Rose was afraid to go in at first and I couldn't blame her.
"You can do this," I encouraged her.
It wasn't just to say something comforting to get her to go in. It was true. I believed that if she was strong enough to finally break and tell someone-me-everything that happened and decided that she wouldn't let anyone beat her down anymore, she was strong enough to go to the police and tell them everything.
She took a deep breath.
For the second time since I picked her up I thought about reaching out and physically comforting her with a simple hand gesture or pat on the shoulder but I remembered all the cases like this I'd come across when I was a cop, self defense students in my class now, and cases my mother talked about and how it was best to keep your distance and give the victim space.
I could use a hug myself right now thinking about the dark decision Victoria made.
As much as I claimed I knew my sister, the Victoria I knew is gone right now and whatever Adrian's done to her has changed her.
I just hope I can get her back.
Rose's mouth opened and I feared that she might change her mind, that she might tell me to start the car, take her home, and forget any of this happened. Instead she turned to face me-seeming to really take me in, that I was genuinely there to support her-and set her mouth into a determined line as she took another deep breath and slowly climbed out of the car.
"Belikov! Long time no see," Stan clapped me on the back the second I entered that station.
I hadn't been here since I was told it would be better health wise if I didn't come back. There never seemed like a good reason to come back until now.
"How are you?" Stan asks looking at me and then at Rose noticing her standing beside me.
Her eyes were shifting from side to side looking to where civilians sat talking to other cops telling them their stories.
"I'm good. I was hoping you could help us."
"Of course. Rose?" Stand leans into her line of vision in order to get her attention.
He's looking her over from the bruise that's fading from her face to the other small scrapes and bruises on her hands. She was mostly covered up. I could only imagine what other damage her body had.
She finally looks up at Stan and tries to manage a friendly smile but it falters and her eyes are watering.
"I need your help. I lied to you and now everything's gotten worse. I need your help."
Her voice breaks and she looks about ready to cry again. Stan notices this at the same time I do and gestures for us to follow him to his desk.
We settled ourselves into seats and Stan has a pen and pad at the ready. Rose isn't speaking though. She's trying not to cry again by shutting her eyes tightly closed. Her fists are clenched in her lap and her body is trembling from the uneven breathing.
"This is about Ivashkov? Or is it about the mugging?" Stan asks. "Has something else happened?"
He flicks his eyes from me to Rose maybe hoping I'd help her start but Rose had to be the one to do this. If she didn't say it aloud and report it herself now, she might never be able to.
"You can do this," I encouraged.
She opened her eyes and faced me for a moment before turning to face Stan.
She opened her mouth, hesitated for only a second, before she told her story.
A/N: It just hit me that I've been spelling Victoria's name with a 'c' instead of a 'k' in most of my stories. Anyways, thank you for the reviews and taking the time to read my story despite my less than frequent updates (and any grammatical/spelling errors)! Also, I feel like I didn't really thank anyone for nominating my storied for the Le Vampire Academy. It feels awesome that so many of you guys even read my stories so thank you.