Windows of the Soul
Two true blue windows of the soul. One could see eternity in her ocean blue eyes. Only hours before those eyes had been alive, now they were still and vacant. Before they had shown a pure soul, sweet and unjaded by the world. That same innocence and fear had been what had ruined her too. She'd been as skittish as a mouse. Not plucky enough. Too many years under her father had warped her mind. She'd called to God for help. As if God was listening. Then again, sixteen was much too old. Sixteen just wasn't the right age.
Now, after her bath, Emmaline was still and quiet. The new dress and shiny shoes were waiting on the bedside table, still in plastic. Another girl, another disappointment. If the God that she called to was really so powerful and loving, why couldn't he send her a daughter?
A tall figure garbed in a black trench coat laid a white body down on the steps of the Las Vegas Library. It was dark and the desert air held a chill. There was also a blinking red light in the night, a video camera. If the eyes were the window to the soul, this soul was frightening and dark, filled with a madness and an even scarier passion and lies. Her eyes were filled with lies.
Years of searching and planning, of failures and of successes. She was on the cusp of greatness. She only needed one thing to make her life complete and perfect. A daughter. A pretty little girl, cast in her image. To continue her work after she was gone, to live up to the family name, to continue the legacy that she was working so hard to forge.
Jenna Portman yawned as she put her car, which was older then she was, in park. She had to re-shelve last night's books before they opened up. She loved to read, and loved the library, but early morning shifts were killing her. Of course, they probably wouldn't be if she got in bed before 1 am. She rounded the building, sipping her coffee and mentally calculating how much she would need to pay off her junker of her car when she saw it. She choked on the scalding coffee and spat it on the ground. Her big brown eyes went wide with both shock and horror. There was a dead little girl laying right there on the steps in the small plaza.
Sofia's pager went off and roused her from her daze. She blinked and stretched at her desk. She picked up the phone and made the call. A moment later, she put the handset back in the cradle and sighed. Emmaline had been found.
Sofia's blue eyes were weary and rimmed by dark circles. Beyond the fatigue, though, there was both strength and softness and a drive to solve the case.
A hand descended down on her shoulder. Jim stood above her. She smiled, "Hey."
Captain Jim Brass recognized the signs of a hard case. In the early morning light through the slightly dusty precinct windows, he could see all of the signs, flashing brighter then the Strip, on Sofia's face. "Get a break?" Sofia shook her head, "No. Well, the girl's body has been found, dead just like the others." She rested her head in her hands. "Theres nothing there, Jim. I just keep hitting brick walls every time I turn around. I keep having to tell grieving mothers that their little girls aren't coming home. I don't know how much more I can take without going insane."
Jim's hound dog brown eyes were filled with understanding and empathy. "Take it one day at a time, Curtis, one day at a time. Besides, when it's all said and done, whether you close the case or not, you've still got Sara." He walked away, a little twinkle in his eyes. He didn't have to see Sofia's jaw gape to chuckle to himself.
Author's Note: This chapter would have been up earlier, but a certain site, which will remain unamed, felt that it did not need to upload the chapter. This site deserves a kick in the head...er server...whatever.