Privet Eie

U.S.M: part 4

On the other side of town, a bloodied and broken Saundr woke up tied to a chair.

"Good, you're up." A female voice spoke from behind her.

Saundra struggled for a moment before going still, "Sprite, please..."

A blunt object hit the floor, too close to Saundra's feet, "I am not Sprite. My mother is dead, you watched it. I wasn't there that day, lest I'd have stopped it, yet it is your fault all the same"

"A...daughter?" But Sprite was so young...

"Mother was the victim of r@p3 at the young age of 10, I almost shared her fate, but as of now, I can avenge hers"

"I didn't kill your mother, and even then, why kill all those other people?"

"I want you to suffer, your poor detective friend will never put the pieces together, I'm a mystery. I spread the clues for you, so I can teach you how my mother felt. I heard the story of how you looked at her in horror..."

"I..."

"No more, I will torture you, I will slowly rip your life away, then I will tear out your heart, as you did to her..."

"At least...what is your name?"

"Clover"

"Pretty name..." another bat swung down and Saundra returned to darkness.

Privet had done it. He understood everything, and now he was attempting to track Saundra's kidnapper through the streets. CCTV from across the street had caught a grey truck pulling away from the hotel, and further probing had proved that traffic cameras were useful. Privet began to switch between cameras, following the truck until finally, it idled into the door of a large warehouse.

"I've got you now."

He grabbed some SSS agents and hopped into a discreet black van, speeding off towards the warehouse. As he arrived, he motioned for the door to be blown down. As the ram broke the door, Privet drew his pistol and rushed in, entering a maze of hallways and rooms.

As the SSS agents and Privet moved through the building, Privet broke off to explore one way, at the protest of the other agents, alone. He weaved his way through the mass of walls, following a mild trail of blood. He didn't know why he had gone alone- maybe to prove himself, or maybe because he might have to do the unthinkable. The trail finally stopped at a set of metal double doors. On the other side, Privet could hear soft, maniacal laughter. He steeled himself and burst through the door, to see a young girl of maybe 12 years old, a crazed look in her eyes, holding a knife to a terrified Saundra's heart. Both girls looked up as Privet entered, and the knife stabbed ever so slightly farther into Saundra, who let out a yelp.

"How did you find me?!" The girl shrieked, a manic glint in her eyes.

"I followed Saundra's clues to Sprite, then I remembered the first time I saw your mother's office, there was a torn picture and a newspaper about a victim of rape, I just put two and two together to get here, the stab victims were for the heartbreak your mother felt, and the hangings symbolized her suicide. The West-to-east thing was just a red herring. You also should be more conspicuous about underage driving, that truck was swerving all over. What I want to know is why? You couldn't have had a very good relationship with your mom, else why was the picture torn? And two, I'm going to have to arrest you"

"First of all, I had a great relationship with my mom! We just...didn't talk very much, but we still loved each other! The picture was torn because I wanted a picture of myself to give to someone else. And three? You move and she dies," the girl gestured to Saundra.

Saundra looked between her assailant and Privet.

"Clover please!"

As the knife slipped into her body, Privet let off a single shot, and the air went silent. Saundra had passed out and was now bleeding, Privet radioed in paramedics and the rest of his crew, and went to look over Clover. He had shot her right between the eyes, with no hesitation, what did that say about him? He acknowledged that it was the right thing to do and moved on, tending to Saundra, who the paramedics said would be ok, but barely.

A quick funeral was held for Clover, and the president gave a speech for those who fell to Clover's sadistic rage. He also gave a medal to Saundra and Privet, while profusely thanking them for all their help. Meanwhile, the two detectives just went through the motions, getting on the plane and flying home, they said their goodbyes, and each went to their respective homes. Saundra lay awake, wondering what could have been different, while Privet wondered how Sherlock did this, every day...and if he'd have the strength to do the same.

End