@ Jinx...
Kelden held Hazel when she came over to him. He kissed the top of her head. "And you're my person," he told her. He felt that fire, knowing he would do anything to protect her. He stroked her hair lovingly. "Let's," he agreed. "First things first, we need to see if we can find out who that woman at the fair was.
It's possible she's a reporter, so we're at least going to go through the employees of the local news agencies and see if we recognize her," he told her. He searched up the info on his phone, quickly getting the names of three agencies in the immediate area and two more some miles out, but close enough that it was worth searching. He still didn't believe that she was a reporter, but if they could cross that off the list for sure, it only made her more suspicious and more vital to the investigation.
He grabbed the keys to the car and out the door they went. Kelden nodded to Drake as they left, knowing that this would be a hard day for both June and Drake. He had faith that they would get through it with each other's help though. They were good for each other. Kell held Hazel's hand as he drove, their first destination a small newspaper company in town. It didn't take long to arrive. He grabbed some sunglasses for Hazel. Though he didn't think she'd be recognized again, they were searching for the woman who had recognized her in the first place so it was better to be on the safe side. "Ready?" He asked.
Inside, Kelden leaned coolly against the counter at the front desk. "Hello Ma'am," he began, fishing for his badge in the inside pocket of his coat. The secretary eyed him curiously. "I'm going to need a record of all your current and previous employees," he told her, flashing the badge. Her lips opened to a surprised "o" shape and her eyes were wide. "Of course, sir! Let me get those for you!" She said, a little too eager. He smiled politely. A short while later, he and Hazel were back in the car with a packet of papers listing names and pictures. It was a small company so the list wasn't terribly long. "Recognize anyone?" He asked Hazel, knowing she would be able to pick that woman out in a second if she saw her.
June looked up at Hazel and gave her a tired, but genuine, smile. "I love you too Hazel," she told her. She took a few more minutes to prepare herself before she stood and rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth to get rid of the taste. She could do this. She exited the bathroom and went to the study where Drake was setting up. She fidgeted nervously in the doorway for a moment before speaking up. "I'm sorry about that," she told him. "I'm ready to give a statement."
She sat in the chair, facing the camera. Her gaze flickered to Drake several times as he made sure it was ready. She took in a deep breath, her hands clenched on her lap below the desk. "My name is June Bellamay. I was abducted on May 26th, 2019. I was working at a bakery on 5th Ave, my shift had run extra late that night due to a staff error. I was walking home from work when I was grabbed from behind and felt a needle go into my neck. I know that I was loaded into the back of a white van, but the drug that I was injected with knocked me out soon after." She trembled. "Previously I couldn't remember anything before waking up in the cell with Hazel, but in more recent weeks I've been regaining my pieces of my memory." She admitted, struggling to keep her voice above a whisper. She hadn't told anyone that she had been getting flashes of memories back yet. She clenched her fists tighter, her nails digging into her skin. "I remember waking up, strapped to a table or a bench of some kind. I was completely naked and being held down with leather straps." Her face contorted. "I don't know how much time passed exactly, but I do know that it was several hours. There was a clock and in one memory the hour was about 4:15 and in another it was 8:40. I'm still not sure if it was morning or evening, there were no windows in the room. The only light was a bright lamp, maybe a surgical light. He touched me.. everywhere. He molested me, sticking fingers and tools inside of me, touching my breasts... he violated me no matter how much I begged him to stop."
June was visibly shaking now. Saying it out loud was bringing it all back, her brain flashing more memories at her that she wished had remained long buried. "He cut me, more times than I can count, using some sort of knife. A pocket knife of some kind. I was bleeding a lot by the time he was finally done. I was starting to lose consciousness even though he hadn't drugged me again that I can remember. I think he accidentally cut me more than he'd intended, like he got too eager? He seemed angry when I started passing out." June could almost hear him now, the sounds of cursing and degrading insults he'd flung at her as she struggled to keep her vision from fading. Eventually, she'd just given in to the fading darkness, not wanting to be present for that hell any longer. "The next time I awoke was in a cell with Hazel."
June continued on through the recap of her and Hazel's time together. It took a while. She struggled through the memories, providing every last detail she could. She was unable to look at Drake the entire time, afraid to face the disgust she feared would be there in his eyes. So she kept her gaze fixed on the wall just beyond the camera. "I ate the food for the both of us, I knew that Hazel would need her full strength if she was going to get us out. But.. part me of hoped that maybe the double dose would just.. kill me. At that point, I just wanted it all to stop. If I had to die for that, and give Hazel the chance to live, I would do it a hundred times over." June concluded the statement and sat shivering in the chair. She suspected that if she hadn't already puked up her breakfast, she would be doing so right now. She sucked in a deep breath, and finally built up the courage to look Drake in the eyes.
June 30th, 2020 at 10:14am