eternal flame - s. harrington

Chapter 14: The Mystery Girl

Jonathan and I were sitting at the police station. Nancy had gone to the other room to fetch some ice for Jonathan's bruised knuckles and face.

"What happened?", I turned to look at Jonathan.
– "You saw what happened.", he replied.
"Last night, I mean."
– "Nothing. It wasn't like that—"
"That's not what I'm saying, Jonathan."
– "Nancy was really shaken up. I comforted her. That's all. Nothing happened. Steve is a jerk."
"Yeah. He is."
– "What did you mean when you said he wouldn't show up to beg for forgiveness, again?"
"You heard that? Huh... It was just something I made up to embarrass him, I don't know..."
– "You're lying."
"You're handcuffed. Shush."

Nancy walked in. "Got some ice.", she said and sat down next to Jonathan. "Can I?", she asked as she held up a towel that was wrapped around a bunch of ice cubes. Jonathan nodded and Nancy pressed the towel against his cheekbone.

No one said anything. I just observed Nancy and Jonathan as the two of them stared at eachother like two little lost puppies. It was a bit awkward.

"Hey!", I heard my mom's voice and turned around to see my parents walk in. "Jonathan?, Jesus, what... What happened?" she asked.

"Ma'am—", Callahan said.
– "Why is he wearing handcuffs?", Mom asked.
"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer. That's why."
– "Take them off."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
– "Take them off!", my mother raised her voice.

"You heard her. Take 'em off.", my dad chimed in. "Chief.", Officer Powell spoke, "I get that everyone's emotional here, but there's something you should see."

My dad and the two officers went outside. I got up and peeked out the window to see what they were doing. I watched as they walked to Jonathan's car and my dad opened up the trunk. I cringed as I saw him pick up the box and taking a second to look through it's contents, before slamming the trunk shut and the three policemen headed back in.

I quickly went back to my seat to not get caught with lurking. Dad walked in, carrying the box and set it on the table. Mom immediately started looking through the box and I saw her eyes widening.

"What is this?", she asked. "Why don't you ask your son? We found it in his car.", Dad replied and Mom turned to look at Jonathan in shock. "Why are you going through my car?", my brother snapped. Dad leaned against the table, "Is that really the question you should be asking right now?" he asked, "I wanna see you in my office. All three of you."

"You won't believe us.", Jonathan said. My father raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you give me a try?", he asked.

Nancy, Jonathan and I walked into my dad's office, followed by my parents. Dad closed the door behind us. "Talk.", he said.

We spent about fifteen minutes explaining the situation, just like Nancy and Jonathan had done to me this morning. Jonathan grabbed the picture he had of the monster and handed it to Mom, who looked at the photo for a moment before handing it my dad.

"You say blood draws this thing?", Dad asked. "We don't know.", Jonathan said quietly. "It's just a theory.", Nancy added.

My mom got up. "Jonathan, Grace. Let's talk.", she said and my brother and I got up. "Joyce. Let me talk to Grace.", Dad said. Mom nodded and everyone else left the office, expect my dad and I.

I sat back down on the couch in the office and watched as my dad pressed his palm against his forehead and then dragged it to cover his mouth as he sighed. He then turned to look at me.