The light fell warm and golden, spilling across tiled rooftops and modern glass buildings with a deceptive serenity. Beneath it, chaos was beginning.
The building's main doors burst open.
A sharp cry echoed.
Seraina stumbled out, dragged by her hair. Her body sagged with weight.....not just from pain, but from the drug still clouding her veins. Her legs gave out, knees scraping the concrete. She gasped as her jaw was jerked up again.
Slap.
The cop's hand cracked across her face. The sound rang out, too sharp for a peaceful day. It drew attention.
Passersby halted.
Office-goers, students, and tourists alike turned their heads.
Phones tilted. Eyebrows furrowed.
Slap.
Another blow, cruel and deliberate.
Seraina could barely register it. Her cheek stung, her lip split, but her mind was still crawling through static. Her mouth opened, words barely forming.
"W–why…? Why are you hitting me…?" she mumbled.
She was forced forward again, pushed into the open courtyard, collapsing like a ragdoll before dozens of strangers.
"What's happening?"
"Who is she?"
"Wait… isn't that the girl from the consumer research?"
The crowd thickened. Some stepped forward in confusion, others in caution.
Then the cop raised her hand high. Between two fingers, a small plastic packet pinched the sun light....a swirl of pale dust shifting inside it.
"This," she said, voice firm and cold, "is what she was carrying. Drugs. She was selling them to children. And abusing it herself."
A gasp ran through the people like a tremor. Murmurs became voices, all directed at her.
"Selling drugs?"
"To kids?"
"She looked so…... normal...…"
Seraina lifted her head.
"No...… no, that's not mine. I'm not—someone's framing me.....please…"
Slap.
The blow flung her head sideways. Tears blurred her vision.
"Liar," the officer barked.
She reached for support, but no one moved.
Not a single hand.
Instead, they took a step back.
A middle-aged woman shook her head in disgust.
A man pulled his child behind him, whispering harshly, "Look away."
Phones recorded.
Others whispered.
"She's just a junkie."
"Disgusting."
Seraina broke. Her voice cracked, eyes widening in horror as shame consumed her.
"Where… where is my friend?" she cried. "Annelise....she was here.....someone gave me something.....I remember.....please!"
The crowd didn't answer. They only stared.
"You were alone," the cop snapped. "You were passed out like garbage. No one else was there."
The girl tried to speak again, but her voice failed. Her hands trembled. She lowered her head into her arms and wept.....not just from pain, but from the way everyone looked at her now. Like she wasn't human.
Like she never had been.
Across the city, the same horror unfolded.
In Lina's office, the once-clean eating corner was chaos.
Her clothes hung loose, her hair matted, her lips dry and trembling. Her eyes darted around the room as if searching for some explanation, some mercy. All around her were female officers.....expressionless, eyes filled with quiet cruelty.
"I didn't… I swear… I don't understand what's happening," Lina whimpered. "Where is Noemie?"
"Strip her," a cop muttered.
"What…? No! Don't.....please!"
Two of them grabbed her arms. Another pulled at her clothes. Lina fought, kicked, screamed....but her limbs felt rubbery, drained. Her shirt was ripped down the middle. Her undergarments stretched, revealing skin too pale under the harsh light. Her face twisted in horror and shame.
"No… stop… I'm not… I didn't do anything…!"
A cop reached inside her bra and pulled out a small packet of powder....similar to the one waved over Seraina's head.
"Here it is. Proof," the cop smirked.
"No! That's not mine!" Lina screamed. "Someone....someone planted it....I swear—ask Noemie.....please!"
She reached to cover herself, but her arms were trembling too much. One cop grabbed her wrist and slammed it to the floor. Another officer, smiling calmly, lifted her phone and recorded.
"Proof," she said again.
Lina screamed.....a gut-wrenching sound, primal and wounded.
"You're disgusting," a cop muttered.
"No… please… Noemie… where is she?"
Slap.
The hit knocked her head sideways. Her vision blurred. Her knees gave way. She hit the floor, bare skin scraping the tiles.
"Noemie…..." she whispered again. Her hand reached toward the empty chair where her friend had sat.
"You were alone," the cop said. "You were always alone."
She laughed. They all did.
As Lina sobbed, curled into herself on the ground, one officer crouched beside her, leaned in, and whispered something in her ear...something so cruel, so vile, Lina's face twisted in horror.
And then.....
She screamed.
A scream not just of pain.
But of betrayal.
Of helplessness.
Of truth unraveling so violently that she could no longer tell where she ended and the nightmare began.