Chapter 13: The verdict
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
Job 12:22
News of Parnaz's manipulations and attempted murder of both Zane and Hayley spread like wildfire across the college. The news eventually reached Parnaz's parents who were both horrified and ashamed to hear of this. They claimed to have had no idea of Parnaz's behavior along with the fact that she managed to fake her ID on the campus in an attempt to stalk Zane. Once Parnaz was arrested by the police, she was now deemed a monster in the eyes of both the students and the faculty due to her obsessive behavior exposing her psychopathic tendencies. Though there were some who tried to defend Parnaz by claiming that she was forced to do it or brainwashed, it was later discovered that she actually paid said defenders through bribery just so she could get a chance to avoid jailtime. Ultimately, the sociopathic woman was finally put behind bars when the evidence provided by both Hayley, Aranea, Zane along with Mikey were used in the court against her. Tasha also provided evidence against Parnaz using the very same tape recorder that she used to record Parnaz's confession of her sinister plans to blackmail Zane while attempting to murder Hayley.
As for Parnaz's injury, she was hospitalized but put under serious restriction by the police due to her unstable and dangerous personality though she was now forced to wear an eyepatch where her right eye once was. Zane and Hayley received medical treatment for their bullet wounds, which was used against Parnaz during their testimonies.
Despite Parnaz's attempts at lying her way out of getting punished, along with having the gall to try and seduce the judge into letting her off with a light sentence, the court did not approve of her methods nor were they stupid enough to actually fall for her crimes. The fact that she admitted to murdering an innocent student back in highschool along with having created a false identity so she could enter the campus grounds and stalk Zane didn't help her case at all. Of course, Parnaz was publicly denounced by both the media and the court for her actions, with her punishment being a life sentence along with receiving full expulsion from Emerald College for her actions in harming innocent lives. When Parnaz realized this, to say she freaked out over this sentence was... an understatement.
"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" she screamed out in horror as she saw her future fade away from her very eyes. As she was taken away by the police officers who were standing guard in preventing her escape, she turned to her parents who were also there to witness their daughter's sentencing. "Mommy! Daddy! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO!"
"Why should we help you?" her mother coldly replied. "After you murdered innocent people and shamed our family name in the process? I thought I raised you better than that!"
"You are no longer worthy of being called our daughter," Parnaz's father stated in an equally cold tone. "You are a disgrace to us both, not to mention a threat to society itself. The only thing you can do is accept your sentence with grace and dignity."
"NO! NONONONONONO!!! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! YOU CAN'T!" Parnaz screeched like the spoiled child she was. The judge who was presiding over the trial, shook her head over seeing the pathetic display that Parnaz was showing especially when Parnaz tried to bite and kick at the officers taking her to jail.
"Just take her away already," she stated in a professional yet cold tone while Parnaz screamed and flailed about in anger and fury.
"I'LL GET YOU! YOU'LL SEE! YOU'LL BE SORRY! YOU IDIOTS!" Parnaz screamed towards Zane and Hayley, who were present for the trial. Zane shivered when he saw the hateful and vengeful look she gave him, with Hayley placing a comforting hand on his shoulder in an attempt to ease his shivering. He glanced at her lovingly before turning back to glare at Parnaz who continued to scream and rant about how she didn't deserve to go to jail. Once she was out of their sight, the judge turned to Zane with a more gentle expression, causing Zane and Hayley to stiffen up the moment they made eye contact with her.
"Are you 2 alright?" the judge asked the 2 students who turned to each other for a moment before nodding at her.
"Yes, we are," Zane answered. "Thank you for everything."
"You are very welcome," the judge assured him. "At the same time, thank YOU for helping us finally put a stop to that deranged girls' schemes. Who knows how many people she would have continued to hurt had you and Hayley not gotten her to lower her guard and admit to everything she did."
As she said this, everyone in the court room cheered for the 2 of them with the viewers who were also watching the trial also cheering the moment Parnaz was finally convicted and put in jail for good. Zane and Hayley were overjoyed and hugged each other in relief though they didn't kiss due to Hayley not feeling ready to be THAT intimate with him yet.
They along with Mikey, Elis, Tasha and Lynne ended up going to the Crowning Café to celebrate their victory against Parnaz with Janine and Aranea also joining in as she wanted to congratulate them for succeeding in saving both Zane and Hayley. It helped that she herself offered to pay for the whole meal as a way to reward them for winning their case against Parnaz. As they were talking, Janine only had one question to ask the group.
"How were you able to expose Parnaz's true nature?" she asked. "I mean, given how she was going under cover this whole time and was able to manipulate people into turning against you within weeks, how did you manage to get the drop on her?"
"It was actually thanks to Aranea over here," Zane revealed, causing everyone to turn to Aranea who blushed at being the sudden center of attention.
"Well I didn't do it completely alone," she explained. "You see, after Mikey admitted to being a witness to Parnaz's threats against Zane the night she forced him to dump Hayley against his will, I proposed a plan to have me tell Hayley about Parnaz's plans for both her and Zane. After that, we would concoct a plan to get Parnaz to lose her cool and go after Hayley where Aranea and Tasha would be waiting for her."
"Was using Hayley as bait such a good idea?" Janine asked with worry.
"Oh don't worry, I was fine with it," Hayley assured her. "While yes, it was hard for me to believe that Zane was being stalked and only broke up with me for my own safety until Aranea and Mikey vouched for him. Even though a small part of me didn't want to believe them, I could tell just by their tone and eyes that they were being serious and it wasn't some cruel joke or flimsy lie that Zane was telling them."
"Of course I would never lie about that," Aranea said in a firm tone. "Your safety is my priority at all times. Why else would I stab someone in the eye with sewing needles?"
"Yeah I was really surprised to find out you got away with that," Mikey commented. "Shouldn't you also be in jail for literally stabbing someone's eye out?"
"No not really," Elis corrected him. "She was let go for attacking in self-defense or in this case, the defense of her loved one from a psychotic maniac who was clearly the greater of 2 evils."
"Ah makes sense."
"Anyways, the plan was for me to deliberately provoke Parnaz due to her ego being the size of a truck and make her believe that I was going to recklessly endanger Hayley's life," Zane continued.
"While she and Zane were on their date, I would then hide behind the door that led to Hayley's dorm room due to how there was enough space for me to keep myself covered once it opened," Aranea added.
"As for me, I was hiding in the closet recording Parnaz's confession with my trusty tape recorder," Tasha explained.
"Finally, once Parnaz was almost about to shoot me, Aranea would then attack her thus distracting her enough to allow me and Aranea to run out of the building," Hayley finished.
"But then how did the police show up?" Lynne asked out of curiosity, as she had no idea on what was going on until Hayley and the others let her in on their secret plan as Parnaz was arrested.
"Oh that," Zane explained. "I was able to call the police using my cellphone to inform them of what Parnaz had done to me as evidence of what she had been doing to me. While the girls were at the dorm distracting and laying the trap for Parnaz, Mikey and I would then explain what was going on between me and Parnaz and how she was on her way to kill Hayley. Thankfully, the police were willing to listen to us when they saw the bullet wound on my leg. It helped that they weren't too far away when it came to rescuing us."
"Thank God for that," Lynne replied. "Still, I can't believe I wasn't let in on the secret plan. I could have helped too!"
"Same here," Janine added. "If you had told me about what Parnaz was doing to you, I would have gladly stepped in to stop her."
"Sorry guys," Zane said in a sheepish tone. "I didn't want to drag in any more people than needed for the plan, especially since she did threaten to kill everyone that I loved as a way to keep me under her control. Not to mention, there was the whole 'threatening to kill Hayley should I tell anyone' situation."
"Right," Janine responded. "But you still told Aranea though."
"Oh that," Aranea said in an embarrassed tone. "I.... uh... may have threatened Zane himself when I found out that he dumped Hayley and broke her heart."
"ARANEA!" Hayley shouted in shock and anger.
"I'm sorry! I thought he was one of those callous heartbreakers you know. Just like.... you know who."
This made Hayley become shocked for a moment before turning her head away in shame. Zane along with Lynne and Tasha looked upon her with sympathy as they immediately knew who Aranea was talking about. The others however were confused as they had no idea as to what Aranea was talking about though they did look concerned when they saw Hayley feeling sad over her words. Despite this, Hayley did not wish to ruin their meal and clapped her hands as a way to stay focused and not let anyone else down.
"Anyways," Hayley declared in a happy tone. "Now that Parnaz is out of our hair, we can finally celebrate and continue living normally again!"
Everyone cheered before proceeding to eat lunch together in celebration. Hayley and Zane looked at each other happily while they ate as they still had feelings for each other and were very much willing to get back together again now that Parnaz was gone.
But just when things would go well for everyone after all, a certain phone call would end up ruining all of that...
As the group was about to finish lunch, Hayley heard a ringing sound coming from her phone and picked it up only to be scared by who was on the other end.
"Hayley! Where are you?!" the voice called out in a tone that was both angry and worried.
"Oh uh hi mom," Hayley said in a meek tone. "I.. uh... I'm at the Crowning Café right now with my friends. Why do you ask?"
"I just received word of you being on the news along with having been involved with a boy! Care to explain why?!" her mother asked her in a sharp tone, causing Hayley to become scared.
"Well, I... uh...." Hayley mumbled in fear, making the others worried for her.
"Never mind that, I'm coming over there right now!" her mother shouted, causing Hayley to panic.
"Wait right now?!" she shouted in shock and fear.
"YES RIGHT NOW!" her mother responded as she hung up on her.
Hayley put her phone down while staring at the ground with wide eyes displaying nothing but fear and panic. The others could only look on in worry and concern, with Zane being especially concerned for her. He placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her but it didn't seem to work as she started breathing heavily over her mother's words.
"Hayley?" Zane asked in a nervous tone. "You okay?"
"No I'm not okay," Hayley replied in a tone full of fear. "She's gonna kill me. SHE'S GONNA KILL ME!"