Seth strengthened his arms around Becky and pulled her even closer. He loved waking up with her in his arms again like he had done the last three days. He was home again at long last.
He had cried many tears while she held him. He woke up from many nightmares that she comforted him through. But each morning when he woke up like this, it was worth all the nightmares. He was with the love of his life again. He always tried to pull her closer and wrap both his arms and legs around her in fear that he might wake up a second time and realize he was back in the cell.
"I'm here," she said. "You're home."
"Thank you for reminding me," he said.
"It's gonna be okay, Seth. It's gonna take time but it's gonna be okay," she said.
He knew she was right. He felt lucky that he had her. She could take all his pain on her shoulders without ever feeling it was too much. He could break down and cry or just talk about everything, and she would be there everytime to comfort him and listen.
"Are you ready for today?" She asked.
"I think so," he answered. "They told me they won't be able to see me through the glass. All I have to do is point out the right men."
"You can do it," she said.
"I need answers too. I need to know they got the others out," he said.
It was a weird feeling arriving at the police station. The police officer, a nice woman named Sandra in her 40's with short, light brown hair told him the men had already confessed after leaving so much evidence behind in the building. When Seth escaped, they had made a run for it without thinking about cleaning anything.
Sandra still would like for Seth to point them out in case they went back on those confessions. He stood in that room and pointed everyone out one lineup after the other. He recognized them all. After that he was escorted to an office to talk to officer Sandra.
"Do you recognize any of these people?" She asked.
She put down photos in front of him. Paprika's face stood out to him. He pointed at her photo.
"That's Paprika," he said.
"And that's what I can't make any sense of. You said she got you out. Are you sure it was her? It could have been someone else with the same name," she said.
"She's the only one I ever saw in that place besides those men I just pointed out," he said. "Yes, I'm sure. Is she okay? Did you get her out?"
She sighed and gathered up the other photos. She left Paprika's photo for Seth to keep looking at it.
"She's dead," she said.
"No," he whispered.
"She died two days before you got out," she said.
"That's impossible," he said.
"Our pathologist is one of the best in the country. She drowned two days before you got out," she said.
"But," he blinked and looked at Paprika's photo again. "She got me out of there."
Sandra leaned a bit over the table and looked at him. He raised his eyes from Paprika's photo and looked at the officer.
"My colleagues are gonna mock me if they hear I asked you this," she said. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
"I don't know. I never thought about it before. But I know it was her. She got me out of there," he said.
"After learning she was dead before you got out, I went through your testimony again, and one thing she said to you stood out," she said. "You told me that she said she needed to get you out while there was still time. You were the only one left, Seth. Everyone else had been killed. There was no time left for them. She knew you would meet the same fate if she didn't get you out of there in time. And according to one of the men who cracked easier than the others, your time was supposed to be up that day."
His jaw dropped. It all made sense, yet nothing made sense. She had seemed real to him. He had seen her. He had heard her. He had felt her touch on his skin.
"One of the men saw her too," he said.
"That was the one who cracked easy. He kept rambling about how they were coming back from beyond the grave to take revenge. It fucked him up," she smirked. "I think we all would have liked Paprika in real life. She knew exactly what to do."
He picked up the photo and studied his red haired angel.
"Can I keep the photo?" He asked.
"Of course," she said. "And I would like you to take a trip with me back to that place if you're up for it so you can walk me through the rooms you were in and what you experienced in there. I got a small team ready to go with us."
"Can Becky come too? I'd like for her to see with her own eyes what I went through. I think it would help us both," he said.
"Sure," she said.
Seth felt exhausted. He had walked the small team of officers through the place and pointed out everything he had experienced. It had taken hours. Becky had walked behind the team and listened to everything he had said. He knew they were gonna have a deeper conversation about it all when they got home.
"I think that was all," Sandra said. "How are you feeling, Seth?"
"Exhausted," Seth answered. "But I'm okay. I needed this. Thank you."
"No, thank you," Sandra smiled. "You helped us a great deal today. Alright, let's wrap this up and go home."
Seth walked behind everyone on their way out. He caught something red in the corner of his eye as he walked past a room. He stopped and turned to look into the room. Another cell. That part didn't matter. What mattered was that Paprika sat on the bed and smiled at him. He smiled back. So many things he wanted to say but he could see she understood. She slowly faded in front of his eyes. That smile stayed on her face while she faded away. The cell was empty and cold again. He didn't need to ask. He knew it had been her cell.
"Seth?" Becky called. "Are you coming?"
"Yes, I'm coming," he said. "I'm ready to leave this place."