by Jaz Johnson
“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, ri
pping 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 said, 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.
“So, uh, how old are you?” Roland asked, giving quick glances over at Saphora as he drove along the highway. One hand was gripping the steering wheel, while the other was on the stick shift. Saphora stayed quiet as she stared out the window at the passing trees along the side of the road. A few moments went by before Roland cleared his throat and tried again.
“Hello. Anybody there?” he asked a bit mockingly. Saphora sighed, and grudgingly turned her head so that she could look at him. He glanced over at her again, this time looking a bit longer after seeing that she was actually giving him her attention. They had been driving for about ten minutes in silence. “Oh hello! I was beginning to think you were dead,” he chuckled. Saphora rolled her eyes, turning away from him to return her gaze towards the window.
“You must think I’m young,” she scoffed.
“Yeah? And what makes you say that?” he asked, shifting gears.
“Talking to me like I’m a child,” she said, somewhat mumbling. There was a slight pause before Roland’s next words.
“It’s called sarcasm. And you don’t have to be a child to get it.” He glanced over at her turned head. “Just stuck up,” he mumbled. Saphora blinked, and turned again, her head in somewhat of a tilt.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, all I asked you was how old you were.”
“You also accused me of being a murderer.”
Another awkward silence.
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” he said, nodding. Saphora shook her head, looking back out the window.
“Gee, thanks.”
“So are you going to answer my question?”
“I’m in my twenties.”
“You’re not going to give me a number?” he asked, as he switched lanes, coming closer to the exit that he needed to get off at in order to get to the zoo properly. Saphora groaned.
“I don’t know a number. I can’t remember my birthday, or what year I was born. Fran thinks she found me when I was around the age of seven, okay?” she said, leaning her forehead against the palm of her hand.
“Oh …” He nodded, shifting gears again as he slowed down to make way for the exit. “So that would make Fran what, like, mid-thirties? Early forty?”
Saphora spazzed as she started to reach for the lock on the car door. She’d had enough of Roland. Figuring she could walk the rest of the distance to the zoo. She couldn’t believe the insensitivity of this man. Not only was this man pressing on her nerves, but he had the profound stupidity to think that the age Fran found Saphora had anything to do with her own. Her nerves were wearing thin. She pulled the lock free on the door, causing Roland to become alarmed. He jerked his head towards her, as the car swerved in his shock. She moved to open the door, but Roland reached over and took hold of her hand as he began to pull the car over.
“Hey! What the heck are you doing?!” he shouted, trying to keep her hand away from the door. She grunted, trying to jerk h
er hand away from him. In the process, her subconscious awakened her power. Her rage fueling her power to forcefully swing the car over to the side of the road, as her hand snatched away from Roland. He screamed, as an angry truck driver honked their horn. They both lunged to the left against their seatbelts. Roland scrambled to get his hands back on the steering wheel to steady the car. Once it stopped wobbling, he looked around frantically, trying to piece together some logic of what just happened.
“Did you feel that? The heck was that? Wind?” he said, as his head swiveled around in bewilderment. Horror fell over Saphora as she gripped onto the car door for dear life. Her head spun with the dying motions of the car. Was it happening again? She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to think of that day again – believe what had happened. She stared at her trembling hands, balling them into fists before scrambling to unbuckle her seat belt. Roland watched her as if she’d gone mad.
“What are you doing? What – wait, wait!” Roland shouted as Saphora opened the door to the car and pushed herself out. She stumbled when she did, but continued to walk forward a few steps before stopping and getting a feel for where she was. Roland turned off the car and opened his door, stepping out and turning around to yell at Saphora, who was trying to remember which way to go after walking past the exit.
“Are you mad? Get back in here! There could be another gust of wind!” he shouted at her as he looked around to see if there was some explanation in the clouds above. Saphora turned around, glaring at Roland.
“Yes. I’m furious, thank you for asking. I’m walking the rest of the way to the zoo. Just go back to your job.”
“What – If I left you to walk all the way there I wouldn’t be doing my job. Get back in the car!” he shouted, reaching his hand out to her. She scowled.
“I don’t need some wannabe cop who’s trying to get with the caretaker of a woman he just recently accused of murder, driving me around like I’m some sort of helpless child!” she said, beginning to walk off towards the exit. Roland jolted forward around the car towards her, but stopped when she turned around to face him again.