Together We Fall

"Why does he want me?" Eliana questioned. She felt her eyebrows raise as the deep voice over the phone speaker told her once again that he wanted her.

"I don't know, Eliana. I've tried everything but he isn't budging. We need him to tell us what he knows or we'll never break through. He refuses to talk to anyone but you." The detectives voice was hard, stern almost like a father disciplining his teen that he just caught trying to sneak out through a bedroom window. "We need you. When can you get to the station?"

Eliana closed her eyes, one of her hands coming to her face. Her fingers rubbed her temples, slow short circles that worked like a well oiled machine. "I can be there tomorrow."

"The faster the better, miss. He said he's on a time-"

"I don't care what he's on," Eliana blurted out with more rage than she intended. Her voice was venomous, threatening. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as the embarrassment threatened to consume her. She had never spoken to someone like that, so disordered and disrespectful. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. He's in prison, it's not like he can avoid you or me. He'll be fine to wait overnight."

The detective cleared his throat with a hum. "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow. 7 am?"

Eliana nodded although she knew he couldn't see her. "That's fine. See you then."

Her finger darted over the red button that signaled the end of the phone call. Her mind clustered, coming together then undoing itself as it struggled to understand why he wanted to see her, why he would only speak to her. She shook her head, forcing herself from her thoughts and back to reality.

"Ms.Rhodes?" A familiar voice called. Eliana's head snapped toward it, taking in the familiar face. Tula was standing in her office doorway, a thick manila folder wrapped in her arms. Eliana flashed her a nod and a quick smile played at the corners of her lips as she took a step into the room. "Jefferson wanted me to drop this off to you. He said it would help you on your next piece." Tula made her way to the front of Eliana's desk, sliding the folder across the mahogany. Eliana stared at it, giving her a quick thank you. Tula nodded, not saying anything else before turning and making her way out of the office as quick as she had previously come in. Eliana's eyes darted over the words across the folder, dark black, bold letters that read: CLASSIFIED. Her curiosity was peaked. Her hands fumbled with it, pulling it open so all the papers sat in a row across her desk. Mugshots of different men and women in black and white, all their heads turned in various directions to cover all the bases of a normal police lineup. One man was big, burly and tattooed from the tip of his head to his chest that was only covered by a dirty white tank. His tattoos were of disgusting things, swastikas and gang signs, weird eyes that appeared too dark to be human and a list of small names drawn so unevenly she couldn't make them out. A list of his crimes was below the image, a single column of ink that dissolved every dirty thing he had ever done. At least the ones he had gotten caught doing. Things ranging from indecent assault to window peeping to child pornography and rape to suspected murder. She felt the bile rising in her throat as she flipped the page and noticed the handwritten paragraphs that lined the back.

Henry Evans: Convicted pedophile and rapist. He was found to watch his victims, peering in their windows as they did their usuals.

Henry Evans: Our team discovered 3000 images of CSAM on his hard drive. Ranging from child rape to child torture and mutilation.

Henry Evans: Admitted to the killing of 6 year old Henrietta Evans. His biological daughter.

Henrietta Evans: 6 years old. Approximately 44 inches tall, weighing 70 lbs per her pediatrician. Has been missing since August 5th, 2021. Body not found.

Eliana flipped the page back over, taking in every disgusting inch of the creeps face. Her eyes ran over his beard, the hairs sporting in every direction like an overgrown field. His eyes were dark, possibly green but it was almost impossible to tell with the lack of color on the print. They were dangerous, his iris minuscule compared to the whites of his eyes. Her hand slid his image away from her to the back of the desk instinctively, the paper flying off the wood and onto the floor. She picked up another, scanning the face of a woman that sat before her. She had dark hair, maybe a deep brown and light eyes. She didn't look vicious or violent. She looked like a normal woman that you mind find in a receptionist office or pass at the grocery store. She was maybe in her mid thirties with a short, thin frame that seemed too small to be in the station in which this photo had been taken. Eliana darted over the text at the bottom and felt her breath catch in her throat. Distribution of CSAM and child abuse resulting in death. She studied the woman's face once more. As a child she had always been told that monsters looked like monsters. Not like nice, middle aged women who didn't have the muscle mass to hurt a fly yet alone a child. Against her better judgment, Eliana flipped the paper over to show more handwritten paragraphs.

Scarlett Tyio: Convicted distributor and creator of

CSAM material. Approximately 5'2, 115 lbs per her weight at the station. Brown hair, blue eyes. Found in a warehouse after an internal operation. What she claimed to be her "playground". A room was discovered, 12 year old Lance Gene was found there, unclothed and dirty. He had been stabbed twice, a camera set up to watch his every move. The room was bare besides the camera, a filthy mattress (Images enclosed) and a bucket that Lance told paramedics he used for a bathroom when he was let out of his chains. Upon abduction, Lance weighed 120 lbs. Upon Find he weighed 70.

Scarlett Tyio: Refuses to discuss what she had done. Team found 5500 hours of CSAM and child torture on her camera and laptop. Took them 5 hours to decode the files that she had hidden in a secret images folder. Did find two usernames of buyers: Cleanman00 and Filthyritch. Names??

Eliana allowed the woman to join Henry on her office floor. She wished she could disrespect them in worse ways, maybe taking a baseball bat to their faces until nothing was left but smushed flesh and pieces of bone. She knew though, she signed herself up for this. Something pulled her toward the more gruesome topics. Others in her office covered wars and fights that broke out at stories or even shootings. While they may be grotesque, nothing could beat child abuse. Something so utterly depraved and twisted that it took the worst of the worst to do it, yet alone study it. However, she somehow felt connected to these people. Both the perpetrators and the victims. She looked up at the clock that sat above her door: 5:08 pm. Eliana closed her eyes once more, leaning back in her chair as her body constructed against it. The office was almost silent, nothing but the clicking of keys on computers and a voice on a phone call every now and then. She knew she had to leave, knew her work day was done and it was time to head home but she refused. Not yet. She didn't want to take these demons home with her. Not the face of Henry and Scarlett. Not the thoughts of what little Lance went through at the hands of a woman that if she had seen on the street thought was kind, harmless. Before she knew it, she drifted off into a black nothingness.

𓍯 ִֶָ

She was running. Her chest constricting as her air was cut off again by the quickness of her sprint. Her bare feet slapped against the hard floor, making gross sounds as she continued down an endless corridor.

Where am I?

She turned once to see if she were being chased and regretted it instantly. A big man was running after her, his arms slipping through the air with ease as he stayed on her heels. She peeled her eyes from him and back in front of her. They drifted down to her feet and she let out a gasp. Blood was pouring from her soles, coating the white of the floor in a deep red.

What happened to me?

She heard the man close in on her, heard his grunts and moan of obvious pain and annoyance.

She couldn't outrun him.

Not now, not like this.

All of a sudden the little air she had was cut off completely, her body crumbling into a wall that appeared in front of her.

"Did you really think you could get out, little bitch?" The man's voice sneered. Her eyes met his as he stood over her.

Darkness.

Terror.

They were glowing red, almost demonic as he reared his fist back. She screamed out as his flesh connected with her own, a disgusting snap ringing through the air as something broke in her cheek.

Please.

Please let me out.

𓍯 ִֶָ

Eliana stumbled as she made her way to the bathroom. The dreams were haunting now, inescapable. It was the same thing every night but with a different person. She hadn't recognized him in her dream but she did now: Henry. She shook her head, forcing the gross mammoth from her thoughts. She didn't really remember coming home last night but it didn't matter. She was here, safe. She had slept in her bed even though her own mind destroyed her. Her eyes zeroed in on her reflection in the mirror. They had dark circles around them as if she had black eyes. Her body screamed with every move, begged her to crawl back into bed and ignore the meeting that lay ahead. But she couldn't. She had to know why he wanted to see her.

Her hands wound up her hair in a mass, sliding a claw clip over the clump so it was out of her face. She grabbed her toothbrush, cradling the plastic in her hand before pouring some toothpaste over it and slamming it into her mouth. She spit and swished, spit and swished until her mouth tasted of cheap mint. She didn't feel like wearing makeup today, she was just too tired to cover her face in the expensive collection of beauty products she had obtained. She didn't need to look good for him. Or for herself today.

Eliana took a step back, posing in the mirror to view her simple outfit. Long black slacks that didn't hug her curves too tight, more loose fitting so they don't catch his attention. A tan blouse, that didn't show cleavage, tucked into her pants and kind black heels that clicked on her wood floors.

This would do.

Eliana made her way out of her bathroom, down the hall and into her kitchen. It was quite plain she just admit. Modest and not very homey. On the far right wall was a counter that connected to her stove that looked brand new from lack of use. Another counter lay between the stove and the fridge that she knew was basically empty aside from the bottle of one that was 3/4ths of the way gone and an old salad from the diner across from work that had probably molded by now. A table with a single chair sat in the middle of the room, it's glass top littered with files and half written pieces that she knew would never see the newspaper. To be honest, she was quite lazy. Eliana glided across the kitchen toward the bowl by her front door that held her keys, wallet and pepper spray. Her apartment had a strange layout with the front door leading into the kitchen rather than the living room. It was something she actually liked about the place, it's differences from her family home. She stopped once more to look in the mirror that hung next to the door. "You'll get through today then you can finish that bottle of wine in the fridge, Eliana. You got this."

𓍯 ִֶָ

The prison was huge. Like a grey mountain that sprang from a large parking lot that housed the vehicles of the correctional officers. Nothing was too fancy or expensive, most of them bought from buy here pay here lots. She made her way to the front double doors, her heels clacking against the cement. It swung open with no contest. A man greeted her as she entered, telling her to spread out her arms and legs. She did as instructed as the man took a machine down her body, up one side and down the other before repeating in the opposite direction.

"Phone please?" He asked. His voice was kind, shielded by his job that had obviously changed him. She nodded, slipping it into his outstretched hand. He thanked her before turning his body so she could slide by. "You can get it at the end of your visit. It'll be up here with the change guard."

Eliana continued through the security measures before appearing before a huge desk with a kind looking woman behind it. The woman flashed her a smile, the gap in her front teeth evident in the prison lighting. "How can I help you, dear?"

"Um..." Eliana started, her mind wandering off as she took in the blandness around her. It reminded her of her own apartment.

"That'll be with me." The detective said, coming to stand next to Eliana. She snapped her neck toward him and offered a smile that she knew didn't reach her eyes.

She didn't want to be here.

Not today.

But she didn't have a choice.

"Come this way, miss." The man said. Eliana knew Elliot was a good one. One of the detectives that always tried to do the right thing, even when no one was watching. She knew he had been there to help her with Koran. For that she was grateful, but she wasn't grateful for him today. Why couldn't Elliot CIA him, torture him until he gave up the information so she didn't have to see him.

She sure as hell didn't miss Jonas.