⚜Chapter 1: The Interrogation Room

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A/N: 06.10.2021

Q/A: When/Where/Day you started this book?

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"True or false," said the policeman sitting in front of me.

I sunk in the metal chair, which by the way, had to be the most uncomfortable chair my butt has ever sat on. I didn't know what was worse: this chair or the fact that I was playing true or false with a grown-ass man. I knew my life had stooped low, but this was a whole other level. This wasn't elementary school, but the guy sitting across from me begged to differ.

I glared at the policeman, scanning his face. He was a good-looking man: chiseled jaw, thick eyebrows, brown eyes with a golden flame, an unshaven face that made gave him a sexy office-dad look. He looked exactly like the type of man to follow everything by the book which was the exact opposite of my type. There were two other things that made me lose interest in him.

One, he was probably twice my age. Two, the gold metal wedding band around his ring finger. Oh, and the fact that he just asked me to play truth or dare.

In his defense, he didn't seem too enthusiastic about being stuck in an interrogation room with a rebellious teenager either. He was running out of time and I guess this was his last solution to get me to talk. Maybe we'll start a round of tic-tac-toe. 

"Do I have to play this dumb game?" I sighed, shoving my hands deep into my pockets. 

"No."

At least he was straightforward.

"I'm trying to help you. I'd appreciate it if you stopped glaring like you want to kill me."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You're in my line of vision. You want me to stop glaring? Then get out." I jerked my chin towards the metal door as an invitation for him to leave. The policeman didn't seem too happy. He opened his mouth but then closed it, deciding that I wasn't worth the fight. I watched as the policeman flipped open his notepad.

"Your name is Axis Imber," he began. I shrugged lazily, sprawling my legs out under the table.

"Depends," I replied simply.

"Depends?" he inquired.

"Depends on when," I elaborated while still remaining ambiguous.

The policeman sighed.

"Your current name is Axis Imber, but your birth name is Eric Sonder. True or false?"

It's been a while since I've heard someone say my given name, and it didn't bring good memories. For the first time in a while, that little rip in the middle of me, the black bruise on my soul that's been struggling to heal for throbbed. Old memories haunted that name; memories I wanted to get rid of. 

"Are you okay?" the policeman asked. His voice wasn't unkind, which annoyed me even more.

"I'll answer your questions as long as you promise never to ask me that question again," I said. Before he could answer, I cut him off, "True."

He pursed his lips, carefully studying my face, but I had already folded any lingering traces of emotions and was back to bitch-face Axis.

"You're seventeen years old," he went on.

"Don't you have papers for this stuff?"

"True or false?" he asked, losing his patience.

"True."

"Orphan?"

"Fuck you."

"Language," he warned me.

"Manners," I shot back.

We stared at each other but he knew if he didn't cooperate even a little, he'd never get any answers out of me.  The policeman cleared his voice and straightened his bold shoulders.

"No siblings?" he asked.

"True."

"You live in an abandoned building."

"True."

"High school dropout?" His voice went hoarse and his eyes were stern as if he was genuinely worried. A smile pulled at the corner of my lips.

"Screw school."

We continued this exercise, going back and forth between questions and answers. I managed to avoid the ones that pissed me off and the ones that could get me behind bars. The chair was so uncomfortable I probably sat in all the sitting positions one could think of.

Jeez, they can afford a soundproof room but they can't afford a decent chair? I looked down at my wrists, tugging on the handcuffs that tightened around my skin. 

"Are these really necessary?" I asked amidst the interrogation.

"They weren't until you punched one of our staff."

"He dragged me here against my own will. It was an innocent act of self-defense," I protested. 

"The handcuffs stay on," he said firmly.

"Jeez, you sound like a dad. Not that I'd know what that feels like or anything," I laughed dryly. The policeman frowned.

"What, you're not into orphan jokes?" I asked. His frown deepened. "Can you take the cuffs off? I won't punch you."

"I don't believe you."

I let out a long sigh. "You're boring but smart, I'll give you that much. How long is this interrogation going to last?"

"Until I understand how an underage teenager has been living alone in an abandoned building for the past couple of years without anyone catching him," he snapped sharply. His eyebrows scrunched when I burst into laughter. I leaned back into my chair and hung an arm over the backside.

"Who fucking cares if an orphan starves on the streets? It's not like there's anyone out there who's gonna care."

Well, there might be one, but I quickly chased the thought away.

The policeman opened his mouth but I interrupted.

"The fact that you guys haven't even noticed that I've been living by myself for years proves just how little you care. But hey, I can't blame you. I'd be happy to get rid of me too."

Ever since I was a child, I remembered jumping from one orphanage to another. I never stayed in one place for too long because I was always causing trouble. I was too old for anyone to want me anyway, there was no point in pretending to be a goodie-two-shoes.

Though, I expected my last orphanage to at least worry about me after I ran away. There were a couple of posters plastered on street poles. "Missing child. Call xx-xx-xx-xx-xx if found," with a blurry picture of my face that they shot without my permission. I was delighted to find out that I had made the headlines, but two weeks later, people slowly forgot that I even existed. It was as if my existence meant nothing, probably because it didn't.

Eventually, the local newspapers had more interesting stories to tell and the papers plastered on the poles were replaced with pizza ads or missing pet signs. People stopped looking for me, and my name was quickly forgotten. And that, my friends, was how Eric Sonder died.  

But I wasn't going to jump off a building or jaywalk to end everything. As shitty as my life was, I knew I existed. Perhaps not to the world, but to him, I did. And that was enough to keep me scavenging trash bins every night so I wouldn't starve. I stayed in shelter homes during the winter so I wouldn't freeze to the death. 

"Alright, we'll take a break," the policeman said, closing his notepad. He stood up. "I'm going to get some coffee. Do you want anything?"

"My freedom."

He paused, looked at me, and gave me a sad smile.

"You will, Axis. Soon."

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