The Secrets We Keep

The Fifteenth Chapter

Christopher

After the cops arrived, they cordoned off the scene of the crime and showed us back into the school. Mr. Johnson, the only teacher on the premises is the one who watches over us as the cops start taking our statements one after the other. 

"And did you see anything when you were upstairs?" Who I've just realized is Hayden's father asks me. He's staring down at me with an expressionless face, his pen poised on his notebook. I briefly wonder if his children have told him about me before I answer. 

"I didn't see anything. All the classrooms upstairs were locked and before I could even check the office, I heard Hayden. She was screaming for help and I panicked and headed straight downstairs."

I'd left her there, locked on that side of the school. I swallow as the thought hits me again. What if whoever shoved the girl out the window had seen Hayden and was worried if she'd seen something?

"And when you went back downstairs, what happened?" He asks, scribbling something down. 

I swallow, trying to reorder my thoughts. Everything seems to have happened all at once. "I ran into Damien downstairs. Before I went upstairs, I'd closed the security gate in the cafeteria but it was wide open then. When Damien saw me, he asked where Hayden was and if I'd heard her scream. We then heard someone talking and when we followed the voice, we found her with Nathan on the phone with nine-one-one."

"So, just to clarify, when you were upstairs, you saw nothing that could explain why the girl fell out of the window? There was no other person upstairs with you?"

I try to wrack my brain for an answer. The thing is, there was something. As I was heading upstairs, I'm sure I heard something. Maybe the scuffing of shoes on the floor. And maybe I'd seen something. The shadow of someone on a wall. But that shadow had been warped, thin, and long. If he had to ask me who that shadow was, whether it was male or female, I wouldn't know. It was just something I'd felt more than seen. The presence of someone rather than an actual human being. 

"I'm not sure..." I swallow and look over his shoulder to where Hayden is sitting in one of the chairs lining the hall. She looks small for once. Everything that makes her seem larger than life is muted as she curls in on herself in that chair. Before we headed in, Nathan had taken off his sweatshirt to give her. She was shaking so badly that none of us knew if her reaction was from shock or the cold of the day. She isn't shaking anymore but her body is swamped in Nathan's too big sweatshirt. 

Hayden's father follows my gaze and his eyes narrow when he sees I'm staring at his daughter. The man is the captain of the police force. He should be too important or too busy to be called onto a crime scene like this. But I guess after hearing it was his kids here, he came straight over to get to the bottom of this himself. 

A younger female cop stands behind him. She clears her throat after a moment of silence. "Captain Andrews, perhaps I can continue to take statements while you check in with your children." 

His eyes clear and he straightens up his posture. "Thank you, Reyes, that's a good idea," he says and lets her take over. I watch as he crosses the floor to where Hayden is. He collapses into the chair next to her. He doesn't say anything and after a moment, she wordlessly leans into him and rests her head on his shoulder. He brings up his hand and starts gently stroking the hair back from her face. 

"I think there might've been someone upstairs," I tell Reyes, my eyes unable to leave the scene in front of me. "But I'm not sure if what I heard was real or if my mind was playing tricks on me." 

"What did you see?" The female detective asks, taking out her own pen and notebook. Her face is slightly warmer than the oldest Andrews and when I look at her, I see she's smiling at me slightly, like she wants me to feel at ease.