Han opened his eyes to Jennifer shaking him awake.
"Han, Scarlett said that we arrived back home," Jennifer said.
Yawning from the feeling of drowsiness, he stretched his arms to shake off the feeling. Lowering his arms, he looked towards Scarlett who nodded her head. Sighing, he waited as Scarlett opened the door and waited for them outside the vehicle. His mother and sister headed out of the van and were chatting about various things they had witnessed.
Getting up, Han followed after them and looked around the familiar setting. Turning towards Scarlett, he said, "Scarlett, I appreciate you escorting us throughout the trip. Seeing Star and Moon Studios is something we'll likely be talking about months from now, and look forward to the next time we visit."
"Yes! Thank you, Scarlett!" Jennifer said, hearing Han's conversation while she was talking to their mother.
"I don't think I'd ever have the chance to see such things in my lifetime, so I'm also very grateful," his mother said.
"It was a pleasure meeting the three of you," Scarlett smiled at them.
There were a few more questions they asked her, before she said, "Once again, it was a pleasure to guide the three of you and we, at Star and Moon Studio, look forward to seeing all of you again. Hopefully in just as positive of a scenario." She grinned at them before bowing and making her way into the van.
Watching the door close and the van drive off, they stood there in the night not knowing what to say.
"Mom, I thought you said that dad wouldn't be back so soon?" Jennifer spoke first with Han and their mom still facing the street.
Their mom turned to look at the house, to see the living room lights on, when the house should have been completely dark. In their excitement from coming back, they hadn't noticed that the lights were on.
Han looked at his mom and saw apprehension in her expression.
Walking towards the house, their mom inserted the key into the lock and turned the lock, hearing the audible click of the deadbolt. Opening the door, their mom was the first to enter the home.
Sounds of a TV could be heard, though it wasn't coming from the living room. Hearing the muffled voices, Han knew that his dad was downstairs in his cave. After a couple of seconds, the muffled voices vanished like the specters they sounded like. Shortly after, thudding footsteps could be heard going up the basement stairs. Creaking of the hinges was heard as the door slowly opened, and the outline of his father was seen. Due to the light from the living room, the hallway leading to the basement seemed darker than usual.
"Where the hell were the three of you?" A growl was heard.
"I'm sorry, honey. Han and his friends won a contest to visit Star and Moon Studio, so I went with them. I thought you would be on your business trip." His mom tried to explain.
"Do you know that I had to come home to an empty house? All of you are living off of the money that I earn, and instead of being ready you guys decided to go on some vacation?!" His voice started low and became a shout at the end. His mother flinched from the sound of his voice, and the accusation he lashed at her. The sound of his footsteps became louder until they could see him. From the smell on his breath, they all knew what he had been doing.
"Mom just wanted to see where they made TV shows, daddy," Jennifer stepped in front of their mother, trying to shield her from their dad.
"I knew that I shouldn't have let you convince me to buy you that damn box! Instead of focusing on your tasks, you just waste your time watching those shows. I see you drooling at those actors, like some whore!" He raised his hand into the air.
"NOT THIS TIME!" Han yelled out, rushing towards his dad and punching him in the stomach. For some reason, seeing his dad getting ready to hit his mother evoked extreme anger inside of him. When his dad fell back, Han jumped on top of him and began punching him. "She's not a whore or your servant! I won't let you touch her anymore!" He yelled at his dad as he kept hitting him, though he instinctively held back his strength so as to not kill him.
The sight of Han wailing on his father likely shocked his mom and Jennifer, cause it was several moments before either of them rushed towards him and tried to pull him off and get Han to stop.
"Han! Stop! You'll kill him!" His mom cried out and she wrapped her arms around his chest and tried to pull him off her husband.
"Please, Han!" Jennifer grabbed his right arm and helped her mother.
Even though he was angry, he slowly regained his sanity understanding slowly creeping in. It was surprising how he hadn't killed his dad. Han unconsciously holding his strength back had allowed him to avoid letting his mother and sister see him kill a person.
Though he had killed beings in the previous world, the fact that this was a version of Earth meant something different to him. In the fantasy world, it was like going around killing monsters or NPCs, but this was closer to what his real world was like. With his powers, everything sometimes felt like a game instead of a world with actual consequences.
After his mom and sister were convinced that he wasn't going to continue what he had been doing, Jennifer ran into the kitchen where a phone was mounted on the wall. The sounds of numbers being pressed could be heard, one tone followed by two of the same tones. There was a pause before she said, "We need an ambulance, my father is injured and laying on the ground."
Han sat on the floor, feeling a little dazed with what had happened. Sounds of his sister talking to the dispatcher could be faintly heard in the background. Raising both of his hands, he saw the blood on his fists. Even though his brain was telling him that it would be okay, considering he could just heal his father, the emotional side of him was trying to cope with what had happened.
Two sets of arms wrapped around him.
"Han, it's going to be okay." Jennifer tried to comfort him.
"I'm sorry, Han. You wanted to protect me when I should be the one doing that." His mother cried into his left shoulder.
Jennifer began crying into his other shoulder, likely a release of emotional pressure from what had happened. Everything seemed to happen so fast, from the time they entered the house to his dad laying on the ground.
It felt like only a moment had passed, but the sounds of sirens let him know that it had been a while that the three of them huddled together. Hearing the sound getting closer, they slowly got up for the paramedics to reach his dad easily and take him to the hospital.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
They saw the ambulance pull up to the side of the road and people quickly coming out of the vehicle. A gurney was pulled out and two paramedics pushed and guided it towards the house.
"What happened here?" One of the paramedics asked, first looking at them and then to his dad.
Seeing his mom not wanting to say the words, he answered before she would. "I hit my dad, and he hasn't moved in a while."
The three paramedics looked at one another before they rushed over to his dad.
"Sir, are you alright? Can you hear me?" One of the paramedics said. Looking at the other two, he said, "he isn't responsive."
Another paramedic had pulled out a stethoscope and was trying to listen for a heartbeat. She lifted her head and nodded to the first one.
The last one pulled out a neck brace to keep the head and neck stable. With the help from the other two, the last one took a rigid looking board from under the gurney. "Okay, on the count of three slowly turn him to the side. One. Two. Three!"
His father was tilted to one side and the board slid under him. Securing him to the board, two of the paramedics lifted up his dad and placed him on top of the gurney. With efficient movements, his dad was secured and two of them then moved him out of the house.
The woman stayed behind, just to say, "we'll be taking him over to Cherry Grove Hospital." Without waiting to hear a reply, she raced after the two and reaching them just as they rolled him into the ambulance. Seconds later, they were racing away, the sounds of the sirens and horns fading away in the night.
Even though the ambulance had left, there were still flashing lights. It took him a while to see a police officer walking up their driveway and approach the entrance.
"Good evening, folks. My name is Officer Smith, and I just have a few questions if you folks don't mind." He pulled out a notepad and pencil, before looking at them and saying, "Did the three of you know the victim?"
"He was my father," Han said.
The police officer just nodded at Han's words and wrote some notes down. "Would you like to explain what happened?"
"We had just arrived home and my dad had been drinking. When he was about to strike my mom, I..." He raised his fists, showing the blood still caked on his fists.
"I see," the officer said. Pulling out handcuffs, he said, "I'm going to ask you to turn around."
"You can't!" His mother yelled at the officer.
"Ma'am, I'm going to need to ask you to step back. Your son is in a lot of trouble, and I'm going to need to ask him more questions down at the station." He raised his hand to indicate to his mom to stop.
Han looked at the tears trailing down his mom and sister's face as he's led out of the house. Turning his head, he says, "It's going to be okay, mom. Don't worry about me and look after Jennifer."
"Keep moving, kid," the officer pushes him forward towards the direction of the police car, which is parked on the side of the road with its lights going off.
Though he didn't appreciate the officer's forceful attitude, Han didn't attempt to do anything. He felt horrible with what had happened, not about hitting his dad but having his mother and sister see the aftermath.
He heard the sound of the door being opened, and the officer saying, "Get in the car." Feeling the hands of the officer shoved him inside, falling sideways with his head bouncing off the leather seats. Near his feet, the door being slammed shut moved his feet closer to his body.
With some rocking of his body, Han was able to sit upright.
The cop was in his seat and flipped some switch to turn the siren on. Taking the handset from next to the mounted radio, he said, "I got a kid who beat his father. Yeah. The world is a crazy place when kids beat their parents. The mother looked pretty shocked. I'll be arriving soon."
Looking out the right side window, Han watched the image of his house fade into the distance.
--------
The drive inside of the police car was silent, the street light passing by casted shadows across the interior. Soon the car turned into the station and parked into one of the spaces. He got out of the car and walked to the rear door and opened it. Han felt the officer's hand grab his arm and yank him out of the car. Hopping a couple of times, to regain his balance, Han kept pace with the police who seemed to not care about the way he treated Han.
It was the first time he had been to the police station. Looking around, he saw only a couple of police officers congregated at one of the desks. There only seemed to be male police officers, something which seemed odd to him. When he looked at the front of the office, he was surprised to see a lone female officer. Her desk was near where the secretary was placed to greet the public. The secretary being a woman wasn't something he was surprised about, with the mentality this age had with gender stereotypes.
"Is that the kid?" One of the officers assembled with the other male officers asked.
"Yeah. This is the piece of shit kid who beat his father. What is the world coming to, we have kids beating their fathers and woman taking away jobs from people who are better qualified." The officer holding Han's arm muttered.
"Maybe we should have Grace babysit the kid?" A different officer said, causing the group to laugh.
"I don't think that's a bad idea." He said and looked at the woman. "For once you'll be able to do something you were born to do. From this moment, this kid is your responsibility so hurry up and book him. Since all the cells are empty, you can just watch him from the desk in the back." The officer shoved him towards the woman.
Han fell on his side on the ground. He lay on the floor for a few moments before he soon felt hands on him, gently helping him back up.
"Come with me, kid," The woman said as she guided him towards a hallway.
"Maybe being with that kid will convince her that time is running out and she'll get knocked up," some guy's voice could be heard, along with the laughter of the others.
-----
The clang of metal hitting metal and the click of the lock seemed to echo in the rectangular room that contained a row of cells. All the other ones were empty, giving it an eerie feel. Clinking of keys was heard as the officer secured the key ring to her belt.
"I feel like it would be convenient to have those on a metal chord that snapped back when released from your hand," Han commented as he watched her.
"Why did you do it?" She asked him, not acknowledging what he had said.
"You're asking why I beat the shit out of my skumbag dad who beats my mom and was going to do it again?" He sounded emotionless, not seeing a reason to justify his actions.
Her eyes widened at his words. "I...," she tried to say but her mouth didn't seem to work.
"I guess you're not like your friends out there," He said. "They may criticize you and your gender, but I think that you bring a valuable perspective to that badge."
Hearing his words, she looked down but not before he saw her blush.
Raising both his hands and resting them on the bars, he rested his head on top. Looking at her, he could see why guys would be intimidated by her. Though she had an attractive face, she still had a serious feel about her. "What made you become a cop?" He asked.
Lifting her face, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I figured that I would be in here for a while, considering it's now the weekend." He slightly tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I was in a bad situation and an officer helped me out of it. Seeing how much help that person was, I thought about how I wanted to do the same thing for someone else." She answered.
"I'm guessing you didn't expect to have to deal with people like those?" He jerked his chin towards the direction of the others.
She shrugged at his question. Turning around she walked over to a chair next to a desk and sat down.
Seeing that she wasn't interested in small talk, he moved away from the bars and walked over to the bolted in bench. Sitting on it, Han lifted his feet and turned so as to lay down. He rested his feet on a cell wall.
Staring at the ceiling, he wondered what he was going to do since it was likely he was going to be in here until Monday. Likely, the court didn't open until then so he would be waiting for an arraignment.
Laying on the bench, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.
-----
"Where is my son?!" A voice yelled, waking him from his nap.
Turning his head, he saw that officer still sitting down but she turned her head towards the commotion.
Muffled voices could be heard, before Han heard, "No! My son did nothing wrong! He's not a criminal!"
"Grace! Get over here and deal with this!" A voice called out, clearly annoyed by the situation.
Looking over to where Han was laying on his back, she said, "I'll be back, so don't do anything."
Taking his feet off from their resting position and getting up, so that he was in a sitting position, he knew that his mother and sister had finally arrived at the station. He didn't know what good she would be able to do, but a part of him was happy that she had come.
Several minutes seemed to pass by before he heard multiple people walking down the hallway. He saw the officer first, before seeing his mother and sister. When he made eye contact with them, they rushed over to the bars.
"My baby! Mommy is here! Are you alright?!" His mother urgently asked him.
"I'm alright, mom. I've just been inside here." He tried to make his situation sound better than it was.
Jennifer looked at him like she knew that he was brushing a lot under the rug instead of being honest. "Why is my brother even inside of here? My brother was defending my mother." Jennifer looked towards the officer and asked.
"I'm sorry, but all I'm supposed to do is watch your brother, whenever I'm on my shift. I have no ability to fix the situation." She looked guilty, feeling like things were out of her control.
"Then lock me up too!" His mother demanded.
"Mom! What are you talking about?!" Jennifer exclaimed, turning to look at her.
"What kind of mother just lets her son stay inside a cell, without being there to provide support?! This situation is all my fault! I shouldn't have let your father continue with his behavior!" She tried to explain to Jennifer, who had moved to stand in her way trying to prevent their mother from going into the neighboring cell.
"Mom! You don't need to do that. I'm going to be fine." Han tried to calm his mother down. As he looked at the officer and tried to signal her to get the two out of the station, before something crazy happened.
The officer seemed to understand what he was trying to say, and began moving towards his mother and sister to guide them out of the station. Though she looked overwhelmed, the officer seemed to be able to fall on her training to help herself in this situation.
"AHHHH!" A scream could be heard from the front of the station, likely the secretary based on the sound.
His mother and sister both became silent immediately, not expecting to hear a scream inside of a police station.
"Calm the hell down, Harmony!" An officer yelled out. There was a moment of silence before they heard him cry out, "What the hell is the matter with you!?"
The four of them in the back were silent as they tried to follow what was happening.
"Harmony, what are you doing? You need to contact the hospital. This man is obviously...! What are you...! AHHH!" The disjointed conversation and scream at the end made Jennifer move closer to their mom. The officer turned to look at Han and then his mom, a mixture of confusion and fear in her eyes.
"He's eating Jim! Get the fuck off of him!" An officer's voice could be heard yelling out, and then the sounds of gunfire.
"No, you need to shoot them in the head! I watched it in a movie!" A different officer suggested, followed by more gunfire. From the sounds of the fire, the second voice likely joined in. Silence followed as they stopped firing at whatever had come into the station. The voice that offered the advice was heard screaming, "That's impossible! They're supposed to go down!" Panic had invaded his words, likely as the officer was trying to understand what was happening.
Han snapped his fingers at the officer. "You need to let me out now!"
The officer looked at him blankly, and then slowly shook her head. "I can't..."
"Whatever is out there, is going to get here at some point. Unless you plan on locking yourself in, which doesn't guarantee safety, you're going to end up like that one officer." He looked at her.
"But...," the officer stammered, still trying to stick to previous logic.
"You better hope that whatever that thing is is just an isolated incident," He further drove in his point.
"Mike, you're okay! Watch out for that thing in front of you." The voice started out confident and slowly turned confused. "Tom, watch out! There's something wrong with Mike!"
Han sighed in annoyance at hearing the voice. "That just answered the million dollar question," he said. "It looks like that the situation just went from bad to shit show, so you need to make up your mind!"
Hearing the urgency in his voice, the officer seemed to make up her mind though she still looked slightly dazed by the whole mess happening in the other part of the station. She yanked out the keys from her belt and quickly found the correct key.
The sound of the lock opening was shortly followed by Han opening the door. "Is there another way out of this place?"
Turning her head, the officer's eyes spoke volumes at that moment.
"Mom, Jennifer, make sure you stay close to me," Han said to them. He grabbed a hand belonging to the officer and said, "You're also coming. There's nothing else you can do here."
A protest appeared to rise out of her mouth, but his grip and his serious look helped to prevent any nonsense. Nodding her head, she allowed herself to be pulled along with Han's sister and mother.
Going down the row of cells, there was a hallway that was previously hidden. Han saw several chains with handcuffs connected to them, along with cuffs meant to be attached to the prisoner's feet. There was also a clipboard with a schedule on it.
"It's for those ready to be arraigned and sent to the courthouse," the officer explained.
Understanding why this hallway was here, he continued to follow it until he saw a metal door. Seeing how weird it would be to have a metal door lead to another part of the station, instead of being an exit, he looked back at the woman who nodded. Slowly, Han turned the handle and gently pushed open the door.