Emma Mabel
Emma kept her eyes glued to the table. Grayson had been allowed to walk her in but, like he predicted, he had to leave the room. She tapped her fingers against the table nervously. Though Emma knew in her mind she was safe, she couldn't help but be nervous. Aaron was a cop and, at this rate, the only cop she trusted was Grayson.
Yet, here she was. She hesitantly glanced up every now and then and peered around the room She noted that the room was definitely an interrogation room - since it seemed to have one way glass.
The door squeaked while opening, which caused Emma to jump. She widened her eyes slightly in surprise and watched as a woman entered the room with a soft yet sympathetic smile on her face. She made her way over to Emma and sat down across from Emma.
"Hi, Emma." The woman spoke. Emma glanced up hesitantly and watched her. Her voice was calming, which was nice. Though Emma was still scared of the woman she wasn't nearly as scared as she thought she was going to be. "My name is Hannah." She remained quiet, almost as if waiting for Emma to say something. She didn't. "I'm going to ask you a few questions - is that okay with you, Emma?"
Emma nodded her head and fiddled her thumbs together slightly. She pulled her hands off of the table and rested them on her lap. Grayson told her that they would be asking questions - specifically about Aaron. "Okay," She eventually said.
Lifting her head up, Emma did her best to act confident. She wasn't in the slightest. Though she sat up straight, her eyes flickered around nervously and her foot bounced. "We're going to take it nice and slow. If you need to take a break, that's okay." Hannah said with a nod to her head. "Why don't we start back from the very beginning. Just... tell me what you can remember."
Emma blinked her eyes and glanced down towards her lap. Thinking back - all the way to the day that Aaron took her was surprisingly not as hard as she thought it would be. Talking about it made Emma almost feel... disconnected. Like it was an experience that happened to someone else, not her. She continued staring at her lap, feeling like her eyes glazed over as she spoke.
Like Hannah wanted, Emma started from the beginning. She talked about how Aaron had snuck up while she was looking at the sky and kidnapped her. She explained that Aaron cut her hair and dyed it brown, insisting that Emma not call herself Emma Mabel anymore but Emily Matthews. In addition, she explained all of the strict rules that Aaron had in place for her. Emma backtracked and began to explain some of the punishments that he would give her if she did something wrong - like the scar on her cheek and the burn on her arm. She also explained how he had cameras placed in the basement so that every move she made was monitored. Hannah seemed interested in that, questioning if anything was recorded, to which Emma shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know.
However, though Hannah was upset by most of the things Emma had said about Aaron, she took a particular interest on the story about how Emma received the burn on her arm. "Detective Todd was in the house, yes?" Hannah questioned, doing her best to keep her face relatively neutral.
Emma nodded her head. "Yeah." She said, absentmindedly rubbing the burn on her arm. She placed ointment on it earlier this morning but the soothing effect was wearing off. "Aaron was mad because I called 911 earlier in the day and put him at risk... so Aaron burned me with the pan I cooked chicken with and decided to call Detective Todd over to make sure he stayed on his good side."
Hannah nodded her head, rubbing her hands together in thought against the table. "The 911 call... why didn't you ask for additional help, if I can ask that?"
Bouncing her foot slightly, Emma nodded her head saying that she could - though she already did. "Aaron said that... that the police already know about me being with him. That they wouldn't do anything... and I didn't want to get more hurt."
"At the hospital - you asked for Detective Todd, who is an officer. Why did you call for him?"
"Because Aaron doesn't like Grayson." Emma murmured. "He complained about Gray a lot, so I knew that Grayson had to be safe."
"And Grayson... didn't tell you to say something or persuade you into saying something different for anything. Correct?"
Emma rubbed her hands together and nodded her head. "He didn't."
Hannah watched Emma and continued. "Just to clarify... do you have any reason to believe that Aaron may have been working with someone else, such as Detective Todd?"
Scoffing slightly, Emma shook her head. "I have more reason to believe that you're working with Aaron than Grayson is," Emma murmured while crossing her arms over her chest protectively.
Hannah's eyebrows shot up slightly, likely in shock at Emma's words. She cleared her throat and tapped her finger against the table. After shifting her position while seating, Hannah decided to change subjects. "Why don't we go ahead and move on. Tell me about how you ended up in the hospital?"
Emma complied and moved on to the next topic. She rubbed her burn softly and continued to move forward with telling her story about the day she ended up in the hospital. Once she was done talking, after Hannah asked a few more questions about the situation and Detective Todd, she moved on.
"You're doing great. Just a few more questions, Emma." Hannah gave a smile and sat up again after sliding down. "Did Aaron ever mention why he did these things to you, or...?"
Emma shrugged her shoulders again. She glanced down and shook her head. "He just... always wanted me to act as his wife and call myself Emily." Emma murmured. She pressed her fingers together slightly and frowned. "Aaron always told me that he wanted the perfect Emily. That he would keep searching for the perfect Emily. As long as I listened to him and acted as how he wanted me to act I was supposed to be safe." Emma glanced down at her burned arm. "When I act out, things like this happen." Taking a slow breath, Emma continued. "Beyond that... I don't know. It was safer to not ask questions but just to listen."
Hannah frowned but nodded her head. She sat back in the chair and leaned across the table slightly. "Thank you for telling us this, Emma. I'm going to have you stay in here for just a short while. Going to speak to a few officers before returning. I'll be back in a couple of minutes." She said before stepping out of the room.
At that, Emma was alone again. She scrunched her eyebrows together and glanced down towards the table. She had talked... a lot. It felt like she talked for the longest time - but she did the best she could to be truthful and open. Grayson had told her that she wouldn't be hurt and that she was safe. She wanted to believe that - but it was difficult, frustrating, and all around confusing. Emma hated being at a constant battle between fear and safety.
Eventually, the door opened back up. Emma lifted up her head up with surprise and watched as both Hannah and Zach walked inside. "Well, I think I've asked you enough questions for the day." Hannah said as she stepped over, nodding her head towards Zach. "Zach here is going to take you back to his office. Since I've heard staying with your... legal husband, Arthur, is causing complications... we're going to try to figure out a better situation that will work for you."
Emma furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "What's wrong with staying with Grayson?" She said before she could stop the words that came out of her mouth. After she spoke, it gradually made more sense in her head. Gray likely didn't want Emma in his home. It was his living space, after all.
Zach stepped forward and took over first with a smile. "Nothing is wrong with staying with Grayson," He insisted. "We just know that having your own space would likely be the best thing at the moment. I currently have an apartment already set up for you to stay in. It will have security from our officers - at least until Aaron is caught." He explained.
Not wanting to argue, Emma pressed her lips together and merely nodded her head. Staying in an apartment, alone, being protected by officers was the last thing she wanted. She already feared all officers besides Grayson. Wonderful idea. Emma would feel more safe without any officers there at all. Perhaps she could sneak away from them - unless they were as strict in security as Aaron was.
Hannah reached into her pocket and pushed across a card with a smile. "If you ever feel uncomfortable or have anything else you would like to tell me, call anytime."
Emma took the card and stared down at it. She didn't know why having Hannah's card would do her any good. She hasn't exactly had a phone for over fifteen months... but she wasn't going to argue. "Okay." Emma spoke quietly as she held it between her fingers.
Zach stepped over to the door of the room and held it open with his foot, nodding towards the hallway. "Why don't you just follow me, Emma, and I'll take you over to my office so we can talk about your living arrangements."