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onaipwolf

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“Please tell us what happened on the night of March 29^th Kasey Holt. Remember to speak clearly so the camera can pick up what you say.”

Kasey looked over at the face of the police officer sitting across from her in the interrogation room. He sat next to a camera set up on a tripod, the light blinking red. He didn’t seem like an unreasonable man. His face was placid, neither smiling nor frowning. He had dark brown eyes, which looked at her with restrained interest, and black hair, cut short. He struck her as rather handsome, sitting there in the subdued lighting. Detective Timothy Bray. She mulled his name in her mind. It was a good name. Strong. Under different circumstances, she might have even liked him. He noticed her long pause in responding and prompted her to speak.

“You can start whenever you’re ready.”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing the memories of that night to resurface. They danced across her eyelids like a picture film; she only had to find the proper words to describe them. “I was doing my homework in my room. It was getting late and I felt tired, but I had a big test in chemistry the next day, and I wanted to do well on it. My parents were already asleep. I was starting to get drowsy while I worked at my desk, so I decided to go get a glass of water from the kitchen. The water was ice cold in the glass. I used the nice crystal ones. We weren’t allowed to use them, but I did anyway. I liked watching the water condense and drip down into the etched shapes on the sides.”

She smiled as she savored the memory of the translucent water, pure, dripping down the glass. But the scene continued to play in her mind. The pictures began to speed up, and she almost felt like she was there again, remembering the events more clearly as she continued. “I see a shadow move in the door to the kitchen. I’m scared. I grip my glass in my hand, feeling tense. The shadow moves again and I realize that it’s a man. I don’t know who it is. He moves towards me. He grins. He has something in his hand and reaches out a hand. I’m so scared, I can hardly breathe. Oh, God, not again--” 

Kasey stopped abruptly. She opened her eyes and looked once again at the police man. Apologetically, she looked at Bray and confessed. “But that’s about all I remember, besides…well… besides going into my parent’s room and seeing them…lying there…” She grimaced, as the image of her parent’s bed flashed across her memory. “Then I must have fainted because the next thing I know, it’s been two days and I’m in a hospital bed. I wish I could be more helpful.”

“Do you remember anything about the man that you saw in the kitchen? Height, facial features, distinguishing characteristics, clothing, anything will help in our investigation.” Bray had a legal pad placed on the table and a pen in his left hand, poised above the paper, ready to write. He looked intently at her. She could see the questions behind the gaze.

“Um, not really. He was taller than me by at least a foot.”

“So about 6’5”-6’6”?” He prompted.

“Yeah, I’d say so. His clothes were all black. The shirt was long sleeved, and he had black gloves.” Kasey furrowed her brow, trying to see the details. Then the picture changed. “No wait, he was in white. A white night shirt and drawstring pants.”

With a sigh, Bray drew a line through what he had just written and wrote down her second description. “I know this must be very difficult for you, but do you remember anything else, either about the night or the man?”

She paused, thinking. “No. No, I wish I could help you more. I just don’t know.” She put her head down, her eyes staring vacantly at a spot on the floor. She felt strange. “It’s just been so difficult you know. They were my parents. I loved them so much. And now they’re gone. Two weeks. It doesn’t seem like a very long time, you know. And yet, it’s been forever.”

Her last sentence faded into the growing silence of the room. Then she spoke again, this time with a certain air of cheerfulness in it. It was forced, but Bray didn’t seem to notice. “Is it ok if I go now? I mean this is all you needed me for, right?”

Bray, paused, surprised at her apparent abrupt change in character, and then agreed, standing to his feet. “Yeah. Officer Niels will have you fill out some paperwork, and then you will go with Gail Mathers, your caseworker, to your new foster home.”

Kasey stood up as well and Bray led her out into the hallway, shutting the door closed behind them. A woman in uniform walked up to them, her steps sure. Kasey thought her hair looked atrocious. It was swept up into a tight bun in the back, which gave her face a pinched look. She was about as tall as Kasey, but she looked taller because she was a bigger build, her muscled arms hanging freely at her sides. Something about the woman made Kasey uneasy.

“Hi. I guess you’re Kasey.” She grasped Kasey’s hand and shook it firmly. Kasey’s hand remained limp. She regarded her silently.

Bray jumped in, trying to reduce the awkwardness of the situation. “Yeah, this is her. I just told her you’d be taking her to do paperwork, and then to meet with Mrs. Mathers.”

“That’s right.” Niels paused, a smile plastered to her face. Aware of her aloofness, she placed a hand on Kasey’s shoulder and tried to reassure her. “It’s ok, Kasey. Just come this way.”

Kasey flinched at the touch, an image of darkness flashing before her eyes for just a moment.

Kasey followed just slightly behind Niels. As they walked, Niels began asking her conversationally where she went to school, how it was going, and so on. Kasey, who didn’t feel like talking anymore, answered her comments and questions with simplistic answers. Despite her calm exterior, panic began to grow in her chest, as she thought of her new foster home. Before now she had been in the hospital recovering from her injuries, and had been cloistered off from most of the world. The hospital had done well in keeping any unwanted visitors from coming in; but now she would be forced back into reality.

Trepidation began to gnaw at her as she sat down at Niels’ desk to fill out the necessary paperwork. Writing down perfunctory details such as her name, and birth date, helped to calm her nerves. She blocked from her mind, the worries that had begun to come crashing so unwelcome into her thoughts, and they began to dissipate. She filled out each line with precision, only pausing to briefly ask a question now and then from Niels. Right now it didn’t matter that nothing made sense in her life, or that she seemed to be missing parts of her memory. All that mattered was here and now, and for today, that was enough.

Detective Bray walked down the hall from the interrogation room, thoughts filling his mind. The Holt girl seemed peculiar to him. Something was wrong. The whole time she recalled the incident, she had kept her eyes closed, but she seemed to be watching something. He was no psychologist, but it was obvious something so disturbing had happened to her that she had blocked it from her memory. He reached his office, sat down at his mahogany desk, and began organizing his notes with the initial police reports. This had to be the most unique case he had ever worked on. Well, at least the most gruesome anyway. Spreading the folders across the face of his desk, he settled in for a long night of work.

The scene faded, but the memory of it remained. What did it mean? Who was the girl? And the man, who was he? Both seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place exactly who they were. Still feeling shaken, she sank back down under her covers. She’d wait until morning’s light to clean up the mess. She closed her eyes and wished for blissful sleep. It was a long time in coming. Dark thoughts clung to her, preventing sleep. Finally, as the first hint of light shone in the east, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

NOTE: This is just the next part. I have more to come. I'm currently trying to figure out where I want the story to go next. Any ideas, or suggestions on how I can make what I've written better would be greatly appreciated.