The Crow Re-seen COMPLETED

Chapter 15

Officer Holt rubs his hands together for a moment, "You took a six storey swan dive, Shelby was beaten pretty badly, raped too, she died at the hospital," Erica looks shocked, "hey, you asked," he pauses for a second, "look at the file," Holt stands up and heads towards the files on a desk, his hand gestures to the files in his other hand, "Shelby Webber, held on for thirty hours, died in intensive care," he turns to face Erica, "I guess after that, her body just couldn't fight any longer," Erica's face registers sadness, "I saw it," Erica rises from the floor, "I couldn't do anything," Holt looks deeply saddened, "for her, though I wished I could have."

Erica is close to Officer Holt who holds out the files to her. Instead, Erica reaches out her hands towards Holt, who takes a step back but it is no use, her hands connect with either side of his head gently, her eyes close. We see memories of Shelby from the Officer's point of view, her eye is swollen, she is in so much pain, the breathing tube down her throat, the scene then cuts to doctors who are trying to assist her but to no avail, the hospital room feels clinical and is bathed in a strange blue light.

We come back to the present, Erica lets go and stumbles backwards reeling in shock and horror. Officer Holt holds out his hand to the panicked Erica, she is still reeling and growls, "Don't touch me."

Holt puts up his hands as a sign to her that he will not touch her.

Erica sounds like she is retching as she falls to her knees and her head leaning in the seat of a chair. The room is calmly lit and has a homely feel.

Holt looks concerned, "Hey," he soothes, Erica is out of the chair but slumped on the floor, "you okay?" Holt asks.

Erica is still on the floor holding her head, her distressed voice almost whispers, "I saw her," she lifts her head, "I saw her through your eyes," lifts her head a little further up, her voice calmer, "you stayed with her the whole time."

Holt feels uneasy, his shoulders slump as he stands there, "Er, yeah," his first finger wiggles, "you gotta understand something," making his way closer, "alright," taking a sidestep, "I was," sitting on the edge of a coffee table a few inches from where Erica is, "hoping she would come out of it, so she could give me something I could work with," Erica's head bows, Holt grabs a cigarette, "yeah." He lights the cigarette.

Erica's head rises up, "Why didn't you do something about it?" She asks.

We come close to Officer Holt, one of his fists is tightly clenched, "C'mon, you think anyone else in that building would speak up against them? After what happened with you two? Everyone had been silenced," there is a moment of silence, Erica turns her head, so her eyes are looking straight at Holt, he continues, "I kept asking questions, making enquiries, then got busted for sticking my nose in where it wasn't wanted."

Erica's hand slowly reaches out for a silver framed photo, the photo is of Holt and his wife. We close in on Holt who looks defeated, as we back away Holt is sat on a coffee table to the left, Erica is sat on the floor on the right. She picks up the photo and asks, "This your wife?"

Holt answers, "Yeah," shrugging his shoulders, "well," there is a slight pause, "not anymore, we're getting a divorce." Holt puts the cigarette to his lips and takes a drag.

We face Erica, "It's funny," her hair is messy, "little things used to mean so much to Shelby," there is sadness in her eyes and voice, we turn to Holt as Erica continues talking, "I used to think it was trivial but," the focus turns to Erica, "believe me, nothing is trivial."

Erica takes the cigarette from Holt's mouth, takes a drag then holds it in the air, "You shouldn't smoke these," blue smoke comes whirling out of her mouth as she speaks, "they'll kill you." She then puts it out in the ashtray before standing up, then starting to walk away slowly.

Holt looks a little puzzled, "What you gonna do now? Vanish into thin air?"

We see Erica from a side on view, she is illuminated by a light from a room, she turns and looks at Holt, "Thought I'd use your front door."

Focusing in on Holt he hangs his head before saying, "Look, I'm sorry about what happened to you and your cousin."

We get close to Erica, "Yeah," she says sullenly, looks at Holt, nods her head before walking forward towards the door.

Holt looks sorry, he hears the door close, "Yeah."