Conflict of Interest

40: Borealis

(A/N) ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This chapter contains situations that may be triggering to some individuals involving death.

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I woke up to the sound of unfamiliar laughter and complete utter darkness. My head felt heavy, like a ton of bricks was carefully balanced on my forehead the whole time I had slept. I rolled onto my side against the cool tiles of the floor and shivered slightly as I tried to push myself upright to sit. I groaned slightly as the blood rushed to my head and leaned back into the corner of whatever room I was currently in. I let out a breathe and then crawled against the wall about three feet before reaching another wall and then repeated the action feeling the outline of a door in the middle of that side.

I must be in a closet or something.

I leaned against the wall as I used every ounce of strength I had to stand up, clutching the doorknob for support. My legs felt shaky and goosebumps covered every inch of my body from the chilly stale air. I knocked firmly against the door and waited a moment hearing no disturbance in the chatter and laughter on the other side.

I knocked again louder and yelled out "Hello can anyone hear me?"

Silence was followed by footsteps and then by a click and the blinding yellow light filing in from outside the room. I held my hands over my face, shielding my eyes as someone grabbed me and pulled me out of the closet. I peeked at the man seeing one of the guys from the white room and then turned to see another who held a flash light. They led me down a short dark hall, my legs half dragging as I was pulled. They opened a door at the end, light streaming in and blinding me once more as we entered the same white room from yesterday. They roughly sat me in a metal chair, my head hanging back and my eyes falling shut as they stung from the sudden change in brightness.

"Good morning Harp." A familiar voice stated causing me to look across the table and see Aurora grinning back at me "Sorry for having to knock you out, that wasn't a very good way to welcome a guest."

I let out a groan letting my head fall to the table and then couldn't help but laugh hysterically. I weakly pushed myself back up off the table, still laughing slightly to myself as I met her gaze.

"What are you laughing about?" She questioned looking back at me

I shrugged "You don't see the humor in this?"

"Not really."

"It's hidden in the punchline somewhere." I shrugged as I struggled to keep my eyes open "So let's cut the bullshit, why don't you tell me what exactly is it you want from me?"

She smiled "I want you to help me."

"Why would I do that?" I questioned

She smirked back at me "A number of reasons, but first, I want to talk to you about something."

"Which is?" I asked grumpily

"Do you remember the night we met?" She asked with a grin

~1 Year Ago~

The cabinet door creaked open spilling light in and a voice whispered "Oh my god a survivor," they paused a second and then yelled out "Over here!"

I looked up meeting the kind brown eyes of a young man wearing a police uniform in maybe his late twenties to early thirties. He was rugged, his midnight skin covered in soot.

"Are you okay?" He asked

I nodded and he extended a hand out to me which, after a moment, I shakily took as he helped me crawl out. He stood me up and my nerves were on end as I felt so exposed and so overwhelmed as I took in the scene before me. Bodies and blood scattered the floor, the image too much as my vision blurred and I felt myself growing more and more dizzy. After that it was a blur of being escorted out and checked over before being questioned and questioned and questioned. Finally they let me sit on the bumper of the ambulance next to another girl and I let out a shaky breathe looking over at her.

She looked back, a small smile on her lips "You okay?"

I shrugged and looked down at my feet "I guess."

"They said we're the only survivors." She stated causing my heart to constrict as my head snapped up to meet her gaze

"The only?" I mumbled out

She nodded "Yeah and the shooters got away."

Shooters as in multiple?

I looked back down a tense silence settling over us as the first responders continued to handle everything around us.

"I'm Aurora by the way." The girl said extending her hand out to me

I nervously took it, shaking her hand "Harper."

~Present~

"The night of the shooting at the club." I mumbled out looking up at her "What about it?"

"Does the name Talia ring a bell?" She questioned with a twisted smile

I nodded "You know it does."

She grinned "What I want is for you help me bring in Parker West and if you do, I'll let Talia go."

"Talia is dead." I stated glaring back at her

She smirked and then laughed dryly before looking over at one of the guys and nodding.

He went into the dark hall and she turned her attention back to me "If you haven't caught on by now, things aren't always as they seem."

"There were no survivors besides us." I stated

She laughed and shook her head "God you're dense Harp, I was never a survivor. I was in on the whole thing and Talia was the target. I mean, hell, they never even found her body now did they?"

"So why kill all of those people?" I asked looking back at her

She shrugged "Witnesses complicate things but you were worth the complication."

"Why?" I questioned

She smirked "You told me everything we needed to know to get the information we wanted out of Talia without even realizing it."

"I don't understand why you even wanted Talia in the first place or how Parker is connected to all this." I stuttered out, my head burning from the raving thoughts

She let out a sigh "I really thought you were smarter than this but alright, I guess I have to break it down for you. Talia was under witness protection, the West's division to be specific, and she was never supposed to be in town that night. One of the guys that were hired through the Kummons Company convinced her that her family would be killed if she didn't meet him there. Her whole family was heavily involved in some top secret shit that went down involving Parker's family, and I mean her real family, yeah I know about that. Let's just say there are some really bad people that are really pissed off by what happened." She paused looking up at me "Including me and now you're more than on our radar too."

The door to the hall clicked then opened revealing the man from before who had a tight grip on her wrist. My eyes settled on her bruised face and I felt my breathe hitch as he dragged her over and sat her between Aurora and I.

She turned to look at me, her eyes dull for a second before lighting up as she recognized me "Harper?"

My mind blank, I stared back at her and mumbled "Talia."

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