CHAPTER 31: WHO IS THE REAL MONSTER HERE?

In the hallway of Redboiler Prison, a woman with long brown hair walked with two guards holding her arm towards a special room in the prison.

Still wearing her prison uniform, the woman who was none other than Selene, followed the directions of the two prison guards to enter an empty room that only contained a desk, a metal chair, a camera and a laptop.

She turned around and there was another chair in the corner of the room that was not included in the camera that was currently on.

She was then seated on the metal chair with both her hands cuffed and her feet.

"Are you ready?" asked a man who had just entered the room. He was not the prison warden like the two men standing behind him, but their leader.

"Do I look good?" asked Selene, mischievously turning to Caelum who would be overseeing her second trial.

"Don’t play games. This is a serious hearing. You must answer all questions correctly," Caelum said firmly.

"Okay, I understand."

Finally, the online trial began. As Selene was considered a dangerous prisoner and she was on a remote island, everything was done remotely.

Selene could see the entire courtroom from the screen in front of her. While in the courtroom, Selene’s face was visible on the large screen on the right side of the room.

The trial began, where the prosecutor including the forensic team showed evidence of her crimes.

"Selena Blackwell, for what you have done by killing 29 people. We found some evidence in your house."

The forensic team showed several knives, a box of disposable gloves, burnt wood, a packet of soil from Selene’s backyard and a stone grinder.

The victims were visibly shocked when they saw the evidence found in Selene’s house. However, they were also confused as to why there was a sample of soil from her backyard, as well as a stone grinder.

"These knives were used to eliminate the victims, as well as cut off parts of their bodies," said the forensic team who found bloodstains on some of the knives they found.

They then went on to explain about the gloves used by Selene so that no trace of evidence would be left behind. These two items were acceptable to the families of the victims because murderers usually use sharp objects to cut their victims’ bodies.

Next, the forensic team showed some burnt pieces of wood that had a grayish-white powder attached.

"These blocks of wood were found in the fireplace of the house, which was used to burn the victims’ bones."

GASP!

They were all shocked when they heard this, not expecting that it wasn’t just the meat that she was trying to get rid of, by feeding it to wild animals. But Selene also removed the bones.

"Is that right? Not only did you try to eliminate their flesh, you also tried to eliminate their bones?" the public prosecutor asked.

"Is there any evidence for that? The white powder on the burnt wood could have been mold or perhaps termites eating it. It doesn’t mean my client burned the bones in her fireplace," said her lawyer.

However, the forensic team again explained that the white powder on the wood had been subjected to a DNA test where it was positive for human bones.

And that’s when Selene didn’t shirk at all and said that she did burn the bones of her victims in her fireplace.

"It’s true. I burned all their bones in my fireplace for almost 7 hours. Every hour I turned them over using food tongs that I usually use for cooking. And it turned out to be quite effective in making all the bones very brittle and easy to break," she replied casually.

Her answer actually sparked the anger of some of the victims’ families who did not accept the death of their family members by her.

"You monster! You even went so far as to destroy their bones, sending us their heads like some crazy psychopath!" shouted one of the victims’ families while pointing at Selene in annoyance.

"Crazy psychopath? Didn’t I save your lives?" asked Selene.

"Saved us?! You killed our family members, you sent terror by sending that head to us like it was nothing!"

The courtroom became very noisy as the victims’ families started shouting angrily at the screen where Selene was seen.

"You call me a monster? Yet you let that monster roam around you. Torturing children, aren’t they the ones who should be called monsters?" Selene asked them back.

Her question momentarily silenced everyone, but it again sparked anger and commotion from the victims’ families.

Just then, the judge started banging his gavel to stop them from making any more noise in the courtroom.

"Please calm down, this trial will not continue if you continue to shout at each other!" he said firmly.

However, it turns out that there are still families of victims who say otherwise.

"I just feel grateful and thankful for her. If it wasn’t for her, my daughter would live in fear every day and she would probably lose her life at the hands of her father," said a woman whose husband had been killed by Selene.

The middle-aged woman said that her husband was a drunkard, and whenever he was angry he would take it out on her and their daughter.

Moreover, her husband was a former thug who was big and strong. No one could stand up to him, and they didn’t dare report it to the police or they would be beaten up again.

"However, since he died in this case, my life and my daughter’s life have gotten much better. My daughter did experience a trauma, but not because of the trauma of seeing her own father’s head but because of what he had done. And surely that trauma would have been even greater if he had lived," she explained with tears flowing.

"In this court we want to show evidence of her crimes. Not to make a defense and justify what she did," said the public prosecutor.

"I know that, her actions cannot be justified. But I am grateful that because of him we have a better life."

At this, Selene smiled as she felt victorious for her crime. She knew many people out there would defend her, because torturing a child was the worst thing anyone could ever do like a monster.

And there had to be a much stronger monster to conquer the other monsters who didn’t deserve to live.

"Now you realize, who’s the real monster here?"