The Hive

13

She was the fifth one to be led to the room, the others were kept in separate rooms somewhere else at the station. When she walked in Sasha was already there, the binder she swore up and own she'd burned lay open on the table.

Next thing she knew Wally had her on the ground and she couldn't stop punching her until the female officer from the locker room cuffed her to the ring on the table. She looked at Sasha, catching the blood from her new bloody nose and handed her a tissue before she looked at Wally.

"I understand this may be hard for you. You all love your coach, I understand that, but if she was hurting you-"

"She wasn't!" Wally snapped back, glaring at Sasha. He officer sighed and pointed to the open page, a arm and chest X-ray showing a cleanly split bones. Bones she'd had broken months prior. Sasha had stolen xrays from Coach's office.

"Sasha here has dated incidents of every injury Coach Hart had inflicted starting with... you. She is the first one, correct? Why did she beat you? Do you know?" "She didn't hurt me. Sasha's a pathological liar." The officer sighed and flipped the page, looking at the repeating color coded post it's. Hers were colored green, stuck next to each of her injuries.

"See honey, if you weren't the only one saying that I'd believe you but some of your teammates have already reported having been abused by your coach. No one can hurt you here, you can speak freely."

"I stick by my answer."

"She made her kill people." Sasha blurted. Wally came across the table, her wrist flaring in pain as she sent Sasha's chair backward. She hit her head on the wall but popped back up.

The officer sighed, "This is deeper than I thought. If she truly made you do these things I promise you won't get in trouble. My name is Kristen Arthur by the way. You are... Wally, correct? Like the little robot?" "I'm not fucking five Kristen. I'm eighteen and I'm going to start college at Harrington university and play for the Hornets with Coach Hart. That's fact."

They kept her in their overnight. The officer claimed it was for her own safety but on the way out she heard her partner say something about being too unstable.

So she slept alone on a mat on the floor of an interrogation room. She was brought breakfast she refused to eat. Kristen brought her lunch.

"I've talked to your teammates. Nine of them back up Sasha's records. They even submitted to X-rays that will back up breaks. May we x-ray-" "Fuck off." She sighed, "I'll send a counselor in for you."

So they sent a counselor in.

"Hello Hallie. My name is Doctor-" "Go way a dick." The doctor raised his eyebrows but wrote something down on his pad. Wally despises that.

Doctor Atchkin visited her daily, it was how she kept track of the week she spent in the room. Sasha came daily to lecture her about telling them about what happened and telling her what she'd told her.

"It's obvious she hurt you. Everyone except you, Joan, Alina, and Natalia have said she was hurting you all." "So are you just going to let them hold me here until I lie to them and tell them that she beat the shit out of me for missing a cone or something during-" she set her jaw quickly, trying to see if anyone would pick up on the small confession.

"We both know it's not a lie."

"Do we Sasha? You fucking ruined my life. I was fine with the way things were and you had to rip it to pieces. I hate you. The sight of you sparks so much revulsion in me I saw you in a dream and woke up just to vomit."

She pointed to the trashcan in the corner. It wasn't exactly a true story but she didn't give a shit now. She was tired. Tired of everything. "So take your fucking binder and your fucking fucks and go." "You told me your were property. That's no way to live." "Yes! Yes I was! And I was happy Sasha. You don't deserve that fucking circle and I wish I never kissed you either. Now get out of my sight before I hurl." Sasha left but Officer Kirsten replaced her.

"So your Coach would punish you for messing up during practice? You were property? Wally, and this may be a difficult question sweetie but were you trafficked? We're you allowed to leave? Why were you there? We have no records of you in any school system and-" she went on and on about things that didn't make sense.

"Let me see Joan." She interrupted. "We'll let you see her if you commit to an x-ray."

"Finally!" Wally shook her head, wrapping her arms around Joan, who'd placed herself in the corner of the little interrogation room, and sobbed. "I just wanted to play Seek." She choked, Joan squeezed her tightly, moving close to her ear, "We're going to die." Wally nodded. Even if Coach Hart was behind bars, and that was a big if, then her family and her goons would take care of her properties. Including her breathing ones who wouldn't stay in that condition for long.

"Maybe if we tell them that they'll come after us?" "They can't protect us." Joan squeezed her eyes shut tight, "Less than a year," Wally repeated, "Less than a year to live."

Wally's confession was seven pages long, front and back. She detailed her treatment from when she'd first been sold by her father who she left unnamed. She didn't need a serial killer and he mob after her and she didn't need questions about it either. She was a bargaining chip and a good one.

It took her a day and a half, racking up her total time inside the four walls of that awful interrogation room to thirteen days.

She handed the papers to Officer Kirsten with a sharp, "Fucking happy now?" Instead of being angry, she placed a contract on the table for a C-class team they'd played earlier in the season. The Mississippi Pile Drivers who, despite their angry sounding name, had hearts larger than stadiums. It made her want to vomit.

"Harrington no longer offers Seek as a sport. The Pile Drivers have agreed to take anyone who still wants to play, they'll be losing a good portion of their team because of graduating seniors. Plus they're known for their kindness, I should know, my little brother is the captain. You can play for them if you'd like. I'll let you talk it over with those who haven't left yet."

Those who haven't left yet included her girls and Sasha, a dark bruise under her right eye and her nose bandages. She handed the signed paper to the officer and she nodded, looking at the others.

Wally had been waiting step onto the Hornet's rink as a freshman in college since she was eight. Seek was her life. It was what she lived and breathed. She looked at the others. "I can't do this without you guys." Joan mumbled, pen touching the paper. Alina signed her and threw it at the officer. The others soon followed.