human // teen wolf

4. witness

Isaac hadn't come to school in a week, and when Riley visited his house, he wasn't home. She was walking down his street after unsuccessfully trying to see him when a police car drove past, stopping a few meters behind her. She stopped and took out her headphones, looking at the officer who just stepped out. He closed the door, and the car drove off. He looked at her and walked over, taking out a paper pad and pencil.

"Hi, sorry to bother you ma'am, but do you live around here?" He asked. Riley shuffled her bag around on her shoulders and shook her head.

"No, I was just here visiting a friend." She replied, and he nodded, his pencil paused on the first line of the notepad.

"May I ask, who did you see?" He asked again, and Riley frowned.

"Um, sorry, but why did you want to know?" She asked curiously. Why would he ask her these questions?

"Well, there's an investigation going on right now regarding one of these houses, and I'm wondering if you would know anything about it." He explained, and she nodded.

"Oh, okay. I went to my friend Isaac Lahey's house. I tried to see if he was home, since I haven't seen him at school. But he wasn't there." She replied, and he nodded and started to write that down. Riley tried to peek at the notepad, but he hastily angled it away from her vision.

"I would like to invite down to the station for some questioning regarding Isaac Lahey and his home life. Is that okay?" He asked. She was confused. Did Isaac tell them about his dad? But Isaac would never do that, Riley thought. Maybe he told someone else and they told the police?

"Okay, sure." She agreed, and they started to walk down the street towards Isaac's house. It was silent, the only noise coming from them was the officer's radio on his shoulder. He quickly grabbed it and mumbled into it.

"I have a possible witness here, we will be arriving at the victim's house." 

"Wait, victim? Witness? Is this about Isaac? What happened to him, is he okay?" She suddenly asked, and bombarded him with questions. She hoped Isaac was okay. What if it was too late, and his dad finally killed him? If that happened, Riley would never forgive herself. Knowing about his home life and not telling anyone, made her feel like shit.

"No, ma'am, it's fine. This is about something else. I can't reveal anything until we are back at the station and we have called your parents for permission to question you." He said calmly, holding his hand up. Riley nodded, but she still had a permanent frown across her face.

* * *

They arrived at the station, and Riley saw the sheriff in his office. He looked pretty stressed about something. The officer who came with Riley to the station knocked on his door and she walked inside, spotting Isaac sitting on the couch. He looked up at her and stood up. Her heart was pounding. He's okay.

"Isaac!" She exclaimed, and gave him a big hug. He hugged back, her heart still racing. What is going on then? Why is Isaac here? Who's the victim?

They pulled away, concern all over her face as she looked at his.

"What's happening? Are you okay? Why haven't you been at school? I was so worried, I came to your house everyday after school to see if you were there. Why are you here?" She asked, again with the snowballing questions.

"I'm fine, it's my dad." He said, and she frowned even harder.

"Um, Miss Beacon, if you could follow me into the interrogation room, I'd like to ask a few questions." The sheriff interrupted, and she nodded. He turned to the other officer. "Are her parents okay with this?"

The other officer nodded. "Yeah, they said it was okay."

Riley frowned at this piece of information - she did not recall the officer ever talking on the phone or asking for her details.

"When did you ask them, and how did you get my number?" She asked, before he left.

"Your parents are the most important and well-known people in town, Riley. It wasn't that hard to track their number down." He said, then left.

"Riley, I'm Sheriff Stilinski, would you mind following me into the interrogation room?" He asked again, and she nodded, leaving Isaac alone in the office as she followed the officer to a room in the hallway.

Riley sat down on the chair in front of the table, resting her bag on the ground against one the table's legs. The sheriff sat across from her.

"Now, Riley I'm going to ask you a few questions that you must answer truthfully, okay?" He asked, and she nodded. "Yesterday evening, we found Isaac's father... Dead in an alleyway."

Riley froze, her eyes widening at him. Dead? How? What if Riley was a suspect? She told Isaac that she hoped his father died, and now he is dead. Did Isaac rat her out?

"Our prime suspect is Isaac." He continued to talk, and she was a little relieved to hear that she wasn't a suspect. But why Isaac? How can they prove that? "You're close with Isaac, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Isaac and I are pretty close." She agreed, but was still perplexed and a little shocked at what he had just said.

"Do you know anything about Isaac's his father's relationship at home? Has he showed any signs of distress or reluctance in talking about it?" He asked, and she pursed her lips. Isaac can't get into more trouble, his life isn't threatened anymore. Riley could tell him, but should she?

"Um, Isaac has told me a lot about his home life. His father's relationship with him isn't good. His mum and brother died a while ago, so it's just them. Sometimes when I was over, Mr. Lahey would be nice to Isaac when I was around, but I would sometimes hear him yelling at Isaac in the next room. He definitely had a temper. It sucks that he has died, because now Isaac doesn't have anyone in his family anymore." Riley explained, leaving some details out. She didn't think that it was a good idea to tell the sheriff that Isaac and his father weren't on good terms when his father was killed. She hoped Isaac was okay. Yeah, he was free from his dad, but now he has no one.