**Chapter 8**

***Aria's POV***

I was up and ready to go a little after sunrise, grabbing my clothes and hopping into the shower while my mom was still fast asleep. The warmth of the shower soothed my anxiety, though I still double-checked the door. I know that I had been chomping at the bit to go to the police station, though if I was being honest I had to admit I was nervous. Afraid that they would tell me they were releasing Andrew, or worse that he wasn't Charles and our tormentor was still out there. My skin was a bright pink when I stepped out of the shower, immediately covering up with my robe before dressing. Having cloth on my skin made me feel more secure, especially when it wasn't the flimsy, slippery satin that the dress had been made up of.

A shiver ran down my spine at the memory, even with the steamed bathroom that was probably nearing 85ĚŠ. I resisted the urge to climb back into the shower with the water scalding my skin. Instead, I brushed my teeth and applied my make-up. The bruises looked better than they did yesterday. Amazing what a full night's sleep and proper diet would do.

I brushed and straightened my short hair, not wanting to curl it because then it would look even shorter. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I could smell breakfast cooking. Going downstairs, I found my mom at the stove cooking. She slid a plate of food onto the counter in front of me and that's when the smell hit me. It was tofu, but it still smelled enough like bacon for the nausea to rise up in me. I slammed my hand over my mouth, running into the bathroom before throwing up my dinner from the night before. Now that I had smelled it, I couldn't get the taste of raw bacon out of my mind. I curled over the toilet once more, feeling my eyes water.

"Aria, are you okay?" my mom questioned, knocking gently on the closed bathroom door.

"I'm fine." I called.

She pushed the door open and the smell increased once more and I turned back to the toilet, body heaving.

"Oh, honey." She came over kneeling behind me, reaching out and rubbing my back.

I was almost surprised that I didn't flinch away when she touched me. We sat there for a few minutes, making sure that the nausea had subsided before I got up and went over to the sink, rinsing out my mouth. I glanced up, seeing my reflection in the mirror. My make-up only did so much to cover the bruises and now my skin looked clammy and pale. I looked at my eyes, glad to see that at least my eyeliner concealed the red rings that were bound to have formed around my eyes from the near crying.

"What happened?" my mom asked, rubbing circles on my back even though for the most part the nausea had passed.

"I smelled the tofu bacon." I admitted shakily.

She continued rubbing my back before brushing my hair back behind my ears. I smiled at the comfort that the motions brought me, glad that she was here to take care of me, even if it only was for a few days.

"So no meat then?"she questioned.

"No meat." I confirmed with a nod.

After the breakfast error, which ended in me just sipping on mint tea to calm my stomach, we hopped in the car to go to the police station. My mom was still questioning whether or not I was ready to talk about what happened, but I was insistent. I needed to do this.

The detective was free when we got there, so she met us in an interrogation room. I remembered before being terrified in one of these rooms, like my skin was crawling. I wasn't afraid now, this wasn't something to be afraid of. For a moment, I longed for that fear again, wanting this to have been the worst thing to happen to me.

"Thank you for coming in, Miss Montgomery." The detective opened.

"How is the case against Andrew going?" I questioned, wanting to get right down to business.

"We're still waiting for the DNA results to come back, but once it does with your girls' statements it will be airtight."

"So he won't be released, not even on bail?" I clarified, ignoring the confusion coming from my mom.

"We won't release him and there won't be a hearing for bail until the results come back. But given the charges, he probably won't be offered bail." She reassured.

"So do you need anything from me?"

She eyed my mother speculatively before turning her gaze back to me. I could read the question in her eyes, had I told her yet? I shook my head slightly, signaling no.

"Mrs. Montgomery, would you mind letting Aria and I speak privately?"

"I'm not leaving her alone. She's underage and you can't talk to her without me." My mom argued, scooting closer to me in her chair.

"Mom, it's okay. I'll be out in a few minutes." I interjected, catching my mom off-guard, as she must have figured I would want her there. "Please."

She looked torn before giving a nod and squeezing my shoulder in reassurance. She stood up before promising to be out in the front of the station and leaving us to talk. Once she was gone, I turned back to the detective, waiting to see what she wanted to ask me.

"Did you ever see Andrew Campbell?"

"Yeah, we saw him, but he was always wearing a mask."

"Then you didn't see him." She said with a sigh. "Were there any identifying marks that you saw when he was alone with you?"

I know she had phrased it as kindly as possible but still I looked away at the question. I couldn't meet her gaze. Wrapping my arms around myself, I let my mind wander to the nightly visits thinking over every night, but not being able to pick out anything distinctive.

"No, he kept the room too dark for me to see anything and even then he still wore the mask every time." I admitted shakily, suddenly more nervous about the whole thing. "You said the case would be air tight once the DNA results came through."

"The DNA will prove that it's him, but more evidence can never hurt. A positive identification would only be a benefit to our case. But it's strong enough already."

I nodded my head, hoping that she was right and he would stay in prison the rest of his life, unable to hurt my friends or me again.

"Have you thought about talking to someone? I noticed that you haven't told your mom. What about the other girls?" She offered, her voice softening.

I shook my head, dismissing the idea immediately. I had already done enough to the others, they had suffered enough, I couldn't make them go through this with me. If he hadn't attacked any of them, they might feel like what they went through wasn't as bad.

"I can give you the names of a couple counselors who you could talk to." She proposed.

"I don't need someone to talk to, I'm alright." I reassured her, giving a light shake of my head while flashing a small smile.

I heard her sigh again before she stood up. I followed her lead and we headed out to where my mom was waiting. I spotted Toby with his new partner and waved. He smiled and raised his hand in a wave before turning back to his conversation. My mom was pacing, someone had been kind enough to give her a Styrofoam cup of coffee, which was being nearly crushed in her hands. As soon as she saw me, she came over and pulled me tight, making me feel a little awkward being hugged in a police station. She pulled back, checking me over and I gave a small laugh that she thought I would get hurt being talked to without her.

"Thank you again for coming in, Miss Montgomery. I'll call you when we get the test results back or if anything changes." She said before we headed out the door.

The silence during the car ride was oppressive with the weight of what my mom was afraid to bring up. The police not being explicit in what had happened to me and today was probably the first time that it was obvious just how much wasn't being shared with her. I went up to my room as soon as we got home, not hungry even though I hadn't eaten anything this morning. I heard her moving about the kitchen, probably taking out her frustration on some muffins. A chirp sounded in my purse and I looked cautiously at it, worried about what I would see when I grabbed my phone. Deciding that it could wait a minute, I pulled off the thin socks which I wore under my shoes and pulled on my fuzzy socks before grabbing my phone and a blanket and curling up on the window seat. When I turned the screen on, I had a message from Spencer and breathed a sigh of relief, my anxiety levels dropping and the tightening in my chest relaxed.

-Spencer: Toby said you were at the police station. What happened?-

I frowned, realizing that I should have expected Toby to tell her that I had been there. I was a little nervous about talking to her and my other friends, from a combination of guilt and fear that I would spill the beans. Still, I was glad that she was reaching out to me, considering my lack of communication with them the past few days.

-Me: Nothing. Just went in to see if they needed any more information to build the case.-

Once I typed the message, I set the phone down on the windowsill, leaning back to look out the window. My phone buzzed and I jumped at the sound, but calmed my breathing quickly.

-Spencer: I'm on my way over now.-

**End Chapter**