The Witness

The Rescue

"Freeze! Hands in the air!" cops shout.

Dakota makes a run for it, sprinting out the back door. Cops quickly chase after her. I stand perfectly still, a freaked-out cat clawing up my arm. Two officers run over to me and that's all Cali can take before she jumps out of my arms and scrambles away, running into Dakota's room.

"Got her, got her," he shouts.

Them I am surrounded.

EMS flashing lights into my eyes, cops asking a thousand and one questions, it's all so overwhelming. I try to go after Dakota, but they stop me.

"Stay still," he says.

They drag Dakota back into the house, now in handcuffs.

"Dakota!" I run over to her.

"I love you," she says to me.

They pull me away from her as they drag her out of the house.

"Dakota! Let go of me!" I try and pull free.

The cops look at me in surprise.

"Let go of me!" I pull free.

"Melony we are trying to help you."

"She wasn't holding me prisoner, I stayed here of my own free will," I say to them.

They blink at me in surprise.

"Do you understand we have all been looking for you?" another officer asks.

"I'm an adult, I can do what I want."

"Witnesses saw you get kidnapped." They point out.

"You witnessed a murder." Another adds.

"No," I shake my head and close my eyes.

"Melony we need to know exactly what happened to you."

"No! I just want to be with Dakota!" I cry out.

"You need to come with us."

"No!"

"Then you are under arrest for obstruction of justice."

They slam me against the wall and pull my arms behind my back. I sob into the wall.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."

I just cry and cry as they drag me out of the house.

I don't get put in a cruiser though, I get put in an ambulance.

They examine me for cuts and bruises but only find hickeys and the scar on my arm. I flinch away from them when they try to ask me questions.

"Melony we need your help sweety, we need to know what happened." One EMT says.

I just stay silent and look away from them.

They all eye each other and stay silent as they drive me to the hospital.

I am forced to change into a hospital gown and then a doctor and two nurses come and give me a once over. Looking for any trauma, the only thing they find is the unsightly scar on my arm.

Two officers come to talk to me, one female, one male.

"Melony, we need you to tell us what happened." She says.

"Where's Dakota?" I ask.

"Dakota is going through processing. How did you meet Dakota?"

I don't answer.

"Melony we need your co-operation." He walks closer to me.

I pull my knees to my chest and rest my head on them.

"Melony we know this is hard for you but we have to understand what happened. What can you tell us about that night? About Antonia." She pushes.

I just shrug.

"Melony—"

"I want to be with Dakota," I say.

"Dakota is being held right now."

We are all silent for a moment.

"Melony—"

"Where's my cat?" I look up at them. "I want my cat, where is Cali? What are you going to do with her?" I demand.

"Melony we need you to focus. We want to know what happened to you."

"I don't recall." I look away from them.

The doctor comes in and pulls the officers to the side, but I can still hear them.

"The only trauma we found on her is that scar on her arm, which we have confirmed she didn't have before. She does have a lot of... Love marks. I have reason to believe that the two have been sexually involved." The doctor finishes.

"What are you saying?" the female officer whispers.

"I'm saying you could be dealing with a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. We have a psychologist on staff we can have come in and do an interview just to be sure."

"Shit," the male officer curses.

"She won't talk against Dakota, she feels connected to her."

I cover my ears to try and block them out.

"We are going to need to get approval first. I'll have to talk to my boss. We need to find out what she knows about Antonia."

"That will have to wait. She's been through something traumatic, and I wouldn't advise pushing her. Doing so could cause further psychological harm."

The door burst open and someone screams,

"You can't go in there!"

I look up as Lesly rushes over to me and tackles me in a hug.

"Dear God, you're alive." She holds me tightly.

I stay stiff in her arms.

BB runs in shortly after, tears running down her face.

"Melony!" she runs over to me.

She adds to the hug.

They pull away when they don't feel me hugging back.

"Look at you," BB laughs, running her hand through my short hair. "I never thought I'd see you again."

She tries to kiss me but I pull away.

She eyes me in confusion.

"You two need to leave, now. This is an active investigation." The female officer walks over to us.

"What's going on?" BB asks.

I see Dakota in the hall, being pulled into a room, blood dripping down her nose.

"Dakota!" I shout.

Everyone flinches.

She turns and sees me.

"Melony!" she tries to run over to me, but two officers force her into another room.

I get up to run to her but the male officer stops me.

"Let go of me! Dakota!" I cry out.

I am pushed back to the cot and handcuff to the railing.

"Let go of me!" I sob.

"Melony, you need to focus."

"Dakota! Where's my cat? Let go of me!" I sob.

BB and Lesly are quickly ushered out of the room as they gawk at me like I just lost my head.

"Go get that Psychologist," the male officer says.

I just cry and try to break free, the handcuff rattling against the metal bar.