The night was drawing to an end, the morning sun was chasing the moon, the stars punctuated the darkness that existed amongst the light pollution. Adam Kane was prowling the streets of Queens. The 39 year old was hunting. He knew exactly where he was going, he'd followed her home every day this week.
The door knob turned easily, he knew it would. Adam made his way in to the house, it was dark inside, his eyes adjusted quickly. The door lead on to the kitchen, manoeuvring around the kitchen table he found himself in the family room, the stairs were off to the right. The stairs, he was on the edge of glory just thinking about his next move. An excited wave washed over his body, his blood coiled in his veins. Tonight was the night.
Walking up the stairs, he felt every heartbeat in his chest, he licked his thin lips, every creak on the stairs, he found himself flushing with adrenaline. 'This is it' he thought to himself, his face cracked as a smile spread across his face.
Cora Hardgreeve had been asleep for 4 hours, the electronic alarm clock sat on the bedside table, the digits illuminated the room red, '01:04'. Cora tossed and turned, her nightmares had been getting progressively worse over the past few weeks. '01:05' read the clock, Cora lifted her head slightly, looking at the time, she sighed heavily. "Still time to dream" she grumbled to herself, she threw her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes. She hadn't seen the man in the darkened doorway. He closed the door, Cora had already drifted off into her nightmare. She moaned slightly flicking her head from side to side.
'01:07' Cora awoke in a state of panic, sweat dripped from her brow down in to her hairline. She was unusually hot, attempting to rollover, something solid and warm stopped her. Averting her eyes only to the darkness that lay beside her, she opened her mouth to scream, unsure if she was still in the middle of a nightmare, but a giant, gloved hand protruded her mouth. She was rendered voiceless, a muffled scream attempted an escape, but failed.
'01:09' Cora's eyes fixated on the clock, the huge, hot man clumsily climbed on top of her, he held a cold object to her throat.
"Scream and you will die". His voice was thick, his breath smelt like cigarettes. Adam Kane had purchased handcuffs from a small sexual orientated shop just hours before, he pushed a pair Cora's own under garments in her mouth before hand cuffing her hands to the decorative metal bars on her head board. Her legs were slowly losing feeling, the longer this giant straddled her, the more the fear and sickness brewed in her 13 year old body. She was petrified, like a deer in headlights, her stunned body lay perfectly still. Exactly how he'd planned.
'01:13' Cora could only wish she was in a nightmare as Adam began raping her. As much as Cora tried to scream, her voice failed her, burning tears ran down her cheeks as Adam continued. The young girl had started to gag, her body started palpitating as she tried to throw up, the constant pain had taken it's toll on her body. As the hot, acidic vomit made it's way up Cora's throat, it hit the fabric barrier and was forced backwards. Cora began to choke.
"What? What's wrong?" Eric Hardgreeve asked running in to his daughter's room, he'd heard his wife scream. There before them lay the grey body of their daughter. The reality of the scene caught up with Sandra Hardgreeve, she ran out the room and in to the bathroom where she vomited.
"Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler, Special Victims Unit" Olivia Benson said as she talked to the officer that stood guard in front of the Hardgreeve family home.
Both detectives walked in to the house, nothing seemed out of place downstairs. The call hadn't been too specific. A body was found with suspected sexual assault, neither Olivia or Elliot could have braced themselves for what they were about to see.
As they entered the child's room, shock hit both of the experienced detectives. The body of Cora lay on the bed, her petit hands strapped above her head with cheap handcuffs, ligature marks were evident. She'd fought.
Olivia bent down to the level of the bed, her heart broke a little every time she saw an innocent child snatched from life. "She has hesitation marks on her neck".
"Her legs and inner thighs are covered in blood". Elliot said as he lowered the forensic sheet once more.
"She was a virgin". Olivia stood up and brushed her hair out of her face with her fingers.
Melinda Warner entered the room, she saw the young girl and sighed. "Poor baby" she said as she set down her medical kit next to the bed.
"I'm going to talk to the mother" Olivia said, she couldn't stand to be in the room anymore.
"Mrs Hardgreeve, my name's Olivia Benson, I'm with the Special Victims Unit. Can I ask you a couple questions about your daughter?"
Mrs Hardgreeve nodded, her arms remained folded across her chest, her face had lost most of it's colour, she looked sick. Her eyes were red and puffy, they held so much emotion and yet they portrayed strength. Olivia walked with Sandra out on to the drive way, an array of people had stopped at the entrance gate desperate to see what was going on.
"Mrs Hardgreeve" Olivia began.
"Please, Sandra"
"Sandra, can you tell me what happened?"
"Cora went to bed early last night, she's been having nightmares". Tears threatened Sandra's speech but she held it together. "I came in to her room this morning, she goes to soccer practice every Saturday". Sandra could no longer hold back her tears, they filled her eyes, and fell just as quickly. "She just wanted a good nights sleep".
Eric had seen his wife in distress and had come to her aid, he opened his arms, in which she fell into them, her tears overwhelmed her body. Eric wrapped his arms around her, she cried muffled words in to his chest.
Elliot had made his way to the drive way, he stood next to Olivia. "She was only 13". He spoke with a fake detachment, he tried to stay disconnected, but his emotions always ran high when it came to children.
Olivia and Elliot left the crime scene and headed back to the 1 – 6 precinct.
As both the detectives entered the squad room a sickly silence made the atmosphere thick and uneasy. Olivia exchanged a look with her partner. Elliot walked over to Fin Tutuola, he stood by his desk, he spoke quietly,
"Hey, what's going on?"
"You took a case this morning right? Young girl, raped in her house?"
Elliot nodded confirming Fin was right. "So did me and Munch". Fin said matter of factly.
Elliot turned to face Olivia, his shock had to be plastered on his face, she instantly knew something was wrong.
Meeting each other between Olivia's desk and Fin's desk, Elliot spoke quietly again. "There's two victims".
Olivia's gaze dropped from Elliot's eyes, to her fellow SVU brothers. "Same guy?" She asked.
"It's possible". Elliot replied.
The tension in the squad room lingered like thick fog throughout the day. Benson, Stabler, Tutuola and Munch sat at their desks, both sets of partners had their crime scene photos delivered. All of them hesitated standing up.
"Every part of me hopes this is the same son ova bitch, I don't think I could handle two crazed sickos out there". Fin said in a slightly mumble.
Elliot nodded slightly, "We're all hoping the same thing" he replied.
Olivia began laying out the photos from the Hardgreeve house, Cora Hardgreeve took ownership of the right side of the board, Chelsea Lava-Carter, aged 14 took the left side.
The detectives stood back after pinning the photos to the board, the air somehow managed to thicken more so.
"They're identical". Elliot pointed out.
"It's the same perp". Olivia said, her expression changed, half her body relaxed knowing there was only one crazed perp out there.
Both of the girls were of a young age, although, in appearance, the victims had no similarities.
"The crime scene almost looks staged" Munch observed, "Both of the girls are in the same position" he was about to continue when Melinda Warner entered the squad room.
"Hey guys, I've got something for you". Melinda handed over the initial report for both of the victims.
"Must be good, it's unusual for you to grace with your presence". Munch said with a smug, yet fetching smile.
Melinda side nodded in his direction, "Both girls were virgins, my initial report would suggest they both asphyxiated on their own vomit. They were restrained and both had a pair of their own panties pushed in their mouths. The pain would have caused them to convulse, and vomit, due to the fabric in their mouths, they suffocated".
"They choked to death" Elliot said dumbing it down.
Melinda nodded, "When I have more for you, I'll give you a call". She was about to turn around when she remembered a crucial detail. "Your perp didn't use a condom, there's seminal fluids in both of the girls".
I apologise if there are any misplaced words or spelling mistakes. It's 2am, I got so in to writing this, both my beta readers are sleeping! Please R&R – It means a lot to me to get your feedback.