"Where did your cat go?" the police officer asked me. She had a notepad in one hand and a pen in another. I was sitting on the front steps of my house while my mother's body was being inspected inside.
"My cat?" I repeated, slightly dazed. The sun was blinding me, but I couldn't be bothered to lift my hand up to block it.
"You don't have a cat? We saw small bloody paw prints around the body—"
"Oh, Anastasia," I interrupted. The officer nodded understandingly at me. "She's a stray. I just took her in last night."
"Strange timing," the officer mused, writing in her notepad.
"You don't suppose a cat did this—?" I croaked, confused. The officer looked like she was restraining herself from chuckling.
"No, no, of course not. I just thought it was funny timing," she met my tear-dried eyes. "Well, funny is not exactly the right word. I apologize. My condolences, my dear. I hope you find your cat."
"Thanks," I mumbled, picking at the grass that poked out from the cracks of the floorboards. My fingers were still bloodstained from having touched my mother. I tried not to think about the strange crusty feeling of it inside my nails.
"Do you have any relative we can call? Anyone you could stay with while we keep your house under investigation?" she asked kindly. "We can't have you stay here, dear."
"Uh, I don't know," I said quietly, thinking.
"Anyone at all?" she insisted.
"Well… Maybe Mrs. Wang. She is – was friends with my – my mother," I stammered. The officer nodded and scribbled more onto her notepad.
"Alright. I'm gonna need her number. While I call her, pack a suitcase. You might not want to come back here. Not for a while, anyway," she advised warily. I nodded and pulled out my phone.
After finding Mrs. Wang in my contact list, I gave the officer my phone and promptly went back into the house. I avoided glancing at the kitchen and went straight for the stairs.
My head was a jumbled hazy mess as I packed my suitcase. I barely paid attention to what I was packing. I tried to erase what I had seen from my brain, but my mother's dead eyes kept appearing whenever I would close my eyes.
I wanted to scream again, wallow in self-pity, reject my reality. But I had to be strong. I had to survive. At least, until Mrs. Wang came to pick me up.