Hoping the call went connected, I sat in my chair while clenching my black skirt with a white star pattern. Detective Knight leaned over towards me and patted my shoulder. “Don’t be scared,” she smiled, “We are just here to ask some questions.” I nodded. A knock came to the door, Detective Knight clicked his tongue and answered it. There was a male officer at the door whispering back at her, she looked back towards Detective Shao and excused herself to leave the room. Now she was out of the room, I quickly pulled out my phone and hid it underneath the desk to check if the call was connected without anyone noticing. It was connected, I can faintly hear Hali’s voice muffling at the microphone piece. I looked at Detective Shao, he was distracted with the officer that was speaking to him at the doorway. My heart was beating rapidly and my hands felt clammy. I have to calm down and analyze my surroundings and anticipate my next move. That’s what Hali taught me today. Looking around the room, for a better place to put my phone, nothing came to mind. Then, I saw the tape. I can tape my phone under the desk and grab it after. The problem is, the tape is going to make too much sound. Please Hali stay on the line!
Panicking, I saw the coffee cup on the table. I glanced back at Detective Shao, as he was still speaking to the male officer. Detective Knight has already left the room. It was just him and I, if this officer is finished talking to him I will be forced to answer his questions. This is probably the only chance I got, so I kicked the table leg beside me causing the cup to tip over the table and the brown liquid spilling everywhere.
“Shit!” Detective Shao yelped, “Oh man, thank god it wasn’t hot coffee. Sorry Juvia, can you wait here while I get something to wipe the table.” He exited the room. I waited a couple of seconds in case he tried he came back for something. Picking up the phone I put it against my ear, “Hali?” I whispered. I felt so out of breath, but I did it.
“What’s the situation?” Hali’s voice answered back.
“I’m in a separate room with the police for some questioning. I don’t feel safe here. For some reason instead of questioning me in the same room as the other students, they decided to separate me from the others. It’s almost like they want me alone with them only. I don’t know why I have a bad feeling. Since I got to the classroom they have been catching glances at me.” I frantically explained.
“Shhh, stay quiet Juvia. Do you know what their names are?” Hali calmly questioned.
“Detective Knight and Detective Shao…” I spoke, and then the last thing that Detective Shao said to me came up… How did he know my name? I never told them my name…So how did they know who I was? “Hali…I never told them my name, but they know who I am. They don’t even have computers or anything like that around them, just papers with strange emblem drawings.” I realized this as I was explaining. The emblem looked familiar, where have I seen it before?
“Juvia, stay on the line I want to listen. Listen carefully to my instructions. After the questioning, they will probably try to bring you back to the classroom. I want you to ask if you can stop by the washroom. Go in, turn on the faucet and tell me the exact location you are. Got it?” Hali ordered.
“Yes, I’ll talk to you later then but stay on the line I’m going to keep the call connected so you can hear our conversation. Just in case anything happens.” I answered. Carefully I placed the phone on the table quietly and rubbed my clammy hands on my jeans. I grabbed the tape that was behind me, ripped a couple of long strips with my teeth and taped my phone underneath the desk. Rubbing the sides of the tape, I made sure that the tape would stay on. As I lifted my fingers off the table, Detective Shao walked back into the room with a roll of paper towel. I stretched my body out on the table pretending to yawn and stretch so he didn’t notice I was taping something underneath the table.
“Sorry about that.” The detective said, as he wiped the desk. He crouched down to wipe parts that were spilled onto the floor. Shit, the phone. Quickly grabbing a piece of paper towel, I crouched down and began to wipe the spills while using my back to block the view of the phone. We wiped all the coffee spills together, after throwing them in the garbage we returned to our seats.
“Thanks for giving me a hand. So, I have some questions to ask you about yesterday’s incident. There was a terrorist attack yesterday, in the school backyard. Many students informed us that they witness you eating lunch there, and being attacked. What happened and what were you doing at that time?” Detective Shao began questioning.
Why do I feel like this man is lying? First, he knew my name before I even told him, and from remembering what happened yesterday there were no witnesses. If there was chaos, someone would have contacted the police right away. It also seems like the parents, teachers and students this morning we're hearing this for the first time. Something is not right here. I noticed he was moving his legs a lot during questioning, his facial expression looks like he felt uncomfortable.
Holding his gaze, I answered him “Yes. During lunch break yesterday I was having lunch on my own like usual. There was nothing out of the ordinary until a woman with a black trench coat appeared. She attacked me, and then I fainted. When I awoke, I was back at home.” Well, the lady from Caedenbitus. I noticed when I mentioned that woman attacked me he grunted faintly and change his leg position again.
“Your parents didn’t bother to bring you to the hospital?” Detective Shao pestered. I didn’t need to, Hali healed me.
“My Uncle Earl said he brought me to the doctor, but there weren’t any problems except that I just needed some rest. That’s why I was able to come to school the next day.” I lied. He knows something.
“Was there another woman there during the attack?” Detective Shao quickly changed the topic. He didn’t look convinced with my lie though. He was talking about Hali, he knows about her. I have to get out of here.
“No, there was no one else at the scene. I was passed out so I wasn’t even sure how I even arrived back home when I awoke.” I answered again. I glanced at the door, as I pulled my phone off from under the table.
“Well, since you were the main victim in this case, I would like you to stay here for further questioning for the rest of the day. I’ll let your teachers know about your situation.” The detective said as he stood up from his chair. When he turned around towards the door, there was a weird black ink on the right side of his collar bone.
Crap, they weren’t going to let me go back to the classroom as Hali had said. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. “Um… is it okay if I can go use the washroom. I was almost late for class, so I didn’t really get the chance to use the toilet.” I interrupted.
The detective looked down at me, opened the door and said, “Sure. Hey Knight! Come over here! Can you escort Juvia to the washroom and bring her back after for further questioning?” The tall black woman walked into the room silently, you can’t even hear her footsteps. Like a cat. I followed.
We arrived at the washroom, “Thank you, I’ll be right back”, I thanked the detective. I haven’t heard her speak much and when she does she speaks almost without opening her lips. Almost like telepathy. When she nodded, I walked into the washroom as calmly as possible. The door closed behind me. I switched the washroom light off only leaving natural light that lays in the outdoor to illuminate the room. Waiting for a couple of minutes, I flushed a nearby toilet and turned on the faucet for running water. Running to the furthest toilet stall I locked myself in and picked up my phone.
“Hello, Hali?” I whispered, “I’m located on the fifth level girl’s bathroom in the back of the school area.”
“Look outside the window is there anything outside that you can describe?” she answered. You can hear ruffling and a loud engine on her end.
I walked towards the window, students were running on the track and field. “It’s right in front of the track and field, where all the students are running laps right now. No cops in sight though.” I whispered back at her.
“Okay, I want you to come out of the window. Don’t jump down but get to the nearby pillar. Then I want you to jump down from there, only when I say jump.” She answered.
Reluctant, I walked towards the window, opened it and looked down. Oh my, I was like five stories high. Also, the ledge was only about a couple of inches wide, I could slip anytime. If I fall and crash to the ground I’d probably die. The scene of me falling to the ground head first transmitted to my mind. Now, I was even more scared than before.
Trembling in fear, I suddenly heard shuffling around the doorway. I forgot about Detective Knight. “Exercise your mind to not listen to your body, but your heart.” Those were the words Hali said to me this morning. If I don’t hurry, Detective Knight will walk in before I can escape. Without a chance to think, I pushed the window open and slowly stepped out. The window made a little creaking noise. I slowly got up and walked towards the pillar that Hali told me about. Heavily breathing as I looked down watching my footsteps, one step, two steps. Carefully sliding my feet, I glanced at the pillar. I just needed to get there so I can hold on to something.
My fingers just faintly touching the pillar, the window glass that I came from behind me shattered into pieces. A shriek sounded as the glass broke in shards, Detective Knights face poked out facing away from me. Panicking, I panted. Please don’t look this way, I wish I was invisible. I tried to flatten my body towards the wall as much as possible. Suddenly a prickling sensation overcame my body and thin membrane-covered my whole body. The thin membrane looked like water. I looked at my hands and poked my palm with my finger, it just sucked in like water. Was I invisible? Watching sharply as Detective Knight slowly turned her head towards me, I held my breath. She stared right at me for a couple of seconds, but soon after she poked her head back inside.
Sighing in relief, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and brought it to my ear. My hands went from translucent back to what it was before. “I’m at the pillar,” I reported. “Okay, hold on. I want you to count to 10 backwards. When you say zero, jump! Remember ONLY JUMP WHEN YOU COUNT TO ZERO!!! Or you will die!” she brazened.
Jump? I looked down from where I was. The same scene of me falling to my death resonated in my head over and over. Fear overcame my body tremendously. I covered my hand over my mouth to muffle my scream. Heavily breathing, Hali tried to calm me down over the phone. Another shriek rang again, this time Detective Knight knew where I was.
Still, on the phone, Hali yelled, “Calm down, Juvia. Just breathe. Count to ten, or you are going to die. Remember there are students nearby?” I looked down where my school mates were running. They looked like eighth-graders just starting their life in high school. If Detective Knight engages with me in battle now, they might get hurt. This was not something they had to suffer because of me. Gripping my phone tightly in my right hand, I took a deep breath in and stood tall. I began to count down.
Ten... Detective Knight poked her head out again. She must have heard me by now, speaking on the found and muffling my scream. I wasn’t far enough for her to not hear me.
Nine... She made eye contact with me. Her face turned into a twisted smile.
Eight...the woman began to climb out of the window with the same heavy bloodlust I felt in the classroom.
Seven... she walked towards me as fast as possible.
Six... scared I tried to climb over the pillar to hide behind it, maybe that will slow her down.
Five... Detective Knight took a deep breath in. It’s coming.
Four... She sent a piercing shriek causing me to miss my step completely.
Three... my right palm faced her as I created a barrier in mid-air. The same one that I did this morning at Hali. I didn’t want to fly away further from the ledge.
Two... because I missed my step I was falling, but my right arm caught the ledge. My fingers barely grasping.
One… it was do or die now. “To create courage, you need willpower!”
Zero! I loosened my grip on the ledge and began to plummet.
“HALI!” I cried screaming into the phone as I was airborne.
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