In His Refuge

Chapter 4: Stella

"Rise and shine people, we got work to do, chop chop" that's what Ellie woke up to first thing in the morning besides the crick in her neck due to sleeping on the couch at an awkward angle.

The night before, thankfully, the investigative team hadn't bothered her too much except of few questions here and there but after that they let her sleep in peace and if it was any other day, sleep would've been hard to come by but Ellie had basically went lights out as soon as her back had straightened out on the leather couch considering she had been up since early morning, working for hours at end not to mention the events of the night had her exhausted out.

However, her sleep was filled with nightmares and there was more than a single time that the investigative team had heard her make light distressful noises in her sleep but they'd figured to just let her sleep considering she looked very tired.

Her eyes were only half open as she looked around, taking in her surroundings, half expecting the events of the night to be just a bad dream but that didn't seem to be the case as she saw the investigators from last night looking as disgruntled as her, some had slept with their head on the table and others took the remaining couches.

There was much paper work for them and alibis to check, they had all pulled an all nighter it seemed.

Besides the people she had met last night there was a new woman that had came in, looking fresh and all dressed with several Starbucks cups in her hands.

"I am Serena Stark, the detective super intensely on this case, coffee is on me people but after that I want you all fully awake" she said, her blonde hair looking all the more shiny as sunlight hit them from the windows.

She looked to be in her thirties and was very beautiful, enough to make Ellie be self conscious of how much of a mess she might be looking.

"Hello miss Summers, detective Marley told me you'd be here, I am sorry you got caught in the middle of this but it is what it is and we'll need you to cooperate with us at every step of the way for your own safety as well as to catch the killer so he doesn't strike again" Serena said handing Ellie a cup of coffee which Ellie took a hold of with both hands.

"Thank you" Ellie muttered out and Serena gave her a small smile.

They were all now sitting at the table in the room after they had fixed themselves up a little and came to their senses after some coffee and bagel from the wending machine, Serena sitting at the head table.

They had all discovered that she was not the person to mess with, she was pretty strict to all of them but Ellie who she was platonic to.

"So, Ellie, can you describe the person you saw at the balcony in detail" Serena asked after Ellie had yet again narrated the events of last night from A to Z.

"Sure umm... he had dark hair, dark brown from what I could see, thick moustache, dark eyes, black I think, he was tall maybe like six feet and pretty broad too, he was wearing like this long brown coat and a baseball cap but I could still his hair and he was also holding a knife in his right hand" Ellie described as best as she could.

"The knife, could you see any blood in it?" Serena asked and Ellie jagged theory her memory trying to remember if she'd seen any blood on the knife.

"No, I don't think so, not that I can remember" she answered.

"Well, the autopsy reports came and there was no sign of cutting on the body so I think she's probably right, there would have been no blood on the knife he was holding, there were only signs of choking like fingerprints around her throat, and signs of forced b*****e like with previous victims" Rose said.

"However, this time he wasn't able to go all the way, she somehow escaped him and was trying to get away from him but he backed her into the balcony, scaring her with a knife and she tripped over before he could stab her" Blake continued and Serena nodded.

"When you saw her, on the ground, can you describe that to me again Ellie" Serena asked.

"Y..yes umm... she was g...gaged with a cloth in her mouth and her eyes were W..wide o...pen, there was so much blood" Ellie stumbled upon her words as she choked up at the memory.

It hadn't hit her last night as bad as it her now.

That woman, she died, right in front of her eyes and that poor woman was terrorised by that killer right before she died.

Ellie couldn't begin to fathom what that woman might have felt when that killer had her cornered, Ellie could remember when she was running away from him for her life and just the thought of that was scary.

God, that poor woman.

By now tears were freely streaming down Ellie's face. She felt devastated as she sobbed.

"I know Ellie, it's hard, but all we can do is our best to catch that killer and bring all those women he has victimised to justice" Serena comforted, her voice low and soothing.

"W...what's h...her name?" Ellie asked, her eyes glossy and cheeks flushed from the crying.

"Well... the family hasn't been down to identify the body but from the ID in her apartment were pretty sure her name is Stella Brass" Katherine told her.

Stella, her name was Stella, Ellie kept repeating that name in her heart.

"How... how many others has he...killed?" Ellie asked, getting a little grip on herself.

"You don't follow the news?" Raymond questioned in response.

"Only sometimes, I don't really get the time to" Ellie admitted and he nodded before answering.

"9 women, he r***s and kills, all his victims were in the news everywhere about two years back, he went AWOL after that and we have been trying to find him since but he was being careful and hadn't killed for a while so it got hard to track him down until now, this crime scene was dirty, you were a factor he hadn't expected and so the crime was sloppy, he left all sorts of clues and there is no doubt that he would come after you, the last thing he needs is another witness to testify when he is caught" Raymond said, his face stoic and voice almost robotic.

"I...I do remember something about a killer going on a..and my mom telling me to be careful but I didn't really pay much kind to it" Ellie said, still processing the information. 

Nine women, Stella was his tenth and she would have been the eleventh if she hadn't been able to escape him.

"Now you see you're in grave danger, so we're gonna place you under heavy witness protection. You can go home but you'll have an officer with you inside your home at all times, another officer outside your home and a patrol car 24/7 for your protection, you must not go anywhere without them, it's for your own safety and we need you to sign a confidentiality agreement to agreed that you won't issue any statements to the media and you won't give out any information we discussed in this room to anyone, that includes your relatives and friends" Serena explained.

"I can't even tell my mom what happened?" Ellie asked.

"No, not unless necessary" Serena cleared and Ellie let out a long sigh.

"Alright then, I am ready to go home now" she said, missing her warm bath.