Body of Stars by Laura Maylene Walter

Author:Laura Maylene Walter [Walter, Laura Maylene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-03-16T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

* * *

The police came in a pair, two men who didn’t bother to sit down or take off their hats. I sat up in bed and crossed my arms over the insufficient fabric of the hospital gown. I had no idea where my clothes were.

“Can you describe the events of the night you disappeared?” the first officer asked. He’d either forgotten to shave that morning or else his stubble grew back fast. From his pocket he produced a small notepad and a pencil. It wasn’t even a full pencil with an eraser; it was one of those mini pencils, the kind meant to be disposable.

“I don’t know,” I said. They stared at me, but I couldn’t make myself go on. My mother came over to sit on the side of the bed. She squeezed my shoulder.

“We spoke to your brother,” the officer continued. “He told us you were downtown at night, that you were drugged.”

“Though we found no evidence of illegal substances at the interpreter’s place of business,” the other put in. He had a big belly, a strain against his belt.

I felt hot all over. “I definitely wasn’t myself. I wouldn’t have left Miles otherwise. I felt out of control.”

“Well. You were a changeling,” the first officer said. He made a mark in his notebook.

I turned to my mother. Her jaw was set.

“Where are Miles and Dad?” I asked her.

“They were here earlier, before you woke up.” She wouldn’t look at me.

“Miss, we need to finish this interview. What can you tell us about the two men who led you away?”

The trappers, those men who were kind to me. Or at least I’d thought they were being kind to me.

“One had reddish hair, I think,” I said. “Or maybe it was blond. The other had darker skin.”

“Age? Height?”

I tried to remember. “Maybe they were in their thirties, but I’m not sure. And one was definitely taller than the other.” I paused. “I think the other one had a beard.”

The officers glanced at each other.

“They may have worked for Chloe,” I added. “The interpreter. She was acting strangely.”

“Yes, your brother mentioned that as well,” the officer said. “We’ve questioned her, but we didn’t find anything that would warrant an arrest. Based on your brother’s statement, it sounds as if you may have gone with these men willingly.”

“I wasn’t willing,” I said, but then I remembered pushing Miles away. Holding hands with one of those men. Feeling, for a few moments at least, safe in their presence. But that didn’t mean I’d gone willingly. Did it?

“I wasn’t thinking clearly, but I didn’t want to go with them.” I could feel my mother looking at me, but I refused to meet her gaze. I was ashamed of myself—for getting trapped in the first place, and for not fighting back.

“Can you tell us anything more about the trappers?” the other officer asked. “Any tattoos, scars, or identifiable marks?”

How much easier it was, I thought, for a man to point to a particular woman.

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