“I want to go home,” I whimper. Evan and Caleb are in this police station, and I don’t ever want to be in the same building as them again.

“We will soon,” Dad replies.

Soon means I’m not allowed to leave yet. My parents have been primed on how this is going to go down, and I’m not getting out of here before I’m interviewed.

The cops gave me, Hazel, and Priya some time together with our families, but not long enough before we were separated from one another to give interviews. Dad came with me to do mine. Hazel took her dad, and Priya’s mom went with her.

In the interview room, Dad and I are given cups of coffee.

I thread my fingers together, the now-empty Styrofoam cup between my hands. My shoulders are hunched and my eyes are heavy. I’m drained, mentally and physically done with everything.

The cops sitting opposite me, two women, smile warmly. They had introduced themselves as Leah and Miranda.

Dad’s face is ashen, and he hasn’t said a word. He’s listened in silence with his hand covering mine. As I spoke about my experiences in those rooms, his fingers curled tighter around mine.

Leah leans forward. “We’re done, Piper. I’m sorry it’s taken so long. You can go home.”

“Thank God,” I breathe. I feel like I’ve told them everything five times over. The clock on the wall tells me I’ve been here for almost two hours.

Leah and Miranda stand, and Leah takes my cup. I rise to my feet with them, stifling a yawn. I follow them back to my parents and tuck myself into my mum’s embrace.

“Let’s go, sweetheart,” she whispers.

Hazel and Priya have already left. We’re all supposed to get checked out at the hospital or at the very least with our doctor. We’ve been through a lot, and the cops recommended getting our eyes and hearing checked. I feel fine. I don’t think there is any lasting damage from the torture, but I will make an appointment.

I’m in the back of the car, watching the cornfields whiz past again.

The car is silent, no one quite knowing what to say. They know I wasn’t sexually abused and that offered a lot of relief, but beyond that, they’ve barely asked a thing. Dad might know what’s happened, but Mom doesn’t yet. I think she’s scared to. Not only for me but for them.

Who wants to talk about the most difficult things? No one, that’s who.

So I follow suit, more than happy not to go back there, at least not yet.

I don’t want to think about any of it right now. I just want to be safe in my room, far away from Caleb and Evan, who are still being questioned at the station.