It Started As a Deal

Chapter 35: Interrogation

"All we do is drive/ All we do is think about/ the feelings that we hide/ All we do is sit in silence/ Waiting for a sign/ Sick and full of pride/ All we do is drive" ~ Halsey, Drive, Badlands

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I watched their retreating backs for a few seconds before they disappeared around a corner, and I turned my attention back towards the nurses and police officers in my room.  They were looking at me with emotionless eyes holding their clipboards and pens in their hands standing against the walls of the room.  Their gazes made me want to shrink and hide into myself to become as small as possible.  I wanted to get away from them and not talk at all.

"You caused your nurses quite a scare Imogen," one of the police officers said scolding me, "Imagine that an injured kidnapped patient is brought in and when you bring detectives to her room to talk, she's gone.  Wouldn't you assume that she was possibly kidnapped again?"

"Or maybe she was freaked out that she woke up in an unfamiliar place with nobody there and left to go find some people she knew?" I asked sitting back down in my hospital bed and giving my arm over to my nurse so that she cold hook me back up to all the important things.

"Either way you caused an unnecessary panic throughout the hospital," the other cop remarked stepping forward to pull up a chair next to my bed.

"Well how was I supposed to know that unplugging myself would set of an alarm?" I retorted glaring at them both.

"It's technically the heart monitor that sets of the alarm dear.  If it cuts off abruptly when everything looks normal before hand, then we set off an alarm because that most likely means it was unplugged.  On the other hand, if someone dies, it's more likely to slow down and then flat line," the nurse explained to me placing tape over my IV.  "That's why we knew that you left you room."

"I'm sorry I caused an alarm then," I mumble out picking at the skin around my fingernails.

"It's alright dear; you won't get in any trouble for this unless you do it again," she replied giving me a kind smile that reached her eyes.  She patted my hand lightly before standing up straight again.  "I'll leave you to talk with the nice police officers now.  If you happen to need anything, tell them and once can come get me or another nurse.

"Before you leave, what's your name?" I ask her as she opened the door.

"It's Katherine dear," she says nodding at the chart on the wall by my bed, "All the information you need is right there."  The police men watch her as she leaves before turning their attention back to me.

"Okay Miss Imogen, to begin we're going to introduce ourselves.  I'm Detective Sanders and this is Detective Bourg.  We're going to be asking you a few questions regarding this recent incident you were involved in, the kidnapping, and the claims that have been made by others. Are you okay with these questions and us recording this for future reference?" Detective Sanders asked me as Detective Bourg pulled out a tape recorder and flipped to a clean page in his notebook.

"Yeah that's fine," I mumble out nodding my head yes though I wanted to say no.  It's jus that I hate talking to the police because I've had to be interrogated so many times by the police now.

"Good then we can begin," Detective Bourg said leaning over to press play on the recording device and then settling back into his seat, "Firstly, you are Imogen Blackburn age 15?"

"Yes I am," I whisper out gripping the rails of the bed so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Is it true that you married Hunter Blackburn in a legally binding ceremony?" Sanders asks crossing that question off of his list.

"I only did so because Hunter said he would let all of the others go unharmed if I married him and went off to live with him," I explain to them watching as Bourg writes what I said down on his paper.

"So it wasn't out of your own free will but to help the others escape correct?"

"Yes that's what I said!" I snapped at him becoming angry that he would assume such a thing as vile as marrying him out of my own will.

"No need to become angry," Bourg says handing me a glass of water, "It's just to get a solid confirmation about it.  Next question:  is it true that you ran away from home once your mom was released from hail to go live with another family and help raise Kye's daughter Evangeline for almost seven months now?"

"I left because she was abusive to me and would steal my medicine for PTSD to take herself or to sell as drugs for money.  She also wouldn't help administer my medicine when needed and wouldn't take me to the hospital if it got really bad.  I didn't want to have to go through that again, so I decided that running away would be better than staying there," I tell them explaining why I hate my mom so much and never wanted her to come home.

"But was it really necessary for you to run away though?" Sanders asked leaning over resting his elbows on the arm rests looking into my eyes with nothing showing in his, "I mean think about it this way:  because you ran away bad things kept happening to you.  Hunter found you, and you got kidnapped again.  Do you think that maybe if you would've stayed that he wouldn't have come for you or the others?"  He gave me a smug look as he leaned back in his seat thinking that he probably cornered me right where he wanted me to be able to pin the blame on me, but he couldn't be more wrong.

"You obviously didn't read my file because it says that my mother was the one who basically sold met to Hunter's father in the first place.  It wouldn't faze me in the slightest if she would help Hunter find me and take me again.  And he had already started to recapture all the girls, so me running away from my mom made no difference at all," I laugh out.  His point that he tried to make made absolutely no sense if you looked at everything that was already known in the case.  We stare each other down for a few moments before he cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

"I guess we've covered all the basics, and we can now move on to questions more case oriented," he mumbles flipping to a clean page in his notebook to begin writing again.  Sanders gestured towards Bourg to ask the next question.

"Please explain in detail how it came to you marrying Hunter and what happened to you during that week," Bourg says looking up from the paper he was sifting through to give me his attention.

"Well I don't know when we all got there, but he some how kept us all unconscious.  I know he chloroformed us to bring us there, so maybe he did that.  When I woke up, nobody else was awake, and he came down to talk to me and offered me a deal.  He told me that if I did everything he said for a week that he would let everyone go unharmed.  The good thing was that I didn't have to do anything sexual, but I wasn't allowed to see the others.  It was the last day, so he told me I could see them if I agreed to what he said when I got back.  That's when he asked me to marry him," I explain wringing my hands together with the bed sheet.

"And did you really believe that he would let them go?" Bourg asked me with his pen twirling in his fingers.

"I did because they were going to be relaxed until the police came and caused some chaos," I tell him nodding my head.

"For the last question, what do you think of Hunter?" Sanders asked folding his hands in his lap.

"I don't think he's dangerous; I just think he's messed up from not experiencing any love.  He didn't hurt any of us or kill anyone- that was all his dad.  For three years his dad did horrible things and didn't show him any love.  I really think he was just lonely," I say picking my head up to look at them.  They both look at each other and exchange a look before getting up.

"Thank you Imogen.  That'll be all the answers we need as of right now.  If something comes up we may need you to come in for more questioning, but for now we're done," Bourg says picking up the recorder and turning it off.  He shoves it in his pocket before they both leave my hospital room.

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