The questions barely registered for Lenore as Officer Harris rattled them off. He started with the basic stuff at first—confirming her name, her age, and her address.

Then he started on the questions she had been dreading...

"Did you know Victor Lockwood?"

"Y-Yes." Her voice shook. The reality of everything was finally starting to seep in, and it was hard for her to focus. The red-and-blue lights still flashing outside only made it worse.

"How did you know each other?" Officer Harris asked.

Lenore wrung her hands. "Through school. We, uh, share a bunch of classes."

"Would you consider him a friend?"

"Sort of," Lenore muttered. It was a bit more complicated than that...

"Sort of?" Officer Harris repeated, one of his near-white brows crawling up his forehead. "Sort of how?"

"We were... We were just starting to, uh, get to know each other."

He stared at her for a moment before scribbling something down. When he looked back at her, his green eyes were hard. "Were you close?"

"S-Sort of." Lenore shot a quick glance at her mother.

The officer's brows now dove down, angling sharply over his eyes. "Sort of," he echoed again. It didn't sound like he believed her.

Len could only nod. She really didn't want to have to get into the details of it in front of her mother...

"How close were you?" Officer Harris pressed.

She swallowed and gave the officer a pleading look."Does it matter? How is this going to help find him?"

"Every bit helps," Officer Harris said. "You never know what could make everything make sense. The smallest thing could be the key to finding him. I'm trying to establish a timeline and get the context of all his... relationships." He stared at her.

She stared back. He must already know they were more than just friends, but it seemed he was going to make her say it. "Instead of wasting your time grilling me, shouldn't you be out there, looking for him?"

"We are looking for him," he said simply. "Now, again, how close were you with Victor Lockwood?"

Lenore ground her teeth together and shut her eyes. "Close."

"How close?"

It was like Lenore could almost feel her mother's presence over her shoulder, pressing in on her. It had been comforting before, but now she suddenly wished she was being questioned in private. Her cheeks started to burn.

"We... We were, uh, almost dating."

Officer Harris made a noise but coughed to cover it up. "Almost dating? Could you elaborate on that?"

"H-He kissed me." Her whole face felt like it was on fire now. "And he told me he was going to pick me up for school the following morning."

"When was this?"

"Y-Yesterday afternoon."

For a moment, all she heard was the fervent scratching of his pen.

"So you saw him outside of school," he stated.

"Y-Yes, right after. He offered to walk me home."

"I saw him," her mom jumped in. "I saw him on the porch when Lenore got home."

Lenore snuck a look at her mother. Her mother kept her gaze fixed on the officer, her jaw tight. Her mother was on edge, which only made Lenore more uneasy.

"Hm," was all Officer Harris had to say about that, though he scribbled it all down. "Then where did he go?"

"He had to leave," Lenore explained. "So, we said goodbye and he took the path through the woods." She nodded in the direction of the forest that loomed on the edge of their yard. You could see it through the window at the back of the room. It looked downright sinister in the gloom of the storm.

Officer Harris nodded as he continued with his notes. "Right. Do you have any proof of this?"

"P-Proof?" Lenore echoed, her voice cracking. "Proof of what?"

"That he left here, as you said."

Next to her, her mother bristled. Lenore didn't blame her. Her face was blazing again, only for a different reason. She dug into her pocket for her phone, pulled up her messages, and thrust it towards the cop.

"He texted me after he left. Take a look for yourself."

"Lenore, no!" Her mother reached for the phone, trying to bat it away.

But Officer Harris was faster, and he grabbed the phone before her mother could get it. He held it gingerly, his eyes darting back and forth as he read her and Victor's short history of messages.

"You shouldn't have done that," her mother hissed in her ear.

"Why not?" Lenore shot back. "I have nothing to hide. I just want to get this over with so they forget about me and focus on Victor, like they should—"

"This conversation should be entered into evidence," he said over their whispering. "I'm going to need to confiscate it for a bit."

"Wait, what? You can't just take my phone!" Lenore shrieked. She turned to look at her mother, a silent plea for her to stop whatever was happening.

But her mother just gave her a look of resignation. This was exactly what she had been trying to prevent.

The officer did not look moved. "I'll return it soon," he said as he pulled out a bag from his coat pocket. He dumped the phone inside and sealed it shut.

Lenore groaned when she realised there was nothing to be done.

"That's everything for now," he continued, slipping the confiscated phone and his notepad back into his coat pocket. "Amelia, can I speak with you for a moment?"

"What do you want?" her mother asked, narrowing her eyes into a glare.

His eyes darted to Lenore for a second before focussing back on her. "If you don't mind," he said, "I'd like to speak with you in private."

Her mother rolled her eyes but got up from the arm of the chair and followed the officer from the room.

Lenore knew she was meant to stay behind, but there was no way she was going to do that. Slipping out of the chair, she crept along the floor, pressing herself to the wall as she reached the door to the foyer. She clung to the door frame and peered around the edge, watching them.

"You don't have to take her phone, Pierce," her mother said with an exasperated sigh. "I don't think that's even legal."

"She consented to me looking through it," he retorted, as cool and calm as ever. "The conversation she showed me provides crucial detail about the boy's whereabouts before he went missing. I need to record it."

"And so you have to confiscate it? Can't you just take photos of the conversation?"

Officer Harris did not answer the question. "This is not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Then what?"

"We need to search your property."

Her mother let out a sharp, humourless laugh. "Absolutely fucking not. Not without a warrant."

The officer shook his head. "Amelia," he said. "We just want access to the forest. Coming from both ends would help in our search for the boy. And I hate to say it, but it will look much better for you—and for your daughter—if you both cooperate with our investigation in any way that you can."

Lenore's eyes went wide. Her hands trembled, and she gripped the doorframe tighter to steady them.

Was that a threat?

Her mother's mouth curled up, and judging by her furious, icy stare, she wanted to punch Officer Harris right in the mouth. But she didn't. Instead, she just shook her head. "Fine," she huffed through her clenched teeth. "But only the woods."

"Only the woods," Officer Harris confirmed.

"And I am going to be contacting my lawyer to inform them of the precise details of this agreement."

The officer nodded. "That would be prudent."

"I think I'll let them know about the phone, too."

Officer Harris gave a short chuckle. "If you want. But I'll have it back to her by this evening."

"Great," her mother said and crossed her arms. "Now get the fuck out of my house."

"As you wish," he said before stepping away from her. "I'll collect my stepdaughter and go. Fiona!"

"Yeah?" Fiona called back. She soon appeared at the door to the kitchen.

"Get your things, we're going," he said, sweeping his arm towards the door.

"What about Lenore?" Fiona asked, her brow furrowing. "I want to talk to her first."

Her stepfather shook his head. "Not right now. We've got to go right now."

"What if I come a little later?" Fiona asked, looking to Amelia for confirmation. "I have my car, I can drive myself—"

"No!" her father snapped, raising his voice. He quickly stopped himself, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply through his nose. When he opened his eyes again, he regained his composure. "No. Not today, Fiona. Let's go."

Fiona seemed to know that there was no room to argue. She looked between the adults and then grumbled but headed for the door.

Lenore stepped out from her hiding spot. "Fiona!"

There was so much she wanted to say, starting with thank you for all her help...

But Officer Harris was already ushering her out. Fiona turned and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but her stepdad pushed her through the door before she could.

Her mother locked the door behind them. Through the narrow window next to the door, Lenore could see Officer Harris pushing Fiona across the lawn. Fiona was craning to look back at the house from over her shoulder, but her stepfather kept her moving.

Lenore's shoulders sank. With her phone confiscated, she had no way to contact Fiona. Maybe if she was on social media, but she didn't know her username...

"You should stay away from that girl," her mother warned as she turned away from the door.

"Why?" Lenore asked. "Because of her stepdad?"

"Yes, that is exactly why," her mother said, her eyes wide with disbelief—like she didn't understand how her daughter didn't get it yet. "Her stepfather hates this family."

"What?" Lenore echoed. "Why? Because he's a Harris? Is he really related to the twins?"

"Related?" Her mother scoffed. "Don't... Don't you remember?"

Lenore frowned. "Remember what?"

"Right. Maybe you don't. Sometimes I forget how young you were when everything got bad...." She sighed and stopped herself. "Lenore, Officer Harris wasn't just related to them. He was their father."