Duskwood - Afterstory

Chapter 9

[A/N: First of all, I'm so, so sorry for the delay! I was a bit busy, plus I started replaying Duskwood just 10 days before the new episode dropped, so I had to speedrun my gameplay. I barely made it xD The new episode was stunning by the way! 

A/N 2: WARNING! for a very detailed sex scene.]

Chapter 9

*

"But nobody knows you like I do 'cause the world may not understand

That I grow stronger in your hands."

('Insatiable' - Darren Hayes)

*

You let out a shaky sigh as you walk up the stairs and into the building. You have never been the very anxious kind of person, but it's totally a good thing that you've learned some grounding techniques from the internet because now you need it. You need to get a grip of reality before you spiral so deep in your mind that you have a panic attack in the middle of the ground floor of a police station. 

So you look around for five things that you can see: you see police officers talking or organising paperwork. You see desks and computers. You see doors, probably offices. And finally, you see the lamps above your head on the ceiling. 

Now you need five things that you can smell: the first thing your nose catches is coffee. Then you can smell the scent of paper. You can also smell people's perfumes, various ones, one of them smells like wild berries, another smells like it costed hundreds of euros. How many is this now? You have no idea, but you're not going to think about this. 

You take a deep breath. Grounding seems to do the trick. Your anxiety is still very high, but you've stopped spiralling, your head is somewhat clearer than it was just a few minutes ago. Then, you take another deep breath, and you feel a little shift in your body. You feel a tiny little bit calmer. 

But then the woman leads you and Jake into an empty office, it isn't big, just enough for three people to sit somewhat comfortably. If you can even sit comfortably at a police station when you have no idea why you're there in the first place. So, you sit down with Jake next to you, the woman takes her seat across from you at the table. She starts up her laptop which is lying on the desk, and puts a notebook with a simple, blue pen next to it. 

You feel your breathing quickening again, your anxiety crippling, and you're on the edge of panicking. You can't take this anymore. So, you burst. 

"I'm sorry, Jake had nothing to do with all of this, this whole thing was my idea, mine alone, please, it's all my fault." 

You're gripping the chair's handles so hard your knuckles are as white as the paper sheets in the notebook. A minute of silence follows, and you glance up. The woman is looking at you, seemingly taken aback by your sudden outburst. As you glance at Jake, he looks like he's about to say something, but the words are just stuck in him. 

"Miss. Please, calm down. I hope you do realise that you are not here to be arrested." 

Now it's your turn to be taken aback. Your mouth is hanging open as you stop gripping the chair so tight. Once again, you glance at Jake. He frowns as if he didn't quite understand what the women has just said. 

"I'm sorry?" you hear him say. 

"If we wanted to arrest you two, we would have done so. You would be in handcuffs," the woman explains slowly, although she seems a bit impatient. She probably did not appreciate your outburst. "But let's take this slowly, and in order. And please, let me do the talking."

"I'm sorry," you nod, gulping. 

The woman takes a deep breath, and continues. 

"You two are here for an interrogation regarding an investigation." Now she points at the huge board behind herself which only now do you notice. You take a glance. There is notes and pictures all over the board. Pictures of Jake. Pictures of three men. News articles. And the picture of a dead body. The body of that woman who was recently killed in Duskwood. You're staring at it for a moment, and then it clicks. You're just sitting in your chair, shocked. But you don't say anything. You're waiting for the woman's explanation. "As you know, Mr. Danford, we have been monitoring your activity after you have been pardoned."