The slaves of Freetown

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The two officers dragged me to an isolated room, further down on the same floor. Running a quick hand over my face, I take the time to rebuild my character and study the two men standing in front of me. The smaller one extends a hand to me, and I curl up immediately, losing all composure again.

"I'm Inspector Nguyen, and this is my partner, Inspector Gomez."

I hesitate to grab the hand, which he is still waving in front of me, as Inspector Gomez's hand slides over my shoulders and over my head to mend me. My unease grows as the feel of his rough fingers threatened to trigger that nauseating wave, still flipping my stomach.

"The dead body of Mrs. Salvi, your Mistress during the past three weeks, interestingly, curiously, has been found. Do you have something to tell me about this?"

If it was not for the love that I have for all my family members, the singular impulse that begins to bind me to Sky, and certain weakness, cowardice on my part to be completely honest, I would have vomited on Inspector Nguyen's shoes, my whole confession. In an ego fight, I would have set myself up as a martyr.

"She was a very good Mistress to me," I say in a tone that I want controlled, even.

Inspector Nguyen raises a skeptical eyebrow at my sudden firmness. I remember that while I need to be convincing, I must not forget that a slave is nothing to most law enforcement officials. There are very few things that are more unbearable to them than being undeceived in this evidence of thinking by a slave claiming to be more than this nothing.

"So you knew about her death? You don't seem very surprised."

"A rumor in Freetown."

"What do you think could have happened?"

"I do not know; really, I have no idea."

Inspector Gomez's fist slams near my temple, but I barely jump. My gaze is trapped in Inspector Nguyen's. As a slave, lying is the most powerful weapon which I have. I use it on me to transcend my absurd reality; the Masters remain a target by default. However, given recent events, I have found myself hiding the truth from them with an ease that I do not usually have. Inspector Nguyen stays beyond the reach of this newly enhanced faculty. His eyes remind me of my father's, conscientious, demanding in their function, impenetrable when necessary, still very soft. An amused gleam also dances in his eyes; I am his prey, and like a good hunter, sooner or later, he will make me bow, not for the pleasure of triumphing, but because he loves the sensations that the tracking and the despair in his victim give him.

A shrill ringing echoed in the small space cluttered with boxes and the bent figures of the policemen. Inspector Nguyen's hand, holding my collar, slips to his coat pocket. He pulls aside slightly, leaving me facing Inspector Gomez, the sight of whom I cannot stand. He likes neither the effort of the hunt nor that of the triumph; he feeds on violence. His wild, clear eyes hide nothing but pure, sustained brutality. Inspector Nguyen turns to his teammate, whispering a few words in his ear. Their physiognomy changes, and they quickly take me out of the small closet.

"You'd better find yourself an alibi, Object," Inspector Gomez says.

His partner has nothing to add. His gaze turns chilling; despite our proximity to the room, his face moving away at a brisk pace seems more impressive and threatening. They abandon me in the hallway, suddenly agitated by the passage of a resuscitation cart. I shiver, tremble, worrying about my Mistress. I open the bedroom door, half aware of the surrounding situation. Realizing my phase shift, I am brought back to our present by Sky's pleading gaze. She is finishing dressing, and I turn around immediately, even more embarrassed.