08-28-2018, 05:21 PM
“Right,” said Lih, hurrying after Costa. For an older, injured man, the cop could move.
He’d seen things, perhaps things his mind wanted to scrub out or deny as impossible.
He didn’t query. He trusted Costa’s instincts like his own, and knew they stretched further.
Lih raised his trusty pistol, panned the barrel round, and put its auto-setting on rapid (but devastatingly precise). He could feel his pulse racing now.
Costa led their way up into the old club himself. Finally the dust and darkness gave way and the two cops emerged out of the dark, blinking, into the manager’s room. Costa within Lih’s earshot cursed as he saw them.
“No…” Lih breathed, looking wide-eyed at the middle-aged woman kneeling, the children next to her. She had a face as lined and creased as old saddle leather. Her children? In the dim light, there were moans, crying, coughs.
“No!”
“What…” the voice was soft and pitched on a feminine register. The female voice paused for a moment, in deep confusion, “what are you doing?”
It came from the girl they tracked; she standing nearby, looking up at them in deep quizzical fascination. She was small and lean, and Lih guessed her to be about sixteen years old, no more than a year or two more than Sabrina’s, Costa’s daughter, age. But there was something terribly old and horribly piercing about the gaze of her dark eyes.
Lih’s eyes through his lens were watery-blue and bright, very human. He flinched at her gaze, and lowered his weapon. He was breathing hard and his mind was reeling. Children… How … how was that even possible?
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked tersely, gesturing at Costa to include the experienced officer, “what do you think we’re doing?”
The girl - no, woman - was silent for a moment. Then she smirked humorlessly at them. “Looks like you just followed me home.”
It seemed a damp, dark, cold place to live. Viktor Lih had been stung by its bone-deep chill from the moment he stepped into this room. He wondered how she could live here. And how long? A year? Ten years? Her whole life?
“Now you’ve answered your own question. What’s your name?” Lih nodded and tried to smile reassuringly.
He’d seen things, perhaps things his mind wanted to scrub out or deny as impossible.
He didn’t query. He trusted Costa’s instincts like his own, and knew they stretched further.
Lih raised his trusty pistol, panned the barrel round, and put its auto-setting on rapid (but devastatingly precise). He could feel his pulse racing now.
Costa led their way up into the old club himself. Finally the dust and darkness gave way and the two cops emerged out of the dark, blinking, into the manager’s room. Costa within Lih’s earshot cursed as he saw them.
“No…” Lih breathed, looking wide-eyed at the middle-aged woman kneeling, the children next to her. She had a face as lined and creased as old saddle leather. Her children? In the dim light, there were moans, crying, coughs.
“No!”
“What…” the voice was soft and pitched on a feminine register. The female voice paused for a moment, in deep confusion, “what are you doing?”
It came from the girl they tracked; she standing nearby, looking up at them in deep quizzical fascination. She was small and lean, and Lih guessed her to be about sixteen years old, no more than a year or two more than Sabrina’s, Costa’s daughter, age. But there was something terribly old and horribly piercing about the gaze of her dark eyes.
Lih’s eyes through his lens were watery-blue and bright, very human. He flinched at her gaze, and lowered his weapon. He was breathing hard and his mind was reeling. Children… How … how was that even possible?
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked tersely, gesturing at Costa to include the experienced officer, “what do you think we’re doing?”
The girl - no, woman - was silent for a moment. Then she smirked humorlessly at them. “Looks like you just followed me home.”
It seemed a damp, dark, cold place to live. Viktor Lih had been stung by its bone-deep chill from the moment he stepped into this room. He wondered how she could live here. And how long? A year? Ten years? Her whole life?
“Now you’ve answered your own question. What’s your name?” Lih nodded and tried to smile reassuringly.
Viktor Lih
Officer of CCDPD
Officer of CCDPD