Chapter 5

• “What is going on with our country?” I started. Everyone paused what they were doing, turning to face me.
• "Wasn't this nation once considered great? Is this what a police station has become? Huh? Why won’t anyone help me?” I fake teared up.
• “Young lady, what is the problem?” one of the cops in the vicinity approached me with a concerned look.
• ‘Bingo.’
• “I need help. My father hits me,” I began to explain my sob story.
• “Just this morning, he punched me across the face and even on my body. Whenever he does so, he says it’s a punishment for not being a good girl. He said I didn’t greet him at the table today but--”
• “Miss, please calm down.”
• “Please don’t send me back,” I told the officer who had come to help me, grasping at his arm in desperation.
• At that point, I wasn’t lying. Who knew what might happen if I saw James again after the show I was putting on.
• “Please, I can’t go back there.”
• “Miss--”
• “What’s going on over here?” another officer approached. They appeared to be wearing a different uniform than everyone else, and one that was darker.
• Based on her appearance, the woman appeared to be more senior than the other cops.
• The woman regarded me as she slowly approached me.
• “Young lady, how can I help you--”
• “Don’t listen to her!” Henry, seemingly out of nowhere, rushed to where I was. “Don’t listen to that girl! She’s–!”
• The officer looked at Henry as though he were insane. The others in the precinct murmured among themselves, wondering what was going on with him.
• Then Henry flinched, his expression indicating that he had not expected the woman to be there.
• “Young lady, can you explain to me what’s troubling you?” I was asked by the officer.
• I pretended to gather my thoughts.
• “My father…” I paused, pretending to be moved to tears.
• Henry rolled his eyes. His counterparts, on the other hand, appeared to be more concerned with my current state.
• The officer who had approached me after I left Henry's office began to explain my situation to the senior.
• “He hit you?” the woman said, shocked.
• “He did it this morning too. And…” I started to raise my shirt.
• “What the hell?” the officer trailed off once I exposed my stomach.
• Even though Alice had managed to treat the wounds I had gotten from James, there were still signs of fading cuts and bruises.
• The officer saw the bruises James had inflicted on me in the morning, as well as the ones that were still healing when I became Emma.
• “He also did the same a while ago,” I added, even though there was no need to.
• Everyone in the precinct who happened to be watching was shocked, including some of the civilians present. Henry also, for some reason, looked shocked.
• “I am so sorry this happened to you,” the woman said. Then she gave a look as if she remembered something. “Who did she go to?”
• "She went to Henry's," said the officer who had rushed to my aid.
• The woman appeared irritated as she approached Henry, who was becoming rapidly pale.
• "Officer Henry, did this young lady not tell you about her situation?"
• Henry stammered.
• "Did she really come into your office and you did nothing to help her?"
• “Ma’am, that’s not true. I did listen--”
• “He called me a slut,” I interjected.
• Just for good measure.
• “He what?”
• Henry paled even more, if possible.
• “Ma’am, that’s--”
• “He also called me a whore. He said I deserved to be hit. He told me I wouldn’t be helped here.”
• “Unbelievable.”
• “I didn’t think the police had such kind of people working for them.”
• The civilians in the precinct were murmuring loudly enough to be heard.
• I took a glance at Henry, noticing he looked very scared at that moment.
• “I… I…” Henry stuttered.
• The woman looked at him with narrowed eyes. She seemed to convey a nonverbal message to him before returning her gaze to me.
• “Young lady, on behalf of the precinct, I want to apologize. This isn’t something that should have happened, and for that, I am truly sorry.”
• “… does that mean you’re going to help me?” I asked.
• “Yes,” the woman nodded. “Come with me to my office. I’ll help you from there.”
• I nodded.
• A glance at Henry confirmed that his terrified expression had not faded.
• It took a lot for me to conceal the victorious grin I wanted to show.
• After that, things moved quickly.
• I did not expect it to be so simple that everything would be resolved in one day.
• I had expected a certain push and pull, maybe even a “We don’t have concrete evidence to do this and that…”, something to prolong what I reported to the police. But fortunately, that didn’t happen.
• After talking to the cop who had decided to help me, I was sent to the hospital for certain scans and tests necessary for the grounds for arrest against my parents. My cheeks were also checked and scanned for potential fingerprints and other DNA that wasn't mine, especially since it hadn’t been that long since I was hit.
• Even though I thought that would not be enough, the police were able to find some things.
• Hospital tests revealed that my body, or more specifically Emma's, had been subjected to a cycle of physical abuse. There was evidence of cuts and wounds healing and then either reopening or new ones forming above them over a prolonged period of time. And the tests managed to deduce it had been going on for years.
• Doctors even wondered how I was still alive. They even suggested that I be kept for additional tests to see if I had any other problems they might have missed.