If No One Else

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ⁶

6.  s t r a w b e r r y & s e a t b e l t s
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"-not able to take your call right now. I'll call back at the soonest convenience-"

I pull the phone away from my ear and hang it up, having heard the sound of my mother's voicemail long enough that I know every word by heart.

How sad.

I release a sigh as I throw the phone onto the couch, and I plan to join it soon, but the sound of muffled voices growing closer towards me stop me.

Gael finally comes into view, looking towards me with a light glint in his eyes. "We're almost done, Chandler. We've accessed the footage, so we just need to review the video and we should be able to find the suspect. "

I fold my arms across my chest as I stare back at him blankly, "Does that mean everyone can get out of my house now or are we having another slumber party?" I say sarcastically, not hiding my annoyance at the intrusions.

Yes, I can admit that I had been scared yesterday night, but now I was just overwhelmed. There had been people searching through my house the entire day and I know they were here to help, but I can't help my nerves from spiking with all the officers walking around my house. All the random men.

It was like my worse nightmare turned into reality, and it made me want to do many illegal things just to forget it ever happened.

"Chandler-" He blows out a sigh as he goes to take a step closer to me. "Chandler, yes we're about to leave. The guys are leaving now, and I was checking on you before I left..."

I release a sigh of my own as I wipe at the nonexistent sweat on my forehead, and finally allow myself to plop back onto the couch.

"...but you need to make a few changes around here, especially if you're going to be living alone in this big, secluded house," he continues, but I quickly drown out his impending lecture.

I roll my eyes at him because I have been living on my own for far longer than I'd like to admit, and this had been my first run in with any sort of danger.

I was fine, and would continue to be. And if it's my time to go, then I won't fight it.

He must see my thoughts written all over my face because he frowns, then his voice hardens with the next words he says, "Chandler, I'm serious. You need to get some more cameras installed and some other security measures. And you also need to make sure you're locking all the doors in this place because just going around last night, I found a few entrances that were unlocked. These aren't safe conditions for a anyone to be living in, let alone a woman!"

He finally comes to stand in front of me, and that glint in his eyes grows and I now know why; it's pity.

The man thought I was a lost cause; a fucking charity case. A helpless young girl that couldn't handle life without the help of someone else.

"I'm fine, Officer. I can take care of myself just fine," I snap, not being able to stomach that repulsive expression in his eyes.