by Jaz Johnson
In the fluorescently lit interrogation room, Saphora’s eyes constantly readjusted to the slightly flickering lights above her. There was a constant buzzing from them. The room reeked of metal and corruption. She waited there, alone, in a wooden chair before a low steel table. There was a single chair on the other side, though she was almost certain that there would be more than one entering the room to speak to her. The one that sat would play the role as the “good cop”. While the one that stood in the dimly lit corner of the room, no doubt with arms and legs crossed, would have the burden of being the bad. She waited patiently with her hands in her lap, careful not to touch anything. She had watched enough television to know the process that was about to take place.
She heard mumbling from outside the door. It was Dr. Lupin, speaking with the men that would be entering with him. Fran had insisted that the doctor be present during the investigation to discuss his assessment. Lupin had explained to the officers that Saphora’s mental condition was questionable, and had given a brief explanation of what he thought to have happened. But of course, the police still wanted to have their own conversation with her. Their own psychologist was standing outside the room, behind the two-way glass.
It wasn’t long before the three men entered the room. Dr. Lupin entering first, and the two officers following behind him. The first officer took a seat across from Saphora, while the second officer stepped forward and placed a glass of water on the table in front of her. He stayed bent for a moment, making eye contact with her before leaning back up, and going to lean against the wall behind his fellow officer. Dr. Lupin came around behind Saphora, and dragged a chair from the corner.
“Hello. Saphora, right?” the man in front of her asked, more than greeted. Saphora nodded her answer, glancing at his, and then his co-worker’s face. Studying their expressions. The one seated, seemed to be comfortably confident. While, the one in far end of the room seemed to be strikingly observant in his stillness.
“Hello,” she answered back, looking to her side at Dr. Lupin. “Where’s Fran?” she asked, in a low voice. Seeing as though she wasn’t in the room with them, she assumed that she was on the other side of the two-way glass.
“In the other room, don’t worry,” he answered, with about the same level of volume as his voice could produce. Saphora lifted her chin some in acknowledgement, knowing that that most likely meant that she was in the room watching from behind the two-way glass.
“And why are you here? I fired you.”
Lupin cleared his throat, and chuckled a bit, shifting in his chair uncomfortably as the seated officer spread out some papers on the table.
“Maybe right now isn’t the best time to talk about that,” he suggested, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
“Yes, maybe now isn’t the best time to talk about that, seeing as though he’s here to defend you,” the man sitting in front of them said, looking up with a grin once he had settled the papers. There was a slight silence between them before Saphora shook her head.
“I don’t need a defense. I’m not guilty of anything.”
“Other than stealing Jones’ truck, of course,” he cut in, rather sharply. Saphora’s speech was cut short and she stared at the man, unsure of what to say as a response. She hadn’t realized until that moment that she could very well be charged for taking the truck, even if it was to save her life.
“I was …”
“Borrowing it?” the man asked with a smile. Saphora’s eyes narrowed.
“I had to.”
“Of course. Well. We’ll get to that in a bit,” he said with an intake of air as he folded his hands on top of the table. His large watch clanged against the metal, and made Saphora’s ears ring. “I’m Officer Roland. And this behind me is Officer Glover. We’re going to be handling your case.”
“Don’t you mean Gary Jones’ case?” Saphora interrupted. Roland paused, and their eyes met. He smirked.
“Right. Jones’ case. You’re a witness. And until further notice, a suspect.”
Saphora was silent as his words sunk in. She glanced up at Glover, who still had not moved. Not even to acknowledge his name when it was spoken. He was playing his part well. She huffed, not wanting to say anything further. She was innocent, so theoretically she had no reason to be hostile. But really, she had every reason to.
“So, Fran. She’s your mother?”
“No.”
“Then what is she?” Roland asked, with a shrug of his hand as he looked over at Lupin. He was quick to answer.
“She’s her caretaker.”
“Caretaker,” Roland repeated.
“Yes,” Lupin said with a bit of hesitation, as he thought of how to word his next sentence. But Saphora took the task from him, and explained it herself.
“She found me. Took me in. Cared for me.”
“Found you where?”
Saphora hesitated, suddenly uncomfortable with sharing information. She looked at Lupin, who took the hint that she didn’t want to go into detail herself and was about to step in, but Saphora surprised him when she continued.
“What does that have to doing with anything?” Saphora spoke up. Again, there was a silence in the room, and they could practically feel the atmosphere amongst them become dense. Roland tilted his head, looking from the doctor to Saphora, a slight squint in his eyes.
“Not much, I suppose … You seem a bit tense. Why don’t you drink some water?” he suggested, leaning back in his chair and giving a warming smile. A distraction. Saphora knew what the glass of water was for. She looked down at it, then back up at the two silent officers.
“If you want my fingerprints, you should just ask,” she said bluntly, catching everyone off guard. Roland’s brows shot up and Lupin’s hand went to cover his face.
“Your fingerprints?” Roland asked.
“If you were really so considerate, you would have brought a glass of water for my therapist as well. I’m no stranger to television, Mr. Roland,” she continued.
A low snicker could be heard from Glover in the back, which caused Roland’s pride to take small plummet. He sprang forward in his seat, feeling his intelligence being questioned, and placed his arms on the table – his watch clanging again. His eyes locked on hers, but she stayed unmoving. She had faced the man from her nightmares. She wasn’t about to be fearful of Roland.
“Well aren’t you smart? Smart enough to kill a man,” he accused. Saphora frowned, and Glover stepped up, placing a warning hand on Roland’s shoulder. It seemed like she had gotten their rolls switched.
“Roland,” Glover said in a gruff voice. Roland nodded, and waved his hand at his partner, composing himself.
“What? I’m complimenting her,” he said with a chuckle, trying to come off a bit friendlier. But Saphora saw through that. He wanted nothing more than to pin her for the death of Gary Jones and be able to close their case in record timing. But that wasn’t going to happen. His partner, Glover, probably knew this, and was trying to keep Roland aware of his senses. Roland looked up at the unimpressed Saphora, and then to Dr. Lupin.
“So, Doctor. There anything you want to tell us about Saphora?” Roland asked as Glover’s hand left his shoulder. Lupin looked away from Saphora and towards the officers when he was mentioned, and straightened his posture.
“Ah, well,” he began. Saphora’s heart picked up as she looked at Lupin.
“You can’t.” Saphora broke in. Lupin flinched a bit from her sudden volume and looked down at her. He searched her for some reason for her interruption.
“You can’t talk about the sessions. They’re confidential,” she said looking at Roland immediately after. Roland watched in amusement, which both irked and encouraged her. “You should know that. What kind of officer are you?” she mocked, wiping his grin clean off. She turned back to Lupin as Roland raised his hand to defend himself. “If you talk about our sessions, I’ll be sure Fran fires you. And that you never have another patient again.”
Lupin cleared his throat and grimaced, offended that his professionalism was being doubted so freely. He adjusted his glasses once again.
“Saphora, please. Do you think I would be so foolish as to do something like that?” he asked her, shaking his head. “Honestly.”
“You were pretty quick to refuse that, though. Any reason why? Afraid he’ll talk about some hidden desire for violence that you might have?” Roland suggested, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair. Saphora’s gaze narrowed at the man that she had begun to detest.
“No. But maybe a lifelong hatred for close-minded, air-headed, first-year policemen,” she jabbed. Roland’s lips curled tightly in agitation, as did his left hand. Glover’s hand found Roland’s shoulder once again.
“Saphora,” Lupin said under his breath, much like Fran would do. She acknowledged the tone, and held herself back from saying anything else. Lupin sheepishly looked up at the two officers, and attempted to follow through with Roland’s request.
“She’s been coming to me for about three years for amnesia.”
“Amnesia! How do we know that she didn’t just commit the murder and forget?” Roland accused. Saphora’s eyes snapped to his, but before she could speak up, Glover stepped in, pulling Roland up by his arm.
“Roland. Take a walk.”
Roland didn’t argue. He knew he needed one. Not giving Saphora another glance, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Glover groaned as he exhaled and took Roland’s seat.
“Sorry about that,” he said on behalf of his partner. Saphora neither accepted nor ignored it. Merely took it as it was. “Go on, Doctor,” Glover insisted.
“Well … As I said, Saphora has been coming to see me for a little over three years. For Amnesia,” he explained, with a small gesture of his hand.
“And when did the amnesia start?”
“Our records say since Fran – her caretaker found her.” Lupin glanced over at the still Saphora, who was carefully watching the door to the room. “Right, Saphora?”
“Mhm,” she said very tight lipped. She wasn’t very fond of her personal information being shared with others. And although that information was more medical than psychological, she still wanted only the minimal being shared, if not nothing at all.
“Does she remember that day? That she met Fran.”
“Yes, she does.”
Glover nodded.
“Mhm … Has there been any attempt to find her parents?” he asked, folding his hands atop the table. Saphora’s eyes narrowed in the door’s direction. She hated conversations like this. She hated being talked about like she wasn’t in the room. Like she was just some file being gone over.
“Uh, yes, but,” Lupin began, giving a side glance to Saphora. Her expression was hard, and he knew that this was a not a topic that should be pressed. Glover’s brow’s raised as he waited for the answer to the question. “No leads were ever found,” he said, trying to put it as delicately as possibly. Saphora inhaled a long breath.
“Are they dead?” Glover asked flatly.
Lupin’s mouth fell agape at the boldness of his question, while Saphora frowned. This was not a topic that she wanted to discuss. Nor was it on that she thought had any reason to be discussed. She had done a very good job over the years distracting herself from the mystery of her parents. Where they were, if they were looking for her, and if they weren’t, wondering why they weren’t. And then there was the question that was just brought up. What if they were dead? Saphora didn’t like to think about it. Though she told herself that she was fine without her parents, she liked to think that she might one day get to meet them to at least let them know that she was alright.
“What’s the matter with you?” she spat, her eyes now locked on Glover.
“Saphora,” Lupin pleaded, even though he understood where her frustration was coming from with such a topic being handled so carelessly. Glover turned to look at her, obviously not seeing where he had gone wrong.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not excused. What the hell is your problem? Don’t you see me sitting here? And you’re going to talk about my parents like I’m not even here?” she said with a glare. Glover’s eyes widened in his realization and he quickly went to apologize.
“Oh, god. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that I-“
“What you were thinking. I know. It’s apparent that neither of you have any idea what you’re doing. None of the questions you’ve asked have anything to do with what happened to that man. So why don’t we get some people in here who actually know how to talk to another human being?” she raged, her patience having been worn. Both Glover and Lupin were silent after her rant. And it wasn’t long after that an intercom for the room came on.
“Glover. Come out here for a moment,” A woman’s voice said, filling the room with echoes. Lupin and Saphora looked around the room, before their eyes found the two-way window. Glover sighed, lowering his head for a moment.
“Damn,” he grumbled, shaking his head and pushing off of his knees to stand up. “Sorry guys,” he said, before calmly turning around and heading out of the room. They sat there, listening to the mumbling on the other side of the door.
“I’m sorry about that, Saphora,” Lupin said, with a voice that actually sounded sincere. Saphora shook her head, looking away from him.
“He should have known better.”
There was an awkward silence between them as they waited for someone to enter the room. About two minutes later, a woman entered. She closed the door behind her, and swiftly made her way to the seat in front of the table. Once seated, she smiled up at the two.
“Hello. I’m Officer Johnson,” she said. Saphora half nodded her head, not looking the woman in her face.
“Third time’s the charm.” Saphora said under her breath. She was tired of this place already. She wanted to go out, and talk to Fran. Johnson looked at Saphora skeptically, but then eased her expression, remembering what she had just been put through with Roland and Glover.
“I’m sorry about them.” Johnson said, getting Saphora to look towards her. “I’m here to get it right, okay?” She was already doing it wrong – speaking to Saphora like a child. Saphora stayed silent. And when some time had gone by without her saying anything, Johnson cleared her throat and nodded, looking down at the papers in front of them.
“Okay. Well, why don’t you tell me what happened on Monday?”
“You’re asking me?”
“Of course. You’re the witness, aren’t you?” she said with a gesture of her hand. Saphora’s brows rose in somewhat of a surprise.
“Oh. Well …” she sighed, averting her eyes momentarily while she tried to remember that day. It was now Thursday. “I left Dr. Lupin’s office after our session and decided to go to the woods - because I like to climb trees,” she began.
“Interesting choice for a pass time.”
“I was climbing a tree, and fell out, because it fell.”
“Wait, what? What fell?”
“The tree.”
“The tree fell? How did it fall?”
“I don’t know. But I felt it falling, and made the decision to jump from it. I don’t know how it fell. You can check. I can show you where it was.”
“That’d be helpful. Thank you.”
Saphora shrugged to say she was welcome, and she continued with her questions.
“So what happened after you fell? After the tree fell?”
Saphora hesitated, looking over at Lupin. He nodded and signaled for her that is was okay for her to tell Johnson what had happened. But Saphora knew that she wouldn’t believe her. And yet, it was the only story she had to tell.
“I … saw a man,” she continued, looking back at Johnson, who was still closely watching her.
“Who was the man?”
“He said he was my hunter. He had a gun,” Saphora said, suddenly with an urge to defend herself. Johnson paused, looking over at Lupin for
verification. Lupin nodded.
“She calls him Tebias. He, from what Saphora told us, is the man from the night she remembers. The man who was trying to kidnap her. Or harm her in some way.”
Johnson gave a nod, glancing back and forth from Lupin and Saphora.
“I see. And where did this man come from?”
“Well, I believe that she may have been hallucinating. With her so eager to remember her past, but only having the terrifying image of this man … It’s possible that she could have hit her head when falling from the tree. The trauma could have caused her to hallucinate, and see this man. And instead of remembering the past, create a present based on her memory instead.”
Saphora grumbled at the reasonable logic.
“But what about Jones? Surely she would have seen two people, instead of mistaking Jones.”
“Not necessarily. Saphora told Fran that she was hit by Jones’ truck. And that he took her back to her house, where she stayed until she recovered consciousness. I think that because there was a lapse in vision, she could have mistaken Jones and his gun, for Tebias’ and his. Especially after being hit – no matter the speed he was going.”
Johnson nodded, agreeing with the thought and leaning back to cross her legs.
“Yes, but that doesn’t explain the house.”
“Yes. I had been doing some thinking about that myself. I thought, maybe it was possible that Jones, during Saphora’s distraught actions, could have misfired and offset some sort of support beam in the house. Or something similar anyway. Which could have caused the house to collapse. It’s to my understanding that it was rather old.”
“And how did Saphora here manage to escape?”
Lupin shrugged, resting his hands in his lap.
“Luck of the fall, I suppose. Maybe she was spared by a window. I can’t say. Though she was pretty banged up by the time she reached her house. You can still see some of that. It’s possible the house did fall on her. But in a way that allowed her to escape.”
Johnson stayed silent as she thought about the theory presented before her. It made sense, yes, but then what would she do about the case? Write it off as an accident? It would save a lot of paper work, yes, but a story like this getting to the public as an explanation? What would be the response? Johnson didn’t think it would blow over so easily. The extended amount of silence made Saphora speak up eagerly.
“Are we done here?” she asked, tired of feeling like an experiment. Johnson looked up at Saphora. “I’m getting a headache.”
That made Lupin remember something. It was apparent by his sudden change in body language. He raised his hand as if to say “aha”, before reaching down to pick up his briefcase. Saphora watched somewhat annoyed, seeing as though he was delaying her leaving. He came back up, and, rather loudly, placed a full bottle of prescription medication on the table. Saphora’s eyes widened. It was the medication he had prescribed to her. And more specifically, the medication she had hid in the bathroom, and never took.
“Another thing to add to your notes, Officer Johnson. This,” Lupin said, gesturing to the bottle on the table. “Is medication prescribed to Saphora for those headaches.” He looked at Saphora, who was nervously averting her eyes. “Medication that, this just being brought to my attention, she has not been taking. Let that be in the records as well.”
“I see. Any reason for that, Saphora?”
“I don’t like medication,” she said dryly. She kept her eyes away from the obviously disappointed Dr. Lupin. She could only imagine what he was thinking about the fact that she had been lying to him for nearly three years. That alone could have gave way to the fact that she really might have been unstable due to the lack of medication that was supposed to be helping her.
“Why not?” Johnson asked, tilting her head to the side. Their eyes met. She was tired of being questioned.
“Because the last time I was given something that was supposedly for my own good, I couldn’t remember anything properly for nearly twelve hours,” she spat. Lupin cleared his throat, turning his head away from them. Johnson’s eyes followed him as Saphora spoke up again. “Are we done? My head is killing me. I want to go home. Bring Fran in here.” Johnson cleared her throat and gestured to the bottle of pills.
“Well – I guess we can wrap up for now. And we can contact you tomorrow about showing us where the tree-“
“Good. We’ll be going now. Fran?” she called out, standing up. Lupin grumbled at her behavior and stood up as well as Saphora went to open the door.
“Saphora,” Lupin said in a gruff tone, bending down to pick up his suitcase while reaching over the table to take the bottle of pills. He hurried after her, trying to get to her before she could get to the other room. But he was a moment too late. Saphora swung open the door, and then opened the door immediately to her right. Roland and Glover were in the room, turning towards her a bit surprised at her sudden intrusion. And there was another woman there, holding a clip board and a pen. She was taking notes. A therapist, she thought. She glared, as she realized that she was being evaluated. But she looked past that for the moment, as she looked around the small room for Fran. When she did not see her, her chest heaved. Dr. Lupin walked up to the doorway shortly after. She turned to look at him for a moment, then back into the room at Glover. Roland was still looking at her with distaste.
“Where’s Fran? In the bathroom?” she asked. The group remained silent, and looked over at Lupin, who was hesitating to speak. Instead, the woman spoke up.
“Sh-She’s not here.”
Saphora looked back at the woman, a little ticked that she, of all people was answering for the group.
“What do you mean she’s not here? Lupin, where’s Fran?”
“Saphora – she’s at work. She couldn’t be here,” he answered with guilt. Saphora scoffed, turning her body to look at him.
“Seriously? So you lie to me. Did she tell you to lie?”
“She had to work, Saphora. It’s not like she-“
“No. It is like she. It’s like she lied to me and left me to deal with you, again!” Saphora somewhat raged as her arm went into the air. She turned out of the room and began rushing down the bare hallway.
“Saphora!” Lupin called after her as he shuffled through the hall behind her. Johnson came to the doorway to watch them go down the hall towards the main lobby of the building. She shook her head as she crossed her arms, looking at the angered body language of Saphora. She turned her head towards the psychologist, her vision never leaving the pair going down the hall.
“So what’s your evaluation, Kelly?”
“Definitely checks out,” she said, gripping her clipboard, still a bit shaken up by Saphora’s little outbreak. Johnson chuckled, shaking her head.
“Saphora? Saphora, honestly!” Lupin said, reaching out to take hold of Saphora’s arm. She spun around, ripping her arm from his grasp and facing him.
“I told you not to touch me,” she snapped. Lupin groaned, looking around at surrounding officers that had begun to slow down to look at them. They were in front of the front doors to the building. Lupin’s body tensed as he realized that if she were to make a scene that things may not end so well.
“Saphora, lower your voice. Now just wait a minute. We still haven’t properly looked at your back,” he said, trying to reason with her.
But she was done. She wanted to rush over to the zoo as fast as public transportation would carry her, and give Fran a piece of her mind. What the hell was she thinking, not being here with her during something like this? Where practically everything about her was being questioned. She needed more than anything someone that would be there to defend her and who she was. Dr. Lupin was not that person, regardless of what he said. She didn’t believe that he was there to defend her. But to instead make his profession shine, and show his skill of understanding his patients – of understanding her.
“I don’t care. I still have to deal with you tomorrow. Look at it then,” she s
aid, turning back around to walk out of the door. But Lupin reached out to grab her arm once again. She grunted and ripped her arm from him once again, gaining the attention of a few more officers.
“Let, go! I said no! God, why are you still even talking to me? You’re done. They believe you,” she argued. An officer walked over, eyeing Lupin closely. He took a step away from her in response, not wanting to make things look any worse than they already did.
“Is there a problem here?” the officer asked, crossing his arms as he approached them. Lupin shook his head and raised his hand to try to talk to the man, assuring him that there was nothing going on that would concern him.
“No, I’m her-“
“Yes. Yes there’s a problem here. Tell him to leave me alone,” she argued. Lupin shook his head and laughed nervously as the officer’s gaze narrowed in on Lupin skeptically. He raised his hand to hold off his speech so that he could get a few more words in to defend himself.
“Officer, I’m her therapist. We just got out of interrogation and she’s not feeling well.”
That made Saphora fume. Questioning her sanity for that situation was one thing. But to tie in her general annoyance, especially with him, as a flawed mental state was too much.
“I am feeling fine,” she practically growled.
There was a flickering of the lights in the office, making all but Saphora, who seemed to be oblivious to it, look up. A sudden breeze swept through the lobby of the building, disturbing stacks of papers and alarming several employees.
“I’m just tired of you. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go to Fran, and find out what the hell her problem is,” she argued. Lupin remained quiet, actually feeling a tremor of fear from her building anger. The officer was staring at Saphora, wondering if he had chosen the right thing by walking over. He was no stranger to a woman’s wrath, and he took some quick glances around the Lobby to see who was around in case he had to call for backup. Before Saphora could get the front door fully open, there was a call from the lobby, making her groan and press her forehead against the glass of the door.
“Wait!” Johnson called out, dashing down the open space of the lobby, with Roland and Glover following casually behind her.
Reluctantly, Saphora turned around to meet her, looking past Lupin and the unknown officer. She needn’t say anything; her facial expression gave full understanding of how she felt about being stopped yet again.
“She works at the zoo, right? Fran?” Johnson asked, coming to a stop among the group. Saphora merely stared, giving her answer. “Well it’s a long way. Let us give you a ride,” she offered. Saphora scoffed.
“Why? So I can look like a criminal?”
Johnson laughed, crossing her arms.
“No, of course not. It’ll be our personal car. Roland! Give Saphora a ride to the zoo.”
Saphora scoffed again, shaking her head and looking away as she put a foot out the door.
“I think I’d rather walk, thanks.”
Roland walked up to the group, looking down at Saphora with a cocky grin. His hands found his hips, echoing his overly confident attitude.
“Come on, I’m not gonna bite you. That’s like a two hour walk!”
Saphora sighed. He was right. By the time she had gotten to the zoo on foot, Fran’s shift would have been over. It was already 3pm. And she still couldn’t fly. And it made her feel helpless. Not being able to use her ability due to fear – to paranoia. She groaned, looking up at the grinning Roland, and rolling her eyes.
“Fine,” she complied, pushing the door open and walking out of the lobby. Roland jerked forward to catch the closing door behind her, following her out in front of the building.
“Whoa, hey, wait for me! Geez,” he said with a laugh, shaking his head. Johnson and Glover chuckled behind them.
“Good luck,” Glover snickered, crossing his arms.
“Yeah, he’s gonna need it,” Johnson agreed.