Vitam et Mortem IC - Altsoba Off Campus

Eric

"It was my fault." Eric corrected, eyes flicking to Mia. "Whatever happened, it was my fault. I agreed to meet her in the middle of the night, I wasn't careful enough. It. Was. My. Fault."

He took a deep, steadying breath and the hate that filled his eyes was unmistakable. He loathed himself, blamed himself for everything. "I..." His eyes flicked back to the wall, unable to look at Mia. "She was worried about you looking into Hunters. She was worried about their return, all those people that died at the hands of Hunters. I think she worried, a little, that it would be me doing those things." His hands were resting on the table, and they clenched reflexively.

"Maxine was everything to me. I was confident that I could protect her. What I hadn't counted on was my sister or my mom following me." He was shaking, all over staring off into the distance replaying the scene in his head. "My sister was... more open minded. I think. She at least made it sound like she was going to help us, and then... my mom showed up."

Eric was crying again, tears streaming down his face. He left them there, continuing. Now that he'd started he was unable to stop. "It happened so fast that I couldn't do anything to stop it. I tried to save her and she died in my arms that night."

...

"I think a part of me died with her."
 
Mia had sat back down, hands folded in her lap as she tensely waited for Eric to start. Within seconds of him starting, her elbows were on the table, her face buried deep in her hands. When she finally moved her hands away, her face was red from trying to keep the tears back. He wasn't giving any detail, but surely, the officers could work out what happened. They could find out who Eric's mother was. She could be jailed. Not even hunters could escape the law.

She leant back in the chair, head tilted down. "You can't say it's your fault," she said in a tiny voice. "You may have met her, but she suggested it. I was part of the reason she wanted to go. And me and my suite mates enabled it. Something had been up with her and we didn't ask."

She brought a hand to her eye, rubbed the tears away. Her voice was so tiny, but it was easily heard in the big empty room. "Where is she now?"
 
Eric

His face twitched into a sort of smile. "She wouldn't have told you," he guessed. Then he shook his head and sighed. "We buried her, me and my sister, in that park. I didn't know what else to do. I... I don't know." He leaned forward, trying to meet Mia's eyes, voice so low so that the others couldn't hear. "I don't care what they do to me here and I don't care what they say to anyone else, just... let her parents know the truth. They deserve to know."
 
Mia sniffed, wiped her nose on her sleeve. "You're...you're right about that," she admitted with a forced laugh. The location of her friend's body sent a shiver down her spine. She thought about her, fully exposed to the dirt and the bugs. How long would she have gone unfound if Eric hadn't told them?

She strained to hear his request, and put her head in her hands when she heard it. How was she going to do that? How was she meant to write a letter to her best friend's parents and tell them that their daughter wasn't just missing, but murdered and buried in a park far from her home? She rubbed her eyes, lifting her head again. "I'll try," she mouthed, but didn't dare promise. When the time came to put pencil to paper, who knew what would happen.
 
The voice of the detective came through her ear now. "Ask him about his mother and sister. Clearly his mother is a hunter. Is it his whole family and how many other family members does he have. And see if you can find out how many Hunters are in Banff."

Eric

He sighed, "I imagine your officers are going to go find her body now." He lowered his voice again, "but I don't think they'll tell her parents everything. I..." He shook his head. There was no point in telling Mia what he had overheard. "Thank you for trying."
 
Mia let the side of her head fall into her hand, pushing the earplug into her ear. She realised at that point that Maxine wasn't their main focus. When the police department was faced with a previously thought extinct race of people that were being given credit for deaths all around the world, of course they would want to find as many of them as they could.

She knew that she shouldn't, but she decided to ignore the detective. A step further, she lowered her voice, and whispered, "they're asking me about hunters in Banff. Answer that if you want, but...what about..." she paused. "Chris?" She mouthed. The last thing she wanted was for Chris to end up as Eric was.
 
It was quiet in Mia's ear as they hoped for her to be leading up to the question of more Hunters.

Eric

He had frozen. It should have occurred to him that they would be feeding her things to ask him and that had... stung, but again he felt that he deserved it. He shook his head. "I won't be answering that." He said, harshly. "I can't... they're still my family." He knew that outside of his family, they didn't know anything about any other Hunters in the area, and if they suspected he wasn't going to verify that information for them.

He paid close attention as she mouthed his best friend's name and he sighed. It wasn't right of him to out his friend, but with all that was going on she deserved to know. He nodded slightly, whispering as quiet as he could, "He planned on telling you. Don't... don't be angry."
 
Mia's head fell into her hands, and then her body slumped to the table, forehead pressed against the cold metal. After a few tense moments, there was the quiet sound of her crying. Within ten minutes, her life had fallen apart. It took her a full minute before she lifted her head to look Eric in the eye. Her face was full of puzzled hurt; it was like her head was telling her to be disgusted and betrayed, but her heart was just confused and still so, so eager to love.

She nodded stiffly, her face becoming more solemn as she wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry. I-I just needed a second," she mumbled. It was only a half-lie, meant to convince the detectives that her emotions about Maxine had finally burst through. "So it's just you and your mother? Your siblings, father, they're just regular people?" She managed through her tight throat. Her eyes were big and pleading; don't let anyone know about him.
 
Eric

Mia shouldn't have worried. Eric wasn't about to let on about his best friend. When she started crying he reached a hand out, placing it gentle on her head, the most he could reach and the best comfort he could offer. When she finally settled and moved to rise, he removed his hand back to his side of the table looking as pained as she felt. "That's why he told you not to come." He murmured. The words were so close together, said so low that the detective and professors had no hope of hearing what was said.

"I just have one sister and my father isn't in the picture." Of course it wasn't the truth, but he was going to give away as little as possible. Beside, those witches who had found him, they had followed him from his house. They had seen Maya and his mom.

Maya.

"My mom is the only one, other than me. My sister is adopted. We moved here a few years ago and as far as I know, my mom and I are the only Hunters in the area." He considered his next words long and hard. "My sister... I know she's worried about me. If..." his own eyes were pleading. How could he ask Mia to write to his sister and tell her to get out, that it's not safe, that they know where she lives. How could he ask anything of Mia. "I wish she knew where I was." He stated simply.

There were mumblings in Mia's ear. It seemed they had started to say something, but hadn't decided what to ask. Molly's voice could be heard, though, "Is this a bad time to tell her to ask about his abilities?"
 
Mia rubbed under her eyes with her fingers. She gave a small nod. Those cryptic letters he had sent before. They'd been a vouch to keep her safe. She looked at Eric. Why didn't he write any of those to Maxine?

She nodded along with what he said about his family, as if it matched up with what she already knew. She seemed genuinely surprised for a moment, then said quietly, "does your family not know you've been...arrested?" She said the last word gently, as if it was a bomb. She'd thought that the family would have some sort of idea, maybe the true reason behind his detainment concealed behind some sort of theft charge.

She heard the mumbling start in her ear. It was distracting, her brain trying to split the voices apart and understand just one. She caught Molly's voice. Silently, she moved the fabric of her headscarf away and slipped the earplug out. She cupped it between her hands on her lap, muffling the voices between her sweaty palms.
 
Eric

He hadn't known it was dangerous, then. All of Chris' cryptic letters were after Maxine's death.

Eric blinked at Mia in surprise. Surely she wasn't that naive... He shook his head. "No, a week or so after it all happened, I was headed... to a friend's house. I was followed by two women, witches. I stayed in a room somewhere, with one of them, Loray was her name." He shuddered at the memory. "Then I was brought here. I was, I am, angry with my mother so she probably thinks I've been ignoring her. Nobody knows where I am."

He had a feeling, too, that no one would know where he was after this was over.
 
Mia flinched inwardly at the word 'witch'. Surely he didn't know the meaning behind it, even if it would have worked in that context. There was another flinch, this one unhidden, at the mention of Loray. "She's a Runes teacher," she mumbled, her voice holding a hint of wonder at why Professor Loray would be the one to go out and abduct a hunter, instead of an officer. "I've never had her, but she's...scary." She gave a tiny smile.

She put her fingers to her temples. She felt an unspoken request in his last words. Could she do something? More importantly, did she want to? Did she want to offer information to the killer of her best friend? Her conscience told her that she should have, but her stomach churned at the thought.
 
Eric

He could see the indecision on her face and he felt for her, but Maya had been willing to help. She hadn't struck first and asked questions later. "My sister doesn't know where I am." He iterated. He could care less if his mom knew, but he knew that his sister would be worried. While he had shut out his mother, he hadn't kept her out. She probably already knew something was wrong.

And Chris... he'd have no answers other than Eric was supposed to come over and never showed. Maybe they'll all think he just... ran away. He opened his mouth to say something else but the door opened and the detective stepped inside. "Thank you, Mia." He said, firmly... and that was it. Their time was up.
 
Mia smoothed her hands over her face. If Maya had truly been an innocent party, then could she tell her the truth? Or wasn't there the risk of the information being transferred along the line? "I don't know. I-" she heard the door click open, and stopped herself. She looked up at the detective, her eyes watering but steely. What could she do, though?

She picked up the earpiece from where she'd dropped it in her lap. That was probably why they'd decided to end the interrogation. She stood, her fingertips lingering on the table before she broke away. She headed to the door, but didn't walk through. She looked back at Eric.

She desperately wanted to say something. Anything to make him feel better. But nothing truly could. How could she tell him to be strong, when his life was practically over? She took a deep breath. "Bye, Eric." It felt so final. But, as far as she could tell, it truly was. "I'll tell her parents about you. Not...this." She gestured around the room. "But...they'll know about you."

She could feel the impatience from the detective. She offered Eric one last smile, and not able to bear saying goodbye, walked from the interrogation room.
 
Eric

He watched as Mia left the room. The last friendly face he would ever see. "Bye." He agreed and her words brought him some relief. Maxine's parents would have their daughter back." It was the least he could do. The detective led Mia away and closed the door with a sense of finality. The lines of the door seemed to fade away, leaving Eric alone in a seemingly windowless and doorless room.

Professor Bell

Molly was extremely disappointed not to have any of her Hunter questions answered, and she continued to press the detective about letting her study him but he had adamantly refused. When he left to collect Mia, he brought them out of the viewing room and Professor Bell and Mrs. Sanchez were standing on the other side of the interrogation room door when Mia exited.

The professor smiled kindly at his pupil. "I know that can't have been easy." He offered. Molly simply continued to pout.

The detective led them over to his desk. "Thank you a lot for coming out here. I'd like for the two of you to come back and learn what you can about Hunters so that we can start being prepared if this happens. It's possible that this kid's family is one of the few of a dying breed." Professor Bell exchanged a look with his two companions as they had put the pieces together where the detective had not. "Still, it can't hurt to learn what we can, while we can." He pulled out three thick packets of paper and handed one to each of them.

"This is an NDA, I would like for you all to sign it."

"A non-disclosure?" Molly gasped, seeming appalled. "I can't speak or write about this?"

The detective shook his head. "Not in so many words. If you are to write a published book with your findings, you would be required to be vague and non-descriptive about the people you worked with here and about the specifics of the Hunter and how he was acquired, but that can only be after a period of five years from the signing date. Outside of published, educational works, what you saw and heard here today cannot be discussed with anyone." He made a point of making eye contact with Mia.
 
Mia trudged into the viewing room, hugging her arms to her chest. She glanced at the professor, gave a nod, but made no other indication that she had heard him. When she was sat on the other side of the desk, she stared at her feet. She couldn't help but notice that the detective had said 'you two'. She supposed she'd messed up by taking the earpiece out. She was still holding it, and now she quietly placed it on the desk.

At around the same time, the detective sat the NDA down in front of her. She lifted her head quick, staring at the detective. "What do you mean?" She asked, voice sharp but respectful as she could make it. "What about Maxine's parents? What are you going to tell them?"
 
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