A Garden of Rose and Bone

Chapter 5: Interrogation

Lyn and I approached the bench and Lili turned to us with a bright smile on her face that was only directed at me.

"Hello, dear!" She greeted me, her lilac hair blowing in the winter breeze. I attempted a smile, but I was still stressed and disoriented.

Lili's face fell as she saw right through my fake expression. My friend's eyes snapped over to Lyn, her lips forming into a thin line with ice in her eyes.

"How did it go?" she asked me tightly.

Lyn said, "It went fine."

"I wasn't talking to you," she snapped back.

I remained quiet, not wanting to answer the question with Lyn there. Sensing my feelings, she rose from the bench and walked over to me, linking her arm into mine.

"How about we walk and chat?" she suggested, with Lyn falling in step behind, but my bestie glanced at him, narrowing her eyes. "Girls only, Lynie."

He put his hands in his pockets and I thought I detected a faint eye roll from him.

"I'll see you ladies soon, then."

Lili pulled me away towards the walkway near the creek water. We moved along in silence for a few minutes, and then she said, "Tell me what happened." I felt my face pale again.

In the course of my narration of most of the incident, her features became as still as stone, but the flames in her eyes grew fiercer with each passing word.

"The whole thing just completely freaked me out. And when we made it here, he locked the doors and wouldn't let me leave." Holding onto her arm more securely, I continued, "He brought up that you two had talked about my," I hesitated, avoiding the damning word "problems."

Lili's lavender eyebrows shot up. "Oh, Rora. I wanted to make sure he wouldn't waste your time. I know that the last few guys haven't reacted the best, and I just didn't want your heart to be broken again if I could prevent it." Lili's eyes went downcast.

I looked away toward the water that flowed beneath the small bridge we were crossing. Sadness or regret in her eyes had always killed me. I never wanted her to be sorry for anything. My eyes fluttered as I processed the situation with Lyn further.

"Everything just felt so wrong. When that man was choking, it seemed like Lyn didn't care or want to help. I tried dialing 911 over and over and the call wouldn't go through." My lips quivered, and I felt breathless. "The people were acting weird too, like they didn't notice."

Once we finished crossing the bridge, Lili brought me over to the bench that was nearby and had me sit. She gently cupped my hands.

"I get that man hurt me, but I feel like Lyn's response was out of control. And then I looked over at Tom and he was in the back near the fryers, just standing there without making fries or anything. It was almost as if he was in some kind of creepy trance or something." I felt like I was rambling, but I needed to share. I shook as I attempted to finish the story.

Lili slowly looked across the water at Lyn, gritting her teeth.

"Later, while we were in the parking lot, I heard a scream from inside the restaurant. When I mentioned it to him, he claimed he hadn't heard it." I felt my throat tighten again, but I held the tears back. I don't think I could handle more sobbing today.

"When Lyn threatened that guy at the end, I got too scared and I ran out, but somehow he was already out there and I ran into him. How did he move so fast, Lili?"

Lili's eyes widened, and her expression bordered on violence. She stood up swiftly and gently helped me up.

"Lili, please don't yell at him, I don't want him to be mad at me." I looked down at my feet, wrapping my coat around my body so tightly I was almost strangling myself.