Beneath the Waves (WARNING: Themes of Sexual Abuse, Suicidal Themes, and Addiction)

The room was filled with thick silence and subtle whispers. Across from Henry Athens was an array of judges sitting along a long, narrow table. The judges cast somber and delicate looks while shuffling the papers before them. 

“Mr. Athens,” a woman suddenly spoke. Henry darted his eyes to find the sudden voice and saw a woman leaning slightly closer than the other judges. Her crooked nose made her glasses saunter, and her cheeks drooped compared to her other features, causing her wrinkles to expose more. “Do you understand why you are brought here today in court?”

Henry’s hands were sore from his cuffs but that didn’t stop his hands from shaking. His lips thinned, and he dared not to make eye contact. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t understand why I’m here.”

He made a slight glance at the judge and noticed her brow raise. “You don’t know why you’re sitting here?”

“No!” Henry suddenly yelled. “I don’t know what I did! I kept askin’ the officers–”

“That’s enough, Mr. Athens,” the woman sternly interrupted and faltered back into her seat. 

Henry felt his throat fry from the sudden coldness of the judge. He furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth to refrain from saying anything further. 

“Mr. Athens,” a man’s voice spoke from the other side of the table. His darkened skin illuminated his powdery, thick beard. “Upon you and your crew’s trip underwater in a submarine that was aided to you by T-Waters Local, an emergency call was notified by the team on land.”

Henry’s was throbbing from the plethora of lights exposing him. The nakedness he felt couldn’t compare to the amount of confusion he felt once he heard the statement. “I don’t understand,” he stammered.

The man cleared his throat. “Mr. Athens, your entire crew was found dead once the emergency team made their way to your submarine.”

No. That didn’t sound right. 

“No,” Henry began, “my crew was fine; I did my daily check-ups and...”

“Mr. Athens,” the man interjected, “one of the members of your crew was found with several body parts lying across the inside of the submarine.” 

Henry’s eyes swelled, and the saltiness of the tears made his vision blurry. “How is that even possible?” The dryness of his throat caused his voice to almost be in a whisper. 

The judge’s eyes darkened as he lowered his head. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out, Mr. Athens.” The man shifted his body to pull out a remote from below his desk. Henry turned to where the remote was pointing and found a projection screen to the left of the oak-paneled courtroom. The screen lit up to reveal the inside of the submarine. 

“These are photos taken before you and your crew departed into Chinese territory,” he stated, clicking continuously from photo to photo displaying the interior of the ship. He then turned to Henry. “And do you know why you were entering Chinese territory?”

Henry leaned against the panel in front of him before uttering, “To extract information regarding what the Chinese and Russian militants were exchanging underwater, sir.”

The judge slowly nodded. “Exactly, and can you tell me why the mission was unsuccessful?” 

Henry stared at the judge above him and felt his shoulders rise at the ambient glare he responded to him. “No, I’m sorry, I don’t-”

“Because you failed as co-captain of the mission, Mr. Athens,” the judge’s voice raised with assertion and solitude, and Henry could do nothing but watch. “Under your supervision, four crewmates were found dead with injuries caused by a human.”

Henry shook his head. “Wait, hold on, what are you implying?”

The shuffling of papers could be heard from next to the male judge. “It’s known that you’ve had a history of the mistreatment of alcohol, Mr. Athens,” a female judge spoke, eyeing the papers. “You’ve been in and out of rehab, yes?”

Henry solemnly nodded. 

“The emergency team found a minifridge full of alcohol, Mr. Athens,” the female judge added, lowering her papers to eye Henry. 

Henry tensed at the sudden accusation. “Now wait, hold on, I was not the one who brought in alcohol!”

“We’re not asking whether you were the one who drank alcohol, Mr. Athens,” the judge responded. “There was alcohol found in your system upon further inspection once your body was found.”

Henry shook his head. “Now just wait a minute! I was a stupid kid who did stupid things, but what I am is a man of my word; my word is that I did not have a drop of liquor during the entirety of that trip.”

“Are you inquiring that the results of alcohol being in your system are faulty?” the judge asked.

Henry felt a sudden invisible force clogging his throat. He looked down at the panel and the cuffs that entrapped him. He gulped before stating, “If that’s what I can recall, then yes.”

The judge shrugged at Henry’s sentence. “Perhaps you were too intoxicated to recall consuming alcohol, but we as the court are going based on your results; your results testify that you were intoxicated at some point during your expenditure.” 

“But that shouldn’t-”

“That shouldn’t what, Mr. Athens?” Henry was interrupted once more, but this time he was met with a world of glares. “Determine whether or not you were under the influence that you were intoxicated.”

Henry nodded hurriedly. 

When the judge's gaze dropped to the documents before her, a somber expression took hold of her. “Mr. Athens, I empathize with your situation, but the documents you willingly signed indicated that you knew the risks of the journey. Your history of rehab on top of the many penalties you faced within the company does not look good in your favor.”

Henry clenched his fist. “Those penalties were a form of miscommunication, miss, those have nothing to do with my past.” 

The judge placed the documents to her left and eyed the man in front of her intensely. “Mr. Athens, you are currently telling me–telling the court–that the rehab trips, the penalties, and the current situation you found yourself in do not make up for the responsibilities you have placed on yourself your entire life leading up to this moment.”

Henry was at a loss for words. 

“Your attempt to help yourself out of this situation only brings me to the conclusion that you lack an immense amount of self-awareness.”

Henry couldn’t say anything further. He could only look down in defeat as the court proceeded. 

The man to the right of her cleared his throat. He clicked the remote once more and displayed a grueling image. “To focus our attention back on the ship, these were the images taken after you and your crew were taken.”

Henry’s eyes were glued to the showcase of horrific images in front of him. Natalia, the ship’s mechanic, was lying on the floor with no life in her eyes. The judge clicked the remote, and a close-up of the woman was shown. A whisper of gasps was heard, and Henry felt his stomach turn. Her once blue eyes were a faint pastel, and her mouth was slightly open, exposing her teeth. Strands of hair were found in her mouth and across her eyes. Although her top dentures were missing a single tooth, the court was not concerned. Below her chin were very apparent purple bruises covering the entirety of her neck. 

Henry felt a tinge of sour erupt from his throat, but he pushed himself to swallow it back. “I don’t understand. What is this?”

“Our DNA team couldn’t find any fingerprints,” the male judge stated and clicked the remote. “Until this was found.” 

Henry looked at the screen and viewed a black glove covered in droplets of blood. 

“Do you know who’s glove that is?” the judge asked. 

Henry hesitantly shook his head. 

“Mr. Athens, that’s your glove.”

“It was a sabotage!” Henry screamed. “Those Russians planted the evidence to make it look like me, sir!” He nearly climbed over the podium as he pleaded. “Please, I’m an innocent man; I don’t know what happened!”

A loud sigh came from the far end of the table above him. Henry glanced over to see a young woman crossing her arms. “It seems you don’t fully understand the weight of what’s happening to you.” 

“But I do!” Henry cried out. “My crewmates, I practically raised them when they first joined; how can I, their co-captain, be at fault for deaths I can’t even remember?”

The judge scoffed. “Raised them? Mr. Athens, your boss—your captain—was found with a gunshot to the head in his seat.” 

Henry felt droplets of sweat drop from his forehead. “That still doesn’t answer what I said; it was the Russians, I’m telling you!”

The judges became silent. None of their faces displayed any sign of empathy for the man in front of them. 

“Alright, Mr. Athens,” the older man judge spoke, “let’s humor your theory.”

Henry quickly shut his mouth. He replied with a meekness, “Okay,” and allowed the judge to speak. 

“If it was the Russians like you said, then this is how the scene would play out: they somehow infiltrate the submarine without sounding the alarm within the main entrance and somehow make it to med-bay—where the gun is stored—and sneak past every crew member and shoot the captain—without you hearing the captain—and for some reason strangle and potentially assault the poor woman.”

“Wait, what?” Henry interrupted. “How can that be?”

The judge shuffled through the slideshows to display the gruesome scene. “Your other member, Elias, was also shot, but we are unsure at the moment of what happened to Charlie due to the mutilation of his body.” 

“Okay, and?”

“And there were signs of struggle from Ms. Natalia.”

“So whoever did this enjoyed what they were doing?” 

“I don’t know, were they, Mr. Athens?” 

Henry scoffed at the statement and rolled his eyes around the court. “Now listen, whatever happened must’ve been an accident–”

“An accident?” A woman from behind hissed. “My daughter's rape was an accident?” 

With a full-body jolt, Henry saw a courtroom full of civilians. There was a big, motion picture-style camera to his right, staring right at him. Henry shuddered at the amount of people behind him. How could he not notice when he entered? Is he actually losing his mind? People around the crying woman stared somberly at her as an officer ushered her out.

Henry looked at the judges again. “What, so you think after all these years I would suddenly go crazy and kill my crew?” 

“To be fair, Mr. Athens, it wouldn’t have been sudden,” the older woman with the crooked face spoke. “Witnesses state they have seen you act off, even before the expedition.”

“Okay, okay,” Henry huffed. “My wife and I were undergoing a divorce, alright? That doesn’t mean I wanted to kill everyone.”

A couple of judges exchanged glances at each other before settling their gaze on Henry once more. 

“Mr. Athens, we have one final question for you,” the younger judge spoke. 

Henry attempted to straighten himself up while also balancing his body along the podium. 

“What is the last thing you remember?” 

Henry froze at the question. He opened his mouth and closed it several times.

Finally, he said, “I remember me and my crew around a table; we were discussing why they had chosen us to go on Chinese territory.” He looked down at the podium, holding back tears. “Natalia, she said she always wanted to travel to China but didn’t on account of how much they woulda made fun of her.” He chuckled at the memory. “Elias said he wanted to try the seafood, and Charlie, well, he isn’t much of a talker.” 

He finally looked up at the judges. “Yeah, that’s what I remember.” 

The judges remained motionless, merely giving Henry a fierce glare without saying anything. But one judge could be heard looking at a number of documents before glaring at Henry with the dirtiest gaze he had ever seen. 

“That’s your final statement over what happened, Mr. Athens?” 

“Yes.”

“Mr. Athens, do you not understand how the emergency team found you?” 

Henry’s mind went blank. “I do not, I’m sorry.” 

She leaned over the desk, and her dirty look remained. “You were found in the corner of the med-bay, head-to-toe in blood.”

Henry stammered. “I must’ve been in shock because I don’t recall that.”

The judge continued to stare. The other judges watched inquisitively at the judge as she continued. “Mr. Athens, within T-Water Local every crew member contains a medical or past criminal record to ensure cautionary measures for anyone they have on board.”

Henry slowly nodded. 

“And do you know what those medical records contain, Mr. Athens?” she inquired. 

“I do not.”

“Allergies.”

Henry thinned his lips. His demeanor lacked any change. 

“Mr. Athens, Elias is allergic to seafood.” 

A wave of voices clamored the room and one of the judges had to slam the gavel to control the chaos. 

The judge studied Henry as his hands began shaking. “However, that’s not the only thing I have found.”

Henry furrowed his brows.

“Can you tell me, Mr. Athens, who is head of the evaluations within the crew members on board?”

Shit. 

“The co-captain.” 

As she examined the documents, the judge tapped her nail on the podium. “Mr. Athens, the evaluations are written in your handwriting. So please, let me understand something: were you stupid enough to forget something as prominent as that when you told us your response, or is there a bigger picture we haven’t painted?”

Henry glared at the judge. This was a moment he had wished he was on board that submarine. He responded with the same dirty look the judge had given him.

“You said there was only one question left.”

Another roar of voices emerged from behind him, and the judge hit the desk once more. 

“Mr. Athens.” 

Henry looked up. 

“You have very limited time; use it wisely.”

Henry looked at the audience after examining the judges. He sighed heavily.

He knew he should have said the right thing. He knew he had to tell the court that Charlie had taken advantage of the poor girl after years of friendship. Perhaps it was a one-sided crush, perhaps it was out of malice; either way, it didn’t make up for the look of despair Natalia had when she had laid there, naked on the cold floor with bruises filling her once beautiful face. Henry mutilated the boy. Henry locked the abuser in his own room and made sure he felt every ounce of pain Natalia felt. What Henry didn’t notice until later was his glove being used as a way of framing the older man

It didn’t help that the captain had only seen the dead girl’s body. There was nothing unusual about T-Waters giving titles to unqualified people, but this had gone to a whole new level. Henry recalled the captain waving the gun around between Henry and Elias. Henry tried, he really did, but he couldn’t stop the blood from pouring out of the poor boy. It was difficult, but he overpowered the captain and shot the bastard. 

Henry was very intoxicated, drowning himself in his sorrows and blood, and knew what he had to do. 

No one would have believed him, so he took the gun and raised it to his head.

‘Click.’

Nothing.

The damage was done. 

Just how unlucky could Henry be?

“I spent the better half of my years in a state of delusion and drunkenness. My coked-up mother and my absent father didn’t make up for the life I had, so I did the only thing anyone else could do and followed in their footsteps. I recall hooking up with this woman—a nice, down-to-earth chick who wanted to go to law school. I had made her breakfast that mornin’ and decided to meet up again sometime. She was good lookin’ so I did what any man would do and pinched my blindfolds to watch her leave.” Henry chuckled at the memory and teared up. “She stomped on a kitten on her way back to her car. It wasn’t my drugged-out mother and my absent father who showed me the evils a human can contain, but the pretty lady I had let into my home.”

The court sat in a very still silence.

“That image replays in my head every day; funnily enough, she was why I became sober. I applied to community college, got good grades, went into the military, and then before I knew it, I was underwater for T-Waters. You may think I’m a liar, but I did watch those kids grow. I watched them outperform their jobs better than any of those sacks of shit could bein’ in the company for twenty years.”

He looked down at the podium. “But I guess I’m here because I could never get away with who I really am as a person. As people, we’re always searching for meaning, but in the end, we’re scared to face what that could possibly mean. Shit, I mean, maybe that’s why my wife left me.”

He then gazed at the ceiling. “If you were to ask me when I was most happy, it was bein’ underwater. But even bein’ away from the surface, I was always who I was.”

The room was silent. Finally, Henry turned to the judges and said, "If you want anything more from me, the only thing I can give is an apology without any merit, because I still don’t know why the fuck I’m here."

The senior judge glanced at his colleagues before turning abruptly to Henry. 

"Mr. Athens, you have been given a life sentence without the possibility of release." The gavel slammed onto the wooden desk, and Henry felt the same wave of emotions he had felt when he killed Charlie.

He was damned from the start, really.