The Altercations With Distance

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

Casey knew she was in trouble when Clark brought her to the police interrogation room at the police station. He didn't speak the entire way or when he brought her to this ugly room. Clark left the room about thirty minutes ago and still hadn't returned. Casey folded her arms on the table and waited for him to return. She seen too many cop shows to break under the pressure of being alone with her thoughts.

Casey did appreciate being away from the asylum, but she didn't understand why Clark brought her here. There was an interview room at the asylum. She had been questioned there before. So why the change in location unless they found something really important? Something that could possibly connect her to the Horde. Casey went over everything in her head to see if she let said anything that could tie herself back to them. She was in the middle of thinking when Clark walked back in.

He looked scruffier than when she first met him. His black suit was wrinkled and the bags under his eyes went on for days. He hadn't shaved in a while based on all the small hair coming out of his chin. Overall, he was a mess. And messy people make stupid mistakes.

"Is this about what I told Matt Maverick? He was going to find out I was in an asylum sooner or later." Casey asked Clark before he got a chance to sit down. She was referring to her latest news story that brought up some serious outrage amongst her supporters. 

"No. But you did promise not to release any more media stories unless you had my permission." He reminded her as he slumped down in his seat. 

"That was before your partner locked me up in an asylum. You didn't even try to stop him." She threw back in his face.

Clark let out a heavy sigh and moved on. "The Fear Monger struck again." She knew. And the latest message confused the police. But not Casey. She knew what he meant. It wasn't pity or narcissism that made him write that message. It was a fact, based on how impure they​ were.

They Never Stood A Chance

That was the Beast's message. And he was right. Casey heard from the radio that the kids came from wealthy parents ​and wanted for nothing. How sheltered they were. How impure. "I heard. Doesn't that make the death toll over twenty?"

Clark nodded and pulled out a photo from a manila folder that Casey didn't realize he brought in. It was a crime scene photo of the most recent murder. Another alley and the kids were strung up by nooses around their neck. The message was carved into what was left of their stomachs. Casey looked away, not because she was disgusted, but to give a normal reaction. "That's disgusting, why are you showing me this?"

Clark moved the photo away and pulled out another one. Casey glanced down to see a photo of one of the nooses. It looked like it was spray painted gold. A way to show their wealth, Casey thought. Patricia must have done that. 

"Do you know why he would do this?" Casey pushed the photo across the table to Clark and shook her head. 

"I have no idea. I don't know who this guy is! You all came up with the assumption that I knew him, but I don't! Why won't that get through to your thick skull?" Clark put the photos away and stared her down.

"I think you do know him. I think he's the father of your child. I think he kidnapped you a year ago and you developed some sort of Stockholm Syndrome and fell in love with him!" Casey rolled her eyes. It wasn't Stockholm Syndrome. She was not the Belle to his Beast. 

"That's just ridiculous. I've already told you I wasn't kidnapped. Why won't you listen to me? There is a guy out there killing people MY age. Why don't you do your job and find him? Before more bodies are strung up?" Casey knew that she was being harsh. There was no way Clark would find the Horde and he was right to suspect her. She would think him to be a decent detective if he wasn't investigating her case.

"Then where were you? Give me something​ to help clear your name." Casey wished it was that easy. But she left no paper trail. There were no living witnesses who could account for her whereabouts beside the Beast. 

"I told you. I was all over the place. I used cash so my uncle wouldn't find me. Most if the people I met were drunk and wouldn't be able to pick me out of a lineup."

Clark ran a hand down his face and let out another deep sigh. "That's not enough." He told her. Casey started to feel that ball of rage surge up from the pit of her stomach. 

"I don't know what more I can do. You are holding me illegally. I've been very nice and haven't called a lawyer, but now I'm starting to reconsider." Clark flinched at the word lawyer. 

"I could petition the Court to hold you in regards of a case. Not this one, but in the case of the other girls you were kidnapped with. I could also try and have them charge you with with holding evidence from an active case. And with this case, the judge would allow it."

Casey was about to start yelling when an older, African American man burst open the door and came at her. Clark grabbed him and tried to push him out the door. The male was in his late forties and had salt and pepper hair that was beginning to bald. He was tall and a bit chubby. Casey had a feeling she knew who this man was. "Sir, sir, you need to leave. Now!" Clark told him as he tried to push him to the door. But the other man was bigger and taller than Clark was, so he didn't budge.

"Not until she tells me what happened to my daughter." He said, glaring at Casey. She was right, it was Marcia's dad. Casey remained sitting down and didn't speak a word. She looked at the man with the crazed look in his eyes and waited for Clark to remove him. 

"Sir, I understand, but I need you to leave." Two other cops stepped in, but Marcia's dad wasn't going to leave without answers. "No. No! You little bitch, tell me where my daughter is!!" That pissed Casey off.

Perhaps it was hormones. Or how angry she was at Clark. Or maybe she just didn't like being called that word. But something just made Casey snap.

 "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia," Casey said, standing up. Her all white attire made her seem crazier than she actually was. All the cops froze where they were and watched her stand. Casey looked Marcia's dad right in the eye as she spoke. "You want to know where your precious daughter is? I'll tell you. She's dead."