Golden Snow - Bennoda

Chapter Five

Mike woke to the sound of banging on his door. He sat up in bed, seeing it was late. He hoped the noise was in his head so he could go back to sleep. He could tell his father still wasn't home or else he would've answered by now. The banging occurred again and Mike groaned, tossing out of bed. He set his now favorite blanket aside, as it was still being tightly held in his arms, and went up to the door. He opened it, being faced with two police officers.

"Michael Shinoda, may we ask you some questions about earlier today?" One of the officers asked and Mike nodded silently, knowing exactly what this was about. He stepped aside, allowing them in. "Is your father home?"

"No," Mike replied softly and they all sat down at the tiny kitchen table. The officer who hadn't spoken took out a notepad and pen.

"Alright, Michael-"

"You can call me Mike."

"Alright, Mike. I'm officer Samantha and this is officer Draven," the female officer introduced the pair by their first names. "We'd like to ask you some questions about a huge accusation and another matter that has come to our attention."

"I know what the first thing is about but what do you mean 'other matter'? I haven't been involved in anything else," Mike said, tilting his head. The officer sighed.

"We'll get to that but for now, what can you tell us about your day earlier today? Where were you, who have you been with, and if there's anyone we can talk to to verify?"

"Well... I woke up pretty early to go hang out with some friends, Brad Delson is one of them who can tell you everything about that. We went to the clearing for a while before going to Cafe Park. I left and not long after, my dad called me, you can talk to him to verify, and then I went back to the shop, where Jeff said he was closing for the day for the snow storm. He invited me over to hang out with him and Anna when she got home and I agreed. Then, Anna came home and started screaming when she saw me, saying I had raped her," Mike breathed, happy to be able to let it all out and that these officers were interested in his side of the story. "But then Jeff beat me up and I headed back to town and had Brad come take me home."

"We will have another talk with Jeff Blue and have one with your father and Brad Delson. The descriptions the girl gave of her attacker do match you but there are others who match. Tan skin, black hair, fair build, although she never mentioned the red..." Officer Samantha trailed off, looking up to his hair.

"I had colored it at the beginning of break. You can ask Brad about that too," Mike added and both officers nodded. "What about that other matter you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Have you heard about the missing boy, Chester Bennington?" She began and Mike slowly nodded his head. "He was sited earlier this morning with a blanket that belonged to you."

"How would you know?"

"It was your father who reported it," She answered and Mike felt his heart drop. He wondered why his dad didn't mention it earlier to Mike but still felt awful he was involved. He didn't want his dad to even know the boy existed. "We also found a phone not too long ago that we believe belonged to the boy and it had contacted the same number several times. It was your number. Do you have any idea where the boy is? When he called, what did he say?"

"Uh... I did get some calls from an unknown number but when I answered, there was no response. It was an empty call," Mike lied and saw it didn't settle well within either officers. They clearly didn't believe him.

"You stayed on an empty call for over ten minutes?" Officer Draven finally spoke up, raising an eyebrow. Mike shrugged.

"I thought it was my dad and he needed something. I figured I should see if it connected eventually," Mike tried to justify his lie but they still didn't seem pleased by his response.

"But for ten minutes? That's a little bit bizarre. The other call only lasted a few seconds. Could you explain that?" Draven dared him but Mike's answer was cool and collected.

"The first time I thought it was my dad trying to get ahold of me, I thought maybe his phone had died. The second time the call came in from that number, I figured someone was just messing with me and only answered to tell them not to call me again and hung up."

"How did the boy get your blanket?" Samantha asked and Mike rose, going into his bedroom. He grabbed all the blankets off his bed and came back to the table. He set down all his bedding and stared them each down individually.

"These are all my blankets. Every blanket I own and that are mine are right here. It could have been someone else's blanket," Mike said flatly and the pair of officials looked to the pile in front of them. Samantha grabbed one and looked at it.

"This is the one that matches the description," She told Mike but nodded. "If it's here than I suppose we have no leads. We apologize for all the questioning."

"It's alright, I'm just glad it was all cleared up before it got out of control," Mike smiled, pleased he beat the system. The officers rose and headed towards the door, Mike walking a bit faster to open it for them and stepping aside, allowing them to view their exit.

"We will try to figure out the deal with the Blue family, we'll be back," Samantha said and Mike nodded. The officers left and Mike sighed of relief as he closed the door. He was glad they left but he couldn't help but feel pained. They said the boy had dropped his phone. He couldn't expect another call from the blonde boy he's grown to admire within just a short day. He worried about Chester; he was alone and cold, without a phone and blanket. Mike could only hope he knew how to survive, especially with a raging storm outside the apartment building.

Mike was torn from his thoughts when his father stormed into the apartment and glared at Mike. He bit his tongue to stop him from cursing at him for telling the police about the blanket Mike gave to the boy. The two looked at each other angrily for a few minutes.

"Before you say anything, let me explain," Mike said and when his dad didn't respond, he took it as a sign to keep going. "I know what you've heard about Anna but I swear to god I didn't do anything. I was talking to you when it apparently happened! If you don't believe me, I-"

"Mike, I believe you. You're a good boy, I know you are. You wouldn't hurt anyone. But the officers caught me on my way up to the room and talked to me. That missing boy called you?"

"I don't know..."

"Mike, I'm mad because I know you're keeping things from the police. It's just like you to keep secrets! Tell me what happened!" He snapped towards the end and Mike shook his head. "That boy could be dangerous and he's contacting you! What if he was the rapist?!"

"Impossible, dad. He has blonde hair," Mike defended the boy he had only talked two twice.

"That boy is not good news, Michael, and if I find out you really are in league with him and he's the rapist, I will turn you into the police for helping protect him, got it?!" He yelled and Mike slowly nodded. His dad let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry I have to be so harsh, Mike, but you aren't giving me much other choice."

"Okay," Was all Mike could say. He knew he had nothing to worry about, there wasn't a single thought in his head that told him the boy could be the rapist, but he felt angry that his father wouldn't trust him.

"I'll be going to bed now. Sleep well," His dad said softly before retreating to his bedroom. Mike said nothing as he went to his and laid in bed. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished for this situation to disappear just like the boy had.