Aurora Gayle - The Pregnancy

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost Aria! Are you okay? Why are your hands shaking?” she asks.

I’m unable to answer as I watch this stranger lying on my bed, sniffing my sheets and pillows. I catch a glimpse of his face and a logo. I recognize the logo as the West Virginia Mountaineers logo. I would know that logo anywhere; my ex-boyfriend was from West Virginia and he was obsessed with the team. His face isn’t very clear so I pause the footage and magnify it a bit. I recognize him as the man I had seen in the elevator on February 25 th. How did he get in?

“Aria, what’s going on? You look kinda pale!” my mother said with an extreme look of concern on her face. I rewind the footage and hand over my phone to her so that she can see.

“Oh my gosh!” she cried. “We have to call the police right away.” She moves speedily to get her purse. “I’ve got a business card from one of the detectives; its somewhere in here.” She fished around in her purse until she found the card and called the detective. I listened as she gave an account of what we saw from the camera footage.

“The detectives are coming over here in a few minutes. They will need a copy of the footage for the investigation. The hospital already told them that they found GHB in your system too.”

I give a simple nod of acknowledgement. “I’ve seen him before” I say.

“Who? That creep in the video?”

“Yes.”

Mom moves over to hug me. “They will get him!” she said reassuringly.

When the detectives arrive, I tell them that I’ve seen the guy before. “I think he lives in my building” I say. I tell them about the West Virginia Mountaineers cap and sweatshirt that he wore. I omit the fact that I only remembered him though a hypnosis session. I tell myself that they don’t need to know that. The detectives look at the footage; they take notes and they ask me to forward a copy of the video footage to them. As soon as they leave, I send them a copy of all the footage that the camera has captured so far. I continued to watch the video of the guy in my bedroom, examining everything that he did. I hit rewind to see how he entered my apartment. I’m shocked when I realize he opens with a key. He opens my fridge and stares into it for a few minutes. He seems to be looking for something but he does not move anything around in the fridge. He just stares into it in the strangest way. I re-watch the scene in my bedroom until my mother convinces me to put my phone away. “Let the police do their job honey”, she said.

I obey her, moving to the far corner of the room where a bunch of chargers are plugged in. I set my phone to charge and try to watch a movie with my mom but all I can think about is the man in my apartment.

The next morning mom and I dress to go out for breakfast. Food is the last thing on my mind but I figure it will be good to get out of the hotel for a bit. We stop at a coffee shop to get something to eat. While waiting for our hot beverages to cool down a bit and for our food to arrive, my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number but I answer anyway. When I answer I realize that it’s Ramona from the bank calling to give an update on the investigation involving the charges to my account. After apologizing profusely, she tells me that the charges were due to fraudulent activity and that the police are now involved. All the charges to my account have been refunded and suspects were apprehended by the police. When I ask who the suspects are she tells me that she can’t disclose but that the police will be in contact with me very soon regarding same. I thank her and turn to mom to tell her the news.

“Mom they found the person who stole money out of my account. Ramona said the cops will speak to me about it soon,” I say.

“That’s great. I wonder if it’s the same guy from the video.”

I sigh, “I guess we’ll find out soon.”

And indeed we did find out soon. Before finishing our breakfast, my phone started ringing. It was the same detective handling the investigation concerning the intruder in my apartment and the GHB that was found in our system. He wanted us to come down to the station to talk. I told him we would get there in about twenty minutes.

I stuffed the last bit of a croissant into my mouth and gulped down my coffee. I waited for mom to finish her meal and then we headed down to the station to meet the detective.

I’m shivering as I sit in the cold waiting room of the Police station. A dark, slim man who I recognise as the detective from the hotel yesterday approaches. He leads us into a small cramped office down a narrow hallway. He invites us to sit and offers a drink. Mother and I say we’re good and proceed to sit. Another detective joins him and I feel a bit claustrophobic with the four of us in such a tiny office. I notice the name Ian Sandler on the desk. I had never paid attention to his name before. I wondered what the name of the other detective was.

Detective Sandler starts by telling me about the fraudulent transactions in my bank account. He tells us that it was masterminded by three individuals. I freeze when hear him call Sadie and Monique’s names. My signature was forged by Sadie and Monique and given to a man named Trayvon Jones for encashment. Trayvon Jones used a fake ID in the name, “Devin Anderson” to cash the cheques. They split the money equally among them.

I still can’t believe what I’m hearing. I trusted Sadie so much. She was like my sister, always there for me and likewise I was always there for her. I had to wonder what else she might have done.

The detective went on to talk about the other part of the investigation. Using facial recognition software and DNA found on the contaminated items in my fridge; they were able to apprehend a suspect. Danny Greenmire the son of the owner of my apartment complex; confessed to putting the date rape drug in my bottled water during interrogation. He had a bunch of mini cameras placed on objects around the apartment and was secretly watching me for months. That explained how he knew that I always drank a bottle of water before bedtime. Once the drugs had kicked in, he would come to my apartment with a master key that he copied from the office and rape me repeatedly. The police had him in custody but I still felt unsafe and dirty. The harsh reality hit me in the face; Danny Greenmire, a rapist, was the father of my baby.

Even though the police had given me answers to the questions I had for weeks. I still had many more questions. Why did Danny Greenmire pick me? The police said that I was his only victim, but why me? I also could not understand why Sadie and Monique had betrayed me. Against my better judgement and my mother’s advice, I called Sadie. She was out on bail and too ashamed to go anywhere, plus I did not want to ever see her again. I just wanted to know why.

I dial Sadie’s number and she answers on the second ring. There is a long pause before she says, “Hello”.

I have to take a minute to compose myself. I feel like cursing her out and hanging up the phone but I know that would not give me the answers that I was seeking, it would only aggravate me more.

I breathe loudly into the phone, “hello Sadie”. My voice sounds cool and composed but on the inside there’s a storm of emotions threatening to erupt. Before I could say anything else she speaks.

“Ari I know what Monique and I did was really wrong. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I’m really sorry that I hurt you like that.”

Tears began to well up in my eyes and I was thankful that she couldn’t see me. “Why Sadie? I just want to know why you guys would do that to me. I was literally at my lowest point. We were like sisters, why did you betray me like that?”