Lilium

Ten

Ten

The man who brought Lilith to the police station reeked of coffee and chocolate. Under normal circumstance, she wouldn't have found either scent irritating, but in the moments she spent sitting behind him the in the police car, the thought of either item made her stomach knot up.

He had seemed nice enough at first. Lilith had walked into the living room, trailing behind Marlene and casting a nervous glance around the room after catching the officer's eye. He had just smiled, introduced himself as Officer Carter Nadeau, and asked if she would follow him for some questioning. He followed this with a reminder of her Miranda Rights and all of it was said with a faint accent.

His smile had been meant to make her feel at ease, but all it did was unsettle her as she left the house.

She could have said no, she realized. But the opportunity to do so had passed and turning back now would make her look suspicious. So when he held open the back door to his patrol car, she nodded like she was expected to and sat down on the hard leather.

"Will this take long?" she had asked just as he was about to shut the door. He hadn't replied.

He had opened the door again when they got to the police station, then put his hand at the small of her back and guided her inside the building. They passed the main room, comprised of many desks and many more computers, and into the hallway at the back. Officer Nadeau stopped only to check in with – Lilith assumed – one of his colleagues before he came back to her and opened the first door in the hallway, to the left. A table and three chairs were waiting for them.

"I will be right back with Officer McKinney," Officer Nadeau said before leaving the room. Heart in her throat, Lilith stepped closer to the table and looked around. The walls were all dark grey and undecorated. The table looked to be either wood or rusted metal, and in any case the blue paint was chipped. The chair on the far side of the table were screwed into the floor.

This... looks pretty serious.

Lilith took a deep breath and, with shaking hands, sat herself down in the far chair. Then she folded her hands over the table and laced her fingers together.

It's just questions, right? What could go wrong? It's not like they actually think... she trailed off when the door opened again and an aged black man stepped in, followed once again by Officer Nadeau.

"Hello, Lilith," said the new policeman, whose hair was cut short and whose legs seemed just a bit too long for the rest of his body. He stooped down and sat down on the chair to her left.

"My name is Officer McKinney. You've already met my colleague, is that right?"

Lilith nodded, focusing all of her will on keeping her hands from shaking.

"That's good." Officer McKinney waited until Officer Nadeau sat down next to him before looking Lilith in the eyes. "Before we begin, I want you to know that we're not charging you with anything and that you're not in trouble. We would just like to ask you a few questions. Furthermore, you have the right to remain silent. This means that you don't have to say or write anything if you do not wish to. You don't have to talk with any of us or answer any of the questions that we ask you. Choosing not to speak with us won't hurt you, either. You won't get punished if you got up right now and left."

Lilith nodded. When she swallowed, her throat felt dry. "I understand," she replied after a moment. "It's about Ms. Longsly, isn't it?"

"Er... yes."

Officer Nadeau pulled a paper from his shirt pocket, unfolded it, and slid it forward to her. A pen followed afterwards.

"What's this?" Lilith asked.