The Altercations With Distance

Whips, Belts, and Cigarette Burns

Photo by the talented LizRenKnight

Multiple police officers ran up to Elizabeth, all tripping over each other to help her. They sat her down in a chair and she broke down in tears. "The Fear Monger!" She cried. "He kidnapped me! I escaped, but I'm so scared!!" Richards was watching over the scene, but didn't think much of it until she spoke. The Fear Monger had her? Unbelievable. He would never let one of his victims go. Not unless he had a plan.

Richards pushed himself to the front of the line and looked down at the girl. "How do you know it was the Fear Monger?" Elizabeth couldn't help but think this guy was handsome. But she had to cut that idea out. She was supposed to be crying. 

"Because I was locked in a room with his victims." She sobbed.

By then, Clark had overheard the commotion and went over to Richards. "We'll need you to come with us." He told Elizabeth, helping her to her feet. They went to the bullpen and a officer quickly covered all the photos of the victims. Richards walked closely behind, studying this girl. She was barefoot and dirty, yet her feet weren't bleeding. She must not have walked far. But that would mean the Fear Monger was close, which was impossible. There were no building around that would give him the privacy he needed.

Clark helped Elizabeth sit down before he took a seat across from her. "My name is Detective Clark. What's your name, dear?"

 Elizabeth kept her eyes down and tried to play the role of the scared victim, which wasn't hard for her to do. "E-Elizabeth M- Morgan." Richards recognized that name immediately. 

"Elizabeth Morgan? The girl who went missing a little over five months ago?"

Richards knew that name from the missing registry. She was flagged as a possible Fear Monger victim. 

"The very one." She replied. Clark and Richards exchanged a look. Why keep her that long? Why didn't he kill her? Richards went over to a file cabinet and grabbed two separate folders. One had the victims and one was teens who were flagged as possible victims. Richards mixed up the photos as Clark talked to Elizabeth.

Richards spread out ten photos on the table: six victims and four possible. "Can you point out any of the people who were locked up with you?" Elizabeth made her way over to the other side of the table and looked at the pictures. Elizabeth was only held with a couple of the Beast's victims, but Dennis and her reviewed all victims and their faces before she left the holding cage.
Elizabeth picked out the six teens at a moderate pace to not look over eager. She let out a sob after she finished identifying the victims to keep up with the charade. She knew the detectives weren't expecting her to pass like she did. Oh, how little they knew....

Elizabeth took a seat and looked at the clock. Only ten. She had six hours left before she had to start her part of the plan. The detectives went to a far corner in the room and began whispering. Elizabeth couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew knew that by now they had to have been tracking where she came from and her past. Clark took his seat across from her and stared her straight in the eyes.

"Did you see his face? See any identifying marks when you escaped?" Elizabeth shook her head and let more tears fall. 

"No. He kept me in a dark room. Only one light bulb. The people who were with me, we had to look at each other right under that bulb. We made a promise to remember each other, just in case one of us escaped." Elizabeth thought she was killing it as an escape victim. She wanted to pat herself on the back for her brilliant acting performance. But there was no time for that.