Shattered

Chapter 8

My heart pounds as the officer leads me to Connor. They felt sympathetic towards me, knowing full well what the situation is. When we get there, I see Connor pacing back and forth with an anxious expression. It's obvious he's panicking about something. Thankfully, the cell doesn't have any mirrors or anything that can be reflected.

"Connor." He immediately stops at the sound of my voice and turns to me. "Brooke?" I feel relieved to see that the police were kind enough to let him change out of the bloody clothes. Connor approaches the bars of his cell. "Are you okay?" He shrugs but the truth was obvious in his eyes. No. Which I should've known and knew I shouldn't have asked the obvious question. "What about you? After what you saw, there's no way you'd look at me the same. I thought you weren't going to even see me here after that."

"Why would you think that? You're my best friend. It wasn't actually you that did it." Connor scoffs and shakes his head. I turn to the cop and ask in a soft tone if I could go inside. I was grateful to him when he agreed and unlocked the door for us. I hurry inside and as if meeting a close family member or friend I haven't seen in a while. "Are you okay?" I ask the same question as before without even realizing it, but Connor doesn't correct me. I just feel his head move side to side and I sigh. "A gentle soul living a cruel life," I mutter. "I'm not the only one Brooke. Everyone is."

"Yes, I know." I pull away from his warming embrace almost shyly. "Do you want to talk about it?" He shakes his head and slides down to the floor to sit. "I'll leave you two alone to talk." We both turn to the cop in shock. "Aren't you supposed to watch us?" He nods. "Yes, but it's very clear he won't hurt you. I don't think there's a need to." The cop smiles at us. "Just shout whenever you want and I'll unlock it again." I nod and smile appreciatively.

I turn back around and sit next to Connor. "I guess this means we'll be missing out meeting with Harmony." I attempt to lighten the mood with a giggle but the atmosphere still feels heavy. I can't tell if it's because we're in a jail cell or both of us are in shock and still tense over what we both experienced tonight. "I'm sorry," Connor mutters. I shake my head at him. "It's not your fault. It was a bad joke. It's a bad time for that." We both keep quiet afterward for quite some time. I'm sure we need it too. Just complete silence in each other's company.

No words were spoken yet we seem to be communicating. Now that I've seen a little of what he sees, I have a better understanding of how he's forced to live. As far as I know, most of the victims are all female and they were all befriended by Ian before they met their unfortunate end. I guess that's how he chooses his victims. He finds a girl, gets close to her, then snuffs out her light. I can't and will never be close to imagining their reactions. How confused and fearful they must've felt.

Suddenly breaking the silence, my phone starts to go off. I fumble around in my pocket to find it and answer the unknown number. Typically, I don't answer random phone calls, but if this is who I think it is, then it's best to answer and explain. "Hello?"

"Brooke! Where are you guys? You were supposed to be here over thirty minutes ago!" I turn to Connor and mouth Harmony's name to him. He slowly shakes his head at me and I nod. "Sorry, we'll have to cancel tonight's meeting. We're kinda in a small mess right now."

"Oh? Well, maybe I can help." I laugh, leaning my head back against the bars behind me. "I don't think this is something that can be helped. At least not for long." I hear her sigh. "It's a reflection thing, isn't it?" I nod with a soft sigh of my own. "Yeah, it is."

"Connor?" I turn back to Connor who's watching and listening in. He slowly shakes his head again. I open my mouth to answer but stop midway. "Okay, I'll be there in a little bit." My eyes widen and I abruptly stand up. Fast enough to make me dizzy for a second. "What? But you don't even know wh-"