Hunting Season Chapter 9
Title: Hunting Season
Author: hobbitgrl
Spoilers: Nothing specific, but through season 3 assumed
Rating: NC-17 (for serious)
Warning: Again with the dark. Not angst, but thriller-serial-killer-raping-people dark.
A/N: This was written in response to the following prompt by
imbettygrable on
milady_milord. I've deleted the parts of the prompt that give away the ending for any who didn't see it and don't want to know going in. Also-I went dark on this and it's only going to get darker. I don't believe in eroticizing rape because that's dumb, but I'm doing my best not to shy away from telling the story either. If, at any point, you feel I treated something inappropriately please
tell me, and know it was never my intention.
Word Count: 1,552
Disclaimer: I own no part of Community or it's awesomeness.
Chapter 1:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/7993.html
Chapter 2:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8202.html
Chapter 3:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8632.html
Chapter 4:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8954.html
Chapter 5:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9139.html
Chapter 6:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9224.html
Chapter 7:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9518.html
Chapter 8:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9760.html
Chapter 9
4:16 pm
Jeff is still fuming when Britta calls Annie an hour later. She doesn't pick up and he half-listens as Britta leaves a voicemail asking Annie to call her back. She just wants to know Annie that is safe.
6:30 pm
Britta calls again. It goes straight to voicemail this time and she leaves another message, making sure to tell Annie she isn't “mothering” just “worried” and would Annie please call back as soon as she got this?
Jeff doesn't say anything but he'd starts to feel sick almost immediately after leaving the building. A half-hour after storming out he texts Annie Can you just let me know you're okay? Visions of Slater's body, the cops, the white sheet, the gawkers seem branded in his brain except sometimes it isn't Slater's face-it's Annie's.
Annie doesn't text him back or return Britta's calls.
7:25 pm
Britta and Jeff each start calling respective members of the study group to check-in. When none of them have heard anything they track down the volunteer group-all Britta could remember was the name rhymed and it turns out rhyming names were fairly popular in the Denver area so they call five groups before finding the right one. Jeff weasels Rich's number out of the prissy receptionist and calls him, but Rich doesn't pick up either.
7:46 pm
Jeff calls the cops. He tells them about the fight. He tells them she was last seen with Rich. He tells them his theories on Rich. They take her disappearance seriously, order him to let them know anything else immediately, and promise to check Rich out. Jeff isn't satisfied. He and Britta get back in his Lexus and head over to Rich's apartment.
8:11 pm
After knocking on the door for five minutes Jeff is ready to kick it in-again, but Britta stops him with a hand on his arm.
Britta Googles how to pick a lock. Jeff is impatient, but waits. He begins contemplating how he will prove Rich's guilt. And how he will kill him with his bare hands-not necessarily in that order.
8:17 pm
Britta successfully picks the lock. Pushing it inward silently, they both peek inside the apartment, listening for any noise. In the dark it all looks the same as it did the last time Jeff was here; strange masks, pottery, and knick knacks line the shelves, coffee table, and walls. Everything is placed to create a perfect symmetry that makes Jeff grind his teeth and he rushes through the living room to the hallway, opening doors carefully as he goes In less than a minute he and Britta have checked every room, every closet, and knocked on every wall in search of a hollow spot.
8:19 pm
He calls Rich again as they walk out, leaving the door closed but unlocked behind them, and he hears Britta leaving Annie yet another voice message.
“Where would he have taken her?” Jeff growls, hitting “end” on his phone.
“The cops are investigating him right?” Britta asks. “If he has any other properties they should find them. We've got him Jeff.”
“Not fast enough,” Jeff replies.
9:00 pm
They've reconvened back at Troy, Abed-and Annie's-apartment. Jeff's speech of almost a year ago, a speech where he convinced Shirley they knew next to nothing about Rich seems disturbingly prescient.
The door is rehung, the shiny new hinges glaringly out of place against the cracked the wood and stained plaster in the hallway. There is a new hole in the wall next to the door, a hole Jeff knew he didn't put there. He stops, staring at it while Shirley sniffles quietly and holds onto Britta as Pierce starts calling people.
“It was Rich,” Jeff says suddenly, silencing them all.
“What Jeffrey?” Shirley asks him.
“It was Rich. He took Annie.”
“How do we know Rich isn't lying dead in a ditch somewhere?” Troy asks.
“We can hope he is,” Jeff replies.
“Come on Jeff,” Pierce tells him, putting his phone down. “It's more likely Rich got 'dealt with' than it is he's the Colorado Strangler.”
“'Dealt with' Pierce?” Jeff mocks him. “Really?”
“Don't start yelling at me,” Pierce warns him. “We're all on the same side here.”
“Easy,” Britta tells them both, moving to stand in-between the two men towering over her. “We need to find Annie and we need to find her soon. We can't do that if we're fighting.”
“We need a police scanner,” Abed interjects. “Troy and I can get that. Shirley-we need food. None of us have eaten since this morning. Pierce start calling everyone money can buy. We can plaster the city with fliers of Annie and offer a reward for information. Britta and Jeff, you're on research. I know you've already started talking to Professor Slater's neighbors Britta. Where was she taken? Were there any cameras? Was anyone visiting her regularly before she disappeared? Divide and conquer people. We'll get our Annie back.”
Everyone agrees and splits up to complete their individual assignments. All except Jeff who still stands in the hallway staring at the hole in the wall, a hole at just the right height for Annie's head.
3:23 am
It comes across the scanner the police have found Rich's car abandoned on Highway 36. There was blood in the seat and no sign of either Rich or Annie. The police, FBI, Troy, and Pierce take it as a sign Rich had been murdered when Annie was taken. Jeff is convinced it was a ruse. Britta agrees with him. Shirley doesn't know what to think-she just wants Annie home, safe. Abed remains silent.
8:45 am
Pierce is passed out on the futon. Troy has nodded off in the chair. Shirley has run home to check on her family. Abed has disappeared into the blanket fort. Jeff and Britta have run down every lead they could find on Slater, Rich, and the Colorado Strangler. Jeff has impersonated reporters, the cops, and Annie's brother at various points throughout the night to get information. No one knows anything.
10:05 am
Jeff heads back to Slater's apartment to interview her neighbors again. No one reported seeing anyone that looked like Rich. No one reported noticing anything suspicious. Her car was still in her parking space. There was no sign of forced entry.
2:12 pm
Andre drops the kids off at his parents and comes over to the apartment to help however he can. The group has split in threes. Troy and Pierce are sure Rich is a victim. Jeff and Britta are sure he is the Strangler. Shirley and Abed abstain. No one has slept more than a few hours. Except Jeff-he hasn't slept at all.
5:46 pm
Abed leaves and returns with a map of Denver and surrounding areas. The map the homes of each victim and the place they were found. No discernible pattern emerges. They chart Rich's apartment, but it's not particularly close to what appears to be random attacks.
6:33 pm
Britta figures out how the women are connected. Aside from being brunette each victim is somehow connected to Jeff Winger. Maureen Clemons, victim #1, was the wife of his last client before being disbarred. Rachel McIntyre, victim #2, was in Accounting with Professor Whitman-and Jeff. Professor Michelle Slater, victim #3, Jeff's ex-girlfriend.
11:27 pm
Jeff and Britta discover a handful of headlines reporting the death of four women Jeff dated, slept with, or interacted with regularly. The death's begin just after January 2011-closely following Jeff's visit to Rich in his apartment. An intern at Jeff's former law firm, a barrista at the Starbucks in Jeff's neighborhood, Shantai the mother of the obnoxious teenagers pantsed by Pierce and Shirley, and Gwennifer a one time date following the search for the purple pen. One was killed in a hit and run; one was classified as suicide; one was shot; one was raped and beaten to death. The cases were never connected. When Britta calls the FBI they take the information, thank her, and hang up.
3:33 am
Abed has an idea. Jeff and Britta break into Greendale, steal Rich's file, and discover the name of his mother and deceased brother. Returning back to the apartment Pierce uses dubious means to run the financial records on all three; nothing pops up. Jeff has an idea. Jeff has Pierce run a background check on Jeffrey Winger. A farmhouse is discovered listed as the property of one Jeff Winger. Jeff is in his Lexus and headed toward the address before anyone else can process the implications.
Author: hobbitgrl
Spoilers: Nothing specific, but through season 3 assumed
Rating: NC-17 (for serious)
Warning: Again with the dark. Not angst, but thriller-serial-killer-raping-people dark.
A/N: This was written in response to the following prompt by
imbettygrable on
milady_milord. I've deleted the parts of the prompt that give away the ending for any who didn't see it and don't want to know going in. Also-I went dark on this and it's only going to get darker. I don't believe in eroticizing rape because that's dumb, but I'm doing my best not to shy away from telling the story either. If, at any point, you feel I treated something inappropriately please
tell me, and know it was never my intention.
Word Count: 1,552
Disclaimer: I own no part of Community or it's awesomeness.
Chapter 1:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/7993.html
Chapter 2:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8202.html
Chapter 3:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8632.html
Chapter 4:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/8954.html
Chapter 5:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9139.html
Chapter 6:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9224.html
Chapter 7:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9518.html
Chapter 8:
http://drgirl11.livejournal.com/9760.html
Chapter 9
4:16 pm
Jeff is still fuming when Britta calls Annie an hour later. She doesn't pick up and he half-listens as Britta leaves a voicemail asking Annie to call her back. She just wants to know Annie that is safe.
6:30 pm
Britta calls again. It goes straight to voicemail this time and she leaves another message, making sure to tell Annie she isn't “mothering” just “worried” and would Annie please call back as soon as she got this?
Jeff doesn't say anything but he'd starts to feel sick almost immediately after leaving the building. A half-hour after storming out he texts Annie Can you just let me know you're okay? Visions of Slater's body, the cops, the white sheet, the gawkers seem branded in his brain except sometimes it isn't Slater's face-it's Annie's.
Annie doesn't text him back or return Britta's calls.
7:25 pm
Britta and Jeff each start calling respective members of the study group to check-in. When none of them have heard anything they track down the volunteer group-all Britta could remember was the name rhymed and it turns out rhyming names were fairly popular in the Denver area so they call five groups before finding the right one. Jeff weasels Rich's number out of the prissy receptionist and calls him, but Rich doesn't pick up either.
7:46 pm
Jeff calls the cops. He tells them about the fight. He tells them she was last seen with Rich. He tells them his theories on Rich. They take her disappearance seriously, order him to let them know anything else immediately, and promise to check Rich out. Jeff isn't satisfied. He and Britta get back in his Lexus and head over to Rich's apartment.
8:11 pm
After knocking on the door for five minutes Jeff is ready to kick it in-again, but Britta stops him with a hand on his arm.
Britta Googles how to pick a lock. Jeff is impatient, but waits. He begins contemplating how he will prove Rich's guilt. And how he will kill him with his bare hands-not necessarily in that order.
8:17 pm
Britta successfully picks the lock. Pushing it inward silently, they both peek inside the apartment, listening for any noise. In the dark it all looks the same as it did the last time Jeff was here; strange masks, pottery, and knick knacks line the shelves, coffee table, and walls. Everything is placed to create a perfect symmetry that makes Jeff grind his teeth and he rushes through the living room to the hallway, opening doors carefully as he goes In less than a minute he and Britta have checked every room, every closet, and knocked on every wall in search of a hollow spot.
8:19 pm
He calls Rich again as they walk out, leaving the door closed but unlocked behind them, and he hears Britta leaving Annie yet another voice message.
“Where would he have taken her?” Jeff growls, hitting “end” on his phone.
“The cops are investigating him right?” Britta asks. “If he has any other properties they should find them. We've got him Jeff.”
“Not fast enough,” Jeff replies.
9:00 pm
They've reconvened back at Troy, Abed-and Annie's-apartment. Jeff's speech of almost a year ago, a speech where he convinced Shirley they knew next to nothing about Rich seems disturbingly prescient.
The door is rehung, the shiny new hinges glaringly out of place against the cracked the wood and stained plaster in the hallway. There is a new hole in the wall next to the door, a hole Jeff knew he didn't put there. He stops, staring at it while Shirley sniffles quietly and holds onto Britta as Pierce starts calling people.
“It was Rich,” Jeff says suddenly, silencing them all.
“What Jeffrey?” Shirley asks him.
“It was Rich. He took Annie.”
“How do we know Rich isn't lying dead in a ditch somewhere?” Troy asks.
“We can hope he is,” Jeff replies.
“Come on Jeff,” Pierce tells him, putting his phone down. “It's more likely Rich got 'dealt with' than it is he's the Colorado Strangler.”
“'Dealt with' Pierce?” Jeff mocks him. “Really?”
“Don't start yelling at me,” Pierce warns him. “We're all on the same side here.”
“Easy,” Britta tells them both, moving to stand in-between the two men towering over her. “We need to find Annie and we need to find her soon. We can't do that if we're fighting.”
“We need a police scanner,” Abed interjects. “Troy and I can get that. Shirley-we need food. None of us have eaten since this morning. Pierce start calling everyone money can buy. We can plaster the city with fliers of Annie and offer a reward for information. Britta and Jeff, you're on research. I know you've already started talking to Professor Slater's neighbors Britta. Where was she taken? Were there any cameras? Was anyone visiting her regularly before she disappeared? Divide and conquer people. We'll get our Annie back.”
Everyone agrees and splits up to complete their individual assignments. All except Jeff who still stands in the hallway staring at the hole in the wall, a hole at just the right height for Annie's head.
3:23 am
It comes across the scanner the police have found Rich's car abandoned on Highway 36. There was blood in the seat and no sign of either Rich or Annie. The police, FBI, Troy, and Pierce take it as a sign Rich had been murdered when Annie was taken. Jeff is convinced it was a ruse. Britta agrees with him. Shirley doesn't know what to think-she just wants Annie home, safe. Abed remains silent.
8:45 am
Pierce is passed out on the futon. Troy has nodded off in the chair. Shirley has run home to check on her family. Abed has disappeared into the blanket fort. Jeff and Britta have run down every lead they could find on Slater, Rich, and the Colorado Strangler. Jeff has impersonated reporters, the cops, and Annie's brother at various points throughout the night to get information. No one knows anything.
10:05 am
Jeff heads back to Slater's apartment to interview her neighbors again. No one reported seeing anyone that looked like Rich. No one reported noticing anything suspicious. Her car was still in her parking space. There was no sign of forced entry.
2:12 pm
Andre drops the kids off at his parents and comes over to the apartment to help however he can. The group has split in threes. Troy and Pierce are sure Rich is a victim. Jeff and Britta are sure he is the Strangler. Shirley and Abed abstain. No one has slept more than a few hours. Except Jeff-he hasn't slept at all.
5:46 pm
Abed leaves and returns with a map of Denver and surrounding areas. The map the homes of each victim and the place they were found. No discernible pattern emerges. They chart Rich's apartment, but it's not particularly close to what appears to be random attacks.
6:33 pm
Britta figures out how the women are connected. Aside from being brunette each victim is somehow connected to Jeff Winger. Maureen Clemons, victim #1, was the wife of his last client before being disbarred. Rachel McIntyre, victim #2, was in Accounting with Professor Whitman-and Jeff. Professor Michelle Slater, victim #3, Jeff's ex-girlfriend.
11:27 pm
Jeff and Britta discover a handful of headlines reporting the death of four women Jeff dated, slept with, or interacted with regularly. The death's begin just after January 2011-closely following Jeff's visit to Rich in his apartment. An intern at Jeff's former law firm, a barrista at the Starbucks in Jeff's neighborhood, Shantai the mother of the obnoxious teenagers pantsed by Pierce and Shirley, and Gwennifer a one time date following the search for the purple pen. One was killed in a hit and run; one was classified as suicide; one was shot; one was raped and beaten to death. The cases were never connected. When Britta calls the FBI they take the information, thank her, and hang up.
3:33 am
Abed has an idea. Jeff and Britta break into Greendale, steal Rich's file, and discover the name of his mother and deceased brother. Returning back to the apartment Pierce uses dubious means to run the financial records on all three; nothing pops up. Jeff has an idea. Jeff has Pierce run a background check on Jeffrey Winger. A farmhouse is discovered listed as the property of one Jeff Winger. Jeff is in his Lexus and headed toward the address before anyone else can process the implications.