.. panic room / ,

[aleksandra petrovsky]

"you've got more balls than i do." said the woman and aleks let her eyes flick up from her hands at the sound of something sliding across the cold metal table. aleksandra's old wallet lay in front of her wrapped up in a plastic bag, a red strip on the top proclaiming that it was 'evidence', i'm sorry, what do you mean? she didn't know why she was playing stupid, there was only one way they could've had that wallet, it was in the purse she'd had that day, the purse she'd left in that dingy booth she'd been raped in, because it was easier, because admitting to two people she'd been raped was two people too many, aleks ignored the woman beginning to talk, look, i haven't been in chicago since i was fourteen, and i lost that months before i left, so where ever you found it... i don't know anything, i can't help you, can i please go?

aleks slumped in her seat after a moment, the woman's face clearly said 'no', these cops weren't all nice like they were on law and order, "as i was saying, you have more balls then i do. keeping a fake ID", she slid the ID that claimed sasha belikov was a twenty one year old from iowa across the table at aleks, "with the school ID proclaiming myself to be a freshman." soon the ID from aleks' old high school was in front of her too, her hair was a muted auburn in the ID picture - ALEKSANDRA PETROVSKY in big letters under her old high schools name, her grade and homeroom teacher listed under with her signature loopy and delicate underneath it all. aleks looked down, i was fourteen.[/color] she said with a shrug before she reached to her purse and dumped the contents out on the desk, her washington ID and the one from the academy falling out with it, i don't have one now, i was stupid back then, don't tell me i'm getting in trouble for it now.[/color]she tried to be as meek as possible, but it really wasn't that much of a stretch, she was clearly scared, the lack of sleep from the recurring and worsening nightmares getting to her on top of lissa's constant want for attention thanks to an early case of the flu. she wondered if the woman detective across from her saw a spoiled teenager or a frazzled young girl in front of her. "put your stuff away, this isn't what we're here for." she watched aleks delicately fill her purse back up before she spoke again, "do you know where we found this?" aleks shook her head, "in the home of a mister david crowley, do you know him?" aleks shook her head again, like i said, i lost the wallet, i left it at a stupid parking lot carnival my freshman year.[/color] aleks felt the shiver down her spine as she said the words and knew it wouldn't escape the cops notice, especially as the woman nodded and made some notes on the yellow pad in front of her, what's your name?[/color] aleks asked, you never told me your name.[/color] the woman quirked a brow, "does that bother you?" aleks wanted to roll her eyes, no, it's just..[/color]she trailed off, “not how they do it on TV?" the detective laughed at her own humor and tapped aleks' old fake ID, "sasha, ironically enough." it wasn't ironic, but okay. my boyfriend picked it, his cousin made it.[/color] was aleks' reply before she shifted uncomfortably, what am i even here for, if not for my ID.[/color]

sasha ignored the question and aleks felt impatience growing in her, "when was this carnival? and where?" aleks sighed, it was three years ago, how...[/color] she looked down. uhm... north wabash? a block from millennium park? some time in november, it was really cold. why?[/color] another nod and more scribbling on her notepad, the last thing aleks wanted to be talking about was that carnival, she was scarce on the details with dominic, told him it happened, it was an older guy she'd never met and she knew for sure that he was lissa's dad. "how did you lose your purse?" sasha asked after a moment. look, if you could just tell me why i'm here and what you're looking for, i'm sure i can help but i haven't been in the city forever and i haven't gotten into any trouble here, just... this isn't the first time i've been interrogated or taken into custody, i know how it works, just tell me what's going on.[/color] sasha nodded and stood up tapping the door, it opened and a folder was handed through the door. she flipped it open, "truancy, underage drinking, trespassing, missed curfew, theft, possession, dealing-" those were dropped, samantha came-[/color] sasha interrupted her this time, "i know, that's in here too." aleks looked down, "actually most of these never went anywhere, most turned out to be a guilty by association thing. you were kind of a mess though weren't you..." aleks nodded not drawing her eyes up from her hands, "you'd make a pretty crappy witness, not many people would believe you, would they?" that was a different kind of question and aleks looked up, how do you mean?[/color] her tone took a suspicious turn and her old unease around law enforcement was perking back up, "if you saw something.. or something happened to you, you wouldn't be likely to talk about it, you know people would just see some troubled kid looking for attention or lying, right?" aleksandra pulled her brows together, yeah, that's exactly why she'd never reported her rape. no one would believe her. she was a mess. she'd had a record, shit grades in school... who would believe her? yeah, i'd seen it happen a lot.[/color]

sasha regarded her for a moment, "i can tell you what happened at that carnival." she said after a moment, in a voice that begged aleks to challenge her, alright, i'll bite. okay, what happened? sasha shook her head, "i'd rather you told me yourself," aleks scoffed, just let me leave. i've been around this track enough to know you can't keep me unless you're charging me with something. aleks drew a hand through her brunette waves, and stood, "sit down. you skipped your classes thursday afternoon, we could keep you on truancy if we wanted." wow, a fine. aleks rolled her eyes but plopped down in the chair anyways, they didn't have money for a fine. if the cop was being this vindictive, wanted her to stay this bad there must have been something there. sasha stared at her a moment before she stood and left the room, aleks stared slack jawed at the door before she propped her head up in her hands, what the actual fuck? she heard the door again and she looked up at a rather imposing man, another detective she assumed but she was still uncomfortable being alone with a man, even knowing that there was no doubt somebody watching even if there wasn't a two way mirror in the room, she jumped as he dropped a newspaper in front of her the chicago tribune, the same paper her mother had delivered to the house everyday even though she never read it. it looked good to the neighbors, aleks guessed. "carnival worker arrested" was the headline, bold and screaming at her from the page, he pushed it closer to her. "read it." aleks drew her eyebrows together again, why? he shrugged, "would you rather i read it for you, my mom always said i'd have made it big on the radio," he gave her a friendly smile so it was hard to see if he was being sarcastic or not, aleks pulled the paper towards her but didn't take her eyes off the man, where did sasha go? she asked after a moment, the man looked troubled, "would you rather talk with her?" aleks considered this for a moment, i... no? he smiled, trying to put her at ease and she let her eyes drop to the paper, an employee with a popular traveling illinois based carnival troupe was arrested in his alton area home late thursday evening after a woman came forth and claimed the man had tried to sexually assault her. aleks dropped the paper back on the table, why do i have to read this? it's from six months ago anyways... the man sat up straighter, his friendly air mostly gone, "we found your bag in his home." aleks tried to act unperturbed by it, but it had scared her, she knew he had her stuff the whole time knew at least where her school was and from there it wouldn't be hard to find where she lived. so? he leaned back in his chair, despite the fact he was a male, aleks liked him a little more then sasha, "i think he took these from you."

sneaky. aleks shook her head, i told.. your partner? that i lost them at the carnival, he must have found them there. he nodded, "what if i told you he's been brought up on ten counts of sexual assault and an attempt at murder?" aleks barely batted an eye even though her stomach twisted in a horrible way, she knew she hadn't been the first, but she never thought it could be that many, i would say that is horrible and i'm glad the police caught him. the man nodded, "serial offenders, of any nature, like to keep track of the things they've done. photos, videos, notes, journals, audio recordings, souvenirs," at that he barely skimmed a finger over her wallet, "they like to relive the experience, keeps it fresh in their mind, they'll go over these things time and time again, until it does no good anymore, then they... well, they simply do it again." aleks nodded, okay, that's textbook psychology, i learned that at the academy last spring... i still don't know what this has to do with me. she knew he didn't buy her act, why would he? he seemed to be in his late forties, maybe mid 50's if he was particularly blessed with his genes, point was he'd been around the block more then a few times, he'd made a conscious effort to give aleks her space since he picked up on her discomfort of being alone with the man, "we found these in that mans home, along with items that could belong to up to seven other women apart from the ten that have come forward or been identified through these items." aleks didn't even wait a beat, i wasn't raped. he nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a bag like the one her wallet was in, "that was tucked in your purse." she stared at it, it looked like a hair ball and she immediately felt her scalp tingle remembering the hair he'd ripped from it as she tried to get away, my hair is brown. aleks says, the hair in the bag is the dirty blond, it's her hair though, she had it dyed back then but he doesn't know that, "yes," he leans forward pointing to her fake id, "there your hair is black," he points to her school ID, "and here you're a ginger." she actually manage a smile at that one, "seems like you have a habit for dying and bleaching." aleks nods, i wasn't raped. he must have just found my stuff, i lost it at that carnival, maybe he wanted to come find me or something... he stared at her for a long hard moment, taken one step forward and aleks flinches away even though he only reaches for the paper, and she almost rejects, "what do you care about this for? he didn't rape you."

ouch. the detective stands up straight though leaving the paper in front of her, "you wouldn't be much help anyways. you didn't file a report, clearly there is no way of linking him through fluids, skin under your nails." aleks tries to act indifferent, is he getting away with it or..? i just i don't understand why you'd come find me, six months after the fact not even knowing if i was attacked by him. he is silent for a moment mulling it over in his mind, "it'd help you, you know. he goes away without your testimony anyway, but it'd help you. if you came forward you'd get counseling from the state for free, they couldn't fix you but it'd help. your aunts insurance would never cover the help you'd need." he let's that sink in and before aleks can pitch in another denial, "but it doesn't matter he didn't attack you, right? even if he did, you'd be a rough one to pull into the victim pool since you never reported it or anything, the other women did. there is not a thing linking him to you but this, and like you said, you lost it where he worked, it was a simple coincidence. i'm sorry to take your time, miss petrovsky, we did not mean to be a burden, now if you excuse me i have a flight to catch." aleks watches him for a moment her mind going a million times a minute trying to pull her in so many different directions, i have a daughter. she blurts without a second thought, his hand pauses on the door a sympathetic look takes his face when he turns to look at her, "you just turned seventeen, that must be quite a challenge for you." he turns back around and again the words tumble from her mouth before she can stop them, his daughter. aleks sees his shoulders tense and he turns to look at her and the sympathy has increased and disgust tinges the edges of the his expression and aleksandra feels the sickness churn in her stomach as she drops her gaze to the table, what has she just done?[/blockquote][/sub][/justify][/color]