❝ Some things scratch at the surface while others strike at your soul. ❞
𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 her whole life to catching the monsters in this world in hopes of fixing something that is broken inside of her.
Tha...
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" We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."
— Plato
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18.1 ; THE BOOGEYMAN.
SPENCER KNEW HE SHOULD look away, but he couldn't help but stare at the photo of the young boy on the screen. No older than eight, the child laid face-down, his head twisted to the side at an odd angle. His arms were strewn away from his body, resting on the orange and red leaves. The side of his head was caved in, his forehead covered with dried blood. His face was frozen in an expression of pure and unadulterated terror.
"Nicholas Faye of Ozona, Texas, was beaten to death roughly thirteen hours ago. Blunt force trauma to the head. He's the second young boy in Ozona to die the same death in the last two months."
Spencer blinked and moved his glasses to rub his eyes, attempting to return his attention back to JJ, who had finished passing around the newest case file. He had seen enough to understand the nature of the case. He noticed the longer he looked, the more disheartened he began to feel.
Child cases were always hard—for some of the team more than others. Usually, Spencer counted himself more towards the objective side. He theorized it was because he had no real connection with a child. The most time he ever spent with any particular child was Caroline's little sister and those moments were brief and far between. It wasn't like he could talk quantum theory with a six-year-old. Not effectively, at least.
But, for some reason, the contrast between Nicholas Faye's corpse and his most recent school photo of him flashing a toothy grin displayed on the screen was enough to make his stomach churn.
"Local hunter found the body in the woods," the press liaison continued without pause as she switched the photos on the television screen. Spencer avoided his gaze this time. "The first victim's name is Robbie Davis."
Across from him at the round table, Derek asked, "Are these boys connected somehow?"
"Ozona's population's roughly 2,500. Everyone has some kind of connection."
"Well," Caroline—who had been oddly silent for most of the morning—muttered, "if they weren't linked before, they certainly are now."
At that moment, the whole room gave her a side-eyed glance with Spencer among them. If she noticed the looks, she didn't respond. She didn't even look up from the file in her hands.
