Masked

Chapter Seven

        I woke up in the morning and tumbled onto the floor in confusion. It wasn't until I took a look around that I remembered where I was, the police station. It was weird waking up somewhere other than at the academy, as that was where I had woken up for the last thirty years.

        My thoughts then turned to Diego, who I had been 'rooming' across from. Standing up, I turned to look at the holding cell across the way. He was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had woken up sooner, and the cops had taken him out, or maybe he had escaped. I sat back down on the bed, staring at the wall, finding myself once again alone.

        "Good morning," came a voice from the hall. "If you would just follow me please."

        The voice belonged to a cop I had not met yet. The officer was unlocking my cell door, and when it finally opened up, I stood up. Without another word, we were on our merry way.

        We rounded many corners until we came upon a room with multiple desks and phones ringing like crazy. It was in this room that I was to formally meet the detective I had become so jealous of last night. When we got to Patch's desk, she nodded, and my escort left. 

        Patch was dressed in a white sweater, her hair pulled into a ponytail once again. The wooden desk she sat at was littered with many things, but what caught my eye was a manila folder in the center of it all. Another chair was to the left side of her desk, beside me.

        "Sit," she said, motioning to it.

        I did as she said. She opened the manila folder.  It was filled with paperwork, photos, and on top of it all sat the fingerprints and mugshot from last night. I knew what must be coming next.

        Patch continued. "Before I let you go, I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me."

        "Of course."

        "Great—"

        "—But, can I ask where Diego is first?"

        She smirked slightly. "He left a few minutes ago, got away with a warning. No charges, but you on the other hand. Well, it seems that your fingerprints match up with someone who's quite a popular topic here at the station. Do these pictures mean anything to you?"

        Patch handed me a couple of images, and as I looked at them, I winced slightly. There were the men in the basement from the gang I had attacked just two days ago; another was of a wall painted in red reading 'CH'. She took note of my reaction. They had everything on me; every mission I had ever been sent on was in that folder.

        "You know, what you did wasn't that bad, Cassie. The killing, well that's self-explanatory, but I understand why you would do it. Those people all had extensive criminal records, but there are others, such as the police, who should be taking care of these problems, not vigilantes. What surprises me, however, is that you don't seem to exist. No birth certificate, no records, nothing. We never caught you, so how did we know if you were even real? However, it seems our biggest case has been solved."

        I was unsure of how to respond. "You're welcome?"

        "Normally, in a case such as this, you'd be locked up, but it seems that someone's looking out for you, and I wouldn't want their feelings hurt. So, you too will get off with a warning, but let me assure you that if another one of these 'incidents' occurs again, you will be behind bars." She paused for a second. "Before I let you go, can I ask you one last question?"

        "Sure, why not?" I was utterly perplexed as to why she was being so nice to me.

        "Are you Diego's girlfriend?"