The Eyes Of 'Rah

The Interrogation Room II

Xavier fixed his eyes intently at the young lady who could use a bath and a change of cloth, unable to see her eyes behind her spectacle, he sat across her while Officer Appleberry stood behind him.

"Miss Patrick, I hear you claimed that I assaulted you. Is that true?" Xavier knew how intimidating he appeared, and he loved staring his opponent down with his cold gaze. It upset him a little that he wasn't able to see her eyes to know how intimidated she was but judging by how she strengthened her shoulder, she clearly wasn't afraid.

"I never said you assaulted me. I only reported the person who did" she retorted.

Xavier noted by her raspy voice that she wasn't in a good fit to talk smoothly, her neck and perhaps throat needed to be attended to. Facing the officer behind him, he asked, "didn't you say she mentioned my name?"

Appleberry nodded continuously, showing more enthusiasm than necessary "yes, she did. She said the factory owner, Mr. Orsini attacked her"

Seraphine's lip thinned in irritation, "Point of correction officer, I said one of the factory owners" tilting her head to show whom she was talking to, she continued, "and why is he questioning me when you should be doing that? By the way, my attacker isn't even present and I would like to know why I am being arrested instead of him"

"Young lady, you're arrested because you lied about me attacking you and you need to get your facts right, I'm the sole owner of the factory"  Xavier snapped, irked by how confident she spoke in spewing nonsense. He waited to see the moment when she would realised the error she made.

Seraphine digested the last piece of information which put a new light to the questions of why she was arrested.

"Then, who was the vampire that attacked me?"

"If your ears were in good condition that night you would hear when he called me his cousin. Do I need to explain further who he is now?"

Certainly not pleased by his condescending manner, Seraphine spoke, "your cousin said he was one of the owners, how am I supposed to know he wasn't. Besides, shouldn't he be accountable for what he did?"

"That is none of my business, I'm here for what concern me which is your false accusation"

"Do I need to explain to you that it is not my fault but your cousin who lied?"

"Once again, I care less and I wasn't even there, how was I supposed to know if you weren't the one lying?" Feeling the urge to remove the hideous spectacle off her face.

"Why would I lie when I have nothing to gain over it?" Frustrated with where the conversation was heading, she was beyond annoyed at the stupid officer who stood at the back like a figurine, she sighed in frustration.

"Do you know the consequence your false claim could do to my reputation?" Xavier cared less what anyone thought about him, but he wanted to teach this arrogant human a lesson of confirming things before taking action.

Standing up while looking at her poor state, he spoke, "I would consider the fact that you  obviously had little or no knowledge about the ways of the world and you know so little about what is going on in the town, so I would drop the charges on two conditions and one of them is to let go of what my cousin did which you would be well compensated for"

Seraphine couldn't believe her ears, "so you want me to sweep his misdeed under the carpet, along with one other condition and if I adhere you would drop the charges even though deep down you knew everything that happened was not actually my fault?" Her heart tightened with hurt.

Xavier felt a discomfort in his chest but he disregarded it, "glad to know that I don't need to question your cognitive domain."

Looking at Appleberry who moved forward to explained again even though it wasn't necessary, "young lady, if I were in your shoes, I would be grateful to Mr. Xavier for his generous consideration. Don't you know the magnitude of your crime? Do you know the damage your claim could do to his business? I would advise you take the offer and let things go, for your sake, if you ask me."

Seraphine listened to the man who shared the same name with an odd combination of fruit while her gaze never left Mr. Xavier whose expression showed he would rather be anywhere else than there.

Xavier could see right through Officer Appleberry, he had seen his kinds so many times to know he eagerness in trying to please him was purely to gain his favour, not that he care but he could certainly use him to his advantage, "I'll give you some time to think it over."

Just when Appleberry moved the chair out of his way to allow him leave, Seraphine who felt pained about getting the short end of the stick of the system of law which she thought she could trust, darting forward to stop them from leaving, at least, until she said the mind.

"I don't need some time to think over your ridiculous condition, not when we both know who the real culprit is." Facing the officer, "don't you think you need to do better by investigating this case thoroughly in the stead of taking side?" The hands she placed on her waist twitched, itching to hit the stupid officer across his cheek, "this is a matter which concerns the wellbeing of a human, shouldn't you make an effort to find the truth about what actually happened yesternight?"

"You want to teach me how to do my job now?"

"If you aren't doing as it should, someone needs to point it out for you" she retorted.

Xavier looked at the tiny human as she stood her ground against the burly officer. He almost felt impressed as he studied her rising chest, clenched jaw and tight fist, her neck could get infected if she didn't take care of it, "Miss Patrick, you know a sane person would take care of themselves first and ensure they're in a good form, both physically and mentally before engaging in a battle?" Pointing at her neck.

As she was suddenly reminded of her wound which had been ignored for so long, she touched the neck which had become sore, "whose fault was it that I haven't been able to take care of it?" Her voice rose.

Not in the mood to prolong an issue as irrelevant as the one they were having currently, Xavier looked at the time, it was already mid afternoon and if he intended to get some things done on time he needed to get out of there.

"You might not know the way things work around here but you should be able to know how the body works. Once you ignore your wound for too long, it would be infected and you might probably lose your voice, that is if you don't lose your life first"

Seraphine knew deep down that she needed to take care of her neck and also have a long soak in the bath. The odour which had clung to her clothes needed to be washed away and her body could use a good slumber on a comfortable bed. Thankful that the scarf on her head was still intact but she cared not sniff the end of her ponytail, she was sure the remnant of a dry vomit would be in it.

Determined to look for a way to take up the case when she was feeling much better, she nodded, "all right, I would accept the condition and let things go" for now.

With no further response except a signal to Appleberry to sort things out, Xavier turned and took his leave. He had wasted so much of his time on things he could have allowed his butler handle.