Chapter 5: DNA and Despair

The police station felt colder than usual. “What? What evidence? How am I a suspect?” I gripped a plastic chair, knuckles white. “What is she talking about? I wasn’t even near her!”

The detective tried to sound soothing, but my pulse hammered. “And we’ve already sternly warned the girl about her posts.”

I was on the verge of breaking down. Sweat trickled down my back. I kept picturing the flames from my last life. “I hadn’t even seen her before she fell in. Hadn’t touched her at all.”

“Mr. Walker, before I explain, I need to ask a few questions. Do you know this girl?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Have you ever seen her anywhere?”

“Never. She’s a total stranger. Why are you asking?”

He took a deep breath. “But we found your hair on her clothes. She says it was left when you grabbed her and assaulted her.”

The words hit like a gut punch. “That can’t be. I was never near her.”

“So where did that hair come from?” The question hung heavy. I shook my head, lost.

Hearing this, I nearly passed out. The room spun. I dropped into a chair, breath coming short and fast. How was this possible? I never went near her. My scalp tingled, every nerve ending screaming unfair.

“She must be lying. She must have gotten someone else’s hair to frame me!”

The detective’s eyes softened a bit. “That’s possible too. We need you to cooperate.”

They took my blood sample. The nurse’s hands were steady, the needle a tiny sting. I barely noticed. The results would be ready tomorrow.

I walked home in a daze, the city a blur. That night, I barely slept. My eyelid wouldn’t stop twitching—bad luck, I thought. Sure enough, the police called again. I took a deep breath and went in.

I stared at the printout, my world tilting. If they could fake this, what else could they do?

The DNA matched. And just like that, the nightmare started all over again.