“Scarlett Garner?” one of them said as they approached.
I cried harder and collapsed into his arms, nodding my head. He scooped me up and turned around; walking back they way they’d come. “It’s alright,” he said. “You’re safe now.”
They had me bundled in the police car within seconds and started talking on his radio. I rambled about everything, the cult, almost dying but mostly about Noah. Where was Noah? Even I knew I wasn’t making sense, but I couldn’t stop the jumbled words flowing out of my mouth.
The officer who sat in the back with me placed his hand on my upper arm. “Scarlett,” he said.
I looked over my knees where I was huddled against the door and finally spoke my only legible word, “Yeah?”
“I need you to calm down so we can find out what happened and help you. Can you do that for me?” I nodded. “Where are they?”
“I-In the forest. Noah’s still out there; you have to find him.”
“Noah? The Noah who took you to Ireland?”
I knew how it looked. “Yes, he was the one who helped me escape in the end. He turned his back on them and now he’s out there and if he didn’t get away in time…” I took a deep, shaky breath. “They found us in a house, and I don’t know what they did to the people living there, but Bridget screamed for Seamus and then Noah made me run. Please. Please go back to that house, check the old couple are okay and find Noah.”
“Okay, shh, calm down. We’ll have people check that out, don’t worry. Are you hurt?”
I shook my head even though I was. My feet ached and stung from running barefoot for ages; pain throbbed through my wrist and the cut to my arm had started to hurt, too. But I didn’t want to go to the hospital first because they would make it all about me. I needed to go to the police station and tell them what happened so they could find Noah and arrest every crazy member of Eternal Light.
“No, I just need you to find Noah and that house.”
He nodded once. “Alright.”
When we got to the station, I was helped to freshen up in the bathroom, given a hot drink and biscuits and a blanket to wrap around myself. I sat in a room with my hands hugging a steaming mug of coffee, trying to keep it together long enough so that I could go over everything – again.
“Hello, Scarlett, I’m Detective Crossby but you can call me Adele, and this is my colleague Detective Long. We need to speak to you and ask you a few questions if that’s alright?”
I nodded and sat up in the seat. “Do you know where my parents are?”
“They’re in Ireland. We want to have a chat with you first.”
Thank God. It was a good sign that they were free to go wherever they wanted. “What do you want to know?”
She scratched the back of her neck, probably not knowing where to start either. There was so much. “Your family have said you’ve no memory before the age of four, is that correct?”
At least she was still referring to them as my family and not making them out to be child-snatching criminals. “That’s right. Want to start from the beginning?”
Detective Crossby smiled and tilted her head in a nod, making her short black hair slide into her eyes, and I went right back to where I could remember – waking up a scared and confused child.
When I’d told my story, every detail, right up to escaping two hours had passed. It was the same story I’d already told the police, but they had been lucky enough to only need the condensed version. Naturally she had a lot of questions.
“So, you were never told where you were really from? You knew nothing of Eternal Light?” Detective Crossby asked.
“No, I only found out… Um, a few weeks ago, I think. It was recent anyway, not long before Noah brought me to Dublin. Listen, I know in the eyes of the law my parents did wrong taking me but they were going to kill me. My mum and dad saved my life, and I just want to see my family again.”
“We understand, Scarlett, but we need to establish all of the facts and make sure you’re protected.”
“Everything I told you is true, and my parents do protect me. They could’ve left me and lived a normal, lie-free life, but instead they risked everything to keep me safe. No one else out there is going to go through those lengths for me. You have to believe me.”
“We do, Scarlett. We just need to hear your side of things, that’s all,” Detective Crossby said.
“Now you have, Can I please see my family? Please.”
She smiled. “Absolutely, in a little while, I promise. We need to take you to the hospital and get you checked out first, though.”
“Why? I’m fine.” I want my parents.
“You’ve been through a terrible ordeal; you’re exhausted and probably in dire need of some pain medication. Especially for that wrist,” she said, lifting an eyebrow.
How did she know my wrist hurt? I thought it’d get better after a while, but it didn’t, it was throbbing.