The Rise of the Grim Reaper: Sylvan Sasha Whitney

Chapter One: They Killed So They Were Killed

    COOL METAL KISSED MY wrists as I sat within the empty interrogation room, my hands secured to the table with a pair of handcuffs. The cold air nipped at my thinly clothed toes, white socks soaked with blood as I tapped them against the floor. My dress was in rather bad repair, something Mama surely would have scolded me for. What had once been a dainty baby blue was covered in blood splatters, tattered from the blows and cuts that had nipped at my flesh earlier today. Despite all of the blood and the obvious cuts that marred my flesh I couldn’t feel a thing. No pain, no sorrow. Only a numbness.

    “Miss Whitney.” A man called, prompting me to look up.

    I hadn’t noticed him come in, yet now he stood before me. He was a large man, far taller than my otets. Blond hair curled lightly over his scalp, dazzling blue eyes settled with a soft look. For a rather burly man seemingly stuffed into a small police uniform he looked rather kind.

    “Kakiye? Ya ne govoryu po angliyski.” I immediately responded, my tone dull and dead as I lied without pause.

    What? I don’t speak English.

    The burly man chuckled before pulling out a chair and sitting before me, dropping a manila folder onto the desk before me. “Please don’t try to play games with me, Miss Whitney. I have your files, from your immigration papers to your school records. I know just how proficient you are in English, not to mention your other subjects. Nearly an all A student, if it wasn’t for your gym class.”

    I snorted, remembering my gym teacher Ean. A horrible woman who wouldn’t even give me a decent grade for attempting the class work. Leave it to me to be the only person to have an almost perfect academic record snatched away due to a vile gym class.

    “And it wasn’t just your academic record that was spotless,” he continued, flipping through my records. “You’ve been quite active with community service since you were in middle school, and went on to volunteer as a candy striper once you entered high school. Word is you were aspiring to become a doctor in the future, a surgeon even.”

    At this I narrowed my eyes at him, not liking how he laid out the future I once had before me as though teasing me. A future that was undoubtedly ruined by the murders of two others.

    Four others. My subconscious murmured, images of my parents and friends flashing before my eyes. You invited them, because of you your parents are dead. You killed them all.

    “And just how did you hear of this? Such things wouldn’t be within any of my records.” I stated, the accent that accompanies my voice when speaking Russian completely gone.

    The police officer smiled at me kindly, happy to have finally gotten me talking. “We’re a small town, almost nothing happens here. Your friends’ psychotic breaks were reported on nearly every news station, as was your confrontation with them.”

    I scoffed. “Confrontation?” I asked, stopping him mid-sentence.

    That was a rather nice way of putting the cluster f**k that was my Christmas dinner. Two people murdered two others, the survivor then murdered those two in turn. An eye for an eye type of deal.

    He continued, ignoring my interruption. “The people that you worked with in the hospital have been calling the station ever since you were taken in, providing testimonies of your character and what have you. Even a few of your teachers have called in as well.”

    I leaned back in my chair, blinking at him slowly. “And what does any of this have to do with me, musor?”

    I chuckled internally at the use of my slang, enjoying the way the cops’ face twitched. He knew just as I that it was an insult, he just didn’t know what I had called him. Garbage.

    With a sigh he scratched his jaw, seemingly deciding to ignore my insult. “Because you have a good character, apparently.” He muttered his last word, but I still caught it. “Your case should be pretty straightforward. Cases like yours always depend on the person and the reason for the manslaughter. That’s why mostly no one wants to take them up, seeing as the family of the dead could sue for a number of reasons. Yet, seeing as the dead had murdered their own family before you killed them your case shouldn’t be all too hard.”

    “They aren’t all dead.” I stated, looking away from the cop, a frown pinching my lips.

    He paused, skimming through his files once more. “What?”

    I leaned forward, tapping a picture of Evelyn. “The woman she killed alongside her father was her step-mother, her mother and father divorced a long time ago due to her mom being bat-s**t crazy. Or at least that’s how her father explained it when he and his wife were hanging out with my parents.”

    The cop grimaced, taking a note of this on his small black notepad. “Is there anything else that you know of her?”

    I shrugged, leaning back once more. “Only what I’ve heard from Evelyn’s father. In the simplest of words she’s a piece of s**t; drug addict, alcoholic and would do anything to get the money needed to feed her addictions.”

    The second those words left my mouth even I couldn’t help but to grimace. If Evelyn’s mother got word of this she wouldn’t hesitate to try and turn this horrible outcome in her favor just to make some quick cash.

    s**t.

    When the cop even groaned I knew this probably wasn’t going to go well for me, not that I was expecting it to. “I’ll have some people look into her whereabouts and see if she heard of this. I’m going to try everything I can to keep this a clean and straightforward case; involuntary manslaughter of two people in self-defense. Even if the outcome isn’t the best you still shouldn’t get life in prison. I’ll work on this angle with the criminal defense lawyer you’re offered.”

    As he stood to leave, I called out to him. “No offense to you, but I’d like to talk to that lawyer.” I said, now feeling the pressure of the criminal charges.

    He sent me a grin, liking my rather lively reaction. “She’ll be sent in once she arrives.”

    It wasn’t long until the door to the interrogation room opened once more, the clack of heels against tile irritating my ears. Black heels tapped against the gray tile of the room, a short woman dressed rather professionally in her black pencil skirt and navy blue blouse coming to sit before me. She laid a black satchel on the table, pulling out a few folders and some paper before looking into my brown eyes with her green ones. I had never seen someone with such dark black hair before.

    “My name is Karen Konn and I’ll be your attorney as of today.” She stated with a smile, not bothering to reach out to shake my chained hands. “Now, let’s get down to business. Due to the rather violent crime that took place, the murder of two individuals, despite being a minor you will be tried as an adult in court. Of course this does give you more protection in the eyes of law but it does also put you at a disadvantage. Most people being tried for manslaughter get at least a few years to life, depending on the circumstances.”

    Immediately panic set in, and I was not enjoying how my numbness seemed to be ebbing away. “Life? The cop said that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting life in prison!”

    Karen looked up from her papers, her gaze condescending as she looked down at me. “Mr. Payne? Well, he is a police officer and not an attorney. I can certainly tell you that there is a possibility of you spending life in prison, after all, you did kill two people. Even for a minor there are consequences of such acts. Or did you view yourself as untouchable due to your age of fifteen?” She asked snidely.

    My blood rushed, cheeks flushing at her tone and words. “Self-defense woman, self-defense! Those two murdered my parents in front of me! What are you saying that I should have done? Stood there and take it? I didn’t want to die!”

    Yet just as I muttered those words my subconscious snickered. You didn’t want to live, you wanted to kill. An eye for an eye, they killed so they were killed.

    Karen pursed her lips, her green eyes narrowing as her sour look grew. “There are plenty of things that you could have done instead of killing them. The police exist for a reason, child. All you had to do was call them instead of murdering two people.”

    I laughed incredulously, sending a wild glare at the idiotic woman before me. “Call the police? Are you f*****g serious? Chertovski suka, they were right in front of me! Covered in the blood of my parents, of my unborn brother! There was no calling the police, no running away! Don’t talk like you understand anything, you weren’t there. You will never understand!”

    She blinked at my outburst, her lips still pursed in annoyance. “People like you are why I honestly question why I became a criminal defense lawyer. It’s obvious that you’re in the wrong yet you refuse to admit to it.”

    As she uttered those words I couldn’t help but to lurch forward, slamming my hands down onto the desk as I leaned to scream in her face. “Get the f**k out of here, suka! Go spout your bullshit where people will care to listen you goddamned i***t! You’re a criminal defense lawyer, you’re supposed to be defending me against the criminal charges! Not trying to get me to confess!”

    Karen gasped, standing quickly. “Why I-,” she started, only to be cut off when I lurched toward her.

    My wrists jerked within the confines of the cuffs, the metal biting into my skin while blood trickled down my hands. “Do I look like I’m in the mood to listen to your bullshit? Get the f**k out of here!” I yelled, spitting in her face for good measure.

    As she scrambled to leave the room the fire within my veins cooled, a slight throbbing coming from my wounded wrists. I plopped back down into the uncomfortable metal chair, releasing a heavy sigh. My reaction surprised even myself, I had never been a violent or prone to yelling type of person. I was energetic, for sure, but I was kind and helpful. After all I had wanted to become a doctor to help others, I was never one prone to violence or anger.

    Yet all it took was one night for the darkness within me to rear to life. And it didn’t seem like things were going to go well for me, with the lawyer representing me not even on my side.

    “Fuck.” I muttered, resting my head against my chained hands.

    s**t just never seemed to work out for my family. My mother didn’t have the best childhood, thanks to drama between her father and mother due to his mistresses. Her life in Russia wasn’t easy when her father left their family in pursuit of his mistress, an American woman who returned home, leaving him, only eight years after giving birth to her daughter Rava.

    “You’re rather hot-headed for such a young, small girl.” Stated the kind voice of Payne, the officer having slipped in the room at some point.

    I didn’t bother to move from my hunched position, feeling far too f****d to care. “Goryachaya krov’? Ya dovol’no prokhladnyy po sravneniyu s moimi zemlyakami.”

    The blond haired man groaned, the metal chair before me creaking underneath his weight as he leaned forward. “I didn’t take Russian as my second language, I’m going to need a translation.”

    “Google it.” I muttered without pause, still hunched over with my forehead pressed up against my cuffed hands.

    Payne snorted for a moment. “I can barely spell English words, how are you to expect me to spell whatever you just muttered?”

    After a moment of silence I sighed, annoyed with him as it was. “Hot-blooded? I'm rather tepid compared to my countrymen.” I translated, sitting back up in my seat. “Is that all you came back for? Some small talk? If so, you can f**k off too.”

    Payne winced, nodding to the one way window behind me. “I saw what went down with Konn.”

    I sent him a blank look, my lips falling into a thin line. “Should I be applauding you for knowing how to use your own eyes? What exactly are you fishing for here?”

    Payne’s wince deepened as he scratched the back of his head. “It just seemed as though you might need some consoling.”

    I grimaced, a frown pinching my lips downwards. “Do I look like I’m one that would need, or accept, consoling? You and Karen should just go f**k off.”

    “I get that your mind is reeling right now, after having lost your family, but lashing out isn’t going to help you. Especially not now, you need to get your s**t together. Prepare for the trial, get your story straight and calm your anger. Having an outburst in court isn’t going to help your case.”

    I pursed my lips in annoyance, nodding down at my wrists as I shook them uselessly. “Are you holding me?”

    “No.” He stated, reaching over to unlock my cuffs while sending a glance down at my wounded wrists. “I’ll drive you home, drop you off. I’ve got your landline number, I’ll call to let you know when your court date has been decided.”

    The world seemed to become deathly silent as the cuffs clicked open, a steady stream of blood dripping down my flesh. I paid it no mind, pulling my hands away when Payne reached for them as though to tend to my wounds. I didn’t need his help, nor anyone else’s.

    As I stood to numbly follow Payne out I could only think of one thing; I didn’t have a place to call home anymore.