ARRESTED

Chapter 21

"Lucas McFrey," officer Wild's voice boomed, "you are under arrest for the assault of 3 individuals and for possession of illegal deadly drugs." He put handcuffs on his already stretched hands. Noah clenched his teeth so hard that his facial veins popped up.

The group of kids were now stunned and didn't make a sound. The news vans and reporters already arrived. They were gathering around Luke and asking him questions which made no sense.

"Are you part of a cult?' the one with pixie hair asked.

"Is this because of the love of God?" the guy with the grey T-shirt asked.

Officer Wild ushered Luke away from them. Agent Savvaro approached us and talked to Noah in a hushed tone. I couldn't quite hear what they were saying, neither did I care. The only thing in my mind was, no more attacks. But If had been upstairs a little bit earlier, I could've saved Alex. Genevie showed no response yet. But the guy from the antique shop woke up after a week. What if Alex went to a coma too? I could never live with that.

"Jenny?" I turned to face Noah and agent Savvaro. "They're gonna interrogate Luke tomorrow. They want us to be there along with some other kids to witness and justify." Noah tried to hide his pain but I saw right through it. It was hard for me too. Of all the people, it had to be Luke. I nodded silently and agent Savvaro gave me a smile.

The parents started to come for their children. Some of them even said stuffs like, I knew that kid wasn't good. Or something like, he was always fishy. I wanted to scream at them. I wanted to tell them to stop lying. None of us knew Luke could do something like that. Everyone liked him. But no words came out of my mouth.

Mr. and Mrs. Flickermen came to our aid. Susannah hugged Noah for a long time. But then she came to be and hugged me so tight I almost fainted. She pulled back and looked at me for bruises. I could see the tears in her eyes.

"Let's get you guys out of here," Mr. Flickermen said. He threw the keys to his car to Noah. "Take your mom and Jenny with you. I'll bring your car."

As I stepped towards Mr. Flickermen's car I saw a cop ushering Luke in the back of the police car. I was looking straight at him. He turned to his right and our eyes locked for a moment. Something hit me in the gut. This could not happen. the guy I knew all my life turned to a complete stranger. He looked blankly at me. His eyes saying one thing over and over again.

We're friends Jenny, we've always been.

***********************

I stood in front of the police station not sure of what to do next. My grandparents were furious when they heard I had to deal with this. They called the police station quite a couple of times and complained that they won't let me face a criminal like that. I flinched every time they called him a criminal. He was my friend. At last agent Savvaro called them and made them understand that there will be a few other kids and we will be under full protection.

My grandparents offered to come with me today but I told them no. I even didn't take a ride from Noah. I didn't know why, but I wanted to come alone to this place. Just like Luke did.

Last night's thought came to me again. But I tried to shake it off. But it kept nagging me in the back of my brain. It wasn't possible. Then again, the size of the brand did seem a little bigger than the others. Was it even possible that there is a second brand? But my brain eliminated the thought because if there was, he wouldn't have risked taking it from agent Savvaro. My second theory was so absurd that I considered a psychiatrist.

I entered the station and saw Ivy and Noah sitting on the waiting bench on my right. There was a reception table at the left side where a bald headed cop was talking on the phone and scribbling on paper. Noah patted on the space next to him and I sat down.

I looked at Noah and he knew what I was going to say before I opened my mouth.

"Ivy is here because we were friends before. She thought there might be some hidden secrets of Luke we might know." I nodded and mouthed oww.

A few minutes later, Skyler entered the station. I was kind of surprised to see her. She was not here a few years ago when we had a group. She's new in Evergreen Wood. But I didn't ask her anything as she sat down beside me. All of us stayed silent for a moment and agent Savvaro came out from inside.

"Good. You've all arrived. Come with me." She turned around and went back inside.

Ivy was the first to get up and follow her and Skyler joined her. Noah offered me his hand and I took it. that's when I realized that I was nuts. I could never face this alone. we started this together, we end this together.

Agent Savvaro guided us in a glass room where a small table was set. no doubt this is the interrogation room. But I thought interrogations were supposed to be private, the whole office could see us from the outside.

"These are two way mirrors," agent Savvaro said like she was reading my mind. "The people outside can only see their own reflection. Also the room is sound proof. So please settle down."

Where there were usually two chairs on opposite sides of interrogation, I saw saw 5 chairs, one facing the other four. I took a seat with Noah to my right and Ivy and Skyler to my left.

"What I've got so far is that Mr. McFrey doing the assaults are quite unbelievable. He has never done anything like this or nothing near enough. He didn't even bully except for occasional mocking and teasing. Am I right?" Agent Savvaro examined all of us for a moment.

"He didn't do it," Skyler told her with a voice that could've belonged to an official.

"Ms. Woods. He is your boyfriend I believe?" Noah and I gaped at agent Savvaro. What was she talking about?

"He asked me if we could hang out." This time we gaped at Skyler. Luke asked her out. That's why Skyler was here. But why didn't we know it before.

"I am going to bring Mr. McFrey from his cell. I want you all to be civilized. No sudden excitement," she eyed Skyler. "I will ask him some questions. He'll answer them in front of you. If there's something wrong you guys will correct immediately. Is that clear?" We nodded.

Agent Savvaro went out for a moment and came back with officer Wild and Luke.

His handsome face already became pale. His eyes were circled with dark patches. his lower lip looks like it healed a little and then cracked open again. My heart sank looking at him. What if I never told agent Savvaro the truth. But then he would have attacked someone else.

He took the seat where agent Savvaro was sitting.

"You had a fight with Mr. Cove before he was attacked?" He nodded.

"He punched you and cracked your lips?" He nodded again.

"So you found your next victim only on personal terms. You drugged him somehow but he wasn't going down. He put up a fight and punched you. Then you hit him hard on his shoulder. By the time you finish branding him he was unconscious. You put him in the tub and leave. How's that for a theory?"

Luke didn't even flinch for a moment. He stared wide eye to me.

"I didn't do it. He punched me when Jenny ran outside. He saw me, punched me and headed upstairs." He was still looking at me like I was the only one who needed to hear him out. Then he turned to agent Savvaro and asked, "What motive do I have against Genevie and the guy in the antique shop?"

"Genevie was the only girl who broke up with you isn't it? You dumped all the others. In fact, she dumped you just last year before the homecoming dance." Luke gaped at her. His expression said are you crazy?

Agent Savvaro put some pictures on the table and Luke froze. The pictures were of an old bracelet. A silver bracelet with only one charm, a crescent.

"This was your mother's. Somehow accidentally it was sold to that shop. You tried to buy it back but they already sold it. When you wanted the name and address of the buyer, they didn't give it out as company policy. What if I say you really needed the bracelet. Teenage mind. You thought about doing the same thing you did with Genevie."

"Strong motives are one thing but the evidences are all against you Mr. McFrey. How do you explain the DNA match of the blood in the antique shop and the hair from the bathroom?"

Luke just stared at the table. I wanted to hit him hard for not trying to defend himself. Half of my mind still didn't believe Luke did all these.

"Say something man," Noah's expression was pained. Luke was his buddy from childhood. They played hockey together and did all the guy stuffs.

"Do you guys believe I did this?" Luke glanced at all of us. Ivy gave the quickest answer by nodding her head. The rest of us hesitated.

"All the evidences are against you Luke. And your motives are strong. And the way you're dealing with this, I'm convinced you did all these," Ivy said with clarity.

"Putting me behind bars is gonna stop this?" he had a faint smile on his lips.

Tears were filling in my eyes.

"Why?" I asked him.

Officer Wild pointed to the cops standing behind Luke to take him away. Just in front of the door he turned back and smirked at me.