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“Come on. I can’t believe—”
“Five different accounts describe the same entity. You are standing here because you cannot accept what five different people are telling you, which is the only explanation for the severity of Miss Elward’s injuries. This girl couldn’t even stand and you want to somehow think she had enough strength to lift another girl in the air and slam her down like she’s in the WWE? When she can’t even see at the moment?”
“She might’ve been able to see then. Adrenaline.”
The door swung open. I heard the hiss from it, and another voice joined the conversation. “There’s video.”
I went rigid.
The guy cop swore. “You’re kidding me?”
“Counselor called in. Said she keeps a camera back there for safekeeping. Says it’s just to monitor the room because it’s used in crisis situations except she said if she has anyone back there, she makes sure they’re okay with the camera being on. If they aren’t, she turns it off. It recorded everything. And yeah, you can see what they’re saying. The girl wasn’t body-slammed to the ground. She was taken all the way and dropped, like whatever put her there just let go. Scariest shit I’ve ever seen.”
“Officer—”
“Officer Brent.”
The social worker said again, “Officer Brent, perhaps you and these other two officers can let Miss Washington rest now?”
The guy cop grumbled, “We still need her account of what the other girls did.”
“I think—”
“I’ll do it.” I wanted all of this done.
The social worker asked, “Are you sure? They can wait, now that they know there’s video footage.”
“I’ll give my account.”
I told them. When they asked who Noah was again, I shrugged. “I was calling for names. I wanted anyone to come and help.”
There was more grumbling, but they let it go.
When they left, what seemed like hours later, the social worker patted my hand softly. “Your boyfriend’s parents arrived while you were being questioned. They insisted on taking him home so he could shower and get some food, but another gentleman showed up. He’s quite insistent on seeing you. The police weren’t happy to see him.”
“Lee.”
“I believe he said that was his name, from what the nurse told me. Would you want me to go and get him? Bring him back.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Her hand curled over my arm, lingering briefly. “I wasn’t exaggerating earlier. I’ve seen too much to pretend that there’s no afterlife. People see a lot when they’re passing on. Old family members. Friends. Sometimes they get happy. Most of the time peace settles over them in the final moments. That’s always been something that reassured me. Course, maybe I’m more open to it because when I was growing up, a little girl ghost was my best friend. Sometimes I go back to my childhood home, but I can’t see her anymore. There’s an adult side of me that says I was just imagining her. For a long while, I believed that. But a few years ago, I got curious and looked up the previous owners. There she was. A picture of Sophia. She fell from a tree in the yard, died on impact, but she looked the same as my friend. How do I explain that? I can’t.” She laughed lightly, under her breath. “I’ll go and get your friend.”
Finally.
I could rest. And breathe.
It was over.
“Cole?”
I frowned. “Sabine?”
“Yeah. Hi.”
“How long have you been here? Is there anyone else here too?”
“I came in the ambulance. No one else is here.”
