Running.
She keeps on running through the darkness, rain and tears dripping down her face as she tries to find a way out of here. She has no clue where she's going, she just knows she's in danger.
When she sees the road just ahead she thinks she might be home free and starts shouting for help towards any upcoming cars. She shouts and pleas for someone, anybody out there. She's running so fast, she doesn't see the log beneath her feet and trips, hearing the bone in her ankle snap.
She screams in pain but continues to crawl towards the road. However, the mud proved difficult to get away fast as well as fighting through the aching in her foot.
When she sees him walking up to her in a calming manner, she screams again.
"Go away! Leave me alone! Please!"
She tries to crawl and escape again, but it's too late once he grabs her by the hair and lifts her up. She sobs as she sees the knife in his other hand and closes her eyes, praying that it'll all be over soon.
Seth doesn't really like coming to this bar. Nothing but a bunch of gamblers and drunks who wanna pick a fight with you the second they think you gave them a funny look. Seth didn't drive a whole town over for nothing, though. He was here for work purposes and if he knew his colleague of six years well enough, chances are he was here.
Stepping out suit and all, he makes his way into the bar only to be met with the smell of cigarette smoke. Too many people in the bar tonight for Seth to spot him right away, but he'll find him.
Seth waves to one of the bartenders to get her attention and notices some of the dirty glances some of the customers give him. Must be the suit.
The woman gives him a surprised, yet pissed expression. "Seth freakin' Rollins. What brings you by?"
"Hey, Natalya. You're lookin' good. I came by here hoping to find Finn. He refuses to answer my calls, but knowing him, he's most likely here."
Natalya looks away for a second, then back to him. "He's not here."
"You're a terrible liar, Nattie. I need to know where Finn is. This is about work. A young woman was murdered the other day."
Natalya sighs and drops the facade. "He's upstairs. Just finished a game of poker."
Seth rolls his eyes and thanks Natalya before heading upstairs. He finally feels like he's able to breathe with the absence of smoke and easily spots his friend sitting in the corner of the room.
He's known Finn Balor for a long time now. Seth would even consider him as his best friend. These past few months though, they haven't been easy on either of them. Seth was still in the law enforcement business as a detective. Finn, well, it was hard to tell these days. Finn was called one of the best detectives in the department and one day it all changed. Now he just sits in this bar and gambles away.
But Seth wasn't here to dwell on the past. He was here to deal with an issue in the present.
Finn didn't even seem to notice Seth was here until Seth pulled away his glass of alcohol. Seth wanted to smile at the frown Finn gave him, almost as if no time has passed between them at all. Seth missed teasing him like this.
"What're you doing here?" Finn asked.
Seth could smell the alcohol on his breath. "What, a man can't visit his old colleague to share a beer with?"
"You hate drinking."
Seth shrugged and sat down. "Wanted to see how you were doing. It's been a few months since we just sat down and talked."
Finn observed him before pulling back his drink. "You're in a suit. You're here for work, not to chit-chat about the weather and how I'm feeling. What's really going on here, Rollins?"
Finn was too smart sometimes. Seth concluded that showing up in his suit was probably a bad idea. Of course Finn was going to find out he was here for anything but chatting. Nevertheless, he tried to keep the conversation civil. Finn had become very irritable these past few months.
"You're right, I'm here for work. Chief Flair said we might need you back for this recent case that has come up. She asked me to seek you out because you're the best guy for the job."
"I'm retired, Seth."
"You're not retired, you're on a leave of absence. And Charlotte thinks now is the time for you to come back. She even said she'd be willing to raise your pay."
"Tell her I'm not interested. What do they need me for? You're a detective too. Are you suddenly not good enough for the chief?"
"Finn, please. A young woman was found dead a few days ago. We might have an idea, but we can't say for sure if we have all our questions answered. The way we found her...Finn, it was horrible."
"I'm not interested. And it sounds like you all have everything covered down there. I was doing just fine before you came over here to force me back into work. Now, please leave."
Seth pounded his fist on the table and sighed. "Charlotte and I think this has a link to your old case."
Finn immediately stopped drinking. His old case was the last one he had before his leave of absence. It was a series of deaths around the area that were so similar that they concluded that it was the work of a serial killer. Unfortunately, Finn was never able to solve the case. He considered it the biggest failure of his career. And now it seems like the death has reoccurred.
"What...what do you mean it has a link?"
"The way we found the girl. The way she was killed. Knife through the torso. Head bashed in. Sound familiar? This isn't some local murder, Finn. This is your case."
Finn stared back at him. "Any leads?"
"Eh, maybe. Victim was apparently out with friends then just vanished. The only family we found out she had was an older brother, so he could be a suspect. But at the moment, his alibi seems plausible. We're still questioning the friends, but I think it's safe to check them out. But who knows how long it's gonna be before we have another body show up. The public is already becoming angered with our lack of progress. That's why I'm here, Finn. You know the case better than I do, you have the best inkling of what we're dealing with."
"Seth...you know what happened to me last time I worked on this case. I lost a colleague, a friend. I lost Elias. If I couldn't save Elias, what makes you think I can save any further victims?"
Seth decided to get up and wrap a reassuring arm around his friend. Elias's death was hard on everyone in the department, but it was the hardest on Finn. Elias was the one guy who worked on the case alongside Finn and was his closest companion, but one day Elias got too deep into the investigation. He disappeared for three days until he was found dead by Finn himself. Ever since then, his friend had never been the same.
Their chief of police, Charlotte, found it best to send Finn away on a leave of absence while they tried their best to pick up the pieces of the investigation and try to find the murderer responsible. Unfortunately, these past few months had seem hopeless. Even with the death of one of their own detectives, the department never found the killer. And Finn during it all had fallen in love with the bottle.
"This time can be different, Finn. I know Elias's death still hurts you. It still hurts me too. We never knew something like that could happen. But please listen. This can be our way of avenging Elias, making sure he didn't die in vain. We still have time to catch this creep and face his crimes. But I can't do this without your help, Finn. There's only so much I know about this case. Please. If not for the department, do it for Elias. Do it for the past victims and their families."
Seth got no response, just Finn staring at his empty glass. Seth shook his head and decided to cut his losses. He should've known Finn wasn't going to come back. There was too much pain inside him, too much guilt over what happened. Walking away, Seth wondered how he was going to break the news to the chief-
"I'll only come back on one condition."
Seth stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at his friend. Did he hear right?
"Wha...what condition?"
Finn paused and pushed his empty glass away. "That nobody works alongside me. That means when I go investigating, I want to be alone. I don't want you with me and I don't want Charlotte with me. Think you all can manage that?"
Seth smiled wide. "I...I think Charlotte can make some arrangements."
"Good." Another pause. "I'm doing this for Elias and the rest of the victims. Don't think I'll stay forever. We might not even catch this guy."
"I know. And hey, we will. We're detectives. It's our job to catch the bad guys."
"...Yeah."
Seth slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, we'll find them. You'll find them."
Finn nodded. He swore that this time was gonna be different. He vowed to catch this killer no matter the cost.
"You had me worried! Where the hell were you?"
"Those fucking cops wouldn't stop asking me questions."
Roman groaned. These past few days has had been the worst days of his best friend. Roman couldn't imagine what it must've been like for him. To have his little sister go missing then show up dead not long after. The agony was tearing his friend apart and Roman couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on in that unpredictable head of his. Now the cops had the audacity to actually think that his best friend murdered his only family.
"I don't believe this, Dean. I already told them you were with me the night she disappeared. Why would they think, even for one second, that you-"
"Because it would solve their case faster, that's why. You know me. I would never hurt my sister."
Dean started to feel physically ill. It still felt like a bad nightmare he hasn't woken up from yet. He still couldn't believe that his own sister was now dead and the only thing concerning those cops was asking him the same damn questions over and over again. There was a killer out there who was currently getting away.
"They're a bunch of idiots! My sister is dead! I'd do a better job at finding this guy than they are!"
"Don't be getting any ideas. It's dangerous out there, Dean. People are getting killed and I don't want you to be next."
"I don't care about that! Someone has gotta do something! I'm gonna find out who my sister's killer is with or without the help of the police."
"Where are you going?"
"Out."
Roman grabbed him by the arm. "No you don't. You're staying here. I'm not going to let my best friend get killed by some stupid decision."
"...Is it stupid to try and find the truth?" He heard Dean whisper quietly.
Roman sighed and pulled him into a hug. "It's not. It's stupid to go and put yourself in danger, especially when you don't know what you're looking for. You just lost someone you love. It's hard for you to think straight right now. Please, try to think about what you're doing."
Dean shook his head. "Roman...they killed her…" His voice began to tremble.
"Shh, shh. I know. But now you gotta stay alive. Okay?"
Dean knew Roman meant well, but this wasn't about taking care of himself. This was about finding his sister's killer. He had to find out who it was and once he did, he was going to make them regret it. Dean needed to find answers.
He was going to find them.
