The Altercations With Distance

Men in Blue

Thirty more people were killed by the Fear Monger in the next five months. No leads were ever found, no new breaks on the case. Just more teens strung up with new taunting messages and missing flesh. The FBI took over the case, but they weren't having anymore luck than Clark and Richards. Then men continued to consult on the case, but they weren't much use.

Richards became obsessed with finding the Fear Monger. He spent every waking moment looking over the case. His house became a sort of shrine to the Fear Monger, every photo of every murder ever committed was hanging in at least one room in the house. Richards often found himself dreaming of meeting the man behind his obsession. They would meet and talk about all the things they had in common.

Richards once dreamt that they killed together. A girl, no older than 15 was their victim and Richards was the one to deliver the killing blow. The feeling Richards got from that dream was the best feeling he had ever gotten in his whole life. He woke up yearning to recapture that feeling. That's when his real obsession with the Fear Monger begin. He didn't want to capture him, no, he wanted to kill with him. He wanted to breathe the same air as his hero.

Richards would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about killing after his dream. Stage a scene like the Fear Monger and hope that his idol would see what he did for him. That his idol would take him in as a student and teach him about the art of killing. Richards even began finding girls he wanted to kill and tracking them. He would stalk them for hours on end, touching himself at the thought of killing them. The rush of following the girls got him excited, but what made him came was fantasizing about taking their life and setting the scene to match the Fear Monger's. 

He didn't let anyone know his true intentions about the Fear Monger. They wouldn't be able to understand his connection with the serial killer. He would be deemed insane, a traitor to the badge. But perhaps he was the one thinking straight. The kids the Fear Monger killed were nobodies to society. Just a bunch of brats who probably never suffered a hard day in their life. Maybe the Fear Monger had the right idea in killing those little brats.

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While his partner was becoming obsessed with the Fear Monger, Clark was busy with trying to get Lavender to settle down. He surprised her with the offer to pay for her college tuition  and a room at his apartment for no cost. "Just being around you is enough." He told her, expecting an immediate acceptance on his offer. But she refused. She refused it all. She wasn't ready to settle down. Especially not with Clark.

Lavender had grown rather attached to her job and she wasn't​ ready to leave now. She never asked for Clark to do any of this for her. Whenever he asked about her future she would lie and say she was saving up for college. It was a way to earn more money. Lavender knew Clark was in love with her, she often used that to her advantage, but she never felt the same way.

Clark was disappointed at first, but he continued to pay for her services week after week just so he could be around her. The first few times they saw each after she broke his heart, Clark was distant and cold. He was rough with her, something he had never been before. Lavender left his apartment with bruises on her arms and thighs the first few months. Then it escalated to her wrists, thighs, and her hips. Now Lavender was lucky if she left with even one part of her torso untouched.

Clark was under a lot of stress at work and Lavender rejecting him didn't help his overall mood. He was trapped in a bubble that was impenetrable by anyone. His focus was on finding the Fear Monger, but once the FBI took over his case he lost the one thing that kept him together. Every move he made regarding the case had to be overseen and approved by the new men in charge. Clark was demoted to lackey and he was not thrilled about it.

But since Clark and Richards weren't as close as they used to be, he didn't have anyone to complain with or understand the situation he was in. Clark felt alone and that lead him to drink more often. And the drinking plus the way he felt at work started building up an anger inside of him that could only be resolved by punching somebody. Unfortunately, that somebody turned out to be Lavender.

A part of Clark knew what he was doing was wrong, but he just didn't care anymore. She rejected him. Lied to him. Clark had a suspicion that she told all her whore friends and they laughed about him behind his back. So whenever she cried and told him he was being too rough and that he was hurting her, that's what he thought about. Then he would grab her tightly by the hair, jerk her head back, and whisper, "If you think this is rough, you haven't felt anything yet." 

Then he would make sure she knew the real definition of rough.

After their sessions, Clark would make sure to remind Lavender how nobody would believe a slut like her if she tried to tell the cops. Lavender once tried not coming when he called and scheduled her. The next night, Clark hunted her down, raped and beat her until she was bleeding out of every orifice. Then he laid her flat on her stomach and placed his gun at the back of her head. 

"If you ever pull this shit again, this gun will do a lot worse than what it's going to do now." Clark proceed to rape her with his gun, scaring Lavender that at any moment it could go off inside her.

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Richards and Clark weren't always like this. They were once average police detectives who were friends. They hadn't done anything like this before. There hadn't been a history of murderer worship or assault. But a high profile case changes a man. Spending hours looking at dead bodies and chasing a ghost would make anyone go a little bit.... insane.