Instead of going to my unwanted birthday party, I spent the evening at the nearest police station, along with my boss who came in sweating like a pig. But after confirming a suspect had been arrested and no money was stolen, Mr. Boswel calmed down.

He was even somewhat sympathetic about the situation (who would’ve thought), and only clumsily asked me if I was okay rather than getting mad like he usually did. I guess lots of that had to do with the fact nothing was taken.

The bushy-browed police officer who took my statement was nice too, even if he did ask me to repeat myself like a broken radio. He was currently squinting at his computer, rapidly typing down my information.

“We are almost done, Hidde,” he then promised, turning back to me. “Could you please repeat the last part of your story one more time? The part about the other young man who was with you in the store?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, but all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in my bed. I had gotten so inexplicably sleepy during the ride to the station. I was fighting to keep my eyes open.

“He was tall and blond and about my age. Very, very pale, and he wore all denim. He somehow managed to press the alarm button unseen, knock down the man with the gun, take the gun, and then just... vanish. But I didn’t exactly search the store for him to be honest. I waited behind the counter where you found me.”

I had suddenly been left alone with a dangerous weapon and a knocked out robber for a few moments before the cops arrived, and there was honestly no way in hell I would play the hero just to get another witness.

The cops would have to find the blond man themselves. They had camera images and fingerprints left on the gun and the alarm button. They’d find him eventually.

Giving me an absent minded nod, the bushy browed officer backspaced a couple times, and typed a new line.

“So, the blond young man vanished?” he asked again.

It was about the tenth time he’d asked about ‘the blond young man’ and I was sure he thought I was just messing stuff up due to the stressful situation. Of course, a dude couldn’t just vanish in one second. He must’ve walked out the door while I wasn’t looking, that was the only explanation. I honestly tried to remember, but my brain was so foggy, so tired.

“I mean, maybe I somehow averted my eyes for longer than the split second I remember, giving him a chance to disappear,” I offered.

I completely understood why he left. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to spend three hours talking about the supermarket robbery, on my birthday for crying out loud, either.

Maybe the pale guy had a criminal record himself, given how calm he was while being held at gunpoint. Almost like he was used to it. He said something odd about this ‘being his job’ too, and making sure he wouldn’t get mentioned in the police report… And he knew about the guardian spirit medallion. That’d been so weird. How did he know? Had I imagined it? What had he meant with ‘I’ll be back?’

“Thank you, those were all my questions,” the officer said.

After he was done preparing my statement, he asked me to read it and sign it if I agreed with its contents. I tried hard to focus, but ended up taking way longer than usual because the letters danced in front of my eyes.  

I said ‘no thank you’ to being kept in the loop regarding what would happen with the case or the robber. I also said no to the offer of free psychological help for victims, no to more coffee, and no to needing someone to stay with me as I waited for my parents to come pick me up at the police station.

A police woman stayed near me anyway, keeping a caring ‘subtle’ close eye on me.

“You look really tired,” she said, her voice and expression sympathetic. “It’s alright if you take a nap while you wait. All the adrenaline, the fight or flight reaction, now left your body. It’s completely normal to feel drained and sleepy. ”

“No, that’s okay, thank you,” I politely declined.

I wasn’t sure if this was just adrenaline leaving my body. I knew what fatigue after being stressed felt like. I had the privilege of experiencing it after every test week at school, and this wasn’t like that. No, it was more like I had trained a muscle I hadn’t known existed before today. Like tapping and exhausting a different energy source than usual. I couldn’t really explain it.

Finally giving in, I allowed my eyes to fall shut, slumping in the chair the policewoman had planted me on while I waited.