The Unfolding 8

It was the second evening after their arrival in Risa’s hometown. Risa came out of the bathroom rubbing her hair with a towel. ‘I’m done, you can - uh, Meisie?’ The younger woman knelt on the carpet in the living room, right in front of the TV. She was staring at it with wide eyes, occasionally poking against the screen with her finger. ‘How does this work?’ ‘What? What are you even doing? And could you stop touching the screen? You’ll get your fingerprints all over it. ‘Risa gently pulled her away from the TV and guided her back to the sofa. ‘Where are the people?’ Meisie asked, still pointing at the TV. ‘I thought they were hiding in the box, but it’s way too thin to fit a real person.’ A small smile of amusement spread on Risa’s lips. ‘They’re not inside the TV. They’re somewhere else, probably far away. The pictures are being recorded there, and they’re transmitted to this screen with some kind of signal.’ Meisie made a drawn - out AHHH - sound that didn’t sound like she understood what Risa was talking about. Risa sighed quietly, she felt a bit like she was explaining technology to a little child. But she had brought that upon herself, and she was still glad Meisie had come with her. ‘I’ll see if I can come up with a better explanation by tomorrow. Do you want to take a bath now?’ Meisie shook her head before leaning it onto Risa’s shoulder. ‘You’re too comfortable to get up.’ ‘But you do know that we need to get up early tomorrow?’ Risa had taken her first day after their return off work to help Meisie get used to her new surroundings, but now it was high time for the detective to tell her superiors about what she had discovered in the village. She had also declared that she was going to bring Meisie along as a witness. Pouting, the younger woman stayed where she was for a moment longer, but then she slid off the sofa and moved towards the bathroom. ‘If you need help with anything, tell me,’ Risa called after her before switching off the TV and getting up as well. She headed to the bedroom and laid down on the bed already , reading a few more pages of the book she had started to read before travelling to the village. And then, Meisie came in, wrapped in the bathrobe Risa had left in the bathroom for her. ‘Risa? I’m done.’ Risa looked up from her book, simply looking at Meisie for a moment. She couldn’t help but think that the younger woman looked cute, wrapped in the soft and fluffy bathrobe that Risa had originally bought for herself just because she liked the feeling of the fabric on her skin. Then, Risa realized that she was staring at Meisie, and she cleard her throat, blushing slightly. ‘Good, Can you switch the light off when you come here?’ She asked while switching on the smaller lamp on her nightstand. Meisie gave her an affirmative nod and switched off the light, walking over and jumping onto the bed. ‘So …we’re going to the police station tomorrow, right?’ A little surprised by the sudden change of topic, Risa nodded. ‘Right. Are you sure it’s okay for you? Testifying against your own father and the people you lived with for your whole life?’ Meisie grimaced, sighing as she laid down next to Risa. ‘The people who bullied me for my whole life is closer to reality. I… they’ll be arrested, won’t they?’ ‘Most of them, yes. I supposed their children will be sent to an orphanage, and the adults will be taken to jail …for murder, or for complicity in murder, depending on whether they actively killed anyone or not.’ For a while, it was silent, and Risa thought that for some absurd reason, Meisie might have fallen asleep while listening to her. But then, the black haired woman spoke up. ‘Can you tell them not to make Katy go to jail? She never did anything wrong, so I don’t want her to be treated like all those…. CRIMINALS.’