Secretly Witch

Chapter 5: Lights, Cameras, MURDER

Alana Winters should have known she'd end up at the police station.

Like, she was literally in a police car, how could she not have guessed?

And apparently, her parents knew about this too - AND DID NOT TELL HER.

Excuse me, if your daughter is going to the police station to be questioned, could you at least let her know?

Well, Alana Winters did not know she was going to be at the police station in the next five minutes (police cars are fast) and she did NOT  know she was going to be questioned by REAL LIFE police questioner people!

Which was - again! - quite exciting, if it weren't for the fact everyone thought she attempted MURDER.

And if it weren't for the fact that almost EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. In the police station was reading that awful article that Smith Jenkins wrote.

As Alana was walked down the clean white corridor to the questioning room by the two policemen that drove her, she couldn't help noticing that almost everyone had the article Smith wrote.

Thank goodness, no one knew about her magic -  everyone thought she had just brought a bomb to school and denied her magic completely.

People were weird sometimes

"Mummy!" 

Alana looked right to see a little girl in blonde pigtails, tugging her mother's hand, the other arm's chubby fingers pointing to Alana. 

"Mummy! That's the girl on the paper!"

True enough, Alana's face was on the paper the girl's mother was reading, her picture taking up almost half the space.

The mother looked up suddenly, eyes fixed on Alana.

"Come, Wendy," the mother said urgently, hoisting her daughter over her shoulder and packing up her stuff. She eyed Alana warily. "Let's go."

As they hurried in the opposite direction, Alana couldn't help calling out, "I won't hurt you, you know! It was an ACCIDENT!"

The mother glanced back, surprised, before hurrying away.

Alana shook her head. SERIOUSLY.  HOW DID SMITH'S PAPER GET OUT SO FAST?

Probably because of his private printing company - Smith's Sundays (why was it called Sundays if they printed EVERY DAY??) - Smith had dozens of editors and writers and publishers working for him, (and all intimidated by him) so naturally, he'd be able to get away with anything.

But when people were looking at you like you were a mass killer, certainly made Alana Winters feel like she was one.

"Move." the policeman with the bushy moustache ordered Alana.

Alana walked on until they stopped at a red door. The brass sign on the door read:

'INTERROGATION ROOM'

Alana gulped. Her horror/drama/thriller series has started.

The policeman with the bushy moustache pushed the door open, revealing a dark room, with a chair and a lightbulb above it as the only furniture in the room. Which was weird, because, where was the interrogator going to sit?

The policemen ushered Alana into the room.

"Um," Alana started, she was getting a bit creeped out, like anyone would be if they were in a room with a creepy chair and a creepy lightbulb. "Mr. policeman guy? Can't you -"

Click.

Alana Winters was locked in the creepy room.

"UGH," she couldn't help saying. She accidentally hurt a boy and they gave her THIS sort of treatment?

Suddenly, she heard some sort of whirring sound, like a machine.

She glanced upwards and saw what looked like a surveillance camera pointed at her.

WHY IS THIS SO CREEPY????

"Sit on the chair," an unseen voice ordered.

Alana didn't want to sit on the creepy chair but she obeyed.

"Answer truthfully," the voice ordered. "Your name is Alana Jane Winters."

"Yes." Alana answered, trying to keep her voice steady. What should her horror movie be called? Alana was thinking. She smiled grimly. What about Lights, Cameras, MURDER? 

"You, Alana Jane Winters are 15 years old, and you study in River Brooks High School."

"Yes." Alana reviewed more horror movie names, just to distract herself.

"Your adoptive parents are Richard Winters and Susan Winters?"

"Yes." 

 "At River Brooks High School, you seriously hurt a boy named Tom Jonathan Jenkins, and left him almost dying?"

Alana opened her mouth to answer that she did NOT do that on purpose, when the lightbulb above her started to sway dangerously.

Then the room started shaking. Alana got off her chair and stood in the corner, away from the lightbulb that looked as if it'd fall any moment.

Then the roof caved in.

Alarms started blaring.

"ATTENTION! CODE PURPLE! CODE PURPLE!"

Alana coughed in the dust. What's code purple?

"Hello, kitty."

Alana's head snapped up. WHAT. WAS. THAT?? Was she dreaming?

Then in the darkness, she saw three women, dressed in black coats.

"We've come to get you, kitty."