Halapatov

Chapter Sixteen

Sophie and I sat in a locked room in the peacekeeper's station for a few hours, and then some more, as we got questioned and examined and reprimanded and put through their processing.

They weren't very impressed with us, to say the least, but the disappearance of all the ghosts seemed to have given Sophie a pardon from her earlier resisting of arrest. More than that, I suppose, they could see the state she was in... that we both were in.

We'd knelt silently, shaking, in the corner following our detainment as the Halapatovian authorities who had turned up combed the basement, and others examined Riowyn's now cold body. We'd followed as they carried her out, and an ambulance arrived, at which she was loaded onto a stretcher and covered as medics cast each other furtively concerned looks. We'd witnessed Riowyn's possessions, her bag and her devices and her files, confiscated and placed into evidence capsules, and officers discussed what had happened, and how she had died, of pure exhaustion from the effort of using her powers to simultaneously close the connection to the ghost dimension and release Sophie and I from their grip.

I couldn't believe I had been so reckless and stupid, in letting my friends go there. I knew, in hindsight, that we had all been affected by whatever those apparitions had been doing, and that absolved us of some blame in rushing foolishly into the fray and getting Riowyn killed trying to save us. But it didn't redeem us entirely, and as I spiralled down into self-hatred and despair I could feel Sophie spiralling even further down by my side. Of course she felt the most to blame. Even without everything else she'd been going through, and past trauma she had been reliving, she was the one who had been taken in by the ghosts, causing the chain reaction of me following her and Riowyn literally sacrificing her for our sake. I for one didn't blame Sophie in the least. I knew that she had been trapped in her own mind, and suffering, and in the midst of that the ghosts had offered her relief from that. I can't imagine who could have resisted that. I wished I could do something to get Sophie to not be so hard on herself. I was struggling with the death of my friend; Sophie was drowning.

We'd only known Riowyn a few days and yet I felt like I knew her very well. From the sound of things, we had been her only friends. She'd been an intelligent and thorough researcher, a great choice for a reporter, and she'd dedicated herself to the mystery of the ghosts, making her death terribly ironic. She had been compassionate and strong and she'd given her life without a thought for two people she barely knew. Tears leaked from my tear ducts as Sophie and I still sat, shaken, in our cell, and I turned, reaching out to comfort her, and receive comfort in return. Sophie didn't even seem to notice my arm around her, eyes glazed, lost deep within a well of thoughts. She was gone. I didn't know how to react to any of this. I'd lost two friends to the same event, in a way. I didn't know how I was going to recover, so what on earth could Sophie be experiencing.

"Sophie..." I murmured her name and as her unresponsive stupor continued, I broke down, sobbing into her shoulder.

Who knows how long later, one of the officers who had been involved in questioning us came in, returned what had been taken from us, informed us that Riowyn's family had been informed and would be travelling here to collect her with all her worldly possessions, let us know that from all the data they'd gathered it would seem that whatever plane the ghosts were contacting us from was blocked off now, and telling us that we would be let go, but that a report had been written up and the government would be keeping an eye on us. I figured we could've fared a lot worse, so I thanked them with what mind I had left and let them lead Sophie and me out of the building. My eyes lingered on the door that I knew Riowyn's body was behind and on her tray of stuff on the desk nearby, and I shut them tight, trying to push the thoughts away. Was it better to give in to the grief I felt or to go numb? I didn't really know, I don't think we get a choice in the matter anyway.