Interrogation

EDWARD P.O.V.

When you're young, they tell you to grow up. When you're all grown up, they say you're still a child and that you don't know anything. It's a hard cookie to chew and even harder to swallow. I've come to acknowledge and understand the evils of this world. I can handle it. I'm not quite sure I can say the same for my brother. Liam. My younger brother who I've watched grow up. From the moment he was born, I could tell along with my family that he was something extraordinary. High intelligence, outmatched strength, multiple capabilities. The list could go on and on. Every stage of his life, he showed something new. In doing so, my younger brother received many eyes. From the people, wolf packs, the royal family, and most importantly our father, the King. I remember when the heir to the throne was decided, everything changed completely. Many opinions and voices tried to get my father to reconsider his decision. At the time, it was absurd to announce that the one who would take the throne and become the alpha of the pack would be Liam. It was the day after Liam had been born into the world, that father made it known. An uproar would be putting it lightly of how members of the pack reacted.

But it's normal, I suppose. People are always going to have an opinion on anything. Father would not hear of it as his mind had been made up, and so, the moment Liam turned eighteen, he had his Alpha ceremony, and then the new alpha of Solar Moon took over. Out of all the King's children, his fourth born was seen worthy. Till this day, no one shows opposition to Liam being the alpha. No one dares to state their opinion anymore. Perhaps it's the fact they don't want to shame the King on his decision. Well, anyone would be foolish to do that regardless of how they feel but I can understand their concerns. Out of all the members in the Knight family, one was chosen to be gifted the greatest honor. We all have come to the understanding. It would be unsightly for the people to see how we feel openly. Alas, no family is perfect, and some things should stay between family.

My standing with the choice was never anything bad. However, once upon a time, I begged my father to reconsider his choice. For someone who was 3 years old at the time, it surprised him, but make no mistake that was not a child speaking. Even though I was so young, I had a reason for doing so. Just like all my siblings, I cared for Liam. I never wanted to know that one day he would have to bear the burden of hundreds if not more people someday. Being an alpha is never easy, and I wanted my father to see that. He heard my words as I relayed them for years, but once the King makes up his mind, his decision is set in stone. I gave up on the idea long before Liam turned eighteen. As I watched my younger brother go, I saw him become the man he is today. He's just like our father, hardworking, intelligent, and a good leader. He'll lead this pack well; I'm sure of it.

However, the hardest part is seeing him work himself top hard. I know the reason behind it. He wants to prove himself to others. Our father. Our family. The pack. Several packs. Maybe even the damn world. As I watch him from the corner of my eye as he's in the driver's seat, he has a blank face as he drives. It's like he's in another different world. With the whole destruction of part of the pack, he's been working trying to fix it all. Most of that had to deal with figuring many things out. Although he's had help with it, the dark circles on his eyes tell me he's an independent adult but still a disobedient child. Sometimes a big brother has to step in. We're on our way to the station as we received intel that they found the culprit. If rumors are true, apparently this wolf is a monster and bigger than the average wolf. I have to see for myself if such a thing is possible. It's time to see what we're dealing with here.

~

ROSALIA P.O.V.

A bright room is the last place I want to be right now. I felt better off in the cell, as bad as that sounds. This room feels colder than the last. The interrogation room. I stare down at my hands as I'm unable to face what's in front of me. A man is sitting on the other side of the table with an empty chair beside him. It was only twenty minutes ago the woman brought me here. I assume she'll come back and the verbal torture will begin. Until then, I'm not looking at this guy. I need all the time I can to mentally and physically brace myself but it's not helping since I was brought in chains. Not cuffs. Chains. There are chains around my wrists and ankles. Only when I had to follow the woman did I realize how heavy they were. So I'm grateful that I'm finally seated so I can rest. It still feels like my arms and legs might rip off if I move with these chains again.

I want them to be taken off, but I know that's not happening. I want this to be over with but I can erase that from my thoughts as well. After this, I'll probably be taken to the cell and stay there. Possibly forever. A thought crosses my mind. What about my rights? I know at this moment, I'm a criminal, but aren't even the worst scum given a chance to have a lawyer? Or maybe that only works for humans. I watch too many crime shows. Plus, asking questions will lead to me talking to this man. I don't want to do that. Not right now. Suddenly the door is swung open and it causes me to almost jump out of my seat. I look up and it's none other than the woman with black hair. She has a grim expression on her face as she holds a file in her hand and makes her way to sit in the chair.

I take the chance to notice on her trench coat that there's a name tag. Detective Veronica Stabler. Well, the lady has a name. Who knew. Once I look up, I see the guy as well. Only, I was completely wrong about him being a man. If he is, he's so young! He looks like a teenager. Is he working with the detective? Should he even be here? The guy before me has short brown hair and wears glasses. Like a nerd.

Detective Veronica opens up the file and begins speaking, "Rosalia Gardens. Age 16. Born in 20XX. Someone who attempted murder to a girl close to her age." My eyes stare directly at the file in her hand as she reads. So badly, I want to tell her that I didn't try to kill Brittany, but thinking back to what I remembered, there's nothing I can say. The guy is taking notes as she speaks and after she's done she lays the file down and looks at me. "So now that we've cleared the air on why we're here, why don't you start talking. Why'd you do it?"

I feel my teeth chattering and my breathing gets a little heavy. "I...I didn't mean to."

"You mean you didn't mean to almost kill Brittany Scott?" I bite my lip as I look down. I ball my hands into fists and hold them together. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that…"

The detective showed a curious face, "Do tell, how was it supposed to go? Well, from what we know, you went over to her house. That's private property by the way, and in wolf form, you attacked her. We have video footage of you leaving the premises and heading deep into the woods." Video footage? Oh no. My stomach begins to feel unsettled over that thought.

"You might be wondering how can we say it's you based on that? Well, if you wanted to make things difficult, you shouldn't have rested in the forest. Of course, when you were found there you weren't in that monstrous wolf form of yours. So it wasn't that hard to put the pieces together."

Those facts were true. I did turn into my wolf form. I did go to her house. How I found her house when I never knew where she lived, beats me. Even though I can't remember everything that happened, I know I committed a grave sin. They have all the proof they need to hold against me. For that reason, I don't have the right to say otherwise. "Y...Yeah...I did...you're right…" I knew this was going to be hard, but a few minutes into the interrogation I wanted to cry.

"Could you tell us what happened?" Caught off guard, I look back up to see the guy talking to me this time. He spoke in such a gentle manner, that I thought I was hearing things. I didn't see the point when all that needed to be known was figured out. Detective Veronica was vicious but she knew her stuff if she figured it out that quickly. The sad part is, I can't prove her wrong or say that I didn't do anything. However, when I look at this guy, he gives me an almost concerned look. Strangely enough, it seems like he's battling having a serious expression with a concerned expression. Although I'm not quite sure why he's a part of this, his voice brought a bit of comfort. I let out a shaky sigh and looked at the table. "I...I don't know what to say. All I know is...I was angry."

"Why were you angry?" He looked down at his notepad and continued writing down notes. I assumed he was taking notes. Before I could open my mouth to speak, Veronica cut me off with her hand slamming the table. I jumped again.

"Stop talking to her like she's not a monster! She may be a minor but she is far from being a child. Take your job seriously, boy!" I forced my head down as she glared at me with a look that could kill. This woman is terrifying. She let out a huff and leaned back in her seat, "I should have known having you in here was a bad idea. You're not built for this. Just because you're an intern and your dad works here, doesn't mean you have what it takes to be a detective. You should leave and let me handle this alone. Sweet talking to her just because she's a girl isn't gonna get her to confess what she did. " Alone? In the same room as the maniac? I don't have room to talk, but this woman has a deep hatred for me. I don't know this boy, but he can't leave me with her. I can't defend myself if I piss her off more than I already have.

He sets his pen and notepad down in a calm manner and faces her. "Detective Stabler. I'm here to do more than just learn what it takes to be a detective. Although I've only been doing this for a few months, let me remind you that I've done cases worse than this one. I've handled them pretty well. Secondly, let me also refresh your memory that my father is one of the head detectives here, so I'm quite certain I know more about this than you. Thirdly, it's not sweet-talking. It's simply speaking calmly because, clearly, your way of doing it which involves yelling and causing the poor girl to jump every 5 seconds, isn't doing us any good."

I looked up to see that Veronica's face had instantly become red. Not from embarrassment, but from anger. A vein could be seen forming at the side of her head. "You think you know what you're doing when all you brought is a pen and some flimsy notepad? You aren't all that-" This time the boy cut her off with a stern glare.

"Detective Stabler! If you won't act professionally, then you need to step out of the room. Why don't you go grab some water to cool that head of yours?" Veronica was about to speak again when he narrowed his eyes, "Don't forget who you work for. I won't repeat myself." This caused her to close her mouth. With a quick head turn to me, she glared darkly and opened the file throwing pictures at my face. "Take a good look, you monster! You won't get out of this, so don't even think about it!" After that, she stormed out of the room and slammed the door hard.

I look down at the photos and my eyes widen in shock. Pictures of Brittany. The position she lays in as she remains bloody in every single picture. Pictures of all the wounds all over her body. Deep scratches dug into her skin. In one picture, her arm is in a strange position. I can only assume that it's broken. I reach and grab one of the photos and my hands shake. I did this. I did all of this in all these pictures. Even if she was an awful person to me, she didn't deserve this. My eyes fill with tears and they flow down my face onto the photo. Veronica is right. I am a monster. I should have never wished for the worst to happen to Brittany. One picture stands out more than those. Pictures of a black wolf around Brittany's residence. The wolf looks terrifying that I almost can't believe it's me. Then I notice something with a closer look. A deep cut in one of the forearms. I instantly grab my right arm that's still bandaged. Well, that can be held against me on why I'm guilty.

Once they decide what to do with me, I'll probably deal with execution or life imprisonment. Everyone will hate me. I deserve it for doing the worst thing possible. What's wrong with me? I feel a warm hand gently grasp mine, and my eyes meet the guy's eyes. He gives me a sympathetic look, "Don't listen to Veronica. She's not one of our best detectives. I'll have to have a word with the boss on what to do with her. I want you to listen to my words carefully. Yes, you are being accused of attempted murder. This entire thing is already scary enough. Even so, I want to make this comfortable with you. Is it alright with you if we continue?"

What is this? This guy is a strange one. He knows I almost killed someone yet he's treating me like I'm a normal person and not a murderer. Oddly enough, I go along with it and agree with him. It's hard to see him through my tears, but he surprises me when he wipes them away with a tissue. I'm not sure what to say or how to feel. "T-Thank y-you…"

He nods, "Why don't we start over? I'm Ethan. Back to my previously asked question. Can you tell me why you were angry?" I took a deep breath and exhaled, "I...I was angry at Brittany."

"Why were you angry with Brittany?"

"She did something that made me angry."

"Can you tell me what that was?" Thinking back to the whole cheating incident and the whole pack finding out that one wolf was incapable of taking a test with their intelligence, even though that wasn't the case, stirred up the anger inside of me. But then I looked down at the pictures and regretted feeling angry. "It doesn't even matter…"

"Yes, it does. It's important to figure out the reason for all this. I'm sure you did it for a reason."

Even if I have a reason. What's the point in telling him? Just because he's nicer than Veronica, doesn't mean he's not doing his job. Veronica said he's an intern, so he's probably taking all cases he can get his hands on so he gets closer to being an actual detective. I can't just ignore that. No matter how calm his voice is when he asks the questions, I'm still being interrogated by him. But not saying anything won't work in my favor.

Another sigh escapes my lips. "It really doesn't. You won't believe me or take my words seriously if I tell you."

"Rosalia. I promise you that you can speak here. I'll take your word for whatever you feel comfortable telling me. Just say what happened." What happened? I guess when it comes down to it, I got back at my bully in the worst way possible. "She made everyone believe that I did something I know I didn't do. It had something to do with Elemental Falls and that test that all species took. She lied about me…" All the faces in the hallway on that day just looked at me with anger and disappointment. I couldn't even speak my truth when everyone already believed Brittany over me. It's always been that way. No matter what, if it involved Brittany, I would get the short end of the stick. What did I do to deserve this? I never did anything wrong to Brittany. I tried staying away from her and Liam because I didn't want to get hurt anymore. That never stopped her from tormenting me. Humiliating me in front of the public, hunting me when eyes weren't watching. Giving explicit details time and time again about how she had sex with Liam and that it would never happen to me made me lose it. I can't count how many tears I cried and was hurt by this girl who found joy in my despair.

"Ever since we were children...ever since I met her, she's done everything she can to ruin my life…"

"...Why do you think that, Rosalia?" Why? Why?! WHY?! What kind of question even is that?! How am I supposed to know?! I couldn't control myself. I grabbed the table underneath and threw it across the room. I must have thrown it with so much force because the table broke into pieces. Ethan was shocked by the sudden action and stared at me speechless.

"WHY?! You're asking me that?! Did you honestly think I would know the answer to that?! That's what I'm trying to figure out! I've wanted to know for years! I knew the biggest reason was that I used to like the same guy she's obsessed over, but I sacrificed my chance just so she would leave me alone! No matter how far away I stayed, she always found a way to make me suffer! We're not talking about just bullying! Brittany tortured me! But I couldn't get anyone to see that because Brittany is so "perfect" and "Brittany would never! You're just jealous!". I can't get you to believe me because I can't prove to you how Brittany is! You wanna know why it happened?! You wanna know why I did It?! I couldn't take it anymore! I just wanted her to feel what I've felt for years! You say I'm here for attempted murder? Well, you better lock me up for actual murder because fuck Brittany! I hope she's dead!"

"...Rosalia??" I freeze in my tracks and slowly turn my head. My eyes widen as I see Edward standing at the door with a shocked expression like Ethan's. Then to the left, I see the boy who is the last person I ever want to see.

Liam.