Scrabble » Zarry ✔

🔍THIRTEEN🔎 ❔

When Zayn pulled into the lot of the police station fifteen minutes later, Harry was there to meet him.

"How did things go?"

"Good, I think." Zayn said.

"That's great."

"Not as great as getting a new lead. Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"It's Arelie. She called the station today."

Zayn had a mixture of excitement and worry come over him." She did? What did she say?"

"Not much but she sounded frantic. It scared me a bit. I asked her if she was alright and she said she was. But she also requested that you and I come by to see her now."

Zayn groaned. "But her mother... I have a feeling she will just send us away again."

Harry shrugged to show that he wasn't sure. "Well, we can't not respond to that call just because we think something might happen."

"I know. Do you know where they're staying?"

"They're not staying with Fionne's mother anymore. They went back home."

"Okay. You drive, then. If you don't mind, that is."

"Don't mind at all."

The two of them jumped into Harry's car and he drove them over to the house where the crime had originally taken place. They quickly got out of the car and made their way up to the house. Zayn was the one to knock on the door.

"How are we going to talk to her if we get turned away? Because I'm seriously worried that we will."

He reached out and touched Zayn's shoulder to calm him. "I don't know. But we will see. Don't worry about something that hasn't happened yet. Okay?"

He nodded and suddenly out of nowhere, the door swung open. They prepared themselves for an angry mother but instead, came face-to-face with an eleven year old.

"Arelie." Zayn said. "You answered the door? Where is your mother?"

"She just left. But she said she'll be back soon."

She grabbed Zayn's hand and pulled him inside the house. Because of that, Harry felt compelled to come inside and push the door up but not lock it.

"Is something wrong?" Zayn asked curiously.

She made him sit down in the living room on the couch. "I'm scared." She said.

Those two words really grabbed the detectives' attention. "What are you scared of?"

"My Ma."

"Why does she scare you?"

"I think she killed my daddy." She blurted out.

Harry and Zayn looked between each other and then back at her. "Why do you think she did it?"

"Because I heard her."

"You heard her kill him?"

"No. I heard her talking about it."

Harry folded his arms. He couldn't believe it. "What? When?"

"It was on Halloween because I went trick-or-treating."

"Okay. That's a good start. Can you tell us more? Do you want to tell us more?"

She nodded right away and they could tell that this time was not like all the others. She wasn't scared anymore. She was truly ready to talk.

It was eight thirty at night and Arelie was supposed to be sleeping. She'd been sent to bed thirty minutes ago and usually she would be asleep by now. But on nights when her father wasn't home to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight, she didn't always feel safe enough to fall asleep right away. And it didn't help that she'd also consumed a third of the candy she had gotten earlier.