Chapter 79 - Fugitive
“Okay, okay, I won’t run again. Let me go,” Morrigan complained as he led her around the outside of the hospital and towards the front.
“Sorry, can’t do that.”
“But I didn’t break any laws!”
“Actually, you did.”
Morrigan let out a frustrated groan. He kept a grip on her upper arm as he led her. Considering she was handcuffed, she didn’t understand why he thought that was necessary. She glanced back the way they had come and saw Noir sitting on his haunches in the shadows, his yellow eyes glowing. His tail flicked as he shook his head judgementally and then disappeared again.
“Come on… just let me go. You don’t understand! I can’t go with you.”
“Sorry, not an option. Just relax, Morrigan. I’m not planning on charging you with anything. But you tried to run so I cant take the chance you try that again.”
“You said I’d get to see my mom!”
“Well, now you’re coming down to the station.”
As they rounded a corner, she saw Hilda’s Jeep parked near the front of the hospital. Within seconds of coming into sight, the older witch jumped out and came towards them. “Woah, woah! Hey! What’s going on here?”
“HILDA!” Morrigan called, struggling with the cuffs a little.
Detective Grant stopped, still holding Morrigan’s upper arm. “Do you know this young lady?” he asked Hilda.
“Yeah, she’s my cousin’s friend. I brought her here.”
“Are you who she’s been staying with?”
“No, she called me a bit ago and said she needed a ride to the hospital.”
“Alright, well you just hang tight for a second, I have a few questions for you too. First I’m putting Morrigan in my car.”
Hilda frowned, looking like she wanted to complain, but she didn’t say anything more to him. She made eye contact with Morrigan and gave her a reassuring smile. “No worries, Morrigan. I’ll sort this out for you.”
“He’s taking me to the police station,” Morrigan said quickly. “They are going to put me in foster care!” She wanted Hilda to tell her don’t worry, and she’ll get her out, but the look on Hilda’s face said there wasn’t much she could do. Maybe if they were related, Hilda could take custody of her, but Morrigan knew that wasn’t going to happen now.
“Please,” Morrigan whined as he led her over to the car. “Just let me go, I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“Sorry Morrigan. No can do,” the cop said again as his hands then started running down her sides.
“W-woah, hey! HEY!” she yelled.
“Anything in your pockets that’s going to stab me?” he asked with an almost bored tone as if he’s done this a thousand times. “Needles, anything like that?”
“What? No…. HEY!” He reached into her pockets, pulled out her phone and put it on top of the car. She then realized what he would find next and inwardly kicked herself.
“Huh… what’s this?” he asked, holding the skeleton key. Then, he seemed in a hurry to put it down as he set it next to her phone. He rubbed his fingers and looked at them, probably confused by the strange energy that tended to radiate off of it.
“Its… a prop,” she said, feeling like that was a stupid answer. “I uh, got it at an occult shop. Thought it looked cool.”
“Huh…” He stared at the key a moment longer, still rubbing his fingers.
“Can I have those back? Please?” she asked.
“In a little while,” he said, and the next thing she knew, he was guiding her into the back of his car.
Upon the car door shutting she realized there really was no escape now. She felt tears stinging her eyes at the injustice and frustration of it all. Being handcuffed, locked in a car, and with no say in what would happen next just infuriated her. “Damn it!” she yelled and stomped her feet. “Damn it, damn it!” She was upset enough over what was happening to her mom—she did NOT need this right now.
“Looks like you ended up exactly how I warned you not to,” said Noir’s voice.
She looked around, then spotted him on the seat next to her. “Noir!” She felt so relieved to see he followed her in here.
“Well, this is a bit of a predicament you’ve got yourself in. You can’t risk neglecting your list while being evaluated… espeacilly with Alice acting as your evaluator. She is unlikely to be understanding about your situation.”
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“Thanks,” Morrigan said dryly, all of a sudden not so happy about him being here with her. She didn’t exactly need him to spell all of that out for her. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“I suppose just wait for an opportunity to escape. Depending on what sleeping arrangements they offer you tonight, it shouldnt be too hard.”
“What do you mean by that! All cells are going to have cameras!”
“Well, if they put you in a cell for the night then I’d say you’re… as you might put…. Completely screwed.”
“Fuck off Noir,” she growled, wanting nothing more than to kick him. The smug rise in his whiskers only irritated her more.
“However…” he continued. “It is more likely you’ll be put into some kind of temporary shelter before being placed in a foster home. Depending on the exact arrangements, you may find a better opportunity to escape.”
“He took the skeleton key.” Morrigan sighed.
“Indeed. And that is why I unfortunately will have to leave you. I must inform Master the skeleton key is now in human possession. If they end up not returning it to you, he will have to retrieve it.”
“But he has to return it! It’s not like I’m going to prison!”
Morrigan felt a mix of panic and frustration as the situation sunk in. She needed the key. With it, escaping would be simple. Between the skeleton key and her perception blocking it wouldn’t matter where they put her tonight. Without it, she was just an ordinary person. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and think clearly.
Noir’s tone became slightly more sympathetic. “Just stay calm and look for an opportunity. I’ll be back later.”
“Wait! Don’t go!”
With that, Noir disappeared, leaving Morrigan alone in the backseat. She leaned her head against the window, her mind racing, as she stared out at Hilda talking to the policeman. She seemed rather calm, and the cop was jotting things down in his notebook. Morrigan wondered what Hilda was telling him.
***
Their conversation began with the policeman introducing himself as Detective Grant and asking Hilda for her name, which she gave with no fuss.
“So, how long have you been with Morrigan?” he asked.
“Well, first of all, before I answer any more questions, I want to know why you got that poor girl in handcuffs.”
Grant sighed as he thought about it for a moment then answered, “Protocol for a minor in this situation is to keep them in custody until we can hand them off to a legal guardian or at least an older family member. Unfortunately, Morrigan doesn’t seem to have that so I was going to have to take her to CPS. She apparently didn’t like that idea and tried to run away, so now I have to make sure she doesn’t attempt to take off again.”
Hilda nodded, her expression serious. “I understand that, but Morrigan has been through a lot. She’s a good girl, just scared and confused right now.”
“I get that, ma’am. We’re trying to help her, but we need to make sure she’s safe and accounted for. Can you tell me how you came to be involved with her?”
Hilda hesitated for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Morrigan contacted me recently, asking for a ride to the hospital. She’s a friend of my cousin’s, and I wanted to help her out.”
Grant jotted down notes, his brow furrowing slightly. “Do you know where she’s been staying for the past three months?”
“She mentioned staying with a friend, but she didn’t give me many details,” Hilda replied, glancing at Morrigan in the car. “She’s been very private about her situation.”
“Okay…” He seemed to think something over than asked. “What is your cousins name?”
“I’d rather not say.”
Grant’s brow furrowed at Hilda’s reluctance. “Ma’am, all I’m doing here is trying to ensure Morrigan’s safety. Knowing where she’s been and who she’s been with helps us understand her situation better. You know, there’s situations where minors can be manipulated or coarsed. We need to know what’s happening.”
Hilda bit her lip. She couldn’t even give any vague assurances Morrigan hadn’t been staying with some kind of pedo groomer, because that would be admiting she knew where Morrigan was in the first place. “Look, I just don’t want to get my cousin involved. My cousin is a minor too and as I said she’s the one who asked me to help Morrigan out with a ride.”
“Well, I have your name already, so I can probably figure it out anyway…” he said flipping through his notepad. “Let me know if any of these names sound familiar. Lacey Bache, Alex Roman, Jamie Maxwell, Emma Hearth…” Hilda had to consciously force herself not to react to Emma’s name. She then sighed and rubbed her temples. Damn, he’s good.
“Okay, fine,” Hilda finally said. “It’s Emma Hearth.”
“And how long has Emma been in contact with Morrigan?”
“As far as I know, just this morning.”
The cop fixed his gaze on her, as he returned his notepad to his pocket. “Okay, let me tell you what’s going to happen here. I have Morrigan’s cellphone, which I’m assuming is a new number since her old phone doesn’t have any records since her disappearance. So that means, I’m going to have no trouble finding out who she’s been talking to and what text messages she’s sent. If I find out you’re lying to me and you have had something to do with her disappearance, then you could be charged with interfering with a police investigation, child endangerment, or worse. Do you understand that?”
Hilda really hated dealing with cops. She got plenty of experience with it when she was a teen herself, and the one lesson she learned is that when they start hard-lining you like this, it is best to just say as little as possible.
“Well, you apparently know how to get in contact with Emma, so you can ask her yourself. Now, I’d like to know when I can talk with Morrigan.”
“Well if your not related to Morrigan then I’m going to say probably not for a while. Not until her whole situation is sorted out. Now is there anything else you want to tell me before I leave?”
Hilda narrowed her eyes at him. Talking to him in the first place turned out to be a total failure. There was no chance of reasoning with him now. “No, nothing.”
“Alright, have a good day ma’am. Oh, but here’s my card, if anything does cross your mind feel free to give me a call.”
Hilda took the card, then watched the cop pull off before she returned to the Jeep.
“What happened!?” Emma asked, popping up from hiding as soon as Hilda sat down behind the wheel. Hilda had advised her to stay hidden while she talked to the cop.
“Can I see the texts you’ve sent to Morrigan? He’s going to pull her phone records, and we’re probably both screwed.”
“Crap…” Emma said under her breath.
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