Chapter 12: 10 Human Suit
“It’s the vivid light—so vivid. My butt didn’t touch the seat yet and I couldn’t see anything. The light blinded me, no, blinded us. They fought against her. There were gunshots and Sonya tried to flee. I heard them saying that. Not really sure. I couldn’t see it clearly, no, no. They fought her to stop.”
“What’s her power?” asked Wade impatiently.
“The light! It’s the light.” Anthony raised his voice volume.
“Light?”
“Yeah, the light,” Anthony repeated.
Wade turned to her, doubtful. “I don’t’ understand. How the light can harm people?”
“It’s the same way we can’t look at the sun during the midday. The heat from the light.” Alexis answered. “Am I correct?”
“Yeah-yeah, something like that, or maybe she can control the light. The light burned things. Or, it’s about the heat. Whatever…but after she was taken away, I saw all the light bulbs burned. Two girls got injured too. Their skin burnt and they were unable to open their eyes. They probably stay at the hospital now.”
Alexis’s group exchanged the news with Anthony’s group, from cell to cell. “I think Sonya was scared. When she saw those chairs, she burst everything out. It might be an accident.”
“What’s going on with her now?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know where they keep her.”
Alexis looked at the cell where they put Mrs. Dobies and her sister inside. Now the cell was empty.
“What about the interrogation?” Wade still asked for more.
“It terminates but I’m not sure if it’s temporary or not. Hope they cancel it forever.”
The former soccer captain returned to Oslo and Alexis. “Well, who is Sonya Romuller?”
Alexis rolled her eyes.
“A junior student, she’s quiet but nice,” Oslo answered him. “I thought you know a lot of people.”
Wade shook his head, “No, not a lot. But you can’t tell me I have to recognize everybody in the school, especially the quiet ones.”
“I saw her at your party regularly.”
“No, I usually don’t pay attention to the guests. When I said, ‘hey, come to my party’, people parade into my house from word to word. I haven’t known you until we’re here. Alex, do you know this Sonya?”
Alexis nodded. “She sings for the school’s choir.”
“So! This one is really the Risk.” Wade turned to Belinda who sat far from them. “Congratulations!” He clapped his hands slowly. “You did help them find the real one!”
“Stop it. Leave her alone,” Oslo cried. “Just leave her alone, okay?”
“Okay, Saint Oslo,” Wade muttered but his eyes did not follow his words.
A couple of hours later, the police came and they released Anthony’s group. Alexis pressed her face against the metal bars. It was the first time since the interrogation that there was a sign of hope.
Miracle, please. I know you’re here.
Her eyes fixed on them. When the police ordered them to get out, some were reluctant to do.
“Don’t you want to go home? You’re free now.”
“How about them?” Anthony pointed to Alexis’s cell. “You’ll release them too? You already found the Risk.”
Alexis would like to kiss him once.
“They’re convicted as the Suspect. (“Me?” Wade yelled.) If you won’t go, I’ll put you inside. And you, Miller boy, shut your mouth.”
“Why?” Wade asked. “You let them go. Why don’t let us? You already found the Risk. We’re not.”
“I already said you’re the Suspect,” Joseph replied and showed the bat. “Need another hit?’
Alexis resumed her place, laughing to mock herself. Oslo who was still leaning on the wall smiled at them scornfully. “You two still hope?”
“Yep,” she admitted. “Is it wrong?”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Alex.” Oslo shook his head. “Well, I don’t know what to do even to hope. I think I go to sleep. Sweet dream both of you.”
The boy with red hair laid his back on the solid floor. They slept like this for three full days now. It was not comfortable at all. Alexis got back pain and she needed a full day at the spa.
“They’re lucky,” she still talked to Wade. “They didn’t receive that treatment and the judgment haven't been made yet. I wish I have that luck.”
Wade squeezed her shoulder. “I know. Feel the same thing but can’t do anything.”
They sat quietly for a while. Her eyes fixed on Oslo who slept peacefully.
Then Wade said, “It’s funny…I agree with him. The only thing we can do is sleep.”
Alexis sniggered.
Wade lay down. “You can lay your head on my arm. Or here.” The boy hit on his chest, slyly grinning. Alexis kicked one of his legs and laid herself on the floor next to Oslo.
“Where did they take them?” Alexis meant Mrs. Dobies and Ms. Stephen.
“Donno. Hope it’s not another torture.”
There were only four prisoners. The ambiance was deader than the other previous days. She watched the plain ceiling until surrendering to the weight of her eyelids, finally fell asleep.
**********
How many hours passed she was not certain but was sure that it was not morning yet. It might be the wee hours of the new morning. Alexis felt someone shaking her arms softly. Her eyes blinked before seeing a man in a navy blue uniform kneeling beside her. Alarmed, the girl almost shouted but he covered her mouth and shook his head. The light from a small neon bulb brightened and revealed those dark brown eyes which gave sudden turbulence stirred inside her stomach. Bruce whispered that there was an emergency call from her family.
The door was opened and Bruce came inside to wake her up. It seemed he did not want to disturb the others.
“What happened to them?”
His brows tied a frown as if warning not to make more questions which surprised her. Bruce was not the same kind of uncle she had met before. Alexis got up and unintentionally woke Oslo.
“Ere doo yoou goo?” He asked yawning and when he saw the officer inside the cell, he became fully awakened. “What?”
“Sorry. I have an emergency call,” she whispered back while Wade’s snore echoed all around. Bruce exited and urged the girl to follow him.
When she got out, Bruce locked the cell again and told Oslo to continue sleeping. However, as she turned back, Alexis still saw Oslo’s brown eyes following.
“Bad news? What happened to my family?” Alexis worried. Bruce’s haste made her think of bad things that occurred to them.
“You’ll know.”
The police station at this hour was noiseless, compared to the madness on the first day she was here. Alexis had never stepped inside the police station until being arrested. There were no other accused imprisoned for further legal processes. There were only them.
The door ahead slightly opened. It allowed her to listen to the sound that sneaked out. The girl looked through the gap, seeing Joseph and his female partner dozing off on the table. They met these two officers more often than the others. Therefore, when she saw their sleeping posture which was against their hostility, it amused her. She was not sure which rank they were but might not be that high. Observing the insignia on Bruce’s shoulders, she found it was no different from the insignia on the two sleeping officers. They were in the same rank.
Bruce warned her to accelerate her pace. She just walked past the canteen which looked like a small kitchen. There might be the other officers in the lobby. During the walk, her mind fused with many ideas about her family. Her anxiety mainly focused on Bianna. Last time, she meant this last morning when they saw each other, the depression consumed her mother badly.
Alexis noticed Bruce’s odd behavior as they must turn left to go to the visiting rooms but he still led her to the way where the end was the storage room before the fire exit.
It was not where he told her where the emergency call was. The phone booths were installed in the visiting room and the lobby.
Alexis paused. “Sir, that’s not the right way. Where will we go, the lobby or the visiting room?”
Bruce grabbed her arms, “This way, girl. I’m working here, forget it?”
He was right but Alexis sensed something weird. The girl politely removed his hand away, “Sir, who called? What the emergency is about?”
“If you speak again, I will slap the doubt out of your little head, I promise.”
He took off the kind man’s mask. Alexis looked up. The way ahead could not convince her that she would be saved. The girl nodded and pretended to be obedient and when Bruce turned away, she started to run.
“Help!”
Something hit her back with an instance. Might be a bat. The acid pain stopped her movement, offering the chance for Bruce to reach her in time. His fat hand covered her mouth. The officer dragged the girl into the storage room. She was thrown inside and when she looked up, there she saw a girl tied with chains. Her body stood against the wall. The blindfold covered her eyes and the tape covered her mouth. Her black hair loosed out of the two braids. She got bruised and blood all over her body. What horrified Alexis more than anything was the blood on her skirt. Her tears poured down like a rapid stream. Besides Sonya, a policeman stood guarding the victim. The top uniform loosed out of his pants. He took off his belt while smoking a cigarette.
Behind Alexis’s back, the gun pointed at her waist. The sweat instantly poured out of her body and her feet turned cold.
“She yelled. I’m not sure if Joseph and Helga heard or not. Silas is in the lobby. And Roger is on his duty in the town.”
“Go check if they heard or not,” the one who was smoking gave the command. He was not either tall or short but bigger than Bruce. She rarely saw him. The name tag on his shirt declared it was ‘Cameron.’ Alexis heard Bruce open the door. The girl tried to calm herself. Here was where Sonya Romuller was chained and tortured…and raped. Alexis would be the next. These two tricked her with cruel intentions.
“Sonya!” Alexis called the girl. Her body shook a little. The girl was aware of a friend’s existence.
Cameron fanned his head. “No talk, little bitch.”
“Why you take me here?” It was a stupid question. Alexis already knew but she did not know what to say. Her mind worked unproperly. Sonya can blind them…but how? She did not know how to help the girl and herself. There were two policemen with two bats and two guns.
Bruce returned. “They’re still sleeping.”
“Let’s be quick. I’m bored with this one.” Cameron pointed to Sonya. “Your turn.”
Her eyes wandered around. Cameron left his bat and the walkie-talkie on the table, except for the gun which he was holding. Then he said something that came up to his mind.
“Bruce…I thought there are two?”
“The other one’s sleeping like a corpse. I can’t wake her up. But this one is the prettiest.”
“I see. Come closer, pretty girl.”
Alexis did not move but begged instead. “Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone. I swear!” Think, Alex! You must find the way out!
“Rope or tape?” Bruce offered his colleague. They talked like they did it often.
“No. See those lips? I’ll love to kiss her. Just use the gun. We don’t have much time.”
They communicated with each other, ignoring her pleading.
“Please, don’t do this. Please.” She begged and begged. “You’re the police. Please, don’t do this.”
Bruce aimed the gun at her while the other one took off his pants.
“Don’t’ make more sounds, pretty. Take off your shirt. Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean. A girl like you is no virgin. Come on. Show me how good you are.”
“Hey, I’m first. Your turn is the blackhead,” Cameron reminded his buddy. Now he was standing with only a boxer. Bruce groaned. Alexis tried to speed up her brain. Her eyes glanced at Sonya. She could blind them…but her eyes were blinded. Bruce came closer to Sonya and massaged her tight. The girl in chains shook violently protesting.
“No, please! Don’t touch her,” Alexis cried.
Think, Alex. There must be a way out.
“I’ll do anything to please you two. But please, don’t beat me and her.” The girl did not know how to fix the situation. She just bought some time with the stream of words while the brain worked fully loaded.
Cameron smirked. “Bruce, this one tries negotiating. Is that a deal, pretty girl?”
Alexis refused. “No, sir. I mean to serve. I-I know what you want…I know how to please you. Please, don’t beat me. I love my face. I love my body. I love them to be pretty. And I’m sure you want me to be pretty. You can call me anytime you want. Just don’t beat me and her.”
“If we didn’t chain her, she’ll kill us. Don’t worry. She totally bored me,” Cameron eyed her with eager interest. “Prove your words. See? I’m bare hands.”
“She wants us to fuck her…together” Bruce left Sonya alone. His face could not hide the thrill but Cameron did not buy this idea.
“No, I don’t like that.”
As a result, he approached and pulled Alexis’s hair roughly, keeping the new fresh victim with himself. The girl struggled on the ground, moaning in pain, yet he still pulled her hair like that. Cameron’s eyes revealed all the dirty thoughts inside that ugly head. His sweat slightly dropped on the floor, excited to abuse another weaker.
When he saw she was unmoved, he said, “You said you know how to please men. Prove it. But you must prove it to me first until I’m satisfied then you can prove yourself to him.”
Her eyes fixed on the walkie-talkie behind him. Her face rose, “Sit sir. I assure you my words.”
Cameron smiled and sat on the chair. Alexis slowly moved her hand to his leg and his abs. She exercised all her tolerance to endure this disgusting creature.
“Smile.”
She obeyed and smiled without the heart in it.
“Little whore.”
As she glanced, Bruce turned back to Sonya. Now Cameron lowered his head to kiss her, she let him kiss her hair, touching her face as he wanted. Seeing the opportunity, the girl bumped her head to his head, grabbed the walkie-talkie while he got dizzy, and slammed the device on Cameron's skull, not saving her force at all.
He howled and cursed.
Alexis smashed his head again and he fell on the chair. Meanwhile, Bruce turned and aimed the gun at her. Alexis abruptly stopped her move but Bruce did not shoot. The girl understood immediately that he dared not make any sound. Therefore, Alexis already turned on the device and shouted, “HELP, STORAGE ROOM, HELP!”
“Bitch!”
Alexis tossed the device to Bruce. He drew back letting the gun down. Being the crème student was not about luck; with the chair that once had supported Cameron’s nasty ass, she used all her strength to hit the ugly monster who was moaning on the floor several times and hit the other man who came to stop her. It was fast. Just a glance of time, she saw the chance to flee. Every second meant her life and Alexis made a great effort not to lose one; she raced to the door still shouting out for help. Her hand grabbed the doorknob, turned around…screamed
It was too late. Both were not ordinary men but a villain in disguise as good police. The strong hands seized her small ankle and dragged her to him. It was Cameron. Alexis lost her balance and fell to the ground again. This time, the chin got hurt and she tasted the blood inside her mouth. Cameron was frustrated…well very. Every beat of his bat was heavy and hurt to the bone. Alexis now understood how Wade had felt. She used her arms to defend the hit without thinking of surrendering. She smelt his sweat and at last, he was on her body with his hands going under her bra. The girl could not scream anymore when he covered her mouth. Cameron spent a few times to cease his action just to listen for any strange sound before continuing the abuse.
“Cameron, I think they heard,” Bruce said frightenedly. “If Joseph…”
“Shut up, coward. Go out and check them. I have to teach this little slut.”
You guys must hear something! She hoped that some cops heard and noticed the ugly crime inside the legal office. It was just a desperate hope.
Or they turned blind eyes and let this thing happen?
Her heart nearly burst when he whispered dirty words. She could not listen to those horrible things he planned to do to her. The girl thought of her family and burst tears pouring on the monster’s hand. When he started messing with her jeans, thankfully, it was the skinny jeans that forbade him to undress too easily.
“Don’t’ wear skinny jeans, it’s unhealthy!” One column in the newspaper had warned girls. But it can protect you from being raped. If she could survive this, Alexis swore to be loyal to Lexy's brand for all of her life.
Her injured arms forcefully resisted his. Cameron continued beating and slapping.
“She’ll be dead!” Bruce warned.
“I fuck her corpse!”
“Stop it, Cameron.”
“They come?”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Go fuck that girl!”
As if she was a slave thousands of years ago, she was. The authority did not only destroy her life but also the power users degraded how Alexis was…a human being. How many victims had been treated like a waste toys?
“I won’t fuck the corpse,” Bruce stopped Cameron. They left Alexis breathing hard. The pain was all over her body. They were arguing.
“We must take her back. If they see what we’re doing, we’re doomed.”
How the hell are placed on earth? Alexis tried to move away.
“Not quick, bitch.” He jerked her hair. “Help me take off the bloody jeans!”
“No! Cameron. Joseph and Helga may not hear it. But Silas and Roger may do!”
Bang!
A light of miracle glowed into the room where the beast Cameron flew to the wall with just one fly-kick. Everything stopped dead.
Bruce drew back.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Alexis heard Joseph’s voice but she could not see him. “Help…” She cried helplessly.
“Man, calm down. We can talk. You can play with two girls!” It was Cameron who tried to negotiate with Joseph.
“What—are—you—fucking—doing!” It was not the question. Alexis gradually sat with her back leaning on the table’s leg.
“If you don’t understand, don’t be mad at me.” Cameron reached for the gun. Too slow, Joseph fired a shot at his arm. The naked man collapsed on the ground, howling like an injured dog. Bruce, the coward, surrendered, raising both of his hands in the air.
“This bastard forced me!”
But Joseph did not buy it. The gunshot resounded again and Bruce fell on Cameron. The rescuer hit his colleagues several times until the blood of Bruce and Cameron spilled all over him. The icy blue in those eyes, at that right moment, melt into the ocean fire. Now Alexis realized why Bruce was afraid of Joseph. He could stop these beast-men alone.
“You—have—to—pro—tect—them—not—des—troy—them! How—can—you—do—this—to—them!”
The beating stopped, he abandoned the nearly dead Bruce and Cameron and turned to the young victim. His face was painted with blood splash. Alexis was watching the hitting scene all the time. Still frightened, the girl crept under the table, violently trembling in fear, fearing him too.
“What happened?” His buddy ran inside and covered her mouth when she saw Bruce and Cameron lying in the pool of their own blood.
“Helga, they tried to…” His eyes avoided the girl. “You see.”
“Damn! What’s on their mind?” Helga cursed and offered her hand to Alexis who hid under the table. Seeing her kind gesture, Alexis got out of the temporary shelter. Helga wrapped her arms around the girl in a protective manner. “It’s alright. It’s alright.” The first gentleness she showed to the prisoner. Alexis slightly glanced at the rescuer but he avoided her eyes all the time, the way he often did to all of them. At that moment, she realized why he had never looked into their eyes and why Joseph pretended to have the face of a dead man.
To protect not to destroy.
“I’ll unchain you but promise me not to do anything harmful to us. I’ll send you to the hospital. Your family will be at your side. Okay?” He made the deal with Sonya.
“Seph, she’s dangerous,” Helga objected.
“They hurt her. You know what I mean. I shouldn’t let them guard the girl…if I knew they’re evil monsters.”
Alexis saw him mildly unchained the girl. Sonya fell into his arms. She could not stand. When Joseph unfolded her eyes and mouth, Sonya looked around as if she was searching for something until she saw Alexis with Helga.
“Are you alright?” Her voice sounded like whispering.
Alexis nodded, silently weeping.
“I heard…you tried…to save me…”
“Don’t talk, girl. I will send you to the doctor. Don’t be afraid. They can’t harm you anymore.”
The girl laughed crying in her throat then she looked at the light bulbs.
“Seph, No!”
Helga pressed Alexis’s head on her chest and everything turned silent. The heat licked up her arms. She heard the scream of pain. It took a few minutes before the policewoman allowed her to see what happened.
Two bulbs were broken. Helga’s both arms were red as if she got a terrible sunburn. When Alexis looked at Joseph, one side of his cheeks was red too. And Sonya in his red arms lay dead with her face burning. Her eyes got blinded completely. No one got serious wounds or hurt, except Joseph whose burns got worse than the other two. Alexis did not know how Sonya did it but she perceived a power.
“Oh, God. Seph? Are you alright?”
He shook his head but it was not about his injury. In other words, he did not care about the burning wound
“She killed herself.”
They looked at each other. Both were speechless.
“You reported our boss. I’ll call Silas and Roger to help me deal with these two. You take the girl back to the cell.”
“She’s injured.”
“Do what you have to. Oh…Helga, you have to contact the Romuller family as well and the Davis.”
“No!”
“What?”
“They're worried enough.” Alexis thought of Bianna and was scared to see her mother’s reaction.
Helga shook her head. “They’ll know anyway. Come with me, Ms. Davis.”
Alexis was so tired even to cry. The tears still slowly poured down her cheeks. Sonya…killed herself. Rage ignited a flame inside her heart rapidly. Many ‘why?’ battled in her mind. In a deeper sense, the girl understood why Sonya had made this final decision. The way they did to the dead girl while she had been chained, incapable of resisting, was terrible…horrified… disgusted. She knew what they did to her. Alexis felt like vomiting.
Helga took her to the infirmary room. There were a lot of bruised from the hit and small fresh wounds on her arms. The policewoman thought about sending her to the hospital and decided not to do so. Alexis regarded herself in the mirror. The girl inside was not Alexis anymore. She was a broken girl, physically and mentally.
“God! What’s going on?” Oslo, in horror, asked at once as he saw her coming back. Wade and Belinda woke up and they gasped.
“Why you torture her?” Her athletic friend threw himself and shook the metal bars. He also showed his fits to Helga. “Why you have to do this?”
“Not her,” Alexis corrected.
Helga was tired of Wade’s condemnation. Therefore, as Alexis was already inside the cell, she walked away. Wade embraced her carefully as if she was made of porcelain.
“Are you alright? Why didn’t they send you to the hospital?”
“Just bruises. She said if I don’t feel alright, tell her.” Alexis showed her arms, “You’re not alone, Wade.”
“Is him?” Oslo tied his brows. “Bruce?”
Alexis nodded. “Sonya is dead. They chained her in the storage room with those monsters and they…” Alexis stopped. She did not want to talk about it.
“How can they let it happens? Alex, did they…?”
“They just beat me. Can I tell you later? I’m so tired.”
Wade and Oslo nodded. “As you wish…”
The two boys helped her sit on the ground. Perceiving their concern, she was wholeheartedly grateful.
“I slept enough. You can sleep on my laps better than sleep on the floor,” Wade suggested.
“I’m alright.”
“No, no. I agree with him. You’re hurt badly,” Oslo agreed with Wade.
“Okay. Thanks, you two.”
Just when she laid her head on Wade’s lap and closed her eyes, Alexis suddenly recalled the voices she heard at yesterday’s night.
“Don’t even touch them.”
“You’ll come with me?”
It was Bruce and Mrs. Dobies.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone