a deadly storm, an unsolved disappearance, and a small town brimming with secrecy;
an outcast girl, a boy who only knows how to hide, and the world against them;
what could go wrong?
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Throat raw, eyes red and dry, voice hoarse from screaming - Boo looks and feels like hell. After being forcibly removed from the remnants of Martha's house, she was unceremoniously dumped into the back of a cruiser and taken to the police station.
The department is alight with an energy she's never seen - phones ringing off the hook, every cop on their feet, doors thrown open to accommodate the heavy increase in foot traffic. As Boo is led to an open interrogation room, she meets the gaze of several officers, including the ever-charming Nathaniel Waters. He flashes her his signature sneer before disappearing into his office with a slam of the door.
After being shown to the interrogation room, the door swings shut and she's left alone.
« • »
An hour later, a man opens the door and flashes her a forced smile as he steps into the room. "Coffee?" he offers lightly, hesitating in the doorway.
Boo shakes her head. He stares her down for a moment before finally letting the door swing shut behind him. He sits across from her at the small gray table, hands folded around the Styrofoam cup in front of him. Boo keeps her head down, eyes focused on a wad of gum scuffed into the tile floor.
"Melita Taylor," he says aloud. Boo's ears perk up but she doesn't lift her head. "That's your real name, isn't it?"
She nods after a long moment and the officer sighs. "You aren't in trouble."
Boo grits her teeth and glares up at him fiercely. "Your officers dragged me away from my grandmother's body. I don't know where she is now or what exactly is going on but I've been alone in this room for an hour. Don't tell me I'm just here for a friendly visit."
The man takes a casual sip from his drink. Grey eyes watch her shrewdly from over the lip of the cup.
"Those weren't my officers," he remarks after a moment, tongue darting out to wet his lips. His Adam's apple bobs up and down along the front of his throat. "I'll bring you to your grandmother shortly. I just have a few questions for you first."
Boo nods her head ungraciously, indicating for him to continue.
"Were you in town during the hurricane?"
She rolls her lips together before shaking her head. "No. I was in Harrisford, at the hardware store."
"Can anyone corroborate that?"
Her head snaps up to meet the man's hard gaze. "What do you suspect me of, Officer?"
He shrugs lightly, eyes twitching slightly and pupils dilating. "Nothing," he says. Boo knows he's lying. "Just need to verify a few things before we officially state a cause of death."
"My grandmother died in the hurricane," she states coolly. "Unless there's something you aren't telling me."
The officer's jaw tightens. The air in the room grows deathly silent as the two stare each other down.
