In the Silence
Robin’s Arrest — A Ficlet
Scarlet opened his computer on the rickety table and looked at the faces gathered around him where he sat in a folding chair in the gloomy basement. “I should warn you,” he said, unusually serious. “This is hard to watch.”
John’s stomach swooped, and he clenched his hands together, digging the fingernails of his right hand into the back of his left.
Scarlet tapped the screen, and the video started.
A figure stood in the middle of the video feed, hands raised. Police officers with guns moved in from all around, and the figure’s head turned. His face caught the light, and John gasped involuntarily. It was Robin.
He’d known — they’d all known — but having it confirmed still hurt John’s heart. And then, it got worse.
The officers rushed in and pushed Robin to his knees as he put his hands behind his head. And then one of them cuffed Robin’s temple. It was like a dam breaking as fists started to fall all over Robin, knocking him to the ground where he curled into a ball as booted feet took over from the fists. In the silence of the CCTV feed, the violence was eerie and horrifying.
Beside John, Marian broke the quiet with a choked sound, and Stutely said in a voice as cold as ice, “Fuckers.”
“Amen,” Scarlet said fiercely. Allan put an arm around Scarlet’s shoulders and leaned into him, and Scarlet slid an arm around him in return, pulling him close.
John’s throat was too tight to speak. He wished he’d been out there with Robin. He wished he’d been arrested too. Robin was alone in a cell somewhere, probably without medical attention. He wanted to go find those officers and show them what it felt like to be beaten like that. He wanted to be with Robin, to see him, to touch him, to know he was alive.
The recording ended, and Marian’s breath hissed out through her teeth. “So how do we break him out?”
Scarlet’s grin was all teeth, sharp and feral. “I have a plan.”
This story is a response to Prism & Pen’s writing prompt, Police States and Police Brutality.