Split [ONC 2024]

4. Tracks

The detective leads me to his car, but once we're inside, he lets out a long breath and doesn't start the engine.

I'm still shaken by what happened inside the station, and I wish I could ask if he felt it too, but I'm too scared. I shut my eyes a few times, trying to see if raspy whispers will surround me again. Nothing happens.

"You seem rattled, Mrs. Romney," the detective finally says.

"I think I really need to go to the hospital." If not for my body, than clearly for my head. This couldn't be normal.

"I would like to see where you got struck by lightning."

I blink, startled by his sudden desire. "There's nothing interesting there. It happened while I was running."

"It could be nothing, but I want to see."

This makes me feel uncomfortable, but he is a police officer after all, so I give him my address. Finally, he drives away. I place my palms between my knees, trying to calm my unease. The hospital is not urgent, because nothing hurts. It's just a detour and it's not like he can find something out there. It's my own fault for not going to the hospital last night. Maybe then, none of this would have happened.

We drive in silence and it's pressing on my eardrums. Not even the radio is on. I'm afraid that I will hear raspy breaths and whispers again if it stays like this. But I don't feel comfortable enough to start a conversation either, so I look around instead. There's a bunch of documents right under the windshield, reflected on the glass. Just to force my mind to focus on something, I try to read them, even if they're mirrored. I can only pick up the detective's name. It's  Daniel Trevor. That's right. I remember his introducing himself.

"You're very tense," he observes.

"I'm sorry. It's just been a very strange day."

"I'll say," he mumbles. "Have you had that happening before?"

I suddenly grow cold. "Had what happening?"

"Lights flickering, the room getting colder, the whispering."

I let out a nervous laugh and I can immediately tell it's very inappropriate. Is he trying to trap me? Convince me that I'm crazy so he can claim I actually attacked Steve and spread blood on my car but I can't remember it?

This line of thought is doomed to fail. He specifically described what happened at the station. He couldn't guess all that.

"No," I whisper.

"Anything out of the ordinary in the past few days?"

His voice is so calm, and it drives me mad. I open my mouth to say no, but think better of it.

"In the forest, when I was running. I thought I saw a shadow."

He nods as if this means something to him, his blue eyes still on the road. "Was it in front of you or behind you?"

That was such an odd question. "Behind me, I guess."

He nods again, still not looking at me. "Just wanted to make sure."

"To make sure of what?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I see the spot." The side eye he gives me screams that this all depends on what he finds.

I don't know why this makes me so nervous because I know I didn't do anything. And yet, once we reach my house and he stops the car, I can barely breathe. He has to come over to my side and open the door for me. I still feel like I'll crash if I get out.

"Mrs. Romney?"

"Detective Trevor."

This gets a smile out of him. "You remembered my name."