thanks for reviewing. thanks for answering my question last chapter. sorry if there was confusion loll.
please tell me wat you think. thanks. i hope you still like it...
Kori managed to fall asleep the night before since she woke up the next morning, bright and early. She stretched in her bed and looked at the ceiling. Then looked towards her wall and saw the victims' pictures, the numerous articles, the arrows, the suspects, the supposed 'murderers'… She knew the answer was in there…but where?
She dragged herself out of bed and after few minutes in the bathroom she was dressed, combed and ready to start another day. Hopefully, this one would go well. She walked towards the kitchen, grabbed a bagel and took out some butter. Leaning over to fetch a knife she saw, lying on the floor, the police officer's card. Picking it up, she examined it. The only thing writen was his name, a phone number and 'Gotham's Police Department' in bold letters.
While spreading butter on her bagel, she grabbed the cordless phone with her free hand and dialed the number. After taking a small bite, she walked over to Xavier's coat with a pair of tweezers and a plastic bag.
Holding the phone on her shoulder, it rang…once…twice…
''G.P.D, how may I help you?''
Kori stopped whatever she was doing and responded to the grumpy, squeaky voice that had asked her the previous question.
''Is this…Gotham's Police Department?''
''That's what I said; G.P.D, how may I help you?'' came an irritated response.
''Oh, um…'' Kori rolled her eyes. ''I would like to speak to…'' she quickly looked over at the small card. ''…M. White, please.'' She asked politely.
''Please hold on as I move you over to his department.''
Kori went back to what she was previously doing; taking few strands of hair and putting them gently in the plastic bag, sealing it tightly. Then, someone yelled a loud 'George' and after few seconds a low 'hello' could be heard on the other side of the line.
''Hi George.'' Kori said happily. ''I'm the girl from yesterday night remember?'' she asked, hoping he would remember her. Of course, she remembered him…tall, dark and…gruesome. He had brown eyes, short brown hair, a gun and a uniform that suited him perfectly.
''Umm…yeah. You're the blonde that didn't know what 'analyze' meant, right?''
She raised an eyebrow. ''I think you're mistaken. I'm the red head and I know what 'analyze' means.''
Silence.
''Oh!''
Kori smiled. ''Yeah. Talking about analyzing, I have some samples. You know, for suspects? You told me that I should just call if I had anything.'' She cleared her throat. ''You think now is a good time for me to drop by?''
George nodded.
Kori pressed her ear against the phone, but she heard no response. ''Hello?''
''Yes! That's what I just said. Geeze.'' Then he muttered something about blondes, before hanging up. Good looking, but not very bright…Kori thought, placing the phone on the counter and writing 'XAVIER REDD'' in bold letters on the plastic bag. She slipped it in the pocket of her favorite pair of dark grey jeans and walked out the door, locking it securely.
The rail wobbled as she ran down the stairs and to the side walk. She started out by jogging her way to G.P.D that was just a block away from her school. Under the warm spring sun she took a deep breath of 'spring' air. You know its spring when it smells like poop.
Then a sad thought came to her mind; how would she do it all without Rachel by her side? She was always there to support her, but know when she needed her the most, Rachel thought that Kori was crazy. Or making things up.
I would never just make things up. I wouldn't fake my death either. She thought, soon out of breath.
She looked to her right and saw miss Rewolf, an eighty-four year old woman, watering her flowers. She was always up around nine or ten in the morning. Then Kori looked to her left and saw mister Esor taking care of his roses. Kori knew that mister Esor had a big crush on miss Rewolf. Of course he never dared to tell her. The only thing they had in common was their love for nature.
So, everytime miss Rewolf would go out and water her flowers, the old man would do the same and if he was lucky he would start a small conversation from the other side of the quiet street.
Then Kori came to a stop. There Gotham High stood, half of it burnt. The rest; badly damaged. She shook her head, feeling responsible for the fire that took place.
''How sad, isn't it?'' a sarcastic female voice said.
Kori looked behind her and rolled her eyes. ''Tell me about it, Barabra.'' She answered, not in the mood of starting a conversation.
Babs approached her, running her fingers through her blond hair many times. ''All of our books! Oh no.''
Kori shook her head.
''I can replace everything. I least I've got the money.'' She said, spitting and trying to chew her gum like a cow.
The red head took a deep breath. ''You'll do anything just to start a conversation in which you would make me the bad guy. First of all,'' she faced her. ''…it's not even your money because you wouldn't dare get a job in fear to brake nail of to mess your hair!'' she said, pretty confident. ''You're a hypocrite.''
Barbara started to steam. ''Look! Look at me Anders!'' she yelled, shaking her head, obviously trying to mess her hair. Instead, she was pulling out hair. ''I'm not afraid!''
''Barbara! Pull out your head for all I care!''
The blond stomped her foot on the sidewalk, braking her heal. Her eyes widened after realizing what happened. She quickly took her gum out of her mouth, almost the size of a golf ball, and tried to stick her heal back on her shoe. ''You're the hypocrite, Kori Anders!'' she yelled, with a squeaky voice. Walking away, she purposely brushed/hit her shoulder against Kori.
Kori raised an eyebrow, shocked to see how dumb she was. Looking at her walk away, she made a weird facial expression. Then, she yelled one last comment, ''…But you're the camel!'' obviously referring to her gate.
Barbara stopped and let out a loud, immature ''UGH!'' then continued her way back to nowhere's-ville. Kori glanced one more time at the school and crossed her arms on her chest. She looked at her shirt and saw more strands of hair. In this case it was blond hair.
It wouldn't hurt to check… Kori thought, jogging off once again holding the strand of hair delicately with her fingers.
She sprinted up the stairs and opened the big glass door to the old building made of brick and painted in a dark shade of green. Entering, people walked, ran and hurried everywhere. Papers flew from left to right, phones were ringing non stop and police officers were walking around and one walked towards Kori.
''I remember you.'' George said, leading her towards a silent hallway.
But right then, a voice could be heard from the entrance.
''Hey George!'' a male voice screamed. ''Look what I found, I thing he could help you for this knew soon-to-be-official case of yours!''
The police officer turned around to see who it was and without hesitation he smiled recognizing the man. ''Wilson! Nice to see you my man.'' He said, shaking hands in a friendly manner with him. ''So, what's this?'' he said pointing to the young man Wilson was holding strongly by the arm.
Kori turned around and her jaw completely DROPPED. Not entirely because it was Wilson, but the guy he was holding tightly was…Xavier! Her eyes widened as she looked apologetically at him. He didn't even look back towards Kori. He just stared at the floor, not even resisting Wilson's grip. She looked at the two men of the same height and wondered what she could do.
''So what's this little rat doing here?'' George asked, examining Xavier. He, on the other hand, look at the police officer/investigator straight in the eye after knowing that he had been related to a rat. Wilson tapped Xavier harshly on the back.
''Well, imagine that I found him trying to sneek in Miss Kori Anders apartment.''
Xavier opened his mouth, wanting to defend himself but Wilson cut him off.
''And I remembered that you had a case that might become 'official', involving our own Kori. So I figured he might be key to the case.''
George nodded. ''I guess it wouldn't hurt to put him under interrogation and heavy surveillance.'' He said, making sign to another officer to take him down a long halway.
Xavier narrowed his eyes and glanced at Kori. She looked at him apologetically and let him walk away without saying a word in his defense. Then she tried to listen at what George was telling Wilson. But she only picked up few words from his complete sentence.
''Thanks. The G.P.D can count on you.'' After shaking hands one last time, George led Kori down the same silent hallway as Xavier borrowed.
There were doors on each side then big tainted windows that followed each door. They walked for a couple of seconds, once George pulled out a key and unlocked a door to his right. Kori followed him as he entered with two other men. He pointed to the chair and she got the message that she could sit down. Then he opened his hand and pointed towards it meaning that he wanted the samples. Kori quickly undersood and handed him the plastic bag and the strand of blond hair, telling him it belonged to a Barbara Gordon.
After spelling out the name for him, Kori looked at him hand the bag to one man then he came back in and locked the door behind him. She hated being in one small room, in the precense of a police officer and an investigator that she hardly knew. To top it all off, the door was locked. There was no air vent to escape from, nor wobbly tile to sneak under. There was only a glass window, but too thick to break.
Of course she was exaggerating… but it couldn't hurt to think about it. Just in case… The only thing present in the small room was two police officers, Kori, a table, a chair and a camera monitoring Kori's every move and recording everything she said.
''Kori,''
Startled she answered with a frightened 'yes?'.
''This,'' he said pointing towards the second man, ''is Hank. He works here with me.'' Pause. ''You know this is serious.''
She nodded.
''Good. We would have some question to ask you…''
''Go ahead.'' She answered, not hesitating at all.
George walked around the room before asking, ''Do you believe you are being stalked, miss Anders? Or is this just part of your imagination? Wilson, is a good friend of the G.P.D and we know that we would always help us out. As you saw him, he brought someone that he thought could be a threat to you. You know, miss Anders, this could have been a simple robbery. Maybe Wilson was just sorry for you, and wanted to save you from the humiliation of coming here thinking that you were being stalked.''
Kori boiled up. ''I said this many times before and I'll say it again; I would never make things up! If this were a joke, I wouldn't find it funny at all! This is not my sense of humor, M. George. I came here with DNA samples and as you can see I am very serious about all of this.''
''May I remind you, Miss Anders, that every thing you are saying may and will be used against you in the court of justice.''
''I know very well what I am saying and I stand by it!''
''Very well, let us continue…''
Kori rolled her eyes. Not only did Rachel not take her seriously, but the G.P.D too?
''Wilson also told me about your over active imagination. He tells me you paint. Is that true?''
She nodded. ''It is true that I paint, but I do not have an over reactive imagination.''
''Well to paint you need imagination. Do chose a color you need imagination. To chose a style you need imagination. To picture a scene you need imagination.'' He said, his voice becoming louder and louder.
Kori exhaled loudly. ''And you must have a lot of imagination, to come up with so many ways to try and prove me wrong. Open your eyes, George,'' she said, almost trying to spit his name. ''why do you only concentrate on one side of the story? Wilson's side of the story?''
''Miss Anders, I am not. I am listening to you loud and clear. I am keeping what you are saying in mind.'' He took a brief pause. ''Know, please let go of M. Wilson. He is a respected man in this community and I will not let you ruin him just because of some childish joke.''
''This is not a joke!'' she screamed, slammed her fist on the table.
They both stayed silent. Hank didn't say a word either.
''You say the stalker has been leaving you clues. What kind of clues?''
Kori calmed down and made sure to have a low and soft voice before answering. ''There was the necklace, which is pretty obvious since he told me on our internet conversation—''
''What conversation?'' he asked, demanding an answer.
''Every time he wants to tell me something, he just opens a window and talks to me. He told me that I had a beautiful heart and that I should take care of it before I die.'' She didn't mention the difference between this message and the others, as Richard explained her. She wasn't sure if it could be reliable.
''Do you remember his e-mail?''
''Th-the identity was bloked.''
''His name?'' he asked, quickly.
''He only goes by 'First Floor'. That's all I know.''
The investigator slash police officer thought for a moment. ''Has he left you any other clues? Did he confront you?''
She nodded.
He hand signed for her to explain…
''He didn't exactly leave me anymore clues…not any that I can remember, though, but he has a way of tracking me down. Like, in a street or a hallway. He knows which school I go too, where I live...'' her voice faded away.
''Did you go to Gotham High, Miss Anders?'' he asked, curious.
She nodded.
George took a deep breath and nodded. ''And what about your confrontations? How tall was he? What was he wearing? When did he meet you? Did he have weapons? Did he threaten you?''
She thought for a moment. ''I think we 'met' twice, if I'm not mistaken. He did have a weapon, which was a knife. Pretty sharp, when I think about it… He was about average height and always wore a leather jacket and gloves…'' there was a small detail that she wanted to say but she kept on forgetting it. ''The first time, he tracked me down during the day. The second time, it was the complete opposite. I was walking home, in the evening.''
George raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes, looking at Hank. He seemed confused. ''And…and do you have something else to say before we finish here?''
She bit her lip. ''The other murders…could they be related? By the women? The evidence? Anything? Because I think that I –''
''Miss Anders, I respect your opinion, but know I really think your imagination is getting the best of you. Alright? I'll get you a coffee and I'll be back in about ten minutes to check on some…things. You can relax, we understand this is a moment of stress for you.'' He said, calmly walking out the door with Hank following him.
Kori sat there, silently. She didn't have anything to say. She just stared into the camera. Everything was just mad.
''Wilson is a hypocrite!''
Then man bent down to face him. Then he screamed in his face, ''Wilson is a respected man. You were brought in with charges and a witness. Let us ask you questions and if you answer honestly, this could go well for you.''
Xavier smirked in his face and sat back in his plastic chair. ''Go ahead and ask them, your damn questions. But whatever I say, you're going to try and twist it and put it against me. Right? The G.P.D doesn't help people it—''
''Did you or did you not try to sneak in her apartment?!'' the man yelled the question at Xavier.
Xavier shrugged. ''You say I sneaked in. I was going to get my coat. A friend of mine told me that my coat was at Kori's, because since he was out of town today, he asked Kori to give it to me. When I went to her apartment and she wasn't home, I was worried…and I wanted my coat. So I tried to get in, but then M.Wilson—''
''We know the rest.'' The police officer spat pacing back and forth. But he stopped once a man knocked at the door and came in. Asking for him, he made a hand sign for Xavier to wait, and he walked out the door.
Bending forward, Xavier tried to see what was happening but he could only see two silhouettes. Then one man handed the police officer something that seemed to be a folder of files, many papers and a plastic bag. Then he whispered something is the other man's ear and walked back in, locking the door behind him.
He placed a thin folder and two plastic bags on the table, visibly in front of Xavier. ''Look at it. Go ahead, don't be shy.'' The man said, opening the file that contained Xavier's picture, name, description, background, parents, telephone number… Then he saw his finger prints, numbers, and descriptions, anything that could identify him as Xavier Redd. He narrowed his eyes and looked up at the same man who kept on asking question and shook his head, meaning he didn't understand.
The man pointed to the bags. Xavier looked closely at them and saw that once contained a small strand of hair and another gold necklace. He cleared his throat. ''What is this?..''
The man sat down in front of him. ''Your name is Xavier Redd?''
He nodded.
''You go to Gotham High, know half burnt?''
He nodded.
''You know Kori Anders, don't you?''
''What's your point?!''
''Do you know her? Answer the question.'' He spat.
Xavier nodded, obviously not amused.
The man picked up the plastic bag that carried the necklace with a glove and put it visibly in front of Xavier. ''Did you or did you not leave this for Kori Anders, in front of her door two night ago?''
''Well…I guess, yeah.'' He answered, clearing his throat.
'' 'Well I guess yeah'? or YES?''
''YES! What do you want?!''
The man smiled proudly and stood up, looking down at Xavier. ''I think you're going to have to come with me.'' He said, taking out a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket.
please review thankk you. )