Once we’d all found a seat on varying furniture in the living room,Pomini stood awkwardly in the center of the room between all of us. “Can I get any of you something to drink or?”
“No thank you, ma’am.” Hudson stated, speaking for all of us. “I don’t want to waste your time today, so I’ll just get right to it, if you don’t mind.”
“Please,” Pomini nodded, taking a seat in a solitary chair right next to Hudson and myself. “Anything to help find my daughter.”
Hudson cleared his throat, shifting into detective mode. It was interesting to watch him steel his body to engage in questioning. I wondered if he was always so guarded or if the passing of his late wife had made him rigid in all areas of his life.
“Prescel lives here with you?”
Pomini nodded. “She does.”
“And does anyone else live in the home with the pair of you?”
“No,” Pomini had tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “It’s just me and Prescel now. Her father passed when she was little. My other children…they’ve all died.” A full blown sob lobbed out of Pomini, and I caught the somber facades of the other board members as they witnessed Pomini’s emotional break. “Prescel is the only one left. I can’t lose her too.”
A severe change in atmosphere was felt by everyone, and we all wore masks of melancholy as Pomini did her best to compose herself. Hudson drifted a hand to place on top of one of Pomini’s, and she started to sober from the emotion at the physical touch.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to bring your daughter home, Pomini. That’s why we’re here. We just need a little bit of information from you so we can try to find who’s doing this. Do you think you can do that?”
Pomini didn’t voice an answer, but she nodded her head as she reached over to a nearby table and plucked out a tissue to wipe her face with. While she tried to plaster on a different face, Hudson cleared his throat again.
“What happened the night Prescel went missing?”
“We’d gotten into a fight about her going out,” Pomini admitted with a sniffle. “I know she’s grown, but I’m her mother. I was only looking out for her and I didn’t think those friends of hers would do her any favors.” Pomini sniffled again, wiping the tissue under her nose as her voice shook. “Clearly I was right.”
“Are these new friends of hers that she went out with?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’d only seen them from the driveway, but it looked like the same group as usual from what I could tell.”
“Great,” Hudson gave her a smile. “That actually helps us a lot. Were the friends of hers all petrylle? A mix of different Orbs? Humans?”
Thinking about the question thoroughly, Pomini tilted her head a few times with her eyes closed. “A caeboros and a hjarq were always in the car, that I know for sure.” She opened her eyes, recognition flashing across them like lightning in the night. “And two humans. Or I guess they could’ve been olatsma. But they definitely looked human.”
“And which one was usually driving, if you can recall?”
“Always one of the human looking ones.” Pomini nodded.
“Would you recognize these humans if you happened to see them?”
“I think so,” she nodded with purpose.
“Do you know anyone who might know any of Prescel’s friends?”
“I’m sorry,” Her tears slid down her grey skin even though her chest wasn’t racked by wild sobs any longer. “I don’t know her friends names or anyone who might.”
“That’s okay,” Hudson smiled, tapping her hand affectionately. “You did great.”
Hudson looked to us, my best guess that he was silently asking us if we had any questions we had to ask. I had nothing. Anything that I would have asked was already covered. Luckily, Francyn shifted in her seat.
“Pomini,” She said with her thick accent. “Were any of Prescel’s friends petrylle?”
“I know she had friends that were petrylle,” Pomini answered. “But the friends she went with the night she disappeared were the ones she usually hung around with.”
“Are they newer friends, by any chance?” Zxe asked.
“Yes, now that you mention it.”
Hudson looked impressed that members of the board had asked questions that he hadn’t gotten to yet. Assuming that he was well on his way to ask a similar line of questioning. I had to give Francyn and Zxe props. They were doing the work ORBIT was made for, and it warmed my heart to see it in action.
