Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
I couldn’t help but bite my nails down to the bit as I sweated profusely in the back of the police car.
Shit.
My hands and knees were stinging, conjuring up a host of unpleasant memories from my last major dealing with the police.
Due to the fear welling in the pit of my stomach, I hardly noticed the short ride back to the police station at the town center, hardly noticed being led inside and then forced to sit next to Jack in a poorly-lit little interrogation room.
When I finally looked up to a voice commanding attention, I was happy to see that the other cop had left.
The cop standing in front of us was wider, dark haired with sideburns. He looked younger and nicer than the first though he was condescendingly raising his eyebrow at me.
“Your name?” He questioned, tapping his foot impatiently against the floorboards.
“Jenna Tiller.” I answered without hesitation.
“So, Jenna my friend Mr. Carleston seemed to have some problems with your story.”
“I don’t see why…” I frowned, putting on my best innocent face. “It was only the truth.”
“I get it. Believe me, I get it. Cops are intimidating. So here’s what I’m going to do for you. I just want to quick take some fingerprints, make sure you don’t have a criminal record. If you’re all clear, you’re free to go on your way.”
Biting my lip, I shot Jack a side glance. His expression was pained and I could see his hand curled into a tight fist in his lap.
“Sure…” I sighed in resignation as I held out my hand to the officer who quickly scanned my thumb using the small machine sitting in front of him.
This was one time when there was simply just no way out. Nothing. My mind was hopelessly empty.
After he’d finished scanning the two of us, he consulted the computer lying next to him on the desk. The light of the screen illuminated the room with its bright glow, and I watched as his face turned from open and friendly to questioning and suspicious. A deep crease formed between his brow and his eyes narrowed in confusion, his lips parted in slight awe.
“Ally. Ally Carrows?” The cop looked up from his screen again, somewhat flabbergasted.
“Yes,” I squeaked as I reached out to squeeze Jack’s hand.
“Well then…it looks like you two have some explaining to do…”
*
My wrists were chaffing, rubbing me the wrong way at each and every bump of the car.
Are we there yet?
I gritted my teeth at the way everyone in the car was set to ignore me. It was me and four armed men. They’d even taken the care to put Jack into a separate car. Assholes. This was one of the few times where I think I’d actually enjoy a bit of Jack’s conceited, raunchy sense of humor. It’d be better than the cold indifference being thrown my way.
The dead scenery passed by my eyes, making my stomach curl up uncomfortably with the memories of my trip to Black Mountain.
This time though, the air surrounding me was even more suffocating. It burned with the threat of everything that was awaiting me back on the campus.
How were they going to punish me?
I knew at this point, it wasn’t a matter of if, but of how.
I could picture myself cuddled up in a small cellar room, dark except for a tiny slit through which I received my meals- cut off from any and all human contact.
However, even a small concrete prison in the depths of the school would be better than a possible alternative.
I shuddered to think of what would happen if Mr. Berkeley got his hands on me…
Was he waiting there for me or had he moved on?
I winced as I tasted iron on my tongue and realized I’d been violently gnawing on my lip for the past couple of minutes.
Damn.
They weren’t even playing mental games with me yet, but I felt like I was slowly becoming crazy.
Funny considering I was about to reenter the home of the crazies…
I sighed, and shut my eyes, leaning my head against the back of the seat. I didn’t reopen them until I felt the jolt of the car coming to a stop.
Looking out, I noticed, we were passing slowly through the chain link fence. I took a deep breath, trying to brace myself for whatever was awaiting me.
I hadn’t seen Mr. Brighton since he came to visit me that one time in Berkeley’s office. I didn’t know whether or not it was a good thing or a bad thing that he’d sent other people to pick me up.
I kept my eyes to the concrete as I slowly walked towards the main administrative building. The converse I’d been wearing since I escaped were scuffed and battered to no end, starting to tear in places. They blended in perfectly with the downtrodden cement.
No one in the halls said a word as me and my helpers made our somber procession towards one of the offices.
The room I finally entered was one I hadn’t been in before. The walls were a dark mahogany, the carpet puke brown. The chairs were a pale, grayish blue. One of the men squeezed my shoulder, forcing me to sit down on one in the middle. My handcuffed hands ached painfully as they were squeezed into the chair.
“Hello, Ally.” I looked over my shoulder warily as I felt a pat on my back. I caught a glimpse of khaki pants and trailed my eyes upwards to find a neatly pressed, pastel-colored, striped work shirt, black tie and clean-shaven face. He had dark brown curly hair forced into submission with an overt amount of hair gel and cold, dark hardened eyes that looked at me as if I were some bug he couldn’t wait to crush under his flawlessly polished loafers.
“Daddy,” I whispered, barely daring to move my lips. My eyes widened at the look of uncontrolled anger that I could see welling up behind his eyes.
He didn’t say a word as he took a seat in one of the chairs opposite me. A few seconds later my mother entered the room and took the seat next to him, neatly crossing her ankles as she did so. Her hair was neat without a stray hair and her thin mouth was curled up in derision, her own dark eyes narrowed under her thinly arched eyebrows. She made sure her dress was properly smoothed, so that it lay flat across her lap as wrinkleless as a newborn babe.
My breath caught in my throat and even if I could have said anything, I wouldn’t have known what to say.
After what seemed an eternity of my parents staring me down, two other sets of footprints entered the room, set to fill the two remaining seats and complete the circle. Mr. Brighton grinned at me, obviously enjoying my discomfort way too much.
“Well then, why don’t we make some introductions?” Mr. Brighton flashed a smile across the room at the other person who’d entered before sending another dazzling grin to my parents. “Now Mr. and Mrs. Carrows, I know you know me and Ally, of course, but now I’d love for you to meet our own renowned psychiatrist on hand, Mr. Berkeley. He’s done some very good work with Ally since she’s come here and he’ll be sure to inform you of her progress and help all of us decide what would be the next best step for her care.
Upon hearing the mention of Mr. Berkley’s name, I was suddenly conscious of the pounding of my heart in my chest. It seemed to engulf the room as I stared at Berkeley as he walked take the seat to my right. Catching his eyes, I became transfixed by the threatening glint in his eyes and the condescending way his lips curled as he looked at me.
I gulped. So much for hoping he wouldn’t be here.
This is so short. Wayyy too short, but even so I wanted to get something up since it's been awhile. I've been super busy with all my senior stuff, but graduation is next week and I promise that during the summer I'll update at least once a week ( I promise, I'll try my best! I can do it!:))
Anyways, even though it's not the longest, or the best edited, I hope you enjoy.
All of your support is amazing, especially since I've been pretty terrible to you guys lately, with my inherent lack of timley updates.
Love you guys!
- BNW<3