Chapter 21 part 1

Matias

The officer hadn't lied about updating Matias more frequently.

He came at least two times a day, telling Matias any evidence they found— which wasn't very much— and any theories they had— all of which Matias thought were silly.

Even with all the updates though, Matias didn't know much about Samuels situation.

They didn't know where Samuel was, what exactly had happened, or if he was even alive.

Matias felt like there were bugs crawling under his skin, needing to get out of the cell. Needing to help Samuel.

He continued to beg the officer to let him out. For four days he pleaded, giving any reasoning he could to be let out.

"You know you being loose will scare everybody. We can't have the public in any more panic." The officer said, repeating the same defense he had used for the last multiple days.

"Who the hell cares if they're scared? I know I'm not going to hurt anybody. You know I'm not going to hurt anybody. Just let me go!" Matias argued.

The officer looked at him skeptically.

"You don't understand" Officer Hinton sighed

"I don't understand?" Matias spat back.

The two glared at one another. Matias wasn't mad at the officer. He knew it wasn't his fault. But everything was going to shit and he was too busy sitting in a cell to do anything about it. How could he not be upset?

"Samuel is being held god knows where by god knows who while they're doing god knows what, and y'all aren't making any progress" He went on, not realizing until after that he called Samuel by his name.

The officer had already known about the hero's identity, but it felt wrong using a first name basis while talking to the police. It made it feel like Samuel was defenseless. Like he was vulnerable and powerless with no way to get himself away.

Officer Hinton didn't respond, he only sighed.

Silence passed through the room, nobody else being around.

"I've been talking to the others— other police, of course" Officer Hinton finally began, "and it's split almost 50/50 on whether we let you help"

Matias tensed. He hadn't thought the officer had even considered letting him out. Much less that the other cops had believed in him enough for the vote to be 50/50.

"Then let me go" Matias went on, nearly pleasing.

The officer gave him a look, but said nothing.

"You know I can help, and half of the other officers do too. What's the worst that can happen?" He begged.

The officer had a look in his eyes, as if thinking about what the worse that could happen actually was, but still didn't answer the question.

"Fine" he said bluntly.

"What?" Matias replied, stunned.

The officer nodded, assuring Matias that he had heard correctly.

Matias tensed, and joy ran through him for the first time in a while. He didn't know what he could possibly do once he was out of the prison, but getting out was a start.

"Thank you" Matias just barely whispered, doing everything he could to keep calm.

Officer Hinton nodded again.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, it might be an hour or so" he announced before walking off, the heavy door shutting behind him as he left.

Matias walked to his bed with shaky legs. His heart was beating hard and fast and his entire body was unsteady.

For nearly five minutes he just sat there. Not moving. Not even really thinking. It was like he was an empty corpse.

And then, suddenly, tears started flowing out of his eyes, onto his cheeks, and then landing in his lap.

He didn't know why he was crying, he had never been too much of an emotional person, but he couldn't stop. The tears just kept coming and he didn't have any will left to try and stop them.

Eventually he laid back in the bed, getting as comfortable as he could, and he continued to cry.

He was so happy, and angry, and sad, and exhausted, and all the emotions he had been trying to avoid hit him all at once.

His thoughts were clouded and, eventually, they cleared as he drifted to sleep.

After some amount of time, which Matias could only assume was about an hour, a loud bang woke him.

He sat up quickly, startled, and for a moment he forgot where he was. He half expected to be waking up in his own bed, also partially expecting to be awoken on Samuels couch.

Though instead he was met with a dirty, smelly, and uncomfortable cell.

Officer Hinton appeared in front of Matias's cell, not wasting a second inserting the key and opening the door wide.

"Let's go" he spoke casually.

Matias could only nod, pulling himself to his feet and exiting the cell. He couldn't help but pray he'd never have to be in there again.

He expected to have to go through a long process before he could actually step foot out in public, but it was actually a surprisingly simple procedure.

Officer Hinton took him to another room where he could change into some more 'normal' clothes— clothes that weren't exclusively for prisoners.

And then, they walked out.

Officer Hinton walked out with Matias and gestured to his cop car.

"The hell is that for?" Matias questioned, still not fully trusting the police.

"Depends" the officer responded "we can go to your house, if you want to change or grab something or anything else like that" he paused "or we can go straight to where we found the blood"

Matias perked up, staring wide eyed at the officer.

"You mean where the hero went missing?" He questioned, though he already knew the answer.

"Well, it's where we suspect he went missing" Officer Hinton responded blandly.

Matias chose not to argue about it. He knew Officer Hinton was fully aware that it was, in fact, where Samuel went missing.

"Let's go" Matias announced eagerly.

He climbed into the car, waiting of Officer Hinton, who was much slower and less rushed, to get into the drivers seat.

"To your house or?" He asked once he was in the car.

Matias gave him a what-do-you-think look, and they pulled out of the lot.

From the prison to Greenlake it was a thirty minute drive. It was probably the only part of the city that was isolated from everything else.

Throughout the drive Matias struggled to keep his breathing at a normal rate and struggled even more to keep himself from shaking.

Matias could've sworn the car was moving slower than necessary, even though the officer was right on the speed limit the whole time, and he felt like the drive was much more than thirty minutes, but he knew that wasn't true.

Finally, after an eternity, they pulled into a deserted street near Greenlake. The street was mostly unused, aside from the liquor store at the end of it.

The only people active here were the gang members looking for someone to do something disgusting to.

When they finally park Matias practically jumped out of the car. He didn't know exactly where the scene was, so it wasn't like he could go there alone anyways, but he needed to get out of that car. He felt suffocated, like the oxygen was leaking out of the car.

He stood as calmly as he could on the sidewalk until Officer Hinton finally joined him.

"Lead the way" Matias finally spoke, trying not to seem as eager as he was.

The officer didn't respond, but began walking into an alleyway. Matias followed, ignoring all the objections from both his body and his mind.

They walked in silence through the alley. Matias recognized most of the area, knowing where each turn led and what direction they were going.

And he knew that they were going towards Samuel's house.

After what seemed to be forever Officer Hinton finally interrupted the silence.

"This is the route we believe he went, but there are a few other possible ways he could've gone" he explained.

Matias nodded, though Officer Hinton wasn't looking at him anyways.

"Why do you think it's this one then?" Matias asked, finally trusting his voice enough to speak.

"Well we know for a fact where he started and where he ended, so there are only three possible ways regardless" he replied.

Matias almost mentioned how that didn't answer his question, but Officer Hinton soon finished his explanation.

"However, the shortest route takes you through some pretty slim pathways and we found many obstacles along the way. The odds of him getting through there in the time span that he did are slim"

Matias nodded again, and the officer still couldn't see it.

Matias hadn't actually thought about all the aspects the police had already investigated. Hell, they knew how much time was between Samuel being dropped off and him going missing.

"And the longest route just takes too long. He had an officer jog, walk, and slow walk through that route and even the jog took slightly too long. So there's no way he went through there in the short time period either"

Matias, for the third time, nodded.

The two kept walking in silence, questions and possibilities flashing through Matias's head. He couldn't help but be frightened just by being in these alleys.

Eventually though they made a sharp turn that immediately led to a scene Matias wasn't ready to see.

It was what would usually be considered underwhelming. For Matias, however, it was like a steak to the heart.

It was just a small opening, but in it there was drops of dried blood all around. In the walls around them there were also broken pieces missing, like someone had sliced away at it.

Then, just outside of the opening, leading into another pathway, there was a line of dark red blood.

It was clear something— and Matias was praying not someone— was dragged away from here.

Officer Hinton must've noticed his surprise as he stood silently, allowing Matias to process everything he was looking at.

Multiple minutes passed before anyone said anything.

"You tested the blood, right?" Matias questioned.

"Mhm" Officer Hinton hummed in response.

Matias held out his arm, pointing to the trail of smeared blood.

"Is that Samuels?" He whispered, not willed to speak any louder.

The officer stayed silent for a long moment, giving Matias the answer he was looking for.

The reality hit him like a bus. His vision swirled and his knees tried to buckle. His hands balled into fists so tight he could feel his nails breaking the skin in his palms.

"The trail completely ends after only a few feet, so he must not have bled too much" Officer Hinton said.

It was unclear weather he was trying to comfort Matias or point out evidence, but Matias didn't care. He couldn't bring himself to.

"We have searched the entire area within a mile of here. There's no sign of anything"

Matias snapped out of his trance, mostly at least, and turned to look at the officer.

"Nothing? No gang members or criminals or anything?" He asked in a rushed tone.

"Nope" Officer Hinton replied casually.

Matias raised an eyebrow at him.

"You are aware of all the crimes that are usually committed here, right?" He continued

Officer Hinton looked back at Matias skeptically.

"No?" He asked more than answered.

Matias managed a laugh. A humorless laugh full of pure disbelief.

"I guess you guys don't really catch these sort of people very often" he pointed out, referring to the police, "but this area is pretty much only used by people looking for.. people"

Officer Hinton looked at him curiously.

"People?" He asked, an unknowing sound in his voice.

Matias hesitated, debating his next words.

"Just anyone stupid enough to wander through here alone. Or in a small group", he took a deep breath, "they use the people for a number of things"

The officer only stayed silent, pressuring Matias to continue.

"Sex trafficking, mainly. That or any other twisted torture bullshit they wanna do" he explained, disgusted by his own words.

"Oh" Officer Hinton sighed quietly.

"Yeah" Matias whispered back

The officer opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, and then tried again.

"So if all this stuff goes on here, how come the police never hear of it?" He asked.

Matias found the question a bit ignorant, but answered anyways.

"It's pretty simple. They're good at it. The police don't get involved if there are no witnesses to report them, right?"

Officer Hinton hummed, "I suppose so"

The two looked away from one another and back to the scene before them.

"Have you only searched this area?" He asked, only the slightest tinge of hope left.

"We don't know where else to look" the officer pointed out, "we were hoping you might, but we're out of ideas"

Matias nodded slowly. He didn't have too much of an idea. What was he supposed to do, look around every alley in the city? He did, however, have a small possible place to start. He wasn't sure if it'd work though.

"Maybe" Matias answered in a monotone voice.

Officer Hinton only nodded and turned his back to the scene. He walked away, leaving Matias alone in the alleyway.

And now Matias just had to pray he'd get the results he was hoping for.

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Thank you for reading !!