The Purging

Fallen Angel

CHAPTER 24

Pacing back and forth inside her vacant white cell, the girl begins to panic. It isn’t the first time she's been arrested in her life, but this situation feels different. No bars, no concrete and no visible guards, just the four simple walls surrounding her. As some small mercy, there is at least a toilet. A pane of two way glass in front of her implies that an interrogation is coming, possibly from the gigantic werewolf who crashed her party.

Yvette is not in any shape for an interrogation. The buzz from the previous night has worn off completely, to be replaced by powerful withdrawals. Shaking hands and cold sweats are not making her incarceration any easier. She hasn’t been sober in weeks, not since leaving home to come to North America. If she doesn't get a fix of something soon, hallucinations might take over.

As the minutes tick by, her state of mind becomes increasingly volatile. Isolation is giving way to intense bouts of paranoid delusion. Tapping hyper actively on the glass, she begs for attention, “Hello? Helllloooooo?!??!” Her reflection in the mirror is pallid and drawn out. Deep bags under her eyes belie the exhaustion plaguing her body. Clammy hands scratch at invisible bugs crawling everywhere. The claw wounds in her chest were treated when she arrived, but she still feels them bleeding beneath the bandages. Without sustenance, proper regeneration won't happen for days. She pleads with her invisible jailers, “Can I at least get some food, or what?”

Jean, Natsuko and Dr. Stein have been watching the twitchy succubus climb the walls and mutter to herself all night. They have been waiting patiently for the perfect moment to begin their questioning. Begging for food is a convenient opening. Natsuko asks the first question, “We'll see about getting you something to eat in a bit. State your name for the camera please.”

Yvette has heard about how the law is supposed to work in America. Proper representation might help her situation. Maybe she can get one of those 'public defenders' she's heard so much about, “Where's my lawyer?” Natsuko and Stein roll their eyes at each other. Clearly the girl didn't quite understand the severity of what she's done. There will be no lawyer. But, if warranted, there would be an executioner. Injuries sustained holding off a crazed cyborg the previous evening have Natsuko on edge. She would be more than happy to finish off the strung out succubus.

“You don't get one. There's no due process for the laundry list of crimes you committed yesterday. Not to mention the matter of what you are. State your name.” For now, it appears cooperation is an imperative. Stalling too much might result in the return of the werewolf who tore her open. Yvette will have to bide her time and perhaps find her way out later. One viable thrall is all she needs. After that, it’s just a matter of time before she’s in the wind.

“My name is Yvette Stolnyc.”

“Where are you from? South America? Italy?” Yvette is confused. The question was so pointed it's like they expect it has to be one of the two. She’s never even visited either of those places.

“No. I'm from Bratislava.” She wishes she never left home now. The west coast of America was supposed to be a land of opportunity. A zone far removed from the creatures decimating the landscape back in Eastern Europe. Yet it only took her three days of being here to get thrown in a cell miles underground.

“See how easy that was? I ask questions and you answer. What were you doing at the Omega last night?” It’s a stupid question as far as Yvette is concerned. What else does one do at a bar on a Friday?

“What the fuck did it look like? I was partying. So was everybody else before you people showed up to ruin it.” Celebrating her new life in a new town, like she did every time she moved. Not a particularly memorable party either. Yvette has done much better before. Once in Prague, she started a shaker that disrupted the whole city for two solid days. The newspapers explained that one away as a biological weapons attack that blacked out the populace. In a way, they were right.