that, I am very sorry. I should have never asked that of you. It was selfish, and mean. Had she been my sister, I would have never given up either. I simply could not stand watching you get hurt anymore, whenever they dismissed your request for another trial…”
“Ok, ok, we get it,” Athena interrupts. “Here is to us, now can we please drink? My arm is about to fall off, and one more minute of this, and my bubbles will have turned flat. I cannot have my sister’s first drink be a glass of flat bubbles.”
They all smile, and sip on their still bubbly drinks, as they take in the moment.
Moros breaks the silence by asking, “Justitia, what are you going to do with all that money the State gave you? Thanks to your brief stay at the prison, we are rich now. Just remember, money is always a great way to show your brother-in-law how much you appreciate him for supporting Athena, as she went all over the place to try to get you freed.”
Justitia shrugs, as she responds, “I am not sure, honestly, I sort of want to travel everywhere to feel like I have seen the world, and have done anything I possibly can. I am trying to figure out a way to see what good can come from this. I want there to be a reason for this ho