Disclaimer: Currently editing this book so there'll be technical mistakes.

"I need you to tell me what happened here, miss," a detective said as he kneeled in front of me.

"I think you should give her some time to process all this. She is clearly still in shock, Detective Barnes," said a voice behind me.

That must be another officer or detective. Lost count of how many there are.

I had been watching them examine her body, taking pictures, bagging up evidence, putting a plastic sheet over her body, eventually putting it in a body bag and wheeling it away from the crime scene.

That means I had been sitting at the same spot here for about an hour, right? Cause that was the usual time they took to clear the body from the crime scene. I had been at too many crime scenes to know that.

After they wheeled the body away until it was out of my sight, I looked down at my hands, which were covered in her blood.

Did it just happen? Did she really die?

"Another murder?" I heard someone say. I turned my head to see a man standing behind the 'do not cross' tape.

"Yeah, the fourth one this week," the woman beside him replied.

"Who died?" the man asked again.

"Some teenage girl, I think. I heard the gunshots from a couple of blocks back."

I lived in the most dangerous and messed up part of Moscow where all the street gangs and other criminals resided. Why did I choose to live here? Because living in the streets and being poor forces you to live in such an area to get the cheapest food just to survive.

I heard footsteps walking towards me. I was assuming it was the same detective who tried to get me into the police car God knows how long ago.

Viktor. Stick to the plan.

"Miss, I know you are not ready to talk about what just happened, but can you at least come with me to the police station to get yourself cleaned up and call your parents to pick you up? I'm sure they are very worried that you are not home right now," the detective tried to convince me with his most soothing voice.

My parents? Home?

I didn't have any of those things.

Zari was the only person left in the world who I cared about; everyone else either left or died. Now she is dead too, all because of me.

It must have been a few minutes or so when Detective Barnes practically begged me to get into the car with him. The only reason I finally stood up was that it was the end of November and I was only wearing a thin sweater over my t-shirt. If I stayed there any longer, I was going to freeze to death. I couldn't feel my fingers and toes but somehow, I still managed to stand up and walk to the police car.

I looked out of the window, at the streets of Moscow. It was full of energy that night as it always was during the year-end season. I saw a toddler crying because her older sister did not want to share the ice cream with her. Oh, how I wish my life was so simple, fighting with siblings and not always looking over your shoulder, constantly fearing for your life by not getting into trouble with gangs.

My mind drifted off to think about Zari, how she was the only stable pillar in my life since Nikita died. I pictured her blonde hair and her light brown eyes as she smiled at me in my head, reassuring me that everything was going to be alright when in reality it was not. She was the only one that ever understood me and knew about my screwed up past, yet still stuck around. I remember the first time we met at a convenience store as she got into a fight with the person working there. Not only was she my friend, but she was also my sister. A sister that was not connected by blood, but by choice.

"So what's your mum's or dad's number? I can call them right now to inform them of the situation right now," the detective interrupted my thoughts and I caught him looking at me from the mirror. I immediately wiped the tears from my cheeks.

No, I can't let anyone see me vulnerable right now. I have to be strong.

"My parents are dead. I live on the streets," I finally formed the words.

"Wow, uh... I'm so sorry," he cleared his throat, "let's get you to the station first and then we'll figure out what to do next, okay?"

I simply nodded and looked out of the window again, hoping that the excruciating pain called grief will soon fade.

As I walked into the police station, all eyes were on me. I was hoping it was because of my bloody hands and sweater, not because of my auburn hair that hadn't been washed for over a week and that I was wearing men's shoes. There was no water in the practically unlivable apartment Zari and I lived in and those men's shoes were the only ones I could afford that protected my feet from the cold. The officer gave the 'I have this under control' look to his colleagues as he walked past them. He opened a door for me when we reached the end of the hallway and signalled me to go in.

The room had an office chair and a desk in front of it, piles of papers on the desk stacked near the computer with a portrait of his family of his wife and two kids at the corner. Beside the desk was a small couch, for only one person to sit, paired with a coffee table next to it. On the other side of the room was a tall shelf that almost touched the ceiling. On it were rows of ring files; I estimated about a hundred of them. I assumed those were the cases that he had solved and was proud to showcase.

"You can take a seat on the couch while I go get some water, a towel, and new clothes for you. Would you like a muffin as well?"

I simply nodded my head and took a seat on the couch.

It didn't take long until Detective Barnes returned. I thought it would have taken him longer, as he would have to explain to his colleagues why he brought a bloody seventeen-year-old girl into his office instead of putting her in a prison cell. Once he closed the door, I could already smell the chocolate flavour of the muffin, and my stomach rumbled. I couldn't even remember the last time I ate, it was really hard the run the small business which Zari and I own. I immediately stuffed the muffin into my mouth and gulped a mouthful of water as he began to talk.

"So, the plan is you'll sleep here on-" And he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He gave me an apologetic smile before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

There were some muffled sounds behind the door so I leaned closer to the door to hear what the officers were talking about better. Maybe they had already figured out what had really happened and were going to throw me in jail right that second.

No, don't go there. Just stick to the plan. It is going smoothly so far, let's keep it that way and not mess up.

"-supposed to put her in a jail cell or a containment room until we can figure out what to do with her, and not get her all cosy in your office. Hell, she probably murdered the girl!" Anger started boiling in my veins. I wanted to slap her so badly at that moment for saying that I would do that to my best friend.

"She has no one. Plus, it's not like she can escape from a place swarmed with the police," Detective Barnes rebutted.

She scoffed. "Whatever, but at least do your damn job and question her."

"She's in shock. I'll do it first thing in the morning."

"Just admit it, Detective Barnes. You're being nice to her because she reminded you of your younger self; an orphan, involved in a murder case," she fired back.

I did not see that one coming. I guess it does tilt things in my favour.

There were a few seconds of silence, and then, "You better watch your tone there, officer. You're speaking to the head detective of the case. I also happened to know about your little mishap with the arrest you did last week. I can just breathe a word about that to the captain and you'll be doing desk work for the next few months."

Damn. Even I got chills although I wasn't the person he was talking to.

I heard fading footsteps and quickly went and sat down on the couch before Detective Barnes opened the door.

He cleared his throat. "So as I was saying, you'll be staying here in my office for the night and you'll be questioned in the morning. Which is in a few hours, so get some rest."

He then left the room and I changed into the new sweater that he gave me and put my bloody sweater on the floor. I turned off the lamp and stared at the ceiling, hoping to fall asleep as it was already three in the morning and I probably had to be up bright and early for the questioning. After looking around the room, I noticed that there was a pattern on the ceiling―it had many hexagons joined together. I started counting them until I fell asleep.

"Oh my god, you are alive," said the middle-aged man wide-eyed to me.

Do I look like a ghost to you?

His dark brown hair was combed back neatly and he had the brightest blue eyes I had ever laid eyes on.

"Of course she's alive, she's standing right in front of you, jerk. Now get the hell out of our way," Zari said in frustration as she was having a really bad headache and just wanted to get to the pharmacy to get some medicine for it.

"No... no no no you can't be alive.... everything... everything changes," he stuttered, still staring wide-eyed at me. His hand touched my shoulder and I flinched in response.

"Get your hands off her pervert," Zari shoved his hand off my shoulders.

I could sense that she was about to take a punch at him, so I quickly said, "It's fine Z. He's definitely drunk and is probably hallucinating that I'm a girlfriend that he killed or something." And a laugh came out of my mouth.

"Is it a girlfriend though? My gay radar disagrees with me." Zari winked and started laughing as well and walked past him.

"Totally support the gays, by the way," she added on.

As I walked past him, he grabbed hold of my hand and pulled out a gun from his back pocket, pointing it at my forehead.