A lost slumber

XIV

I guess orange is my new favorite color. That's all I can think after sitting in an interrogation room for hours. I could do nothing but revive all my annoying little habits that I use when I'm bored. It's a bit tedious but I had nothing better to do. I twirl my hair , tap on the table , pull my fingers , and even crack my knuckles. This went on for thirty minutes until a voice from a speaker asked , " Can you please stop."

Absent minded I say , " Oh. Sorry." With nothing else to think about , I reflect on the interrogation that took place 2 hours ago.

" You know you did it." The detective firmly said.

"With all due respect sir, I don't know what you're talking about." I say.

" Cut the crap will ya?" The detective harshly asks.

" I'm sorry to tell you this , but this isn't an act." I say.

" Okay. Well then tell me where you were the night Ezme Fernandez went missing?" The detective asks.

" In the hospital. I told Officer Blight that a week ago." I say.

" That's a convincing alibi , but having an alibi doesn't mean anything." The detective says , cold.

" It's the truth." I say.

" You know what I find weird about this whole situation Celeste?" The detective asks suspiciously.

" What?" I ask.

" I did my research on you." The detective says sternly.

" Oh and what did you find?" I ask , curious of his answer.

" You come from a well off family , you're well known around your school , and yet you never interact with anyone." The detective says this as if he's discovered something groundbreaking.

" That's correct." I say.

" So what makes a loner like you suddenly decide to befriend someone like Ezme?" The detective asks suspicious.

" She came to the school in the middle of the year, her locker is right next to mine , we have a lot of classes together , and we work at the same place." I say.

" Well I suppose that explains 15 percent of the situation. But that doesn't explain the notebook. Does it?" The detective asks.

I don't flinch when he asks about the notebook. I need to keep my composure , so I ask, " What notebook?"

" The notebook your therapist gave us." The detective coldly says.

" My journal?" I ask. I don't have a recent journal , but I'm pretty sure Dr.Bolton has my journals from previous years. " I thought that would be confidential."

" You know that is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the notebook you used to jot down your plans to kidnap Ezme. So in this case, no. The notebook would not be considered confidential." The detective says.

" I did not plan to kidnap Ezme." I say.

" You know what I think?" The detective asks.

" What do you think?" I ask.

" I think you saw Ezme for the first time and began hatching your plan. I think you wrote bits and pieces from your plan down and made it seem like you knew nothing." The detective says.

" That's not the case ," I say. " If that's the case then how would I have had entries 3 days before I met her?"

" It's simple really." The detective says. " You found Ezme on social media. Liked what you saw and began to follow her. You saw that she was moving here and wanted her to yourself." The detective says.

" I don't even have a social media account." I say.

" Maybe you became obsessed with her. Maybe you saw that Ezme was getting more attention than you. Maybe you saw that she got the attention of someone you liked." The detective says this as if he's trying to convince me of my own actions.

" How could she have gotten the attention of someone I like when I've never had any romantic feelings towards anyone?" I ask the detective. " People bore me."

" That could be true but maybe that's just you want us to believe. Maybe you never felt anything until Ezme. You realised how precious that was so you set everything up. Maybe you faked that hospital visit and got your parents to cover it up. Maybe you did that just so you could have an alibi. Maybe you hid Ezme somewhere no one would find her. And maybe just maybe you thought you could get away with it , but you slipped up." The detective says. The more he speaks the more agitated he gets.

" I'm not lying." I say firmly.

The detective stands up and slams both of his fist hard on the table to assert his power. He becomes enraged as if I was playing a game with him and I cheated. He shouts , " You have two choices! You tell me where she is or you go to court and trust me you won't be able to plead innocent!"

" I didn't do it." I say , but that doesn't matter. The room soon becomes hostile and still. It's like the air inside of the room is so thin you can't breath.

The detective sighs.He asks, " You're not letting this act go , are you?"

" It isn't an act." I say.

" Fine. We'll pick this up with your lawyer." The detective says as he turns towards the door. He leaves the room and slams the door harder than when he entered.

When I knew he was a good distance from the room , I let out a sigh of relief.

Now that I'm thinking back to it I'm glad I kept my composure. Even when the lawyer came , I never once switched up my story. As of late I'm a sitting duck and I don't know what to do.

I sat still for 15 minutes until my stomach growled. I'm hungry. Of course that makes perfect sense to me because I haven't eaten anything since lunch and no one (no matter what school you go to) really eats cafeteria food.

20 minutes later , Officer Blight enters the room and says ," You're free to go."

I wonder what changed but I don't ask any questions. I leave the room , get my things and exit the building.

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* Author's note.* For those who find this relevant, I'm back and I'm done with this story and decided to no longer postpone updating this story. It made me sad that no one really read the story I worked so hard on, but I decided to suck it up. So for the few that have read this story so far, thank you. ❤️ I mean it.