Page 20 of Symphony for Lies

My finger shook violently as I directed his gaze toward the pavilion. After a second, his face went pale.Knees buckling, he collapsed beside me.

“Oh my God.”

I looked down at my hands. At the blood on my fingers, and then, I broke.

I turned away from the scene, heaving violently into the flower bed.

Even though there was nothing inside me, I dry heaved until my body gave out.

Unlike my attempt, the jogger managed to handle his phone with shaking hands.“We need the police. Now!”

Chapter 7

Blue lights. Sirens. The eerie melody of the wind chimes.

And a loud voice cutting through the chaos.“Do not enter the park!”

Despite the order, a crowd had gathered beyond the barricades, and the curious faces were illuminated by the flashing police lights.

All of the sensory stimulation made my head pound.

A paramedic draped a blanket around my trembling body.

I wasn’t sure when everyone had shown up.

I hadn’t noticed much of anything as I remained curled up on the ground, retching over and over again, too overwhelmed to process the chaos.

The jogger stayed, helping me inch further away from the pavilion. And then there was the flood of people. Police officers. Paramedics. Onlookers. Maybe the crowd had arrived before the police. Or perhaps they had arrived first.

I didn’t know.

“Can you try to stand up?” the paramedic inquired gently.

I nodded weakly, and with his help, I managed to get to my feet.

“Are you injured?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m…” I swallowed, my voice raw from screaming and vomiting. “…just… shocked.” Every word scraped against my throat like sandpaper.

“We can arrange for you to speak with a counselor.”

I shook my head again.

No. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to forget what I had seen.

“Excuse me, miss.” A young officer with slicked back black hair stepped beside the paramedic. “My name is Officer Spencer Wilson. We have a few questions for you. Are you able to answer them?”

I wasn’t sure if I could, but I needed to try. I took a deep breath and nodded.

The paramedic exchanged a glance with the officer before stepping away.

Officer Wilson opened his notepad and clicked his pen when we were alone.“Your name?”

“Amelia Walker.”

His pen scratched against the paper. “Can you tell me why you entered the pavilion?”

The question caught me off guard.

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