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Cut Scenes: Known, Unknown

...Have I mentioned I like interrogation scenes like this? Because I really, really do. This scene wasn’t entirely cut, just repurposed. Despite liking the scene, I felt like it could use some reworking (plus, there were some details that needed to be updated). One of the things I really like about this scene was getting to explore how the other students thought about Aiden as Harris interrogates them.

I’ve mentioned this before, but as we wind down, it’s starting to get difficult to find cut scenes to share that aren’t spoiler-y. (Which is mostly because I end up using several scenes that I liked, which is probably a good thing.) However, I’m also getting very close to finishing draft two; I think I’ll probably have one more cut scene to post, and I’ve already decided on what that one will be. (It’s...actually one of my favorites; it just couldn’t make it into draft two because several plot elements changed.)

Anyway, this scene is under the cut.

Trigger Warning: Brief mention of suicidal ideation. It’s not much, but it is present. Stay safe, y’all.

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The principal of White Water High School had given him an office to wait in. He knew that, in the lobby, a couple of officers were giving the run-down to several students they’d identified as the ones most likely to have information on Aiden Cooley.

They hadn’t found so much as a trace at Turnstyle Park. Not that he really thought it’d be that easy, but he’d hoped. It meant he didn’t have to think as much about the fact that they were chasing a kid.

The door creaked open.

Harris brought out his recorder.

An officer peeked in. “They’re ready.”

“Start sending them in.”

The officer left, and Harris took the time to collect his thoughts.

The first student to come in was a young man with spectacles, messy hair, and wide, excited eyes.

He doesn’t understand how serious this is. He gestured to the chair across from him.

The boy sat and practically vibrated.

Harris said, “I’m going to be recording this conversation for future reference. Is that okay?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, then clicked on the recorder. “How do you know Aiden Cooley?”

“He was in my homeroom for, like, the past few years.”

“What did he seem like?”

“Eh, a little weird. He always kept to himself. Talked to his Familiar a lot.”

Harris made a mental note of that. “Does he do that often?”

“Not as much now, but he still seemed pretty insistent on calling it ‘Kiru,’ giving it a gender. You know, kid stuff.”

“How long has he been doing that?”

“Don’t know. Probably a while.”

“Was there anything else strange related to the Familiar?”

“I mean, it looked weird. Had a whole bunch of flames and stuff. Like it was breaking apart but never did.”

“Did Aiden ever do anything else strange with it?”

“Don’t think so. Like I said, he just kind of kept to himself.”

“Ever show any unusual interest in Mach Stages or dragons?”

“Nah. If anything he seemed less interested than normal. Makes it kind of crazy that he’s Provenance’s Dragon, right? It’s hard to believe I really knew him.” He grinned, the expression a little brittle.

“Next question. What do you know about Aiden, personally?”

“Not a lot. I really didn’t interact with him. He tried to jump into conversations sometimes. Didn’t really seem like he knew how to talk to people.”

“Do you know why he might have been on River Road that night?”

“Not a clue.”

The rest of the interrogation went similarly. Harris dismissed him.

A young woman entered next, looking significantly more hesitant and nervous.

Harris gestured for her to sit, repeated the question about recording, and asked, “How do you know Aiden Cooley?”

“He’s in my grade. I’ve had a few classes with him this year. He was my partner for a project.” She wrung her shirt.

“How did that go?”

“Well enough. He talked to his Familiar a little bit, but he seemed embarrassed about it. He seemed nice. He even came up with the project idea.”

“And that was?”

“To look at White Water’s fishing history. How it was built before it became Provenance.”

“Any other interactions beyond that?”

“Not a whole lot. We didn’t really click as friends, and he didn’t seem like he felt comfortable reaching out to people. I thought maybe he just preferred to be on his own.”

“What was his relationship with his other classmates?”

“I don’t know—I didn’t really pay attention. It didn’t seem that bad.”

“Was there anything strange about his Familiar?”

“It, um, it looked like it was on fire. It disrupted class sometimes. Aiden always kind of treated it like it was the Familiar’s fault.”

“Do you believe that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know why he might have been on River Road that night?” “I have no idea. Maybe he was out for a project?”

They continued questions. Harris dismissed her, but she hesitated. “Is he really the dragon?”

“I can’t disclose that information.” He paused. “But he’s our biggest lead now, yes.”

The girl nodded, looking spooked, and hurried away.

Many of the other interviews went similarly. Some kids looked like they were just happy to get out of class. Others were a little spooked to be talking to an officer. A couple were enamored with the idea of someone they knew who’d activated Mach Five—one claimed he’d been close friends with Cooley, but Harris had quickly figured out the boy was bluffing to try and make himself look more important. Another had burst into tears, overwhelmed and terrified.

They’d gathered an assortment of students, and he’d received a number of conflicting stories. Some said Aiden was creepy; others said he was shy; others claimed he’d made threats using his Familiar.

It became painfully clear that Aiden was known of, but not well known, which put a number of disturbing possibilities in Harris’s mind.

Despite the variety of different stories, Harris was able to pick out several constants:

Aiden treated his Familiar like it was a living thing—whether it was a coping mechanism, a grab for attention, or something he legitimately believed was still up in the air.

The Familiar itself was unusual in that it looked like it was made of flames.

Aiden was mostly a loner.

And Aiden seemed to have little to know interest in using Mach Stages before this incident.

Once all the students had left, Harris took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. He’d at least confirmed that Aiden’s story of having been out with friends was definitely a lie. The key witness said he’d been knocked into the river. He probably used Mach Five to escape that. But, if he’d run out in front of the car—what if it wasn’t an accident? What if, after it happened, he realized he didn’t really want to die and panicked?

Not that it’d do him much good.

Bile filled Harris’s mouth when he realized that, at this point, they were probably looking for a body, not a person.

Someone knocked on the door. An officer entered. “Sir?”

Harris sighed. “We might as well tell the press at this point. Those kids aren’t going to keep quiet.” He paused, the words weighing heavily. “Remind them that it’s likely at this point he won’t reemerge alive.”

The officer took in his expression and nodded tersely. “Any leads?”

“Nothing solid. A team’s already looked around River Road, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll compile this information, then, see if we can get anything else out of it. Right now, we have other cases to focus on.”

The officer seemed to realize that was a dismissal. He nodded and left.

Harris slumped. It was times like this that he hated his job—hated that they were fishing for the body of a child who’d probably just been in a very bad situation, hated the fact that, even if they had apprehended the boy alive, it might’ve been worse.

Hated how much he couldn’t stop thinking, What if that had been my son?

He shook his head. It’s just another case. You have to do it. It’s your job to keep the public safe. The chair creaked as he stood. He thanked the principal briefly, then left the building.

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