Crystal sat in the chair quietly, her hands cupped between her legs as she stared at the Mahogany desk with her chocolate brown eyes, which were puffy and sunken. Her the bangs of her long, raven black hair did little to conceal her pale face which bore marks of defeat and anguish. The front of her clothes were covered in the dried blood of Daniel Frost, the recently deceased President of the United States.
Sitting in the opposite end of the desk sat Daniel Frost's successor; Jesse Bachmeier. He was a short, plump man with graying auburn hair and wore wire rimmed glasses. His focus was on a bloody beige file cover which read "The Ripper Case" in big, bold, black letters.
This case. This is where it all started. A little over two years ago, she was assigned to this particular case. A case to capture a serial killer far more dangerous than anyone had predicted. At the time, everyone thought he was the one behind the Seattle Massacre, a month long killing spree in which sixty-seven people lost their lives; including the veteran Homicide Detective Richard Holcomb, and his family.
However, as she would soon find out, this killer had murdered far more people than originally thought. He was responsible for murdering over two hundred people before he ever came to Seattle, committing his first ever exposure to the world as "The Ripper", or "Jack" he called himself.
Of course, this suited him greatly. After the horrible slaughter of many lives, the Ripper disappeared from Seattle, leaving only a trail of blood to follow. It was here where she had taken the case assigned to her, as well as a team of specialists and a select number of agents to track him down. It wasn't long until she realized that the secrets to this case was far more than what was let on. In fact, it only scratched the surface.
After some intense investigating, she discovered Jack's true name; Nathanial. An orphan abused by his peers, Nathanial brutally murdered his captor and all the occupants inside the orphanage before fleeing for his life. Life on the road had turned him evil, a monster. His mind warped by bloodshed, Nathanial had become a monster feared by all.
It wasn't until six months later did they track Nathanial down again. This time, in L.A., where he intended to challenge the FBI directly to a deadlier, more twisted game than in Seattle. She and the rest of her team had finally tracked him down.
However, it was a game that, she admits, she took lightly. Known as the Ripper Puzzle, Nathanial had devised a scheme that, painfully admitted, had fooled them all to the very end. Using his victims as a code, he had fooled her and everyone else to what his real puzzle was. Not only that, but he wasn't working alone.
Soon into the case, they suspected a man by the name of Alexander Rooke, a former Army Ranger with a checkered past as the Ghost, a serial killer that killed with two .45 caliber handguns and drove a white Chevy Impala. It was here, that, despite their knowledge, had stumbled upon something even greater and more evil than the Ripper. They were fighting against the Zugzwang.
The Zugzwang was a criminal organization established by Adolf Hitler toward the end of the war. It's primary function was to infiltrate the British and American governments and leak information to the Nazi Regime, but it was too late into the war. Nazy Germany fell. The Zugzwang, however, lived on with the goal to turn the world into an united Nazi Empire.
After the L.A. Incident, the task force was disbanded after most of the members were killed by Nathanial and a traitor. However, she was still tormented by Nathanial and another serial killer, the old enemy of Richard Holcomb, Andrew Luptak. Suffering mental scarring after nearly being gutted alive, Crystal soon found out that she was pregnant with her first child with her boyfriend, Eduardo Arias, a fellow FBI Agent assigned to the case. While healing, Eddie was the one that caught Nathanial, presumably ending the Ripper Case.
On November 11th, 2011, the Zugzwang made a simultaneous strike on the world's governments, killing every politician and government official not on their side. This strike brought forth the beginning of the revival of the Nazi Empire. Eddie was killed by the same man that caused Crystal's miscarriage, Alexander Rooke.
Despite the take over, it didn't happen as smoothly as they wanted it. Wars erupted all over the world in attempt to overthrow this new regime. After a year long battle, much due to the late Daniel Frost, the United States had regained it's freedom from the Nazi Empire and killed it's leader, Arthur Erikson.
Not long after Daniel was elected the new President of the United States, Daniel had finally tracked down Nathanial. Together, she and the President traveled to the graveyard of Nathanial's mother, and Daniel's former lover. After learning of Nathanial's parentage, she was knocked out, oblivious to what was done afterward. When she awoke, Daniel lay dead in the snow. Jesse, the Vice President appointed by Daniel himself, was now the President of the United States.
Jesse removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, stressing to find the words to expressed himself accurately. "Crystal...I don't know where to begin," he said softly before returning to silence. He was clearly overwhelmed.
"Daniel is dead," said Crystal bluntly, her eyes focused on Jesse's pale features. "I don't know what happened, but Nathanial murdered him. I don't know where he went. I don't care. I don't want anything to do with it."
Jesse shook his head, leaning back into the backrest of his chair. "Crystal, there is no one else that could possibly take up this case," he pleaded. "I can't even wrap my head around it. There's no one else I trust that can-"
"I said no," said Crystal firmly. "I lost everyone, everything, because of him. My husband, my child, my life...It's all gone, because of him. He killed everyone who was assigned to this case, even his own father. I barely escaped with my life. He 'marked me'. He wants me to challenge him, to push him to his breaking point and catch him. I can't...It's been proven over and over again that I can't catch him. It was Eddie that caught him in New York...Not me. I've proven than I can't handle this case, and because I can't catch him, I won't participate in this case. I won't do it."
Sighing heavily, Jesse picked up the Ripper Case File and held it momentarily before opening the drawer and placing it inside. "All right...Fine, I won't make you work on the Ripper Case. I can't force you. However, I still want you to work for us."
Looking down at her legs, Crystal squeezed her hands tightly. "I...I don't know if I'm up to it."
"You have to be," said Jesse firmly. "I can't let you simply quit. Nathanial isn't the only killer out there. It's been chaos trying to sort everything out. I'm just glad that Daniel had a plan set up before his death...I will be following it to the letter."
"Good...I...I think he'd like that..." said Crystal quietly.
At least Jesse had enough respect for Daniel to continue with Daniel's original idea to rebuild the broken country.
"I have one case for you to solve. It's not exactly as bloody as Nathanial's case, but it has been proven to be a problem in the past. If the killer is still alive, I am sure he will return," said Jesse as he pulled out a considerably thicker case file and dropped it on the desk. Crystal's jaw nearly dropped at the sight of the case file.
"This file is that of an ongoing case...I've checked it shortly before you came in, and I got the jist of what it contains. It's the-"
"-The Heart Thief Case," said Crystal as she read the bold print on the cover. For the first time in a while, she felt excited. "I know of this case. I've asked Daniel several times to let me have a crack at it when I first joined the FBI."
"Really?" asked Jesse with mild surprise. "Well, then, I can't think of anyone to better handle this case!" Jesse slid the case file across the top of the desk for Crystal to take. "Because this killer isn't active for a few more months, I'd like you to work on some smaller cases, if needed, while you are researching," added Jesse as he leaned back into the chair. "He's not on Nathanial's level, but I can't think of anyone else that could handle it. Well? What do you say?"
Crystal looked up at him, a mixture of bewildered and solemn. A few years ago, she'd want nothing more but to work on this case. Before Nathanial, this case was one of the most talked about while in training. She bit her lip before mildly nodding her head.
"All right...I'll do it," she said, snatching the case file and holding it close to her chest. Finally, the case she wanted from the very beginning. It was now hers to crack.
"All right, great!" said the President, relieved that one stress was alleviated. "Thank you for doing this; it helps knowing you're working. Daniel wouldn't want you to give up. Not after all this," said Jesse before standing up, Crystal following suit.
"No problem, Mr. Bach-...I mean, Mr. President."
The President gave a hollow laugh. "Yeah, I'm going to have to get used to that...," he said weakly before Crystal turned and walked out of the office, clenching the file of the Heart Thief Case closely to her chest.
