Chapter 4 #2
“I can’t believe he left me here,” she muttered, glancing at the one-way mirror, no longer caring who was on the other side.
She hardly recognized the gaunt face looking back at her.
Her once plump cheeks used to give her a slight baby face, but now they were hollow.
Her eyes that had once glinted with mischief, now appeared dark and sunken, with dark purple shadows on the skin underneath.
The walls of the interrogation room felt like they were closing in on her.
How could Dr. Grimm proceed without her?
He’d made her feel special, like she was a part of something.
They had a mission, a plan, and she was important.
She was no longer the frail, sick person she once was.
Now she was able-bodied and useful. At least, that’s what he’d told her…
The thought wouldn’t go away: Was it all an act—a manipulation—to get what he needed from Ariel? The room spun around her. A wave of dizziness washed over her. He left me behind.
“Pull yourself together.” Agent Sparks stopped tapping her nails.
“We don’t believe that you don’t know anything about the daycare plan.
You’ve been telling us you know nothing, but here we see a full-fledged infiltration plot that you were key in developing.
You’ve been toying with us since day one.
We know it; you know it. And I’m sick of it. ” The agent’s tone could cut glass.
Ariel’s world was crumbling. “I really don’t know anything about a plan involving a daycare, and believe me, I thought he told me nearly everything,” she said more to herself than to the shifters in the room. “True, he had some secrets—who doesn’t?—but the important stuff…”
“Ariel,” Agent Stone sighed, likely with frustration. “Maybe he dropped hints. Said something innocuous that didn’t sound important at the time. Think. What were his plans regarding preschool children?”
“Why would he leave me here?” She hardly heard what Agent Stone said. The words didn’t register. She was too busy drowning in self-pity. “Dr. Grimm made it sound like he needed me by his side to complete this plan.”
“He didn’t need you, he needed your tissue and DNA samples.” Agent Sparks’ words cut Ariel to the bone. “And you willingly gave him plenty of that.” She nodded towards Ariel’s prosthetic leg.
This must be what free-falling felt like.
The room seemed to tilt, and the ground was pulled out from under Ariel’s feet.
Nausea roiled in her stomach. Bile tasted bitter in her throat.
“No.” She shook her head, tossing her hair about.
“He cared. He cared about me.” She put a hand to her heart for emphasis.
Agent Sparks looked ready to lay into her again, but Agent Stone put a hand on her shoulder, stopping the peahen shifter from cutting Ariel deeper with her words. “Let her process,” he said gently, like a protective father.
“That henchman must have told you wrong,” Ariel said, finally registering what the agents were asking her about.
“Dr. Grimm would never experiment on children. He must have said that to get you off track.” Ariel’s mind was swimming with racing thoughts, all at war with themselves. Nothing made sense.
“He’s done it before,” Agent Stone said flatly, though his puppy-dog brown eyes took on a softer tone.
“No.” Ariel shook her head. She would have remembered ever seeing a child in any of Grimm’s lairs.
“He did,” Agent Sparks clarified. “With you.”
“What?” Ariel practically shrieked. “I was an adult when—"
“He met you when you were a minor, a child, in the hospital.” Agent Sparks kept her eyes on Ariel as if pinning her to the chair. “You didn’t know this, but Grimm was one of the doctors on your case when you were young.”
“No.” Ariel shook her head. “If that were true, he would have told me that when I met him.” Ariel felt quite sure about that.
It would have been the perfect way for him to have earned her trust faster.
She would have had more confidence in his abilities if she’d thought he was already acquainted with her case.
“Besides, a doctor taking care of sick kids doesn’t sound like the evil experimenter that you’re accusing him of being. ”
“Oh, wake up, Ariel!” Agent Sparks exclaimed.
“Piece it all together! Grimm wasn’t there helping you; he was hurting you.
He’s the reason you weren’t getting better.
He was running experimental procedures without you or your family’s permission, and you weren’t the only shifter child he was doing it to! ”
“That’s why he lost his job there,” Agent Stone added, his voice steadier than Sparks’. “The hospital found out what he was doing.”
“Impossible,” Ariel objected. “He would have been in jail if that were the case.”
Agent Sparks snorted with derision. “Unfortunately, many hospitals will go to great lengths to keep their name out of headlines, including quietly dismissing a bad actor and hoping no one goes digging into case files.”
“But it’s enough of a reason for him to not tell you about his early involvement with your case,” Agent Stone continued. “If he had told you about it when you first met, you probably would have done some digging and learned the full extent of it, so he didn’t offer it up.”
“No.” Ariel struggled to suck in air. “That’s not true. You’re lying. Dr. Grimm saved me. He was the only one who could cure me.”
“He was the only one who could fix you because he was the one who originally messed with your genetic code,” Agent Stone explained.
“It was a trick, Ariel.” Agent Sparks crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair.
“The other doctors could have treated your genetic disorder if Grimm hadn’t been messing with your DNA the whole time.
” Her tone was as fiery as her bright red hair, but, for once, Ariel didn’t think that the peahen shifter’s ire was directed at her.
That was too much. She didn’t need Sparks’ pity.
Ariel stood, knocking her chair over. She fought the urge to cover her ears from any more words Stone and Sparks were going to throw at her.
The walls were pressing in on her. It felt too much like being locked in a tiny cell.
Her heart hammered in her chest. Sweat dampened the back of her shirt.
“We know this is a lot, Ariel.” Agent Stone put up his hands as if to show he meant no harm, while gesturing for her to sit back down in her chair.
“Please, sit down, take a minute. This is why we haven’t told you before.
Paige didn’t think it was a good idea, but we’ve given you all the time we can, and now we need help. Your help.”
“We’re desperate,” Agent Sparks added. “Help us prevent what happened to you from happening to another child.”
“I need air.” Without another word, Ariel flew out of the interrogation room, not caring for the consequences.
She heard Agent Stone say, “Just give her some space. She can’t go anywhere,” before the door shut.
Anywhere they can’t find me, he meant. The ankle monitor felt like a brick strapped to her leg. An anchor, pulling her under the waves as her ship sank around her.