The Wrong Sister

Jozef Macneil

The chair was uncomfortable. Worse were the pictures. 

So much blood. 

My eyes hurt, but they couldn't close. 

"Ma'am?" The policeman jolted me from my dissociation, "Can you see anything unusual? Anything taken?" 

"You mean aside from the bodies of my parents?"

"Calm down."

"Both of my parents are in comas and my sister has been kidnapped. How exactly do you expect me to calm down!" 

The smaller of the two policemen said, "Ma'am I understand this is difficult for you, but we need you input."

I blinked the tears out of my eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. This is a lot. I don't know. There is stuff everywhere. I can't tell." 

They glanced at each other, "Where were you when this was happening?"

My head pulsed, "I was in the forest near the house. I was with Gabriel. Or maybe we were still at the bar. I don't know. I just came in and there they were." 

"I see... do you know anyone who calls you," He glanced at a paper, "little Mouse?" 

The door to banged against the wall as Gabriel barged in. 

"That's enough."

"What did you say?" I gasped shoving Gabriels hands away as he tried to pull me out of my seat. 

"Stop it Artemis. She's had enough for today." He glared at the policemen. 

Their heads lowered in obedience. 

"Wait! Little mouse?" Gabe got his arms around me and had started pulling me out of the room. I kicked at his legs frantically, "His name is Jozef Macneil!" 

Gabriel let me go. I ran back to the table, "Where did you see, little mouse?" 

The policemen stayed quiet, but they glanced at Gabe. 

"We found a note." The voice was Gabriel's, "It seemed to be addressed to you. It called you little mouse." 

"Let me see it." 

Gabriel's gaze was intense as he watched me. The silence was oppressive. 

"Now. The note was to me. Let me see it." 

"Who is Jozef Macneil?" he asked. 

"He was my kidnapper." 

Gabriel turned to the police, "Get out." 

There was no hesitation in their steps as they left. 

"Surely they should be here for this? Don't they need to know this." 

"I'll tell them what they need to know later."

Gabriel made his way to one of the seats vacated by the policemen. 

"Now tell me everything." 

"We were friends in high school. Just before I went to university we kissed." I sighed and put my head in my hands, "It was a mistake. We spoke about it. I thought we were on the same page, but he thought I just didn't want our relationship to start as I left for uni." 

Gabriel's eyes were dark. 

I couldn't bring myself to maintain eye contact. He was so intense, and I was so ashamed. 

"When I came back after the first semester with a boyfriend he wasn't exactly thrilled. He invited me to stay at his house. I used to do that all the time when we were in high school, so it wasn't unusual. He had organized this massive date. He told me that he would treat me better than my boyfriend - Juan - could."

His eyes so bright. Rose petals covering the floor. He was so proud of his grand gesture. "You see little mouse."

"I told him that I didn't feel that way about him and that all I wanted from him was friendship. He flew off the handle. He tied me up and up me in the trunk of his car."

His face screwed up in fury. His fist jutted out so fast. So dark. My hands tied behind my back. My shoulders straining. 

My throat felt tight. My mouth was dry. I winced trying to swallow. 

"He drove me to an abandoned house. He left me hanging, by my arms, from the ceiling."

 The chains clinking softly. His stare, so harsh I could feel it on my skin. "This can all end well, little mouse. Just say you're mine." 

I sniffed softly. 

"Sorry," I cleared my throat, "anyway. He disappeared for 2 days and when he came back, he said that everything was sorted. No one would stand in the way of our love."

The blood on his clothes. His sharp smile. His breath on my face. His hands on my skin. His tongue on my cheek. His smell, copper and sweat. "My little mouse."

I shuddered. 

 "Are you okay, Artemis?" Gabriel's voice brought me back. 

I cleared my throat, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just, I just need a second." My throat closed. 

My hand was around my neck trying ineffectually to open my windpipe. 

Arms went around my body. 

"You don't have to keep going. It's okay. You can tell me another time." 

"No! You need all the information, so we can find Chloe." I was getting hysterical. 

"Not right now. You aren't okay, Artemis." 

"I'm fine. We need to find Chloe. He had killed Juan. He left his body on the floor below me when I told him he was insane."

My arms where so sore. My whole back was spasming. He was dead. He was at my feet. I stepped up. The cold flesh on my bare feet. Jozef's grin as I did. "What a smart little mouse you are." 

"How did you get out?" Gabe's voice was soft as if I would shatter at anything louder. 

"A homeless man came looking for shelter while Jozef was away. He managed to make his way to the police." 

"Jozef is supposed to be in jail. They caught him," I took a deep breath, "with me in the house. And then we moved. I haven't seen him since then. Well, I thought I saw him last night watching me from the bathroom window."

Gabrial growled gruffly, "What? Why didn't you say anything?" 

"Remember what happened last time I thought something happened? I caused all that shit for nothing. It probably wasn't even him. I just saw his hair." Gabriel looked strained. "Besides it's a trauma thing. I think he's watching me a lot of the time." 

"How do you think he got out?"

"I have no idea. I mean he was really strong, but one would assume there are policies in place for insanely strong prisoners." 

Gabriel let out a short guttural sound, "I need an example. Was he win an arm-wrestling contest with you - strong, or was he, topple a beech tree - strong?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but I promise this happened before the accident. When I rejected him on the date, he did punch down a cement wall? Is that what you're looking for?" I asked.

"Yup. That's exactly what I was looking for." He stood, "Come on we can get out of here now."