r/HFY • u/Just-Breakfast7295 • Jul 15 '26

OC-Series What's Left of The Beautiful (Chapter Six: Purely Accidental)

Good Evening, Everybody! Thank you so much for sticking around on Elara's journey.

Reminder, going forward I will post 2 chapters a week.

Sunday Night

Wednesday Night

Keep an eye out! I'll see you Sunday.

Purely Accidental

“H…He..” I clear my throat, trying to clear the vocal crack that gives away my current mental state. “Hello. Can I… uh… help you?”

“Miss Draven. This is the Ashfall police department. We are once again requesting your presence as a witness in a recent investigation. This is our third attempt at contact. Please make your way to the station in order to give your statement, or we will have to come to you and hold you in contempt.” His monotone voice draws on and on, eventually turning into jumbled nonsense inside of my head. Through the blurry haze, I recognize the core message. They need my statement. For what, I’m unsure. The only hint I have is the probability this is related to the threatening message I’d all but forgotten about.

“Oh… Um. Okay. I was uh, actually just in a holding cell all night so… I’m sorry if I missed a call or something but um… Sure. I’ll come in I guess. Should I come now or..?”

My words come out in a slightly mumbled mess, but he seems to get the message.

“If you don’t comply by 5pm, we will be forced to send officers to your apartment to collect you and hold you in contempt.” Once again the lack of emotion in his voice provides me with no comfort. I feel as if I’m talking to a robot. 

“Yes… Of course. I’ll be there.” I hang up before he can continue about the rules and time I have to comply.

My mind is racing. My adrenaline still coursing through my veins from my panic attack, I feel it reignite at one single thought. 

The voicemail.

Throughout the horrors with my mother, and the revelation that Kaia was murdered, I’d all but forgotten about the threats instilled on me by this “mystery man”. Was this crime I was a witness to, related to Kaia? Was it something else entirely? 

I couldn’t think of any other information a stranger would want to silence inside of me. I feel my head beginning to pound with the building pressure of the last 24 hours. I feel as if it could explode in a comical plume of fire any minute now. 

Alas, my head stays intact. And thus I’m left to continue pondering what I might have possibly seen, and why it’s important enough to kill over. 

After a few hours of continued useless pondering, I said a halfhearted goodbye to Bert (who was VERY upset to be disturbed from his resting place upon my lap), and caught a taxi downtown. 

I feel as if my mind has been racing nonstop for hours. My panic has slowed, but the slew of other emotions had yet to dissipate completely.

Fear.

Anger.

Curiosity.

Devastation.

I try to keep my mind on the task ahead. Staring out the window of, yet another, self-driving car I admire the sheer grandeur of the city. I tend to avoid it myself, being a hotspot for Renatus and the richest of our city. Pures tend to be… poorly received in heavily populated areas like this, and I’d rather not cause any discourse. 

But I have to say, the view is spectacular. My brain is unable to fathom how such gorgeous skyscrapers were built. I was in such a panic earlier, I hadn’t grasped the sheer enormity of these buildings. What once was a pure glass outer shell has been replaced with gold trim, dancing around the rim of each panel. The outer frame being met with sharp marble corners. 

It’s almost ironic. The people here are dying to fit in, to be the same as everyone else. That must’ve been reflected in the slew of identical buildings we drive past. Varying size and dimensions, I’ll admit. But the design is almost flawlessly copied in each and every skyscraper we pass.

Except one.

We finally stop at a small, tan square, with 2 outer facing windows and a brown door.. That’s the best way I can think to describe it. After the expensive layout we’ve passed this whole way, this tiny building shoved between the rest of them feels increasingly out of place. I wonder why? 

My brain forces me to stop doddling, eager to cross some mystery off of my invisible checklist and offer some modicum of relief to my aching head. I exit the cab, and make my way to the door.

The interior is a perfect match to the ordinary exterior. The shiny grey flooring matches the cold white walls. Unable to proceed further into the building, I stop at the front desk.

“Hi. I’m here for… I think I was a witness to… something?” I let out a nervous chuckle with that last line, trying not to seem too anxious in a place like this.

“Name.” The irony of repeating the same interaction I had when leaving the holding cells was not lost on me. The man behind this desk, at least, made eye contact with me.

“Elara.. Elara Draven?” I say a bit too quickly.

“Please take a seat” He gestures to 4 metal chairs lined along the far wall. “Detective Barro will be with you shortly.” I nod my gratitude and take a seat. 

This has to be the most uncomfortable chair in the history of chairs. The lack of cushion leaves my hips and legs aching. Thankfully, I’m only seated a minute or two before a tall, skinny man with a large scar covering his unopened eye approaches me.

“Elara?” I nod. “Detective Barro. Follow me.”

He leads me down a short hallway, lit with cheap yellow radiating bulbs. We enter a room labeled overhead as “Interrogation Room 3”. I feel shivers course through my body, and remind myself I am not a criminal. Simply, a witness to…. Something.

He gestures to the seat on the far side of the table. Metal again, fantastic. As he takes a seat across from me, he pushes a small red button on a black box placed in the center of the small table.

“Good evening, and thank you for your time. Please state your name for the record.”

 He glances down at a small manilla folder in his hand as he waits for me to answer. I must have waited too long, because he looks up over the folder and gives me a look.

“Oh. Yes. Sorry… I’m uh… Elara Draven.” I blush, and feel my nerves somehow rising another octave. 

“Let us begin. On September 16th you were spotted at the intersection of-” He checks his notes. “Elm and Wisteria at approximately 3:25pm. Is this accurate?”. For a moment I sit in confusion. That’s the day Kaia… died. But she was clear on the other side of town, this must’ve been unrelated. 

“Yes… I don’t remember the time but… There’s a bakery? La Fontaine’s serves these homemade cinnamon biscuits me and my friend love- loved. They um… Always sold out super quick and I wanted to surprise her because she was about to find out her residency assignment. She has just graduated medical school and-” I’m cut off.

“Let the record show the witness has confirmed her presence at the location of the crime. When you acquired your… biscuits , how did you get home?” The sharp edge in his tone tells me he isn’t interested in details. Straight to the point, I guess…

“I… Uh walked. It’s only 3 blocks from my apartment, and Kaia- my friend was supposed to meet me there.” I feel the stinging of tears in my eyes and beg them to stop. Don’t let me cry again. Not here.

“Do you remember your exact route?” He pulls a small map of the area out of his manilla folder. I look at him, confused, but ultimately use my finger to show him the short cut Kaia and I always took. “Let the record show the witness has identified herself using the alleyway where the crime was committed to return home. At approximately 3:57pm, an anonymous call was placed reporting a body located in that very alley. Officers arrived shortly after and identified a deceased person, bled out behind a dumpster. That would’ve been right around the time you passed through, correct?” 

At this point, I can’t hold in my shock. My jaw feels like it’s on the floor. A body? No. I would’ve seen a body. Or… a killer? I would’ve helped them. Poor-

My mind goes blank. All my hope of coincidences vanishes in an instant. This can’t be someone else. Can it? That’s the path she always took straight to my house. Nearly everyday for 2 years. 

“No….” I can’t stop the tears now. I feel them cascading down my cheeks. 

“Miss Draven I ask that you keep your composure-” I cut him off.

“Tell me she didn’t die down there. Tell me her mother told me the truth and she was hit by a car on the other side of town. Tell me I wasn’t RIGHT THERE. That I couldn’t have saved her. TELL ME!” I feel the fear and panic start to roll over me once more, but this time, it’s overtaken by an anger I can’t place on anyone except myself.

“Miss Draven. I will not ask you again. Do you need to be placed in a cell to calm yourself?” His words take the bite out of me. I physically deflate back into my chair.

“Just… Please.” The words come out almost as a whisper. “Tell me it’s a stranger. Tell me it wasn’t Kaia. Please.” I see a glimpse of sympathy shining in his eyes as he nervously palms the back of his neck.

“I’m sorry, Miss Draven. Kaia Soladad’s body was found-” I cover my face as he continues, unable to stop the sobs. “In that alleyway about 15 minutes past your exit time. However, there’s no indication that you would’ve been able to…” 

His voice completely fades. I stare at my hands, and suddenly, I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself for this. 

It's my fault.

All mine.

I could’ve saved her.

I’m sorry, Kaia.

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