The Elements

Chapter One

Sitting in the cold police interrogation room was not on my list of things I would want to be doing in the middle of the night. Sleep was at the very top of the list, and if I wasn't tired, reading was a close second. Having two disgruntled men in uniform stare me down while I was still in my pajamas had not made the cut, unfortunately.

"Okay, Poppy, why don't you tell me what happened one last time?" This was requested by Officer Thomas, the more burly and bald one of the two, as they both walked back into the room. There was only one fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling and no windows in the small room, making it fairly dark and creepy.

I inwardly groaned. "I have told you twice now."

Thomas shrugged, pulling his notepad and pen closer to him. The table we were seated at was small, putting me in a closer position across from authority than I normally like to get myself into. "Just tell us again to refresh my memory."

They thought I didn't understand their tactics. I had watched enough crime investigation shows to know that they wanted to make sure my story was bulletproof and to see if I would slip up. I had been through enough situations like this to know that my account was what mattered. I leaned back into my plastic chair and crossed my arms over my chest, letting no expression cross my face as to not give anything away.

"Like I said before," I sighed deeply, hoping to convey the boredom of a juvenile teen. "I lit a candle in my room. I must have fallen asleep while I was reading and knocked the candle over in my sleep. It all happened so fast..." I let my voice fade, hoping I wouldn't have to say anymore by making myself seem in shock. I would bring out the tears, but I never was one who was able to cry on demand.

"Mmhm," hummed Officer Banks, the other officer in the room. He was a lot younger than Thomas, but still had lines on his forehead from the stress of his job. He leaned forward and rested his clamped hands side by side on the table. "Now, Ms. Linch, would you like to tell the truth?"

That shocked me out of my unflustered facade. I quickly reviewed what I had just said, looking for any errors I might have made that conflicted with my story, but nothing appeared wrong. I felt my thumb unconsciously rubbing over my wrist, but other than that, I remained inscrutable. Shaking off the nerves, I, too, leaned forward as to not lose any advantage on these men. Being a seventeen—but on the brink of eighteen—year old female in the midst of two Alpha males already put me at a disadvantage and I didn't need anything else putting me further below their egos. Add in the pitiful ingredient of living in foster care and jumping from foster home to foster home since I was six quicker than people change their minds, I was considered a nuisance that the police had to swat out of their eyesight.

"I don't understand what you are saying," I admitted, mentally praising myself for keeping my voice steady.

Thomas ticked one of his eyebrows and his lips twitched, seemingly amused. "The reports came in about the fire," he started, sending shivers down my spine. He opened the file he had set down on the table when he walked in and slid one of the papers across the table towards me. I picked it up after a moment of keeping his gaze and skimmed over the information. "The candle was not involved in the fire. In fact, there wasn't a candle to be found. That is interesting, don't you think, Officer Banks?"

"Very interesting, indeed." Banks swiftly replied, his eyes penetrating my forehead as I continued reading the report.

These men must have not spoken enough with my current foster parents, who had a strict rule that matches and lighters were not allowed in the house, especially me with my past record. There would have been no reason to have a candle in the house with no lighter and with no lighter no way to light a candle. My story was crumbling and my steel facade was falling with it. "This paper says that the source of the fire was unidentifiable." I mentioned, making sure that the reports showed nothing that could give me away before setting the paper back down and sliding it over to the file.