Chapter 37: Sought But Unfound
Sitting in a room at the police station, the man who interviewed me reenters with some papers in his hand. I’m curled up on a couch there quietly, my mom’s arm around my shoulders as she comforts me.
“Right then, Miss Boston, we’ve corroborated your story. Thank you very much for cooperating. I hope you understand,” the officer says, taking a seat opposite to us.
I nod my head in reply. After all, I do kinda get why they decided to investigate me just in
case.
It was very strange how I’d just kinda beelined to the body. Moreover, he’d been buried, though poorly. That wouldn’t really mesh well with the idea he was killed by a wolf.
However, his body had all the marks of a death by animal mauling, and at the time of his death, I was left alone at Mary’s Garden. The officer just wanted to cover all bases and make
sure I wasn’t related in this somehow.
But they confirmed. I never knew Noland Blanc, the man…no, the boy found dead in the
forest.
He was right around Alex’s and my age, though from a different school nearby.
“So….what happensss now?” I ask, my voice low and muted.
“Well, we continue investigating, but you don’t need to worry about being related for now. We’ll contact you if anything comes up, but judging from the story and facts, you don’t seem to be related to his death.”
“Mm… Can I, uhm…keep sssearching?”
“Hmm?”
“For…otherrrsss. I want to keep helping.”
The officer glances at my mom, and she nods her head. I already talked to her about my
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desire to keep going despite having found someone’s body.
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I don’t want to find Alex out there. But if he’s out there, maybe clinging onto life somehow, if he got attacked, then I don’t want to give up on him.
“Well…there’s no reason that you can’t continue. But, just as a personal suggestion, I think you may want to step back for a while. Just to cool your head and recover. Finding a body isn’t an easy thing, even when as an officer. If you need any help from seeing what you did,
we have some resources you can use.”
“Help?”
“Therapy, I mean.”
“Oh…okay.”
Mom and I leave the station with a list of trauma therapists, but I don’t think I’ll need it. The body was…very scary to see, but right now, I don’t really want to focus on it. I just want to make sure Alex doesn’t end up like Noland did, whoever he was.
It’s just too frightening to think he could be dying in the forest around town without anyone able to find him. So, I’m going to push forward.
“Hey, Cynthia,” Jonathan greets as I walk into school.
The atmosphere has changed so much in just a matter of two weeks.
Instead of celebrating an astronomical hockey win, everyone’s worried and scared over the wolf attacks. Moreover, with Alex missing, people are…theorizing. Coming up with conclusions that I really don’t care to listen to right now.
“Listen, ah, I talked with Mrs. Taylor, and I wanted to see if you were okay with this. Erh… would you be cool if we gave your part to Charlie?”
Ah, my part in the play. I haven’t been able to help much with the search or with play
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preparations while I was briefly investigated,
“Mm, it’sss fine. I know I’ve been ssslacking, so
“Ah, nah, no, don’t worry about that. I know it’s been really rough for you.” Jonathan raises his hands placatingly, “I wouldn’t even call it slacking. Just…you’re dealing with a lot, so we want to give you some free time. Okay?”
“…Yeah, okay. Thank you,”
“No prob, Cynthia. And, ah…sorry about Alex.”
My lips tighten as my eyebrows drop lower.
“They haven’t said he’sss dead, Seso, no need to apologize.”
“Y–Yeah,”
“…See you later.”
My hands tighten on my backpack straps as I pass him, heading to my locker.
As I do, people keep looking at me, watching my every move. It’s been like this since New Years, but the reason has always been changing around, so I almost feel like I have
whiplash
First, it was because I was a laughingstock. Then because I bagged Alex for the longest time. Then because I performed well on stage.
Now, everyone’s pitying me, giving me looks like I’m in despair or something
But I’m not sad, I won’t be.
Pecause no one can confirm that Alex is dead or killed by wolves, and everyone’s just
jumping to conclusions like they always have. It’s so terribly frustrating that I almost want to pull my hair out
My chest tightens, but I fight off the urge to panic. There’s no need for that.
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#Chapter 37 Sought But Unifound
I just need to go back out to the field and find Alex somehow.
That’s all.
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I wake up to the sound of growling.
My eyes snap open in my bed, hearing the sounds coming from outside my window.
It’s not right beside it, but it’s close. Too close.
Maybe in the woods.
I pull my phone over to me and debate on what to do.
I don’t hear any yelling or anything that sounds human. All I hear is fierce, guttural growling and sharp yiping. It’s like there’s wolves fighting each other or something, though I’m not sure what’s going on.
Still, it’s better to be careful, even if I’m overreacting somehow.
I dial 911 on my phone and wait for the person on the other side to pick up.
“911, what’s the location of your emergency?”
My voice comes out stilted, whispered. It feels like, if I speak up too much, the wolves will
hear me.
“There’sss…wolves. Nearrr my house… I hearrr them, fighting…”
Perhaps this wouldn’t have prompted too much of a response otherwise, but with the dead body found, wolf searches and potential attacks were high priority.
“Alright, what’s your address?”
Just as I start telling her, there’s a loud yipe and a crashing noise that makes me gasp. I think the lady on the other end hears it, because she’s calm but stern when she asks for my address again.
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Within minutes, the police arrive with animal control, tranquilizer and actual guns prepared. The lights flash against the siding of my house, and my mom hugs me as we wait
inside, hoping everything will be okay.
An officer enters after a while.
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“We’ve cleared the area. It seems they’re gone, though there are indications there was a
fight.
“Was it just wolves?” Mom asks, holding onto me.
“We’re making sure of that, but for the time being, we’ll ask that you remain exceptionally vigilant for now. Don’t enter the forest unless you’re joining a search team.”
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At the mention of the search team, Mom gives me an anxious look, her previous acceptance
now muddied with the recent attack. Even so…
“Okay,” I reply. “Uhm…will therrre be a search nearrr my house?”
“We may, but for now, we ask you stay away from the area. It’s an active scene for the time
being.”
With a few more comments to my mom and I, the police leave us alone, though they stick around the area to search for more clues. I don’t feel the need to go back to sleep, so I look
around and find some binoculars we’d used on a camping trip once. With them, I peek out my bedroom window, toward the forest.
The lights are bright in my eyes, and there’s many uniformed people circling the area. It really is very, very close to my house.
As I squint, I notice something slightly shiny on some leaves on the ground.
It takes me a few moments to realize it’s likely blood.
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