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xxxlocation: party xxxxxxxxxoutfit: here
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xxx"Welcome to a fabulous
xxxsense of lost self,
xxxacute paranoia,
xxxand emotional trauma."
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The sound of someone clearing their throat brought Heather back out of her mind and to the present. She was in a room she’d seen plenty of times in the movies and television shows. But this was the first time she’d been in an interrogation room. She knew people were watching from the other side of the mirror. Anyone or anything. Heather could almost see the malnourished figures in the mirror watching her. Judging her. Why them? Why not her instead?
“Miss Swan!” The man in the room with her called out and she jolted in her chair as if she had been asleep. “Can you please keep up with me, here?” The man asked. Heather guessed he was a detective. Sarah was discovered, dead, and foul play was suspected.
“S-sorry.” Heather stammered in a quiet voice. “What was the question, again?” The man sighed and gave the girl a look she was all too used to seeing. She hated that look. While it was hard to see on this man, it was still there. The look of sympathy. Of pity. It was very likely he knew of what happened to her and probably even knew of her mental health. Which was why he was straining himself to be as patient as possible.
“I just need your alibi. I need where you were at the time of the victim’s death.” A look of confusion came across Heather’s face.
“You think I’m a suspect.” It wasn’t a question.
“We know you two seemed close during your time here after the incident. By all accounts, Sarah was the only person you conversed with after your rescue. We just need to do the routine questions and do a quick check so we can clear you. Then we’ll be out of your hair.” Heather thought quickly to recollect where and what she was doing at the time in question.
“I believe I was at work...a few states over. So, there’s several ways to get that checked, right?” The man nodded as he jotted down something in a notepad and slid it, over the table, towards Heather.
“If you can write the name of your job and any co-workers that can vouch for you then that’ll be all we’ll need from you for now.” Heather did as she was told and handed the notepad back to the detective. He gave her a brief smile. “You seem to be awfully calm about everything going on. I thought Sarah was a close friend of yours.” As Heather collected her few belongings to leave she looked the detective in the eye.
“I’ve been through hell and back. Those kind of things tend to numb you to the death of someone you haven’t spoken to in years. We were close in school but when I moved I left everything linked to this town. Including her.” The detective nodded as Heather opened the door to leave.
“Just make sure you don’t leave town. We may call you back in.” He called after just before the door to the interrogation room closed.
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Heather stepped out of her vehicle and peered, nervously, at the place which was abuzz with activity. She didn’t like sharing a room with several people, let alone a party. So many people and any of them could be a number of things.
The girl took out her knife from it’s sheathe in her boot. Heather would have rather had a gun but her mental state wouldn’t allow her to legally carry. But there weren’t any laws against carrying a small blade. At least none that she could think of. The knife, itself, wasn’t very large. Just an average pocket knife. But it was definitely sharp and would do damage. She wasn’t risking stepping foot in this town without any form of protection. Not after what she had gone through before.
The sound of some laughter made Heather quickly put the knife away. A few stumbling people, clumsily, made their way in Heather’s direction. She pretended to be flipping through her phone so she wouldn’t draw their attention. She wasn’t quite ready for socializing just yet. Heather hadn’t even formed the courage to walk to the front door yet.
Unfortunately, fate wasn’t on her side as one of the two men suddenly stopped and gave Heather a once over.
“Hey, I think I know you.” The man said as he approached, Heather. He wasn’t stupid-drunk but he was definitely tipsy. The other two he was with hung back and waited, talking amongst themselves. The man then gave off a silly grin and waved a finger, pointed at her.
“Yeah. You’re that Asian girl that would always have ghost stories.” Heather gave up with pretending her phone act and finally looked at the man. He wasn’t half bad looking and didn’t seem to be as drunk as Heather thought. There was still some focus in his eyes.
“Yup, that was probably me.” Heather finally answered. The man’s grin only grew wider like he was really proud of himself.
“I never figured you for the party type. Did someone ask you over to share some more stories again?” The more he spoke the more he sounded drunk because his words started to slur.
“No-no. I’m just here to relax.” Heather plastered a fake grin on her face.
“Well, you came to the right place.” The man spread his arms. “We are all relaxed as can be around here!” He rose his voice and got a couple cries of agreement from his two friends in the background. He then started making his way back towards his friends while giving a departing wave. “If you need anything, just come fetch me.” And with that he was back with his two companions, continuing their journey to wherever they were going.
That left Heather back to square one. Well, not exactly. The brief exchange did manage to calm her nerves. She had already taken her medication. Heather had already decided she was going to step outside of her comfort zone and come to the party. If everything worked out, Heather would be able to unwind and maybe even catch up with some old acquaintances. That was, if those bridges weren't completely beyond repair. So, Heather took a deep breath and headed for the front entrance of the loud house and was going to let herself in and try to have something resembling a good time.