Silver Sight (Completed)

Chapter 7

A storm was threatening to break over Silver Pines.

The winds throw themselves against the buildings as if trying to take the whole town down. Big black clouds loom above threatening to pour down on them at any moment. The threat of thunder rumbling above them, lights flash in the clouds but lighting never strikes.

Carol stands on one side of the two-way mirror. The cop side. Of course. Across from her is the girl who had started all of this.

No one had been as surprised to see her as Carol had been.

It had taken a few of the cops to recognize her, but Carol knew who she was the second she saw her in an embrace with Cooper. There was no one else he'd hold like that, so possessively and yet so gentle at the same time. As if he couldn't bear to let go, but didn't want to hurt her at the same time.

Carol had every right to be angry, she kept telling herself. This interloper had chosen to leave Cooper. She had no right to come back and stake a claim on him.

Still Carol can't take her eyes off of Ruelle.

She somehow manages to look perfect.

Stripped of her fur and revealing a black tank top and green cargo pants, she was nothing but sinew and muscle. She was tall, a bit taller than Carol, an easier fit to Cooper who always towered over her, who often complained about a crick in his neck after kissing her for too long.

Her hair was long and windswept but not tangled. Her skin was smooth though smudged in places and littered with scabs and scars. She doesn't look like she's lived in a forest for 18 years battling elements and animals, struggling to survive.

She looks healthy, strong, and worst of all beautiful. Like she stepped off the cover of a magazine.

Ruelle sits placidly facing the mirror. She hasn't taken her eyes off of Carol even though she couldn't possibly know that she was there. Her gaze is unwavering and intense. Sometimes it's so overpowering Carol can't breathe.

Her eyes are a mesmerizing shade of grey.

Carol forces her eyes away from Ruelle's.

It isn't fair.

That this girl could just walk back into Cooper's life after 18 years and fit so seemingly well.

That she could live in a roughened state and look like a model afterwards when one session at the gym makes Carol look like a sweaty mess.

That she was so obviously insane that she was probably going to end up in an asylum instead of prison. That Cooper was going to stay with her, no matter how far gone she was, and Carol was going to end up alone.

The door to the interrogation room opens and Andrew Paxton walks in. Carol feels the heat of shame crawl up her skin at just the sight of him.

They had gotten close while Cooper had been missing. He had been her confidant, her shoulder to cry on, and her person to kiss when it got too unbearable. Now whenever she sees him she feels dirty.

Ruelle's intense stare is now turned on Andrew and even he seems unnerved by it. Still he takes his seat and makes a show of going through the many case files. Ruelle's unwavering stare stays on him, her face placid and blank as she waits for her to talk.

"I'm Sherriff..."

"Andrew Paxton of Redbank," Ruelle answer for him. Her voice is light and airy, but it has a scratchy quality to it. Like she's losing her voice. Still it's nothing but a mere whisper like the sound of the wind on the plains.