what you don't know

story

Boom. The crash of the steel door falling shut behind me sounded like the crack of thunder. Above my head, a piercing light cut through the darkness of the little room I was in. Nervously I glanced at a dark glass front, possibly a one-way mirror, from which I was being watched. Coldness from the metal chair I was sitting on started to seep into my body. The sinister silence muffled my howling heartbeat that was about to escape my chest. Hidden from the darkness, I flinched as the door reopened, and a police officer materialised out of the shadows. He took place on the opposite side of the steel table in front of me.

"Hello Kayra Malao, I am Officer Kane, thank you for taking the time to have a little chat with me. How are you doing?", the officer asked in a friendly tone. The officer neatly placed a thick file of papers and glass of water between us.

"Good, thank you", I lied. I had to hold myself from sneering sarcastically, as if he really cared how I felt. Definitely anything but good. Kayra Malao, that was me, a tall and brown haired girl. And, how could I forget, the biggest loser in high school, after the most popular girl in school decided to make my life hell.

"That's nice to hear", Officer Kane interrupted my thoughts. "As you may have guessed, I wanted to further discuss the Cheyenne Witham murder case with you. In the last weeks, the police have made some progress regarding the investigation."

Right, the investigation. That was the reason I was here. Suddenly it felt like I was back there... Water slushed around my feet and fear was pumping through my veins. I had just wanted to get away, wanted to be somewhere else... then I felt the body and... No. I couldn't allow myself to think about that now.

Slowly I nodded, and Officer Kane continued: "However, we are in need of further evidence. Therefore, I would like you to once again tell us your side of the story."

I had told the police so often what had happened, what more did they want from me? I swallowed hard to clear my throat and tried to push down the vivid pictures of that day. "That month I had to help the school caretaker with some stuff, just helping with repairs or check out something", I began. "He thought one of the cellar rooms at school was flooded, thought a pipe was leaking, and sent me to look. Actually the whole cellar level was flooded like ankle-deep, so I wanted to go back up to tell him... but on my way back up to the stairs I..." I had to stop a moment in order to speak out the words. "I... tripped on something in the water and fell..."

I couldn't stop it, suddenly all the memories came flooding back. From somewhere I heard the constant drip of water, it was dim and only the shine of an exit light lit the corridor. As I tried to identify the object I had tripped on, pain was still cursing through me from the sudden fall. Fear filled me, when my hands touched warm skin and I realised a human body was lying on the flooded ground in a pool of blood. My hands were covered in blood that were the streams of premonition dripping from my fingers.

"Kayra?" The sound of a voice slowly seeped into my consciousness like it were miles away, startling me out of my disturbing memories. My breath was still ragged from the flashback, as I tried to return to the present. Grimly, the officer looked at me, reminding me of my expected answer.

"Yeah umm...", I tried to pick up where I left off, but every time the horrible scene came into my mind, I felt petrified. "As I said, I tripped over something on the floor and slipped in the water. There was barely any light, so I tried to figure out what had tripped me... when I realised it was a human body, I wondered what had happened... I... I checked if the person was still alive, but there was all the blood and..." My pulse was going frantic again, as my body relived the trauma. "I figured out the person needed help, so I called the ambulance. Until they came, I... just sat there... and waited..."