Necrocide

Chapter 17

Any joy or comfort the four of them felt when they arrived at the pub had vanished. It was like they never even went there. Any chance of something good happening that night went down the drain.

Thirty minutes had passed since Natalya's arrest. The four of them were in Matheson's prison level in one of the interrogation rooms. Jonah, Kat, and Natalya were in the room itself while Aaron and Nika watched outside through the transparent side of the one-way mirror.

"I still can't believe it," Jonah said, his voice echoing through the speakers in the hall. Or at least conveniently where Aaron and Nika stood. "Street prostitution? That's what you're in here for?"

Natalya hung her head down shamefully.

"What could come out of that, huh? Extra quid? Ration Cards? Why'd you do this?"

She stayed silent.

Jonah slammed his hand down on the table. "Answer me!"

Natalya slowly raised her head up. "I've got nothing to say. It's not like I'll be able to fix it."

"Well even if you can't fix it, we can help you do something! Do you have any idea what could've happened to you?!"

"I'll be declared a whore, but sadly that wouldn't be the first time someone's called me that," Natalya groaned.

"How many people have you offered services to?" Kat asked.

"Four."

"Do you know their names?"

"Of course not. I'm a busy girl."

"Clearly too fucking busy for me," Jonah muttered quietly. Kat smacked him in the back of the head.

"As Jonah said earlier, too many bad things could've happened to you," Kat continued. "STD's are always a possibility, but there's also the slight chance one of your customers was infected."

"So?" Natalya asked apathetically.

Nika snapped. She rushed around the one-way mirror and burst through the door into the room, leaving Aaron alone outside.

"What do you mean so?!" she exclaimed. "It means you're going to be quarantined! Maybe even executed!"

"Nika, sweetie," Kat said. "You're supposed to stay—"

"I don't want to lose you, Natalya! You're the only family I have left in this world."

Natalya scoffed. "Why don't you make a new one with Aaron? He always get more attention from you than anyone else."

"Is that where I went wrong?" Jonah chimed back in. "I didn't give you enough attention?"

"Bollocks. You didn't pay me any attention. Both of you have always focused on Aaron. Aaron, this, Aaron that. There are more people in this world than just Aaron O'Connor!"

Aaron tilted his head down in shame. He knew she couldn't see him through the one-way mirror, but everything she said went through it like nothing thanks to the speakers. Was she always this rude? Was Aaron always seen as pampered?

"You were important to us as much as Aaron. As much as anyone!" Jonah continued. "We are orphans. All we have is each other."