My head throbs, the metallic taste of blood prevalent.
And then the noise hits me.
Like a drunk doused in cold water, the shock of consciousness nearly paralyzes my being. My mouth opens, grasping for air which it can't find, my arms and legs seizing from whatever it was that knocked me out.
That's when I realize I'm strapped into a chair.
My eyes peel open, one after another as I finally manage to take in the scene around me. Four cement walls, one door, one ventalation panel in the roof above me. Other than the chair I'm sitting on, a lone table takes up the majority of the room, with another chair behind it. A camera and a large mirror decorate the wall opposite of me.
I gulp. I know an interrogation room when I see one. Then it hits me. Ally.
Panic consumes me.
"Ally?" I shout, hoping she can hear me somehow, somewhere. "Ally!"
I don't know how long I scream her name in hysteria before the men in black enter the room, guns pointed and at the ready as I struggle against my constraints, my shouts becoming disjointed as I feel something prick my neck again.
And then all I know is the falling. Falling into oblivion, unable to find Ally.
When I wake again, the chair across from me is occupied. My head blurs from whatever was given me, but my line of sight clears pretty quick when I realize who it is on the other end of the table.
Mom.
I fight to keep level-headed. "You could've just called, you know," I attempt a poor joke, which is met by my mother's glare as she crosses her arms. I readjust my position, wincing at the stabbing pain in my head. "Gosh, what did you give me?"
"Why didn't you tell me Ally was pregnant?"
Ah. So that explains the cloak and dagger. "Is that why you drugged me? Because I didn't tell you that you're a grandma?"
"Don't call me that," Her tone is clipped. "That makes me sound old. And to answer your previous question, no. I didn't drug you because of your poor communication skills," Any warmth she has disappears as her tone turns cold. "You were drugged because you assassinated the President of the United States, evaded arrest, and are a known fugitive. What the hell were you thinking, Austin Monica Moon? I thought I raised you better than that."
I wince as her voice raises in volume. My wrists chaffe against the leather constraints. "For the record, I didn't actually do that. I mean, I didn't kill the President at least. I suppose I did evade arrest and become a fugitive, but it wasn't like that was on purpose!"
Files slam down on the table. I wince again, only this time not in pain.
"Then explain these."
My blood freezes as I watch my mom open the manila folder, rifle through stacks of paper, before pulling out dozens of photographs. Some are blurry, and look like they were captured by a phone, or in action. Others are black and white and grainy, as though they were pulled from security footage.
But the image is clearly the same on all of them.
Me.
Or at least, a spot on look-a-like. And not only that, but he's in the Whitehouse, and judging from the time stamp, on the day of the assassination. My throat goes dry. "That could be anyone," I refute.
My mom's face is still cold as she lays out another half dozen photographs, these one's clearly taken in the round room after the assassination. Bloody handprints decorate the blue tapestries, the signs of a struggle evident. She moves three in particular in front of me. A close up of a fingerprint on a smashed glass vase fragment, a hair on the carpet, as well as a blood splatter on the presidential desk. I already know what she's going to say before she says it.
"Bleach blonde hair found on the scene of the struggle, compatible with one Austin Moon. A fingerprint on the vase used to stun the president, an exact match to Austin Moon. And not to mention an undeniable amount of blood, with DNA for Austin Moon. Gathered with the fact that the job has your skill set written all over it, it appears to be an open and shut case," I don't even recognize my mother in the cold woman before me. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I didn't do it," I exclaim, my eyes wide as I look at my mom like she's insane. "How could you even think I'd assassinate the President?"
"Besides the direct evidence," She doesn't even break stride, "There's the fact that you run an indepedant business for hire. It's more than plausible someone sent you."
I'm starting to get fed up by this point. It shows as I strain against my constraints. My teeth are gritted as I interject, "Save for the fact that even if I did assassinate him, I would never have been so careless."
My mother stiffens at that. She collects the papers orderly. "Well you were certainly careless with your wife," The words stop me cold.
"What do you mean?" A tone I've never used with my mother slips out of me. But I don't think anything of it, because this woman, this agent, is certainly not my mom.
"You should've never gone on the run, Austin," Her voice is distant. "Especially with a pregnant woman. Ally was close enough to the vicinity of the explosion that she was knocked unconscious. Which in turn, has harmed the child. Doctors don't know to what extent yet, but they know it's going to be disabled," She gives me a knowing look, as my stomach drops and my worst fears take over. "Just like you."
And then she's gone.
Leaving me with nothing but the guilt of what I've done to my family, to eat me up alive.
Alright, so this chapter wasn't much better then the last, and I'm sport for that. In all truth, these two chapters should've really been one. Unfortunately, my keyboard broke back in March, and until I get a new one, my writing amount is going to suffer. But I'll make the next chapter better, I PROMISE. These last two were more so to get into phase two of this story.
On another note, next chapter you get to look forward to a few things. Austin telling his parents his cousin is dead for example, and more importantly, Austin striking a deal with some very bad people. And I might even start to hint at what really happened during the president's assassination ;-)
Until next time!
(In other words: Until my keyboard arrives from eBay!)