Authors: Jack Parker
"Anyway," O'Connor cleared his throat, "it is important that you keep this completely confidential. We are letting you know the basics of this case so that you can see the severity of it. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe, but this is a two-way street here. You can't do the same things you normally would. People could be after you, although we've done a good job at keeping this a secret." Detective O'Connor took a sip from his coffee mug. "As far as Mickey knows, your assault has been pinned on their fall-back guy."
"So what do I do now?" I asked, a little frustrated. Was I just supposed to wait there with my fingers crossed hoping that a bunch of angry criminals don't find out that I was the reason they were going to be put behind bars?
"Lay low." Kaiser shrugged. "We'll give you both of our direct numbers, please call if you have an emergency or see anything suspicious. Or even if you get a funny feeling about someone, you can never be too careful."
I nodded, feeling even more exhausted.
"Also," O'Connor put in, "our officer who was outside of your house told us that you were up quite late last night."
I made a face, they both looked at me. Detective O'Connor spoke up, "It's very common for victims to feel scared of being alone, or being in the dark, it's part of the fear of the unknown. It becomes escalated-"
"Please," I interrupted, a little embarrassed that he had even guessed, "I just couldn't sleep."
"I will actually be suggesting a counselor to your parents; I think it's a good idea."
I shook my head. "I'm fine, really. Thank you for your concern, but the last thing you should do is put the idea into my parents' heads that I've gone crazy."
Detective Kaiser frowned. "It doesn't mean you're crazy, it means you're dealing with trauma."
"I really don't feel comfortable talking about this," I said in the most stern, bitchy voice I could muster.
Kaiser shrugged, giving Detective O' Connor a look, "You're free to go, please send your parents our regards." Kaiser motioned towards the door, and I hightailed it out of there, throwing open the door, only to face my parents and our lawyer looking at me oddly.
"Can we go home?" I wanted to sleep. I went and sat in between my parents, resting my head on my mom's shoulders. I didn't think I could handle this. It was too much.
My alarm woke me early in the morning, my mom forced me to her hot yoga class, insisting that I get back into a routine, because I would be going back to school later that day.
When I got
home ,
I shuffled into my room and stared at myself in the mirror, sighing, I put my hair up into a ponytail, not really sure what to do with it. I slipped on some clothes and stumbled downstairs.
"Heidi…" I turned to face my mother.
"Hmmm?" I mumbled walking past her and pouring myself a bowl of cereal.
"Didn't you wear that a couple days ago?" She frowned, her voice sounded puzzled.
I looked down at my clothes. I just wore a flowy top and
a
jean skirt. "Maybe… I don't know. Did I?"
My mom looked at me funny. "Well, Heidi, why would you wear that again?"
I grabbed my keys and dumped the rest of my Captain Crunch down the drain. "I'll be home later." I ignored her, and walked out the door, shaking my head. Things were different now, I could feel it.
The things I used to care about seemed trivial. I would listen to my friends talk about Andrew Donohue, or make plans to go to the mall, and it just didn't seem important anymore. It didn't have the same value it once did. It wasn't even interesting. It was even a struggle to hang out with them, hearing them drone on about things that just weren't… worth it.
"Heidi?" Emma said, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Um… I don't want to freak you out or anything, because I know you just went through some weird stuff, but that guy is really giving me the creeps."
I whipped my head up from my lunch. "What guy?" I practically shouted, my voice hitting higher octaves than normal.
People had been staring at me all day. The bruises had yet to fade completely from my face, and no amount of make-up could hide the cuts and bruises that ended up randomly on my arms and legs.
"People have been staring, but this one is different. He's a total weirdo."
Lauren turned around. "That one? The fat one with the greasy hair?"
Katie smacked her arm. "Be nice."
"About some creep staring at us? I don't think so," she joked.
But I didn't think it was very funny. He was by himself and I had never seen him before. Our school was a public school, not heavily guarded. I guess someone could walk in there; it wasn't that hard. We all carried our school ID's on lanyards and he definitely didn't have one.
He hovered close to our table, leaning against a wall. The cafeteria was so busy that I was surprised Emma had even noticed him. I took out my cell phone and stood up, already dialing Detective O'Connor.
"Where are you going?" Katie asked.
"I gotta ask my mom to get me something, I'll be right back." I put the phone to my ear and walked outside, my heart started racing when the guy followed me moments after.
"Hello?" I heard the detective's familiar voice.
"Hi," I said, my breathing starting to become shaky and rapid as I quickened my pace. "It's Heidi Van Dauson. And there is definitely someone at my school that is not a student and is following me."
There was a slight pause before his calm commanding voice informed me, "We're on our way now. I need you to make sure you stay in a crowded place, do not go off on your own, or into a classroom, you don't want to get caught somewhere."
I tried to keep my composure as much as possible; despite the fact that I was doing everything he had just said I shouldn't do. I looked back and the guy wasn't there anymore. "That's weird; I thought he was behind me a second ago." As I turned back around, he was right in front of me and I screamed in surprise. While he lunged at me, I smacked him as hard as I could. He stood there, a little shocked, but I took my chance and sprinted back towards the cafeteria with him at my heels. He reached me first, grabbed my shirt and spun me around.
"I have
a
message for you," he whispered close to my face, his breath smelled disgusting. "They have connections everywhere. And if you even think about saying a word, we'll find you, your friends, your family; we'll make sure they all regret your… choice," he said the last word with a grin and shoved me back into the loud, noisy cafeteria.
I watched him walk away and my hands shook violently as I answered my vibrating cell phone. "H-hello?"
"Heidi?" the detective's worried voice over the phone was kind of comforting.
"I'm okay. He didn't hurt me."
"We are going to come and get you. Phoenix isn't safe for you anymore." And with that, he hung up the phone.
I stood frozen in place while people walked by me, chatting, laughing, and yelling. My life used to be wonderful. What had happened? I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't be alone. I couldn't even go to school, the only normal thing I had left. What had happened? I didn't know how long I stood there, but eventually Detective Kaiser and O'Connor walked up to me.
"You need to come with me right now; we will take care of everything with your school," Kaiser said, pulling me lightly forward.
I nodded numbly, feeling like those two men were the only people that I could trust. "Why do they do this?" I asked my voice breaking a little; fat tears falling silently down my face.
"You can destroy them. They're scared of you."
I scoffed. "No." I shook my head. "No they're not. The only the reason they haven't killed me… is because they don't know I'm helping you." My lip started trembling. "I really, really don't want to die," I said in a small voice.
"We're not going to let that happen," Detective O'Connor assured me. "We have someone arranging
a
place for you to go right now. We will take care of everything. All we need you to do is to stay safe."
I found myself at the police station, with the two detectives explaining to me what was going to happen to my life.
"It's going to completely change," Detective Kaiser said. Thanks…don't try to sugar coat it or anything.
Detective O'Connor shot him a look, apparently thinking the same thing. "Your first name will stay the same, but we have given you the last name Risler, since you are Swiss. We don't want to make any change too drastic, just in case you need to talk about your background."
"How did you know I was Swiss?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Ah… your file" He tapped a folder. I didn't know how he found out all of that info and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.
"We have decided to move you to Franklin, Iowa, and while we continue our investigation here, we will have someone stationed there to watch over you, an agent of ours." He pulled out a sheet. "So your story is, because it is nearing the end of fall, which is an odd time to move, your parents are going on a sabbatical, and want you to visit your aunt, a women named Anna Michaels, who you will be staying with."
"My parents won't come with me?" I asked meekly.
"Unfortunately not, it is impossible. It would be too much of a give-away and we need your father to stay here to ensure that our deal goes through. And your mother…." He struggled to find the words.
"Would tell the whole state of Iowa," I finished for him.
"She has quite the mouth on her," Detective Kaiser added.
I looked at him blankly, just to show my displeasure. Only I was allowed to insult her. "She is
my
mother."
"Right. I know," Kaiser said, pulling out a couple pieces of paper, not even noticing how I could even view that as an insult. "Your story in Phoenix is that you are going to be sent to
a
mental hospital due to your traumatic experience. That's what we are telling your parents, although they will probably figure out that you have been moved. We recently notified your school and had everything transferred over to George Washington High School in Iowa." He looked at me expectantly but I just stared at him in disbelief.
"You told people I'm going to a mental hospital?" I shouted.
"It was the only way to explain your absence that was flexible enough that you could be gone for days or a couple months." Kaiser glared.
"I don't want my friends to think that!"
"We told the school to keep it private. Your reputation will be fine."
"What am I supposed to tell them?" I was still yelling, completely flustered.
"That you are going away for help, and will contact them when you return."
"This is a joke." I folded my arms across my chest defiantly. "I hate this."
"You have to go. You could be killed. It's for your own safety. This will keep you and the ones you love the safest. It's the best option."