His Loyal Subjects

"And this is everything you remember?" Angie pushed her hands against her temples as if she thought somehow she could force the memories out of her. "I can't think of anything else...so are we done here? Everything from the funeral to the alleyway is all one big blur."

Angie grabbed the glass of water the detectives provided but felt nothing as the ice touched her lips. She felt sick, and the water did nothing but feel slimy as it flowed down her dry and aching throat. Angie's always hated drinking water when under pressure. The cold does nothing but make her feel tired and alone, which are the last things she needs to feel right now. "They drugged me, so I probably won't remember everything right away. Sorry." Angie reached between her coils of onyx hair and scratched at the bump on her head that only seemed to itch whenever she got stressed.

"I'm sure if you let me go home for a bit, though I can-" "Ms. Price, you'll get home when it's timely for us. Right, now we're just focused on getting the bigger picture." Angie couldn't help the scowl that forced itself onto her placid features. She'd been trying to keep her face from moving too much because for some reason the simple action of moving her facial muscles burnt like the boiler room of hell. Had they drugged her there too?

"I left my home to go mourn my friend. I watched as he got gunned down in the street like an ANIMAL!" The detective raised a hand to intercede. "Ms. Price, this isn't-" "When they opened the casket to show us his face do you know how it looked? Do you!? Well, I can't tell you because I've got all these chemicals IN MY BODY that won't let me remember! My best fucking friend DIED right in front of me, and I can't even give him the decency of remembering what he looked like as he fell into the great beyond!"

Angie slumped back into her chair her eyes sunken, and her face defeated. "And now, even though it wasn't that long, ago I can't really remember his face anymore. It's always like that when people, die you know? You remember the times but...but not their face." Angie reached for her glass of water desperately, trying to focus on something else, anything else even, if that thing was something she hated. That relief wouldn't come as she found her glass empty with nothing but melted ice to provide her some relief.

"Can I get some more water, please?" She sobbed. "We'll get you some water, but we need to make sure all the facts are straight. You have to understand it's very hard to-" "No, YOU need to understand!" Angie shouted as she slammed her hands on the table, her voice powerful enough to rock the interrogation room. "I've been gone for the better part of a month, and no one, not even, I know what happened! I can't DO this right now! I just can't!"

Angie slumped back into her chair, her eyes wide and puffy. She did feel strongly about the pressure piled on her, but it still left her with a question: Why? Why was she getting this upset? Angie flicked away the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not prone to losing my temper. You understand, right?"

"Well, seeing as you're, finished we can finally-" The detective growled as the door to the chamber flew open, his sentence dismembered for the third time. "Angie, come on. We're outta here." Angie sat silently for a moment, her body stiff and aching like it had just got back from a workout. "Kai..." The word came out as a whisper, more to herself than anybody else. She needed to believe he was here she needed to believe he was here to whisk her away in her time of need!

But it wasn't, and he wasn't. Angie's time of need was a month ago, and he wasn't here for her. Where was he? Why wasn't he there?! What was he doing that was more important than saving her from-oh that's right. She can't remember that part either. Now would be the time to be mad at Kai, but...right, now she just needs comfort, and there's no one else around to give it.

"Y-Yeah. Let's go." Angie hurried out the door, Kai ushering her through the vicious looks the detectives shot her. The walk out of the precinct was one Angie would never see as Kai kept her close to his chest. "I'm sorry." She wasn't listening. Angie was too busy losing herself in her sorrow. "Where WERE you...?" The anger found its way in but drowned in the billion other emotions flooding, Angie. "I'm...sorry."

He's as emotionally desolate as ever. Angie thought. He never feels genuine, but deep inside. I know he is. The whole world knows him and yet I think I'm the only being on the planet who understands him.

Kai leads Angie into an old Kia hatchback parked outside the station, the motor still running. "Your the only man alive who thinks driving a Kia is acceptable." Angie lifted her head from Kai's chest as she climbed into the torn passenger seat. Stuffing raced out the holes in the leather as Angie tried and failed to pull the jammed seatbelt across her body. "It's fast, it's tough, and it got me through high school. What more could you want?" Kai said as he counted off more points on his fingers.

"None of those things are true." Angie sighed. "I'm just surprised you drove this thing to the station without getting impounded for being a safety hazard." Kai pulled into the street but was stopped by Angie grabbing his arm in a panicked frenzy. "Look out!" Kai slammed on the brakes sending Angie into the dashboard. He looked down the dimly lit road and found nothing, no cars in sight. "There's no one out here. Must've just been a reflection or something." "Oh." Angie slumped back into her seat, flustered. "My bad..."

"Ey, don't be a downer! I'd much rather get a false alarm than miss a true one, you know? I appreciate you looking out you, know that? Driving in this city is a nightmare, and it's good to-" A black sedan blasted down the street at 90mph, his speed cutting through the pouring rain like a rock in the water.

"Son of a bitch! This is a residential area!" It's not very often that Kai lets a cuss word taint his lips it goes against his profanity complex. You really notice when it happens which is why Angie's eyes opened like windows on a hot summer day.

"Remind me to do an extra set of squats when we get back," Kai grunted as he pulled into the street. "You don't have to punish yourself every time it happens, love. It happens to the best of us!" Kai wagged his finger at Angie's pleas. His ears may as well have been cut off. "You see, that is where your WRONG. Conviction in our morality is what separates us from animals."

"Your not an animal Kai! Except when you're, eating I guess..." Kai kept his eyes on the road, his expression holding as he held onto his bizarre beliefs. "And I intend to keep it that way, my dear Angela."

Angie curled up in the torn seat, her eyelids heavy and her taste for conversation dying with them. "Just wake me up when we get to the house, kay?" Angie fell into the world of slumber, both fearing and anticipating the return home. The human mind is cruel like that. Tearing you between two experiences at once.

She couldn't have. Kai thought. She couldn't have known the car would be here before it arrived. This can only mean...what I have feared is no mere fantasy. His hands gripped the steering wheel with increasing force. I have to kill him again.