Oak Grove Institution - Jay Halstead FanFic

CHAPTER 8

Alex

I take a deep breath and decide that it's about time I told someone about her.

"Around three years ago a new girl arrived, called Alex." I tell him and he looks at me a little more intently, like he really wants - no, needs - to know about her. "She came in calm and shy, she reminded me... of me. I approached her and we instantly clicked, since then we were practically inseparable, she was like my little sister." I shake my head, "we did things, things that I'm not proud of, things that I don't want to do anymore." I refer to what I told him last week.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," says Ryan but I ignore his sentence and continue.

"I haven't seen Alex in over three weeks," I tell him. "She didn't want this life, she wanted help. She thought she could get help." I can see her innocent face at the forefront of my mind, "No one helped."

Ryan sighs deeply, taking a long blink, "Ellen, I'm a cop." I almost choke on the air. "I will help."

I can't even believe this right now, "what?" I edge away from him slightly.

"That's why I'm here at Oak Grove. I'm here to find out about Alex." He tells me.

My mind is racing. In a way I'm thrilled because someone has noticed our problem and not just someone, but the Chicago Police. But... in a way I'm devastated, he's been lying to me. He's been coaxing me, pretending to care just to get information from me. "You've been using me to get intel."

"No," he replies immediately, "no, I'm here to help all of the residents here. I'm here to help you. In no way have I been using or lying to you. Everything I've said, everything I've felt has been real."

"Ryan, the other night I said 'I love you' in a matter of words," I thanked him for letting me feel real love. How stupid can I get? "Is Ryan even your name?" I ask.

"I'm not Ryan Nicholson," he admits, "I'm Detective Ryan Harveys of the C.P.D. Intelligence Unit." I stare at him with wide eyes. I can't believe this. I feel like an idiot, like I've been played. I've never loved someone before, and this is it. This is what heartbreak feels like.

My chest hurts and there's still the annoying lump in my throat and I can't breath properly.

"You can still trust me," he says and places his hand on my cheek, "I promise."

His eyes. Those Goddamn eyes get me every time. "There's a room," I tell him and I tell him absolutely everything I know.

Soon it appears as though every Chicago officer, detective and sergeant is at Oak Grove separating all of us and lining us up against the walls while the teachers are segregated and kept somewhere else and the enter place is searched from top to bottom.

A man enters the room where I am being kept alone. He's older but not old. "Sergeant Tom Banks," he introduces himself. "Do you mind coming with me?" I glance at Ryan for confirmation and he nods his head so I exit the room with him into the main corridor.

"Ellen!" shrieks Tyla. "What the hell did you do?" She lunges at me but a larger officer grabs her, restraining her from getting at me.

They take me to one of the districts and I'm sat down in an interrogation room.

The walls are gray and bland and the only other thing inside is a table and a few chairs. A large one-way window is placed on the opposite wall to me so that other people can see in but I can't see them. I'm being treated like a criminal.