Deterioration

2019: I

"Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!"

Cynthia Carter had been proud of finally getting somewhere in this case. It was the work of a serial killer duo. The police had practically no clues, until now. Now, the identity of at least one of the criminals would be revealed to her. A proud feeling emerged.

The criminal dropped their weapon and put their hands in the air before turning to face Cynthia. Cynthia winced, an aching feeling in her chest resonating. Though she had seen plenty of terrible things through her time in the police force, such a personal subject like this struck her painfully.

"Well, if it isn't little Cynthia," the criminal cooed. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Cynthia's grip on her gun became shaky. "Tell me this isn't true."

The criminal's crimson lips curled. "I know that's what you want to believe, but trust me, this is very real."

Cynthia couldn't believe her eyes. The woman before her was Keira, her best friend from years ago. The two had naturally split away from each other during high school, and she never believed this would be the way they would meet again. "Keira, w-what are you doing?" she questioned, her voice cracking.

"That doesn't concern you," Keira scoffed. "Maybe you've caught me, but this isn't over."

She was unfortunately right. Cynthia had only caught one of the two, and she doubted the crimes would just stop because of it. She didn't know the connection between the two criminals, but she had a feeling there was no sentiment there.

"We'll catch your little buddy too," Cynthia claimed. "One day, justice will be served."

Her own words sounded foolish. There was no weight behind them, no promise of retribution. But it was the only thing Cynthia can say, because she wanted to keep her confident appearance up, despite her actual feelings.

"No, you won't. She is what I am not," Keira stated. "She is careful and more ferocious than me."

"Don't you feel any guilt for what you have done? For the people you've killed, or even just assisting in the murders?" Cynthia asked, deciding to change the subject. This was for her own curiosity. She didn't want to accept that Keira was not who she thought she was.

"No," Keira answered. "I don't feel anything at all. The people we went after deserved it, especially for getting in her way."

Cynthia shook her head. There was no hope in this. There wasn't even a point in questioned her like this. She's not a highly trained interrogator; she's just a concerned... friend?

Cynthia pulled out the handcuffs and got closer to the criminal. Keira only smirked, dropping her hands and moving her wrists towards her. As she put her in the handcuffs, Cynthia quoted, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..."

After the reading of her rights, Keira remained silent. The only information they really have is just what they knew already, based on what had occurred. They knew Keira was one of the killers because she had been caught in the process of killing another victim. Her accomplice was not with her for unknown reasons.

Cynthia wanted to figure everything out. She wanted to know what happened. But justice is cruel; justice is about punishment and retribution. Justice isn't really about coming to peace about what has happened. It's about revenge.

Cynthia hauled her to the station, leading her to her chief. She filled him in on the situation before questioning, "Sir, where shall I keep her?"

The chief looked over at Keira, who had remained silent throughout this ordeal. Something about her seemed off to him. She had this bored look in her eyes, like she didn't even really care that she had been caught. Criminals with no regard like that disgusted him, but he held back unpleasant comments. "Send her off to the interragators."

"Alright. Thank you, sir," Cynthia nodded, tugging on Keira's arm as she guided her to a room near the back of the station. The main interrogater, Mr. Sullivan, was a professional. He was talented when it came to wearing criminals down and getting them to reveal more information that was vital to the case.

Sullivan greeted her with a nod, "Ah, Carter. Caught another criminal, I see."

Throughout the short exchange of Cynthia handing Keira over, she hesitated. "Be careful with her," she stated.

Sullivan raised an eyebrow, though she could tell he was interested. "What do you mean?"

Her eyes drifted over to Keira. She still couldn't process that her old friend ended up this way. What happened to the kind girl who helped her, when no one else would? What happened to the girl that had practically led her through life for years?

"She can be... sneaky," Cynthia said, her voice taking on a sort of distant quality. Maybe Keira had always been like this, been evil. It sounded like such a foreign concept, but over the years of working as a police officer, she knows many people aren't as they appear. She just never thought she would have to face that reality.

"All of them are," Sullivan noted. He didn't really understand her warning, but that was fine. It was probably better if he didn't know, so she decided to continue to be subtle.

Sullivan lead her into the interrogation room, while his colleague, Mr. Patterson, talked with Cynthia outside. Additionally to being his colleague, Patterson was also a close friend of hers.

"Are you feeling okay?" Patterson asked, concerned.

Cynthia felt conflicted. She wanted to open up to him, but she also knew that he would not keep it a secret. To be honest, she wasn't sure how involved she wanted to be in the investigation.

She blinked slowly, knowing that Patterson was good at reading people's body language. "I'm fine," she lied.

Patterson seemed convinced. "Okay," he said. "Well, make sure to take a break before you head off again. Now, I've got to go back in there."

She smiled at him. "Alright. Make sure Sullivan doesn't act too harsh."

Patterson rolled his eyes, but he  smiled as he waved to her before walking into the interrogation room. Cynthia's smile faded once she was alone. She sighed to herself.