The Fall

Chapter 44

Sage

Chaos. Pure, chaos descends into my bedroom. My heart's hammering in my chest. My carpet has bloodstains on it and my throat hurts, not only from the choking, but from the screams and cries raking through my body. Kneeling in my closet seemed like the safest option while everyone deals with the mess of Holden Townsend on my floor.

"Hey, Sage. The police need to get a statement from you," Nessa's voice penetrates the chaos in my head. She kneels down beside me, her arm draped over me, but keeping herself in my line of sight, blocking out the crime scene. Because Holden Townsend could very well be dead... and my boyfriend and brother could go down for murder... all my fault, the thought slips into the center of my consciousness. If I didn't call Kade, he and Kyle wouldn't be in handcuffs right now.

"Sage." Nessa nudges me, her gray eyes red from crying, but the concern on her face makes a quiet sob escape as she pulls me into her arms. "They'll be alright. Your parents are handling it, but the police need to get your side of the story." That's the part I'm scared of. What is my story? Him showing up in my bedroom and trapping me? Him threatening me with videos of all the times he and Preston raped me in Hillcrest? Yes, those things happened, but I'm most afraid my past will tarnish how hard I've worked to change.

"Help me up, please?" I rasp, my throat aching  already at the he thought of just how much talking I'll be doing. With a small smile, Nessa stands and extends her hand just as Tanner stops outside my doorway. "Marshall said he'd make this as brief as he can and they need to take photos of your injuries." I nod and sidestep him on my way out. Our house, once filled with party guests and music and laughter, is now quiet, cold and dark. My eyes land on every shadow, wondering if he brought the ick twins with him. Are they lying in wait? Ready to fulfill Holden's mission for the night?

"Miss Henderson," a voice booms as I step into the living room with a flinch. "Sorry to startle you. I'm detective Gentry with the Penhaven Police department." Eyeing the couch that had been returned from the guest house in the time we'd been sequestered upstairs while guests were leaving, I eased my aching body into the couch, my eyes lower to the floor, shame now swelling inside me. "I'll make this as quick as I can, Sage. I understand you have a current assault case going on and this incident is of no relation to that?"

With a groan, I clear my throat and shake my head. "Holden's been obsessed with me for some time, but I'm not entirely sure he was involved in my prior assault." Was he there? The last time I saw Holden before Hillcrest, he'd cornered me outside my lit class and demanded I go out with him. He was aggressive, but to any passerbys, it merely looked like a little bit of flirting.

"And tonight wasn't the first time he attacked you?" Gentry asks his green eyes pensive as they study my face. Before I could answer, I woman steps into room with a camera in her hand. "Sir, the bedroom has been completed. If it's alright I'd like to get photos of the victim's injuries." Her deep blue eyes snap over to me and I must look like shit because her eyes widen and her lips part. "I'm so sorry, Miss Henderson. I'm officer Sonya Brooks, um is it okay if I could take some photos of you while you speak with Detective Gentry?"

"O-o-okay," I croak and look over to Tanner, who's apparently been appointed by my brother and boyfriend as my bodyguard. "Water, please?" His response is a salute before he disappears, passing my mother on the way out. Her gray-blueish eyes fill with tears as she drops down beside me, pulling me into her warm embrace and I sob into my mother's arms.

"I'm okay, mom." I sniffle as I pull away and give a nod to Sonya. "I'm ready whenever you are." My back's ramrod straight as the first flash of the camera commences. Detective Gentry takes a seat on a chair action from me and I note the considerable distance between him and I, but he still has visibility of my face. Not that I have anything to hide, I remind myself.