shadows of the past [bughead]

Chapter 2: Between missing you and decent behavior

When Betty arrived at home no one was there. Her mother was out somewhere and she felt unsettled knowing that son of a bitch was still out there as well, killing and torturing women. She had to catch him. What happened to her was her own fault. Glen, had told her over and over again how she could have lost her job right there, going into the cave without backup or permission and that she was lucky that he only put her on desk duty and not into a mental facility. She had rolled her eyes at him when he said that.

"I'm not crazy, Glen. I don't need help.", she told him again and again when he scheduled regular appointments with a therapist.

"You could have died.", he reminded her every single time as if she didn't know. As if the TBK hadn't let her known that countless times. He was going to kill her and she knew that it was a miracle how the FBI managed to save her in time.

He insisted on making her go. Betty wasn't sure if it was because he cared for her or because it was mandatory but either way she didn't have a choice. She went in regularly, yet it didn't help. She knew exactly that that was on her because she wouldn't open up about what happened but she just couldn't. Instead, she found herself learning about coping mechanism for her nightmares that didn't work either and when she couldn't listen to that woman's voice anymore she started lying about not having them anymore, figuring that it wouldn't help anyways.

Every night, before falling asleep, she forced herself to look at the files that she managed to take home from the office. Every night, she went over them again and again, making sure they hadn't missed a detail, hoping she could make sense of the information they had gathered so far. There were pictures of lifeless and scattered bodies, victims they couldn't have saved, no matter how hard they tried, facilities they were kept in and there were pictures of her, of her wounds and scars, her naked body, her bruises. She flinched at the memory and turned to the next page while her body shivered.

She always wondered how much of a mistake it was to go in there alone. She knew it was wrong to go against orders and it did in fact get her kidnapped and help him escape but she could have saved someone if she went in there just a few minutes earlier. The girl she was trying to safe was her own age and she had promised her mother that she would bring her home. But she failed. When she got to the cave, the girl was already dead and as she looked at her lifeless body, she got surprised without being prepared.

When she opened her eyes, she felt a sharp pain on her skull. She groaned and noticed her blurry vision when trying to make sense of her surroundings. It was almost completely dark but she was able to sport a small light somewhere to her left. She was sitting on hard ground and everything felt cold and wet. There were paddles all around her and she could hear water dropping down somewhere. As she tried to lift herself up she got pulled back. Her hands where cuffed to the wall and she was trapped. Memories flooded her mind and she remembered where she was. She wanted to save that girl. No, no. She saw her. She was- Betty gulped at the events that had happened. The Trashbagkiller had hit her on the head before she could do anything.

She tried to free herself to the point where blood dripped down her arm from all the pulling and she realized that it wasn't going to work. Her head fell back against the wall and she cursed. Fuck.

Suddenly, a figure started appearing out of the dark, laughing as he made his way towards her. The man was wearing a dark, full body suit and a mask which hid all his facial features, making him unrecognizable. Tears started forming in her eyes as fear took over her body, knowing exactly what he did to his victims.

He came closer until he was inches away from her face and his hand wandered to her hair, loosening her ponytail and tucking her hair behind her ear.