In the Deep *Book Two* Water Trilogy

Thirteen

We sat together on Audrey's hospital bed going over a story we would both tell the cops. Neither of us would personally know Nahla, just that she had been Audrey's kidnapper and that neither of us knew the reason. To us Nahla was just going to be some psychopathic murderer. And I knew I should be glad that she was gone because she had nearly killed my girlfriend and had killed my father, but I couldn't help but feel the loss of my older sister. Memories of us when were younger, happier, came in random flash backs that I couldn't seem to fight off as each one became stronger than the last. I could see us swimming in the ocean, playing near the surface when we weren't supposed to, and racing through the castle. Of course Nahla always won.

"Are you going to be alright?" Audrey asked as she took my hand in two of hers. I bit my lip.

"I know as awful as she was in the end-"

"She was still your sister and you loved her."

"It seems so messed up. I feel like I should hate her after everything she's done."

"No, Finn. It makes perfect sense. She was family. I know if Connor had done what she had I would still find it in my heart to forgive him; maybe no right away but in time," she said softly. I took a shaky breathe.

"Everything is going to be okay," I whispered, trying to convince both of us as I pulled her into a hug. When she pulled away I caught myself with a small smile as I took in her appearance. Audrey sat in a thin hospital gown, messy hair, cuts, bruises, and tear stains running down her cheeks; but, somehow, she still managed to be beautiful and make my heart skip in unhealthy ways.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you're you." And I kissed her.

The cops questioned us nonstop for an hour straight. Audrey has to tell them everything about her kidnapping since she hadn't woken up at any point after her rescue. She also had to give them her story on what had happened in her hospital room. I had to give my side as well but it didn't take as long. My story backed up hers perfectly and the cops took our word on it.

"So you're sure you've never seen this woman before in you life?" Asked Officer Davis for the fourth time. He had short cropped blonde hair and blue eyes. He seemed young but something about him told you he was one you should take seriously.

"No, sir, I don't believe I have ever seen her before today," I repeated again.

"Audrey is your girlfriend, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you saw her push the other girl out of her hospital room window."

"Yes."

"And you said the now dead girl had been holding a knife the Audrey's throat before Audrey pushed her?"

"Yes."

The Officer cleared his throat and took a drink of water before running his hands over a sheet of paper he had been taking notes on. The man had been asking me the same questions so many times I had started to feel like he was a broken record player. I knew he was only trying to make sure I had my story straight but after the fifth time I would have thought he would have gotten the point of what I was saying. My head hurt and I wanted nothing more than to laying down with Audrey and sleep.

"Okay, you're free to leave."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you."

The officer left me to talk to a woman in a nurses uniform. Something about the woman seemed too familiar. Her hair was an unnaturally deep read and something about her skin appeared not as human. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was a mermaid but a cop was speaking to her and I couldn't interrupt to ask my own questions. If she were a merperson than I was almost certain she knew who Nahla and I were which explained why she seemed so shaken up, though the cop would only thinking it was a normal case of shock.

I waited patiently for Audrey to finish in the waiting room of the hospital with her family. They asked about the most recent events and I told them what I could while still sticking to the story I had told the police. Mrs.Pitkus and her husband were teary eyed about their daughter nearly being ripped away from them, again. I couldn't help the guilty twist of my stomach. Nahla had been my sister and, even though I had tried to stop her, I couldn't help the feeling that I had been the one putting Audrey in danger. Nahla had a grudge against me and to take revenge she attempted to take the thing that meant most to me in the entire world, above and below the sea.

Connor talked to me separately to hear the whole truth, which I was allowed to give him with how much he already knew, when we walked away from his mom and dad to get a drink out of the water fountain.

"How much longer do you think they're going to question her?" He asked as I took a big gulp of warm water. I wiped the water off my chin with the back of my hand and shrugged.

"I'm not human, remember? You know more about your justice system than I do."

"True," Connor muttered as we walked slowly back. We sat there for a while trying to entertain ourselves with different things. Eventually we ran out of things to do and ended up staring at boring paintings on the walls. I became lost in my thoughts not long after that. I began wondering how things had gotten so horrible. Where Nahla had gone from a sweat kid into a monster. I couldn't help feeling that I played a role in her down fall...

"Finn," Audrey suddenly stood in front of me, eyes wide with worry. "It's time to leave."

"Oh," I stood up on wobbly legs. I had been thinking too much about the ocean. The last thing I wanted was for my human legs turn into a tail. With my luck the doctors would snatch me up and experiment on me. I glanced around to see skeptical looks from Audrey's parents and tried my best to pull myself together. I held Audrey's hand tight as we walked towards the sliding glass doors.

When we stepped outside I realized time had passed, too much time, and somewhere in the middle of waiting it had become night. We followed behind her parents at a distance, our hands clinging to each other like life lines. The night was cool and calm.

"How did your questioning go?" I asked as we headed out farther into the parking lot.

"Long and stressful. Yours."

"Stressful. I thought it was going on for a long time until yours continued for even longer," I shook my head. "What all did they ask you?"

"I-" Audrey began only to be cut off by a large amount of commotion. People were rushing through the parking lot, causing me to panick. They were on Audrey an I in a matter of seconds, surrounding us with microphones and flashing lights. Men and women bombarded us with questions left and right.

"Did you kill you kidnapper?" Shouted a woman from the crowed.

"Did you lose hope? Were you afraid no one would find you?" Shouted another.

"Audrey, how long did you think you were in that warehouse your boyfriend found you in?" Said a man.

Audrey, panicked, forced herself against me and hide her face. I wrapped my arms around her tightly and shoved my way in the direction I thought I had seen her parents cars. At one point I elbowed someone with a camera in the face but I didn't stop to see who or care if I broke their nose.

They attacked us for answers until I finally reached our destination and shoved Audrey into her mothers car, climbed in, and slammed the door behind me. Mrs.Pitkus nearly ran over a reporter as she drove off. Connor rode with his dad in a different direction as Audrey's mom drove like she was in a race while Audrey called the cops to meet us at her house. The last thing her family needed was for reporters to crawl all over their lawn like a bunch of bugs trying to get answers for the evening news and I couldn't have agreed more. Audrey had enough trauma to deal with.