30 Day Writing Prompts

6

6. Killing someone gives you all the time they had left

Shivers run down my spine as Eric leads me into an interrogation room. A soft grey blanket is wrapped around me, however, I'm still cold. It's unnaturally freezing in here, as if they purposefully make it cold in order to get people to confess faster, conscious of catching some form of hypothermia. I take a seat on a plastic chair. It's uncomfortable, but better than the floor like before.

"I'm sorry that it's so cold in here, Chrissa. The faster you tell us exactly what happened, the faster I can get you out of here and to somewhere warmer," Eric tells me softly, reaching over and squeezing my hand reassuringly. "Now, tell me what happened. Start at the beginning. If you need to stop and take a breath, go ahead. If you need a drink, I'll go get you one. I'm not against you, Chrissa. I want to know what happened to you in there."

I take a shaky breath, wrapping the blanket around my form a little tighter, trying to capture some warmth.

"The beginning.." I mumble, picking at a loose thread on the hem of my t-shirt.

"The beginning. Let's start with the day you were taken. What happened?" Eric asks, clicking his pen as I draw a breath to start my story. He has a notebook as if he's an old-school officer, no video tape to record what I'm saying.

"The day I was taken... that was August 13th, right? It feels like so long ago, when really, it's only been four days since then. I was at the library, yes, the library. Getting books for a school project due tomorrow. I haven't done it yet, there's so much to do," I mutter, rambling on a little bit. Is talking about my unfinished school work the only way to cope with what happened?

"Chrissa, stay on topic please. I need to know."

Right.

"I left the library at around two in the afternoon. My sister, Leah, was supposed to be picking me up but I think she was late. I waited outside for a few minutes, but I decided to walk up the street a little to see if she was parked further up. I didn't see her car so I began walking back to the library. A man jogged up to me. I hadn't seen him before and he looked fairly normal. He was panting quite heavily and said, 'Miss, do you have a phone? I need a phone?' He began jogging in the direction I was going in anyway, so I followed him. We turned a corner into, not what was really an alleyway, but a dead-end street. I began to get wary. I remember saying 'My sister is waiting for me, I should get going. Sorry,' but the man insisted, telling me he only needed a phone for a second. I asked him why he needed my phone and he replied. 'I think my dog is ill, I was just driving through and my dog started whimpering and crying. She's used to driving with me, we travel a lot so I was worried about her. I pulled in here and she was still crying.' The sliding door of his van was open. Inside, a fairly large dog was lying on a fluffy bed. She didn't look as if there was anything wrong with her at all. 'She seems fine,' I told him, but it was too late. It all went hazy after that," I recounted, my head hurting as I tried to remember what happened after I said that. I can't remember anything!

"You're doing well, Chrissa. You're doing really well," Eric tells me in a reassuring voice. He Shiite me a small smile.

"Can you get me a drink please," I ask him politely. I think I need a few moments before I start the next part of my experience. I haven't told anyone yet. Not Leah, not my parents, not my best friends. No one. It makes sense that Eric will be the first one to know. He's the lead officer on the case and I've known him for years. It's comforting knowing that he'll be the first one to know.

He nods and leaves the room, leaving me completely alone. I take in my surroundings, acknowledging the mirror in front of me. There are people watching me behind that, right? I always thought those one-way mirrors were supposed to be something secretive that those being questioned weren't supposed to know about, and if my sister wasn't obsessed with watching crime shows on television I probably would've never known that there were people in a tiny room next door watching me through that mirror.