PITCH PERFECT SPOOKFEST 2023 - DAY 6 - FOUND FOOTAGE
Summary: Barden detectives are called to a ranch on the outskirts of town after receiving an anonymous tip about a possible murder that has occurred. Detectives Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale are assigned the case. It becomes personal for Chloe when they start searching the area.
A/N: Warning: There might be spoilers if you've been living under a rock and haven't seen "X" the movie with Brittany Snow. Otherwise, enjoy!
ONE EFFED-UP HORROR FILM
Detectives Beca Mitchell and Chloe Beale looked around before exiting their car. Beca spotted what looked like a body and walked over to it.
"What the hell happened here?" Beca mumbled, kneeling to look at the body. The body was clad in a woman's nightgown that showed her arms and legs, all of which showed the wrinkles of age."Who would do this to an old lady?"
"I don't know," Chloe said. "Maybe we should separate and look around."
"No way," Beca said, standing to look around. "I don't know who or what did this, but they may still be around."
"You're probably right," Chloe said. "We should probably check inside the house since it appears this person was running from the house when they were killed."
"Good idea," Beca said. "Let's go. Keep your eyes and ears open; we don't know what we might find."
Chloe looked around and saw something lying in the tall grass. She went over to it, pulling on latex gloves as she did. She picked it up and held it up to show Beca.
"I found something," Chloe called out, causing Beca to look over at her. "It's a video camera."
Beca walked over, and Chloe handed her the camera, saying, "I wonder what we'll find on it."
"My bet is one fucked up horror movie," Beca said, handing the camera back to Chloe. "Put this in the car and meet me inside."
"You got it," Chloe said and took the camera to the car.
Chloe turned from the car to see Beca knelt to what she assumed was another dead body.
"Let's go inside," Beca said once Chloe joined her on the porch.
Chloe looked back at the body and shook her head. This was definitely a young female, based on the body. Half her face was missing, so another difficult identification was in their future.
Beca and Chloe entered the house to find another body just inside the door. They assumed by the overalls that it was a he. He was shot in the face and not recognizable.
"Damn," Chloe muttered. "How many more bodies do you think we'll find."
"Too many," Beca said as she stepped into the next room.
They completed the search of the first floor and made their way upstairs. While in a side room, Beca looked out the window.
"We'll need to check that barn and that building over there," Beca said, pointing out both buildings.
"We're going to need more bodies to help search this whole place," Chloe said, looking out the window. "Sorry, bodies was a poor choice of words. We need some reinforcements if we expect to search the entire ranch."
Chloe stood on her tiptoes to look down from the window to what looked like a driveway next to the house.
"There's another body," Chloe said.
"There aren't any up here," Beca said. "Let's go check that one out and call for reinforcements."
Chloe left the room and led the way to the body.
"He was stabbed with a pen," Chloe said.
"How can you tell?" Beca asked.
"It's still sticking out of his neck," Chloe said, pointing to it.
"Let's call for reinforcements," Beca said. "While we wait for them, we can check out that barn."
"Sounds like a plan," Chloe said.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 6~~
As the lead detectives, Beca and Chloe, called an end to the search when it started getting too dark to see in the wooded areas that surrounded the buildings. When they stopped, they had six dead bodies. Only two of them could be easily identified as they had their driver's licenses in their wallets, which were found on their bodies. The older couple was presumed to be the ranch owners. That left two unidentified bodies to contend with.
Beca and Chloe left the coroner's staff to collect all the bodies and went back to the station. They briefed their Captain on everything they had recovered and discovered at the ranch thus far, indicating they would need to have the searchers back at the ranch the next day.
"We also need to watch the video we found in the camera," Beca said. "Whatever is on it may give us more information on the sequence of events."
"Can we do that tomorrow?" Chloe asked, sounding tired. "I'm beat and just want to go home, take a shower and go to bed."
"You two did good work today," their captain told them. "Go home. It will be better to have fresh eyes when you watch that video. I don't want you missing anything that might be important."
"Yes, sir," Beca said. "Come on, Beale, I'll drive you home."
"Thanks," Chloe said, standing and following Beca out of the station.
A short time later, Beca pulled up to Chloe's house; Chloe's car was parked in the driveway.
"I see my dad dropped off my car," Chloe said. "Do you want to stay the night?"
"I'd better not," Beca said, chuckling. "You and I both know neither one of us would get much sleep if I did. Rain check?"
"You know it," Chloe said, leaning over to kiss Beca before getting out of the car. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you at the station in the morning."
"Yeah, see you," Beca said, waving as she pulled away from the curb.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 6~~
The next morning, Beca arrived carrying coffee cups for her and Chloe. Beca set the room up with a screen and the video camera. She fully rewound the tape so they could start watching it from the beginning.
Beca anxiously swiveled her chair back and forth as she waited for Chloe. She checked the time for what felt like the fiftieth time in the past ten minutes.
"Maybe Chloe's running late," Beca mumbled. "I'll text her to find out where she is."
BMitchell: Hey, you're late. Everything ok? I'm all set up for us to watch the video. Let me know when to expect you.
Beca hit send and sat back to wait for a response.
Ten minutes later, Beca was pacing around the room, constantly checking her phone. It was not like Chloe to not answer a text, especially from her.
"I should call her," Beca said.
"Call who?" Detective Stacie Conrad asked from the doorway, startling Beca.
"Beale," Beca said. "She's not here yet, and she's not answering my text. I'm starting to worry about her."
"That's not like her," Stacie said. "Call her. And please let me know she's okay."
Stacie continued on to where she had been going when Beca started to place the call. The call went straight to voicemail, and Beca left a message for Chloe to call her immediately.
Thirty minutes later, Stacie was walking by the room again and saw Beca sitting alone, looking frantic.
"Still haven't heard from Chloe?" Stacie asked.
"No," Beca said. "I've called a couple of times, and it's gone straight to voicemail every time."
"Go check on her," Stacie said. "You're not going to get anything done until you know she's okay."
Beca didn't say anything; she just rushed out of the room. Beca tried to remain calm as she drove to Chloe's.
"Her car's still here," she muttered as she pulled up to Chloe's house.
Beca exited her car and hurried to the front door, using her key to enter.
"Chloe?" Beca called out as she entered.
"Beca!" Chloe cried out, rushing into her arms. "I'm so glad to see you."
Beca held Chloe and looked over to see Chloe's parents standing there.
"Oh," Beca said, pulling back from Chloe. "I didn't know you guys were here. Is something wrong?"
"Oh, Beca," Chloe said and started crying.
"Our niece, Bobby Lynne, is missing," Mrs. Beale said, wiping a tear from her eye. "She's my sister May's daughter."
"We were hoping Chloe could give us some ideas on how to find her," Mr. Beale said, holding his wife.
"I'll help in whatever way I can," Beca said. "When was the last time her mother saw her?"
"It's been a week, Beca," Chloe said, sniffling. "Bobby Lynne never goes that long without talking to Aunt May or letting her know where she is."
Beca's phone pinged with a text notification. She checked her phone and looked at Chloe.
"Stacie says the captain wants us at the station," Beca said. "You stay with your folks and help them. I can handle whatever the captain wants. I'll let him know you're taking a personal day."
Chloe hugged Beca. "Thank you."
"Let me know if I can do anything," Beca said. "I'll check back with you later."
"Okay," Chloe said, pecking Beca's lips.
"I love you," Beca whispered before she turned to leave.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 6~~
"We now have confirmed seven whole dead bodies," Stacie blurted out as soon as Beca entered the station. "And maybe three more based on the body parts."
"What do you mean by body parts?" Beca asked Stacie.
"I mean, they found three body parts near the river that runs through the ranch," Stacie said. "One foot, part of an arm, and two fingers. They saw some alligators nearby and figured they had something to do with why we only found parts."
"Can we get fingerprints from the fingers?" Beca asked. "And how did the alligators get there?"
"Regarding the fingerprints, the coroner says no," Stacie said. "They're too degraded from being in the water. As to how the alligators got there, we have no idea."
"Dammit," Beca muttered. "I'm assuming they're running DNA tests on all of the body parts."
"Yep," Stacie said. "Since Chloe's out, do you want me to watch the video with you?"
"If you don't mind," Beca said.
"Let's do it," Stacie said, walking toward the room Beca had set up earlier.
"I haven't looked at any of this, so I have no idea what's on it," Beca said as they sat facing the screen.
"I'm ready," Stacie said.
"Okay, then," Beca said, pressing the start button, and the scene started.
Beca's eyes widened, and she quickly lowered the volume. Stacie started laughing.
"Holy shit!" Stacie said. "You found somebody's homemade porno."
"I'm going to fast forward through most of this to see if anything from the murders is on here," Beca said.
Beca stopped the video when it reached the end.
"We'll have to give this to the tech guys to see if they can get the plates from that truck in the last scene," Beca said. "That poor old lady; what a way to die. She had to have seen that tire coming at her."
"What the hell happened out there?" Stacie asked.
"We probably won't know until we find the owner of that truck," Beca said.
"Mitchell?" Jesse Swanson called from the door. "DNA results are back on those body parts."
"Thanks, Jesse," Beca said, standing and stretching. "Want to see this through, Conrad?"
"Let's go," Stacie said and followed Beca out of the room.
~~Pitch Perfect SpookFest 2023 - Day 6~~
"Are you sure about these results, Ashley?" Beca asked the coroner as she looked over the report.
"Absolutely sure," Ashley said. "I had the checked and double-checked."
"I need to talk to Chloe," Beca said, rushing out of Ashley's office.
"Beca, wait," Stacie said, hurrying after Beca.
Beca stopped and sighed.
"What's going on?" Stacie asked.
"I'll tell you after I talk to Chloe," Beca said. "Please understand."
"Okay," Stacie said. "You do what you have to do."
Beca's phone pinged with a text notification.
"Oh, shit!" Beca said and started running.
She ran until she reached the room where she had left the video of the crime scene. She entered to find Chloe and a few other detecitive sitting in front of the screen. Chloe had tears streaming down her face.
"Does this mean she's one-?" Chloe started to speak only for her voice to break.
Beca reached over and stopped the video.
"Guys, could we have the room?" Beca asked, looking around at the others.
Each nodded and left the room. Jesse patted Beca on the shoulder as he walked past.
Beca waited until the room was clear before she placed her hand on Chloe's cheek and gently turned her head so Beca could look her in the eye.
"It's her," Beca said softly.
"But we didn't find her body," Chloe said. "Maybe they're wrong, and she got away before-"
"Baby, we have conclusive DNA results," Beca said. "It's her."
Chloe sobbed, and Beca pulled her into a hug.
"I'm so, so sorry," Beca whispered and kissed Chloe's temple.
After a few minutes, Chloe pulled back from Beca and wiped her eyes. She pulled out her phone, and Beca stopped her.
"I'll make the call if you want," Beca said softly.
"That's okay," Chloe said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I'll do it."
Beca nodded and let Chloe place the call. Beca took Chloe's free hand and intertwined their fingers. Chloe blinked back tears as she waited for the call to be answered. She looked at Beca when the call connected.
"Aunt May? It's me," Chloe said into the phone. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."
