The quiet buzz of the light attached to the ceiling above me made my ears twitch. The gray, metal room was deafening. Sitting in the interrogation room for hours with scratchy orange prison clothes was starting to get on my nerves. My stomach growled painfully for food, which I haven’t eaten yet for practically a whole day, and I was very tired. For as long as I’ve been in this room, I could've gotten some sleep. Being in a prison doesn’t technically give my body and brain the ability to be comfortable for sleep.
I could feel enjoyment rising in my body as soon as footsteps were being heard. Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing good about being in a prison but being able to talk to someone after a long time and maybe even ask for food and water got me excited. The handle on the only door attached to the room started to move, the door cranking open as a Zone officer walked in.
The Zone officer is a blue hedgehog. He had a very serious expression under the visor helmet he wore. A funky red and gold skintight outfit hugged his body. The usual Zone officer uniform I’ve seen around the perimeter.
Just behind him stood another officer. This time, unidentified. The helmet covers their whole face. But in their hands was a tray with food and a cup of water on it. My mouth watered at the smell coming off of the tray, but I kept myself calm and professional.
After the officer puts the tray on the metal table in front of me, they leave the quiet room to just me and the blue hedgehog cop. Although I kept my professionalism up, I wanted to push that facade aside and eat as much as I could. But hearing the clanking of the metal cuffs gave me a suitable reminder why I couldn’t eat such delicious food.
The hedgehog didn’t say anything. He poked around in his pocket and pulled out a pair of wonky keys. The cuffs weren’t your typical city life cuffs. It was as if they took the idea from the medieval times of a stockade, but with no head piece. It was just for the wrists.
Either way, with this inhibitor collar tight around my neck, I had no power or strength to get out of the cuffs. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. I was caught for a reason, and I’m going to pay for that reason. Anything to get me faster out of here and to find my little sister.
Back to reality, I notice the cop unlocking the cuffs. He nodded towards the food, allowing me to eat. I didn’t go after the food like some animal. I was hungry, but not that hungry. I took the fork and butter knife, cutting some small bite sized pieces of the steak, and taking a bite. It wasn’t the best, but it was food.
The Zone cop clears his throat, sitting down on the opposite side from me. “Alana Rose. I am Zonic, the elite Zone cop.” He paused, a long silence taking over. I took a few more bites of my food by the time he spoke again. “We know about your power-”
I coughed, almost choking on the half swallowed food. Quickly grasping the plastic cup of water, I down it in one go. Gulping down the now spoiled food, I took a big gasp of air. A couple more small coughs, and I was back to normal. Sort of.
“What?” I manage to spit out.
Zonic wasn’t fazed. “A very powerful power, am I right?”
I wipe my mouth from the lingered liquid. I wanted to deny it. A thing I had to do for practically my whole life. But if they already know, It’s no use to keep it a secret from him. I just have to hope for the best, and not for the worst.
After a bit of silence, I slowly nod. “What of it?”
“We want you to tell us your story.”
My eyes widened in surprise. Then, I laughed. What kind of statement was that? Why ask about my life, about my power? I decided to humor him. “Okay. Well, I was born, I was raised, I was in a town to learn more about my power, then I was arrested…and now I’m here.” With a firm nod and a smile, I got back to eating my unfinished food.
Zonic kept his serious facade. He leaned back, arms folding as he got comfortable in the metal chair. “From the very beginning.”
He was definitely being serious. Alright, why the hell not? I took the last couple of bites left of my meal, relaxed back, and started from the very beginning.
— — — —
With great power comes great responsibility. A saying my mother used to tell me all the time when I was young. When I was at the age of ten, with my sister being a year younger than me, my family and I lived in a small town. A nice neighborhood around. It was just me, my sister, and my mother.
It was like any normal day. The sun was shining brightly, the warmth from it spreading onto the earth as it touched. Amy and I were playing in a park not far from home. Tall trees surrounded us as we played in the big sandbox.
“Come on, Amy!” I called out to my sister. “Let’s make a castle.”
“Yeah!” She said excitedly.
We were having a lot of fun. But, more kids joined the sandbox. One in particular, we knew wasn’t the greatest kid in the neighborhood.
“Hey!” Amy and I said simultaneously as we watched the just-made sandcastle being kicked down by the boy.
“How could you do that?!” Amy screamed at the boy. She stood up, tears brimming at the corner of her emerald green eyes.
My sister is known for fights. She has some…anger issues. She can easily get angry, and ready to fight anybody who stands in her way, or causes problems. Of course, we were just children. So, she’s not really strong. She pushed the boy out of anger, and well, he ended up punching her right in the face.
“Amy!” I called for her. She laid still on the sand. I got on my knees, shaking her body. “Amy? Amy, wake up!”
She was breathing, but seeing her unconscious made me angry. I was very protective over my little sister. And, at that moment, I was crying and having trouble with what was going on. Seeing the boy smile after what he did, it made my blood boil.
Before I knew it, I could feel my body growing hot, and some white patterns grew on my arms and legs. It looked like an artist painted these…designs on my body. A bright light got brighter from my stomach. To this day, I understand what I was feeling.
— — —
“And what were you feeling?” Zonic asks, now leaning on the table with his arms resting on top. His fingers weaved together.
“I felt…power. But, I blacked out. A flash of light took over my vision. And the next thing I know, I’m waking up from what felt like a long nap.” I sigh, remembering the not so good memory of my past.
The hedgehog straightens his back. “Then what happened?”
I looked away, avoiding eye contact. “Um…it looked like a crater hit the sandbox. There was…black everywhere, like uh, like it was charred. Like a fire broke out.”
“And the boy?”
“He was fine. Shocked, but fine. I guess…I guess I missed him. He was on the ground, shaking and shivering with fear. Staring right at the burnt area.” Reliving that moment wasn’t the greatest. What if I did hit that boy? Would he have died? What would’ve happened to me if anybody found out? I was just a little girl…
What would’ve happened to my family?
Zonic cleared his throat once more, grabbing my attention from the deep thoughts I was having. “What happened next?” He continued, standing up to lean against the wall. Man, this guy can not sit still.
Folding my fingers together, I lay my arms on top of the table. “Then the neighborhood found out.”
— — —
It was no surprise a crowd started to form around us. I was terrified. Mostly because I had no idea what just happened, and my sister still laid on the ground unconscious. The boy was probably more scared than I was, since he saw the whole thing. He cried to his mother about how scary I was.
“Alana!” My mother called as she ran up to my sister and I. She looked frantic, trying to understand what was going on. But then, she noticed something. There were white markings still sprawled on my limbs. My mother gently grabbed my arm, taking a closer look. “We have to go, honey. Now.” She picked up Amy with ease, and grabbed my arm with her free hand to drag me away.
The crowd was gasping at the weird marking on the ground in the sandbox. Parents, uncles, and aunts I knew well looked…terrified. They looked at me with those judgy eyes.
My mother–
“What did your mother look like?”
— — —
I grumble at his sudden question. “Do you mind not interrupting my story?” I ask begrudgingly. He chuckled lightly. Probably from my angry expression. “And why do you need to know that, anyways?”
“Information on you. Now tell me.” He demands.
With a long sigh, I think purely on my mother. “She looked exactly like me. My whole family did. Pink fur– hair. Hers was longer than mine. All the way to her knees. But her eyes…her eyes were different from mine and Amy’s. They were purple…”
“Meaning?” He caught on quickly.
“Meaning my eye color came from my father. Who I do not know of.”
“Why is that?”
To my surprise, there was now a notepad in his hand, with a pen in the other. He was writing notes. Funny how I didn’t see that earlier. “Not sure. My mother never told us about him. Like, nothing. When we asked about him, she only responded with ‘he’s far far away, dear.’ And that was it,” I take a deep breath, the room suddenly feeling stuffy. “When we asked why he was so far away, she would tell us that we would find out sooner or later.”
I pull up my pointer finger towards the cop, telling him to give me a second. I stood up from the chair, stretching my arms and legs from sitting in a metal chair for so long. They were stiff, but hearing my back pop after stretching was a good sound. Refreshing, even. I then sat back down in my chair with a contented sigh.
“Alright. Anyways– my mother was the stubborn type. Scary, too, if she got mad. But very protective of my sister and I. She took good care of us…” I stared off at the gray, metal wall. My fingers started fidgeting, thumbs circling each other out of nervousness.
“What about your sister? What does she look like?”
It felt like a rope snapped in my mind. My eyebrows furrowed as I glared at the officer. “No way in hell would I tell you about her.”
The hedgehog was amused. He chuckled, standing up straight from leaning on the wall and stepping towards the table. “Oh really? And why is that?”
My back straightened, my face getting closer to his in a threatening manner. “Because she has nothing to do with this. And I swear, if you ever hurt her– or touch her– I will do the exact same to you. Ten times worse.”
The officer wasn’t scared. It was obvious. And being a cop at a prison really shows how much this guy has been through. He has seen worse, and heard worse. In fact, he smiled. Sitting back down in his own chair, he laughed. The notepad is set on the table, his hand with the pen hovering right over it.
