THE VISIT TO THE POLICE STATION was inevitable. I had already been warned about it. And even my mother could do very little to avoid it since she had done nothing about it. The last time we spoke was when I had asked her to arrange my way out of the island. After that, she might have called on my phone a couple of times but I hadn't picked up for reasons only known to my heart. She was keeping tabs on me through my housekeeper and my chauffeur. I was certain she knew that the police that called me for interrogation today under the supervision of Headmistress Bloomington. And yet, there were no new calls, no advice on how to speak or behave in front of them.

"Are you ready, Ms.?" Lousie called from downstairs, "Your car is ready."

I took one last look in the vanity mirror, adjusting my scarf around my head - "I am coming!"

The heels of my knee-length boots clanked melodiously against the carpeted stairs as I descended downstairs, where Lousie was stood, waiting for me to give her my handbag, which I did. She went ahead to place it inside the car while I took a slight detour towards the kitchen island to grab a small apple. I could never think straight with an empty stomach. And I needed to think straighter than ever this time. One slip up and the game was over for me.

I took a bite or two of the apple while scrolling down the messages on my phone as I did. And just how it had been for the past few days, there was a message from the private number.

Happy Birthday in advance, Roxie!
P. S. - I have a surprise for you ;)

                                                    ~ Your Nightmare

I stopped chewing the bits of apple in my mouth, feeling like I had lost the little appetite I had all of a sudden. I tossed the haft-eaten apple in the trashcan and made my way out of the house.

The ride to the police station was a short but tense one. I clasped my hands tightly around my handbag, turning my knuckles white. My ability to distort reality and manipulate people for my gain could only be overpowered by my anxiety. And back then, I was very anxious.

Plus, having just experienced a panic attack the other night, I was worried that it would recur again very shortly. But I just hoped not in front of the police officers.

"Ms. Gosselin? We are here!" Jonathon announced, slowing the car down and stopping in front of the Isle Land Local Police Station. 

It was a relatively colossal building for such a tiny island and so less police force. Four huge, white pillars supported the name of the station and the walls were of red brick. The steps leading up to the entrance were made of white marble and the door was most likely of a giant oakwood.

I wetted my lips and shakily opened the car's door. I didn't want to appear too overwhelmed, fearing that the officers would try to take undue advantage of it to undermine the truth. It helped little, however, that right outside the entrance was stood Headmistress Bloomington, appearing to have been waiting rather impatiently for me for quite some time.

"After you, the other girls will have to come and give their statements too." She informed as I walked up the steps. Well, that explained her impatience to some extent. She would have to spend the entirety of her day at the police station and would later have to prepare a press release about it too.

She opened the door for me and let me walk in first. 

"How did you keep the paparazzi out of this place?" I asked.

A shadow of sly smirk fell over her mouth - "Being the Headmistress of such a prestigious institute for over a decade has taught me a lot of things that I would rather not disclose, Ms. Gosselin."

I nodded in feigned understanding - "So, why have I and the other girls have been called here?"

She sighed - "Although it hasn't been officially confirmed yet, we are pretty much sure that the body found in the reservoir was of Baxter Barrymore's. He couldn't be traced ever since the body was found. Neither his parents nor his friends have any idea of his whereabouts."

"I still don't understand how I and the girls fit into all of this," I chipped and she threw me a pointed look.

"The fact that your friend Ms. Andra Victorson was dating Mr. Baxter Barrymore wasn't a secret, Roxana." She spoke with a hint of sarcasm, "Rumors also tells me that they broke off exactly a day before his body was found in the reservoir. From that viewpoint, you and the girls are the prime suspects in this murder case."

We both were seated in one of the benches opposite the front desk, waiting for the officer in charge of the case to lead us to the interrogation cell. 

"I thought you have been in your career for over a decade?" I wetted my lips again and she threw me an incredulous look, almost urging me to go ahead and say whatever I had to say, "Well, in that case, you must know that the fact that Andra and Baxter were dating before his murder shouldn't be out in the public, ever."

"Under normal circumstances, yes. But this isn't any normal circumstance, Roxana, you have to understand that. Someone has been murdered and every information is vital to determine who the murderer could be."

"Andra didn't murder him, nor did any of us." I stated, "But compromising with our public image the way you are planning to; that too for a crime we didn't even commit is preposterous!"

Before Headmistress Bloomington could conjure a decent reply, an officer came up to us--tall and ginger-headed.

"I am Officer Mikheilov, the officer-in-charge of this case." He announced in Russian, "I and the entire department appreciate your cooperation in helping us solve the case. Now, if you both, Ms. Bloomington and Ms. Gosselin, please follow me to the interrogation cell. We can commence our interview."

I got up from my seat but not before throwing a hard glare at Bloomington, silently asking her to rethink her actions.

The interrogation cell was claustrophobically small with just enough space to fit in a table, three chairs, and a yellow bulb. It only fueled my anxiety further.

Officer Mikheilov took his seat across me while Headmistress Bloomington sat beside me. The Officer made brief eye contact with me before clearing his throat.

"Ms. Gosselin, I hope you are aware of why you are here with us today." He stated with a pointed look, opening a folder that he had been holding onto all along.

I threw a sarcastic smile - "As a matter of fact, I don't know why I am here with you today."

"You don't know or you don't understand, which one is it?" The officer had a ghost of a smile on his face as he played around with words. My glare hardened.

"I don't understand." I gritted.

"Well, let me do the honor and make you understand then." He pulled out a drawer in the table and drew out a plastic. It contained the very wristwatch that I saw in the news the other day. My heart picked its pace. 

"Do you recognize this wristwatch, Ms. Gosselin?" The officer dangled the plastic in front of my face, "A little digging up told us that this wristwatch was purchased by you last year in Milan."

I remained silent.

"You spent about twenty thousand dollars on this wristwatch. I am sure you remember at least something about it." He pressed on, "You gifted an expensive wristwatch to the victim. I am assuming you were at least acquaintances, if not friends. Or do you just happen to have a tendency of throwing around expensive wristwatches at strangers?" 

The hint of mockery in the officer's tone left my guts churning.

"I do remember purchasing it," I stated. I could feel Headmistress Bloomington's stare on me.

"But it wasn't for Baxter." I chose my next words very carefully, "I have an acquaintance, Drew Goffstader, who just happened to be a really good friend of Baxter Barrymore. I purchased the wristwatch on his behalf for Baxter Barrymore."

Both, the officer and Headmistress, looked confused. Of all the responses, they were least expecting the one I gave. I wasn't expecting it either. I just threw an innocent man under the bus to rescue myself.

"Do you have any proof to support your statement?" The officer asked.

"Well, it depends, do you have any proof to disprove my statement?" I raised a brow.

"Maybe not at the moment, Ms. Gosselin," His stare hardened, "But soon I will and when that day comes, you will have to justify yourself."

"That day will never come." I stared back.

"Your friend, Andra Victorson, is rumored to have been dating Baxter until his murder--"

"If you have a question for my friend, better ask her. I am pretty sure she doesn't need me to give statements on her behalf." I cut off.

"I would have, Ms. Gosselin, believe me. But after Baxter's murder, she seems to have mysteriously disappeared from the island along with her sister, Lisa Victorson. Makes her look rather suspicious, don't you think?" He asked.

Leveling my gaze with his, I answered - "I have no knowledge of it."

"I doubt that, Ms. Gosselin."  He immediately contradicted, "Ms. Victorson is a very good friend of yours. How is it possible that you have no knowledge whatsoever of the fact that she left the island?"

"As I said, I have no knowledge of it," I repeated. There was a staredown between me and the officer for quite a while before he let out a sigh and gave up.

"Someday, Ms. Roxana Gosselin, I will force the truth out of you." He said, "You may leave for now."

I got up to leave. On my way out of the police station, Headmistress Bloomington asked me - "You survived this interrogation. But what about the many more to come?"

"Now, let me worry about that, why don't you, Bloomington." I murmured with a tight smile, "I am sure there are plenty of things that require--no, demand for your attention as we speak."

With that said, I turned on my heels to leave. As usual, Jonathan was waiting for me outside. However, instead of driving back home, we headed for the Isle Land GetWell Hospital. I needed to renew my prescription for my panic attacks. The one that I had the previous day was the first one in months. And I expected a lot many of those to be on their way given how stressful everything was turning out to be. I simply wanted to be prepared.

The hospital wasn't too far from the police station. This was an advantage of living on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. No place could be too far-flung to not be able to reach within an hour tops. It took precisely fifteen minutes for us to get there.

I put my sunglasses back on before getting out of the car. I was about to walk up to the reception but a familiar figure at the dispensary outside made me pause. 

 "Is that you, Roxana?" The figure faced me with a smile. It was Annabelle Torres. She used to be my best friend till we started with high school.

I took short steps towards her.

"Hi," I said, eyeing the box of contraceptives in her hand. I tried not to look too judgemental as I shot her a brief smile.

"What are you doing here, of all places?" She asked. Her smile dimmed down a little on realizing that my enthusiasm didn't match hers on seeing her.

I stared at her doe-like brown eyes - "My housekeeper was feeling slightly under the weather this morning and we just happened to have run out of aspirins in the house. So I took it upon myself to stock some up for emergencies."

"Buying aspirins for her housekeeper?" Anna rose an eyebrow, "Now, that's new from Roxana Gosselin." 

"It was a last-minute decision, really." I waved off, "I was at the police station for this interrogation--"

"Oh, yes," She cut me off as if some sort of realization seemed to have dawned upon her, "I heard about it in the news. They think it is Baxter Barrymore. Roxana, do you mind if I spoke with you for a second about it?"

"Not at all, go ahead." The words slipped pretty smoothy out of my mouth although I was quite surprised by her response.

"Did you tell the police about Andra and Baxter's breakup?" She asked and I fell all the blood drain out of my face.

"How do you know about the breakup?" I asked carefully. My voice was all but a bare whisper. 

She rolled her eyes, clearly unaware of the sudden change in the energy of the atmosphere - "I was there at Lisa's birthday party, you know. I just happened to eavesdrop on their conversation when it all happened."

"You heard them break up?" My face scrunched up.

"Why are you acting like this?" Anna shot, her expression rapidly changing to mimic my own, "I thought you saw me under the bed when you peeped in the door through that door."

Unfortunately, I didn't. Up until then, I had no idea that apart from me anyone else had any idea of what exactly happened when Andra and Baxter broke up.

"Listen," I found myself saying before I could even register it, "I am not sure if they are going to call you for interrogation or not but I want you to always keep in mind that whatever you--we both--saw that night, should remain between us."

"What--" Her pretty little round face rapidly changed colors. Her smile had completely vanished as she slowly processed the implications of my statement.

My stare hardened - "I mean it, Anna."

"Of course, you do." She strained a smile. A sort of oppressed resentment was laced in her voice as she spoke, "You always mean what you say, don't you, Roxana? You haven't changed a bit. You are still the same conniving, hideous person that I had always known you to be. Do you realize how foolish I feel right now? Because for a while, I thought there was hope for you--hope for you to change, become a better person--"

"Sounds ironical coming from you, Anna." I chipped, throwing a judgemental look at her box of contraceptives.

She visibly gritted her teeth - "You know, I would have slapped you right now but I won't do that because I cannot. I don't know for whatever sick and twisted reason it is, a part of me still adores you and the friendship we had. The past that we shared holds me back from despising you as the rest do.  And I suppose it is the very past that makes me foolishly hope that the old Roxana would return someday."

"I won't say a word to anyone." She continued after a pause, "Unfortunately, I know exactly what you are capable of doing if I would dare to cross you. But remember one thing, Roxana, this wouldn't get you far. Someday you will fall on your face and there will be no one to help you up--"

"I appreciate your cooperation, Anna." I crispily cut her off, "Thank you."

Assuming the conversation was over, I had turned around to leave but I was stopped by her voice, "I hope someday Lord might be able to guide you back to the light."

A smirk spilled over my face - "I am the Lord, Anna."