Summary:

A 911 call.

A murder in self defence.

Two police detectives try to unravel the truth behind Ryder Daniels death at the hands of his victim, Jade West.

And just what happened to Tori Vega?

Authors Note at End of Chapter

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I..oh god...I just killed someone...I..."

"What?! Ma'am, did you say you've just killed someone?"

"Yes I...at Hollywood Arts, the performing arts school in West Hollywood. In the Black Box Theatre."

"OK, the ambulance and a police car are on their way. Can you tell me what happened?"

"He...he attacked me...I...he wouldn't get off me, and it hurt so much and I...he had a knife but...I grabbed it and...ohgod, I killed him! I didn't mean too but he wouldn't stop!"

"Ma'am, please be calm. Now, can you tell me your name?"

"It's Jade. Jade West. And the guy...he's...his name is Ryder Daniels."

Jade West sat in shock at the edge of the stage, wrapped up in a old dust sheet, blood splattered across her face and, under the dust sheet, across her body, her hands coated in the stuff. She didn't even look up when the doors to the theatre burst open and two cops burst inside, guns drawn, instead, staring down at her blood soaked hands.

"Jade?" A familiar voice called and it caused her to look up briefly, her eyes wide. Because one of the two officers was someone she knew pretty well, although she hadn't seen him much in the past year since the incident.

"M-Mr Vega?" She called out, but kept her hands in her lap, where they could easily be seen. "I...he..." She shook a little, tears springing to her eyes, the shock seemingly finally wearing off. "He wouldn't stop...I couldn't...he just wouldn't stop!"

Officer Vega and Richardson hurried down the centre aisle towards the stage, Vega heading straight to Jade, Richardson hopping up onto the stage to take a look at the crime scene. And what a scene it was. It was like a cranberry bog of blood on the stage floor, with a handsome young man, with dark hair and pale skin, laying shirtless, his boxers and jeans pulled down to his, the blood underneath him coming from a stab wound to the side of his throat, the knife itself dropped next to him.

"Jade? What happened? You need to tell me." Officer Vega said in both a stern yet gentle voice, holding back on his instincts to reach out to touch the girl for two reasons; firstly, because he was pretty sure he remembered that Jade didn't like to be touched at all, and if what he suspected had happened, happened, then she wouldn't want to be touched for a while. Secondly, she was covered in blood and had pretty much confessed to murder – albeit, it seemed like murder in self defense.

"I...I was rehearsing a monologue for a play. And...he...he came in and...he wouldn't leave." She managed to stutter out, back to just staring at her blood soaked hands. "I told him to get out because he...he had been harrassing me recently. But he wouldn't leave and...and he got angry and started hitting me and then..." She let out another sob, so strong it caused the dust sheet she was wearing to slide off her shoulders, exposing her blouse that had been torn open, none of the buttons remaining, along with a one of the straps of her bra having been snapped, the zip on her skirt broken open, her tights practically shredded. Now he was looking for it, he saw her face was slowly bruising, around her right eye, her jaw and forehead, along with a split on her lip that was still bleeding sluggishly.

Officer Vega didn't really need much more of an explanation of what happened, and it caused his heart to constrict at the thought of what this girl had been through. His daughters friend, hurt so badly and in such a way. Had she even turned 18 yet? He was fairly sure she was the youngest of the gang that used to constantly be at his house, with his youngest daughter; he remembered because he found it so odd, as she looked (and often acted) the most mature, alongside her boyfriend, Beck. Her sobs hadn't stopped, and she was struggling to take breaths. "OK Jade. We don't need to cuff you if you agree to come willingly...but we need to go to the hospital before anything else OK?"

"I've called an ambulance already." Officer Richardson told him, as he came down the steps of the stage to stand next to his partner, his eyes softening a little as the girl in front of him seemed to flinch away.

"I didn't...I didn't want to do it...I just...he wouldn't stop. I couldn't make him stop and it hurt and he wouldn't listen and I couldn't push him away but I wanted too and it hurt so much..." Her voice trailed off as she began shaking, sucking in deep shuddering breaths. "I want my dad." The words came out as a near whisper and the sobbing returned. "I just want my dad."

David Vega sighed as he and Richardson entered the West Bureau, where the Hollywood division of the police was stationed. It had been a long night – they'd got to Hollywood Arts a little after 9pm. After taking Jade to the hospital (where she remained with armed police outside her room, cuffed to the hospital bed), they managed to get a rundown of the injuries before Mr West appeared, enraged about his little girl being treated like a criminal. He'd successfully shut down any attempts to interview her for now, and they couldn't do much else about that; not only was Mr West one of the best criminal defense attorney's in California and a named founding partner of the most exclusive and expensive law firms in the state, a firm on retainer for multiple celebrities, politicians and high society types but even if they could find a way around the miles of red tape and legal threats, the medical team had sided with them, saying she was in no state to even talk, never mind be interviewed. The last David Vega had seen of Jade, she was huddled in her hospital bed, bandaged and most of the blood wiped off (after the medical team had taken photographs of the damage and blood splatter) sobbing her heart out as her father stroked her hair.

Normally, he'd have headed home; his shift was technically over and he wanted nothing more than to get home, hold his wife and daughter then go to sleep to try and forget the case. But him and Richardson had been called in by the Detectives who'd be taking charge of the case, along with his Captain.

The ended up ushered into the briefing room the detectives normally used, and blinked a little; not only were Diaz and Fowler, the Detectives on the case, there but Captain Holland, the Captain of the Hollywood Division, along with...David blinked. The Deputy Chief of Police, Miranda Kerr?! Why on earth was this case important enough for her to get involved?

"Deputy Chief, Captain, Detectives." David nodded respectfully at each of the people in front of him. He could have made Detective years ago, but declined the offer, hoping to do more good as a regular, on the beat cop rather; he liked the people aspect, which often lessened when moving up to Detective.

"Officer Vega, Officer Richardson." Deputy Chief Kerr nodded, getting straight to business. "Now, I'm sure you're curious as to my being here. But this is a very high profile case. Both the victim and the...accused are the children of very well-respected members of the city."

"The vic is?" David asked, raising his eyebrows. He knew who Jade's dad was, obviously. And knew due to that, there'd be a lot of pressure on the case, along with media speculation. But Ryder Daniel's was too? All he knew about the boy was a vague memory of him playing with Tori's heart around 2 years ago; not the best impression to have made, but still.

"Ryder Daniels." Captain Holland nodded. "The son of one John Daniels. Named partner and founder of West & Daniels."

Richardson and David looked at each other. "As in...the same law firm as Jade West's father?"

"They're best friends." Captain Holland nodded. "We've managed to keep everything quiet for now. But the second word gets out, it'll be a media circus. And any leaked information would be multiple lawsuits from both Mr West and Mr Daniels. Which is why we can't have anyone else but the people in this room know about details of the case."

"I may need to be recused from this one, if things are going to be under a microscope." David said with hesitation. "I know Jade West and...know of Ryder Daniels." At the questioning looks he received, he sighed. "Jade West is...was my daughters' close friend. Ryder Daniels was my daughter's boyfriend for a short time; I never met him, but I heard about him. He seemed to have been using her to get a good grade. I wouldn't want anyone to accuse the force of bias during the investigation."

Kerr and Holland looked at each other, the two Detectives watching impassively.

"We can't let you recuse yourself. We can't risk anyone else getting information about this case." Kerr explained with a small frown. "And most people on the force know or know of the West or Daniel's families, so it would be the same situation either way. If it becomes a more prevalent issue, then we'll revisit the idea, but for now; you're on the case. Detectives Fowler and Diaz will be doing most of the leg work for this, so we should be OK."

David nodded.

"OK Officers, can you go over what happened tonight? So we have an idea before the formal reports come in." Captain Holland instructed, taking a seat at the table next to the detectives as Kerr remained standing.

"We received the call to go to Hollywood Arts at around...20.54 last night. We were told it was a homicide, with the perp still at the scene, and they're the ones who called it in. When we arrived, we followed standard procedure and made our way to the Black Box Theatre, where the caller had said they were." Richardson explained, his voice as even as it could be when discussing something as horrible as murder. "We found Miss West, sitting wrapped up in a dust sheet on the edge of the stage, covered in blood. She had her hands fully visible and didn't seem to be any threat. Officer Vega moved to speak with her while I investigated the stage where Ryder Daniels was, in order to confirm if he was dead. From a quick observation, he appeared to have been in the neck."

"We attempted to question Miss West, but she seemed to be in a state of shock." David added, pulling out his note pad and glancing down at it. "She said she was at the theatre to rehearse a monologue and Mr Daniels appeared. She told him to leave as he had been 'harassing her' lately. She says he then attacked her and wouldn't get off of her...so she took his knife and stabbed him. We took her to the hospital and put in the appropriate calls. We didn't get a chance to question her more as her father arrived, but the medical team did their investigation and took photographic evidence of all marks and blood splatter."

"And the medical reports? Did you get access?"

"Mr West didn't try to stop us from gaining access to them, thankfully." Richardson placed the tan folder on the desk. "Photos and a more detailed report are in here. She'd been beaten, that's for sure. Bruising and lacerations around her left eye, a bruise on her right jaw, split lip, and multiple knocks to her head; all consistent with someone repeatedly punching her. Shallow cuts at her throat, done with a what looks like a knife, but more like someone held it to her throat and she struggled, cutting herself. Finger shaped bruises on her throat, arms, breasts, hips and thighs. Skin under her fingernails as if she'd been scratching and struggling. And..." Richardson sent a glance at David, knowing that it would be hardest for him to hear the conformation about a girl who would have been ages with his daughter, who knew his youngest. "She'd been raped. Traces of semen were found, so they're running it to see the DNA, see if it matches the vic."

"And speaking of the vic..." Detective Diaz stood up, her tan folder in her hands as she flipped it open. "Ryder Daniels. 19 years old. We don't have the full details yet but just the over view. One stab wound to the left side of the neck – it looks like the knife went almost straight through, almost out the other side. A hard knock to the head as well, so if it was West, then she put up a struggle. There was also evidence that he'd had intercourse, and recently at that. Skin under his fingernails as well, along with a few strands of synthetic turquoise hair that was found snagged in his fingers." She looked up at the assembled group of officers, ranging from boots on the ground to one of the highest offices.

"Jade had...I mean, West had extensions in when we found her. Turquoise coloured. They're in evidence, along with her clothes and the knife." David responded, frowning a little. It seemed like a cut and dry case. Ryder Daniels had attacked Jade West, raped her and midway through, she'd managed to get the knife he'd used to threaten her and stabbed him. Why was there such a big fuss being made?

"I know what you're thinking. That this is just...cut and dry. Self defense, and I agree. With what we see right now, I think if it goes to court, there's no way West would be found guilty of manslaughter, it was obviously self defense." Kerr stated, clasping her hands together. "But we need to go down every avenue. This is going to be high profile and has the potential to get very messy."

"Any priors for either of them?" Fowler asked, tapping his chin.

"None, although that's not surprising; I don't doubt if either got into trouble, their fathers would have got them out of it with no charges pressed." Captain Holland shook his head. "There's a few reports from Jade West though, that she's filed. Over the last year; she's reported that she has a stalker. Late night phone calls from a pre-paid burner phone that are just heavy breathing, break ins but with nothing of value being stolen, just small things like jewellery or underwear. She caught someone taking pictures of her while she was changing; someone was camped out on her balcony and then bolted when she spotted them – they used a tree that was a little too close to the balcony to climb up, but her dad had it cut down the next day."

"West said Daniels had been harassing her, right?" Diaz raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that's what she meant by 'harassing' her."

"Both Daniels and West went to the same school, before Daniels graduated at least. Hollywood Arts. We're not going to get anywhere near any of the West family or the Daniel's family right now." Fowler stood up, checking his watch. "We've got an interview with the Principal at 6am. Hopefully they can give us some information on the two of them."

David nodded, running his hands over his head as he sighed. "If there's one thing I can advise? Speak to West's friends. If they're still anything like before...they'll know something, if anyone does. They all go to Hollywood Arts too, so it should be easy to reach them. Robert Shapiro, Catrina Valentine, Andre Harris and especially; Beck Oliver." He clenched his fists, in order to prevent himself from adding one more name to that list, although in his head it echoed around. 'Victoria Vega. She was her friend too.'

OK so I know I normally put my authors notes at the top, but for this one I think I'll be putting them at the end - for the sake of the drama! So this is one I've been teasing for a little while - very Ryder Daniel's centric, even if he's not in it all that much right now.

This one is in it's own little world. It's completely separate from all of my other stories - so whilst Jade's backstory is the same with her childhood as my other stories, nothing else other than the friendship dynamics. Canonically, this stories changed from around Jade Gets Crushed - imagine that happened at the end of their Junior Year. So anything from there onwards didn't happen - I have my reasons, I promise! They just won't be found out for a little while. Same goes with what happened to Tori.

It's going to get dark, guys. Rape, murder, stalking etc. As usual, I won't be going graphic with the rape scene, simply because I don't feel comfortable writing that.