The Wild Side of Us

Chapter 18 - Welcome to the Consequences

The light above me flickered. I shivered from the cold atmosphere. The Shiba Inu sitting across from me made the situation feel more dire than what it really was. He stared at me with malicious eyes, ready to tear my throat out if I attempted to make an escape. I sat in my seat, hands on my knees and eyes on the plain table in front of me. I tried to imagine myself in a different area, but I couldn't. My body was feeling too stressed.

I was taken to the police station for questioning right after Vix's attack. My mind was blank at the time they lifted me up and escorted me out of the building. I remember passing through the hallways in this building, thinking I was finally being thrown into where I belonged. But instead, they placed me in here with this dog and left with the sentence, "stay here." I don't know where Vix is, and I was dying to know. 

The room made me feel like I was going insane. Grey concrete walls and floor. I sat on one of two wooden chairs that were on opposite ends of a table that looked like it was going to break any second. My back faced the wall, the Shiba's back facing the door. It was so plain, so silent. I could hear the distant sounds of people shuffling outside the room, but there was no noise inside the one I was sitting in.

Closing my eyes and sighing, I began to wonder what will happen to me. They will interview me, ask questions about me including the private ones. What will happen afterwards irked me. Depending on my answers, I could possibly thrown into prison. I have to watch my mouth.

After a while, the door finally opened with a loud creak. The Shiba turned and looked at whoever came in, but I kept my eyes on the table. I heard unintelligible muttering; I could've listened if I chose to, but I didn't feel like it. The door closed and locked, and the chair squeaked as someone sat on it. Said person cleared their throat, and I glimpsed up.

A Tanuki sat in the seat instead of the dog. Grey appeared in his ears and wrinkles were around his eyes, but his kind smile made me believe he was younger than what his body said. He wore a shirt similar to the uniform at Delta's, except the shirt was a light grey and there was no delta symbol. A clipboard with papers clipped to it rested in his hands.

"Good afternoon," said the Tanuki, in a calm voice. "I am Red Sakai, but you can just call me Red. I will be interviewing you regarding the incident that happened at your workplace, since it is known you and the... Fox are close friends. Now, let's confirm some information. Your full name, please. Oh, wait one second." He pulled out a small white machine and placed it in the middle of the table. "This is a lie detector. If it senses you're telling a lie, it will beep loudly. If you are telling the truth, it will remain silent. Best be smart about what you'll say."

Sometimes I forget the government focused on things other than turning everyone into hybrids. Now I had no choice but to be careful with my wording.

Red asked me questions about myself, such as my full name, where I lived, and what I did at my job. He nodded and scribbled something down on the paper whenever I answered his questions. I felt like I was telling my life story whenever I answered these questions. 

"All right, now that that's over with," groaned Red, switching the papers on the clipboard, "it is now time to get to the interesting part. So, Frost, please tell me. How close are you to Vix? Let's say, on a scale of one to ten." He clicked his pen.

"Um," I stammered, unsure of what my answer should be. I stared at the lie detector.

"Take your time. And the detector won't beep if it's a guesstimate question, unless the guess is completely wrong."

"Eight."

"Why do you say that?"

"We know a lot about each other. Our relationships, what we do in our free time, what we plan to do in the future, things like that. We have no problem or fear whenever we see each other and talk to each other. There are times where we even... petted each other because we were curious about how our fur felt."