Offended

Chapter XXVII

Warning: this chapter includes and mentions blood/murder/sexual assault. If you feel uncomfortable reading this, feel free to jump ahead or not read this chapter entirely. Stay safe :)

SleepyFerret

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The sound of the engine got louder and louder as Alex pressed her foot down in the gas pedal. She felt the muscles in her leg cramp up, but didn't pay it any mind. Luckily for her, the streets were mostly empty, since most people decided to hide from the rain in their warm and cozy houses and apartments, probably wrapped up in a warm blanket, reading a book or watching a movie.

Alex ran a red light, the traffic light illuminating her face in a red glow for just a second. The rain was coming down hard now, big water droplets falling down onto the car.

She was mentally beating herself up inside. Of course, it should have been Tolkwood! No other forest has ever made her feel more watched and vulnerable then that one. But maybe that was the reason why she couldn't bear to go there. That scary feeling of vulnerability made her bravery falter.

She had been on this case for more than half a year now. Day and night she would sit at her desk, reading and re-reading eye witness accounts, autopsies of those who were unfortunate enough to meet their end at the hands of that monster. Alex remembered how her eyes would start to hurt as they got dry from staring at her computer screen, brightness all the way up, even when it was late at night, her gaze transfixed on every single spot of the recording just waiting for that thing to slip up and show up on camera. Some days she was successful, some days she wasn't. Given the lack of evidence, the detective usually had to trust her gut and make decisions that were not supported by proof since there was barely any in the first place.

The sound of the radio spurting to life in a cacophony of static made the woman snap out of her daydream, her eyes shot wide open as her finally processed that she was, indeed, driving. Alex felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as a cold breeze swept in from the still open window above the passenger seat. The woman craned her neck, trying to see the road, her view obscured by the small rivers of water cascading down the glass in front of her and the black windshield wipers moving from side to side, the sound of old rubber rubbing against the window made the detective cringe inside.

John desperately needs a new car.

With a quick turn, Alex pulled over to the side, the entrance to Tolkwood forest a few feet ahead of her. The sound of rain became deafening when she turned off the engine. The ground beneath her feet had already turned to mud and she felt herself slip before holding onto the car door to stabilize herself.

The sound of another car parking nearby made the detective stand up straight and dash towards the entrance into the forest, already knowing that it was the inspector that had arrived.

"Alexandra Milford, I order you to stop!" – she heard him yell, which only made her run faster and deeper into the woods.

The pathway was narrow, the dirt beneath now slippery, the mud caking her boots in an instant, making it that much harder to run. Her legs felt like they were on fire, the cold air only amplifying that effect, but she tried to ignore it to the best of her abilities.

"Alexandra Milford!" – inspector Wright yelled again from behind her.

The detective could imagine just how uncomfortable this whole ordeal is to the inspector, having to run around in the woods with one of his most prized suits on.

"He deserves it," – she thought to herself as she turned onto a different path to lose him.

She stopped in her tracks when her gaze landed on a girl slowly walking down the path. They both froze when they saw one another.