FLOWERS

Gentiana

She came alone. Angella stayed behind to mourn her husband's loss, but Betty came to face the truth. She wore an Evil Dead t-shirt and black ripped jeans. Her hair was combed flat and her face had lost all joy. All that was left was a blank stair. She walked up to the front desk of the Columbus police station and saw Dina sitting quietly, typing at her computer. She waited in silence for a moment, until realising that Dina wasn't going to notice her presents any time soon. "Hello?" She said in an angry, sarcastic tone.

Dina looked up at Betty kindly. "Hello there. What can I do for you?"

"I'm Betty Bowler. I'm Collin Bowler's aunt. I'm here to see the video." Betty said blankly.

"Oh, well, like we said on the phone Miss Bowler, we can't show you the video, it's part of an open case. It hasn't been released to the public yet." Dina smiled warmly.

"I'm not asking. Show me the video." Betty slammed her hand angrily on the desk.

"Well, at the moment, I AM going to ask that you kindly leave. This investigation has not yet been opened to the public and until such time as it-"

"LISTEN BITCH!" Betty's voice rang through the large stone building.

"Ma'am! If you raise your voice in here one more time, I will have my officer's escort you out. This is an open case, you can not see the video. End of story." Dina spoke sternly.

"It's not the end of my story." Betty bolted past her and into the main office. In doing so, she passed a metal ditector that began screeching.

Dina shot up from her desk after Betty and into the office.

Betty pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the first officer she came into contact with. "I WANT THE ALONZO VIDEO NOW!"

Several of the officers shot their hands up and two of them pulled their guns out.

One of the officers began speaking calmly. "Ma'am, let's put down the gun, you don't want this to get any uglier than it already is."

Betty pulled the trigger hitting her target in the knee, sending him sprawling onto the floor in pain. "You don't know shit about what I want. Now show me the tape!"

Dina entered the room huffing, doubled over with her hands on her nees. "Holy shit you're fast!"

The calm officer continued. "What tape are you refering too, Ma'am?"

"That Alonzo one... The one with the little boy being tortured to death by some crazy guy! I JUST TALKED TO AN OFFICER ABOUT IT! HE SAID I COULD SEE IT!"

"Ok," The officer said. "And what was the name of this officer... because I can tell you right now that I've never heard of any Alonzo tape."

Now, that was weird. "What..?" Betty looked back at Dina. "But... but you just said it was in evidence... You said it was an open case and it hadn't been released to the public."

Dina looked passed her to the other officers. "I have no idea what she's talking about guys."

And that was weirder.

"Don't worry about it, Dina. We'er all gonna figure this out together." The officer looked back to Betty. "Now, why don't you put your gun down and we can talk."

Then the world paused. Maybe it was the paranoia... maybe it was the pain... but at that moment, Betty just really wanted to put a bullet in Dina's head. "You're working with him... You son of a bitch... This whole thing is some sort of screwed up conspiracy!" Betty pointed the gun at Dina. "SPILL YOUR SHIT! NOW!"

Dina held her hands up in fear.

"There's no conspiracy, ma'am! We promise! This is a safe place! The world is not against you here!" The officer begged.