Criminal Minds

One Shot Story- Room 333

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"Jack, who are you talking to?"

He pointed beyond Haley's shoulder, "Annie." And continued to play with the cars.

Frowning, she turned slightly but there was no one behind her, "Jack, who's Annie?"

Without looking up from his cars, "She's my friend."

Feeling slightly creepy, Haley tried to maintain her calm and smiled, "Can you tell Mommy what your new friend looks like?"

He nodded, "She's pretty like you, Mommy."

Haley smiled. "That's nice. Does she have the same color hair like me?"

Jack looked up beyond her shoulder and shook his head, "No. Annie has black hair." Then he tilted his head and added, "But she is also wearing long brown hair."

Haley's brows furrowed, "Jack, are you sure? Black and brown hair? How old is Annie?"

"She's my age, she says four." He nodded holding out four fingers proudly.

Hair standing on the back of Haley's neck, bumps popping on her skin, "Jack, why don't we get out of the room and take a...a walk outside?"

He looked up beyond his mother's shoulder again and then shook his head, "Annie says we should stay here. She has no one to play with her, Mommy."He looked sad.

"But what about me? I'm getting hungry, aren't you hungry?"

He nodded.

Haley smiled, "We could go down to the hotel resteraunt for dinner?"

Jack quickly shook his head, "No! Annie says not to go downstairs. That's where he fell down the stairs."

Haley swallowed hard. "Jack, I'm getting tired of what Annie's telling you." She stood up and headed to the door, "Let's do something, how about we go to that park next to the hotel." She held out her hand.

Jack shook his head, "No Mommy, Annie says don't go there. That's where Tommy died." He whispered.

Haley closed her eyes momentarily and opened them, "And who's Tommy?"

"Annie's brother."

"Oh. Of course." Haley gave him a wry smile. "I think we should go now, Jack."

Jack shook his head, "No! I don't wanna!"

"Jack, let's go! Mommy's hungry, we're going." She gave him the stare.

Glaring angrily at her, Jack stood up from the toy cars and stomped towards her, "Annie is mad now, Mommy." He reached for her hand.

Haley couldn't help but grip his hand and hurriedly left the room, shutting the door. "You'll feel better as soon as you get something to eat, Jack."

"But Mommy, you're the one who's hungry."

Haley stopped in her tracks, "Oh...well, aren't you hungry too?"

He shrugged and muttered, "I guess so."

They continued to walk reaching the elevators soon after.

While waiting, Jack looked up at his mother, "Mommy, why does Annie have her hair around her neck?"

As the elevator door opened, mother and son stepped in, Haley looked at Jack, "What do you mean?"

"Annie's brown hair, why is it around her neck?"

Haley frowned, "I don't know what it means, honey."

Finally the door opened, Haley and Jack stepped out and they headed to the main lobby when Haley veered towards the front desk, "Jack, give Mommy a minute, I have to ask the man some questions."

Jack nodded.

She approached the Manager, "Excuse me, I'm Haley Hotchner, my son and I are staying over the weekend in Room 333-"

The man frowned at her, "Did you say Room 333?"

Haley nodded, "Yes, we checked in late last night and I was wondering if you can tell me about a girl name Annie?"

The man began to look pale, "Er...Annie?"

Haley nodded, "You've heard about her?"

"Why yes, who told you about her?"

She looked down at the small body, "My son, Jack. He said something about seeing and talking to her."

"Mrs. Hotchner, Annie was the hotel owner's granddaughter. She died tragically when her mother...killed her." He said sadly. "I'm sorry to have to tell you that."

Haley shook her head, "That's all right. How did she die?"

The man sighed, "Mary Hearst had a mental disorder and when she gave birth to Annie and her twin brother Tommy, the owner, Charles Hearst, thought it might helped but sadly, it didn't."

Haley frowned, "What happened?"

"Mary's condition worsen, one morning they found her and one of the twins in the hotel's park, she was pushing him in the swing."

Haley smiled, "That's nothing unusual, I do that all the time to Jack when he was younger."

The old man shook his head, "Mrs. Hotchner, you don't understand, Mary had been there all night, and the boy had been dead for hours." He said in a low tone. "It was in the middle of winter, the poor child was in his Pajamas. Tommy was four years old."

"Oh dear god!" Her hand over her mouth.

"Old man Hearst didn't take it well."

"My son, he said he saw Annie and she has black and brown hair."

The old man shook his head, "I have to admit, there have been sightings of Annie by our guests but I don't understand about her hair. She has black hair, that's all." He walked out of the reception desk and led them down the main hallway where there were photographs of the hotel, the owner and his family members.

Jack followed, "Look Mommy! That's Annie!" He pointed one particular photograph.

Haley stared at the picture, it was of a mother and pair of twins, a boy and a girl, they had black hair.

"How did Annie die?"Haley asked.

The man replied softly, "Mary hung her in her bedroom, her father found the poor child."

"Oh dear." Haley gasped quietly. "How sad."

"Yes, it was such a sad thing." He shook his head as he reached his hand out and touched the picture. "Annie, she cried and begged Mary not to leave her alone."

Haley turned to watch the old man, "Alone?"

"Tommy wouldn't go to sleep when it was time to go to bed, he had a terrible temper and the only way he'd sleep was when Mary took him to the swings at the park next to the hotel. Annie didn't want to be left alone, she began to cry and beg her mother to stay. It was a terrible night."

"Where's her husband? Or Mr. Hearst?"

The old man shook his head, "Mary never revealed who the twins' father was." He paused. "As for old man Hearst, he was deaf. He never heard anything until the next day when he came downstairs."

"Oh my. This is so sad." Haley shook her head.

The old man looked at her, "I have to go now, it's nice to meet you." He gave a nod before removing a hearing aid as he turned, disappearing down the hallway into the stairs.

Haley watched him for a moment before she turned back to her son, "Jack, are you ready to go?"

"Mommy, who's that man you're talking to?"

"I guess the Manager. Why?" Haley turned to him.

Jack pointed to a photograph on the wall next to the twins, "He looks like him."

…...

When Haley and Jack left the hotel, Hotch called them, "Haley! I've been trying to reach you all evening, where have you been?"

Frowning, she answered, "Aaron, we just left the hotel. Why?"

"What room number are you staying?"

"I told you, room 333."

"I called, there's no room 333."

"What're you talking about, Aaron? Jack and I stay there last night."

"Haley, I talked to the manager, she said they used to have that room but it's closed off because of an incident 20 years ago."

"What incident?" She asked, her lips dried, as she stopped walking, her hand still holding Jack.

"I was told there was a woman who killed her twin children, one she hanged in that room, and the other she froze outside at a park near the hotel."

Haley looked out and saw they were standing outside the park, "Aaron..."

"Haley? What's the matter? Haley? Talk to me!" There was panic in his voice.

"Mommy," Jack pointed towards the swing. "Tommy is waving at us!" He waved back at him, smiling. "Can I play with him?"

Haley was staring at a swing, it was moving, she realized there was no wind blowing, not even a breeze.

"Haley!" Hotch was calling from her phone. "What's going on?"

"No, Jack." She shook her head vehemently. "We...we're leaving."

Jack looked up at his mother, "We are? Why?"

She shook her head and held her phone up, "A...Aaron? We're fine."

"Haley, what's going on? Please talk to me."

"We're on our way home."

"Now? Are you sure?" He asked her.

"Yes!" She almost yelled, then took a deep breath and began. "Yes, Aaron. I just want to leave now."

"Okay, just be careful."

She nodded, "I'll tell you all about it when we get home." She kept her eyes on Jack as she led him to the car. "I love you, Aaron."

"I love you, Haley, and Jack."

She smiled as she put her phone away and unlocked the car door, "Come on, Jack let's go."

Jack frowned, "But Mommy, what about our clothes, and my toys?"

Haley paused before strapping him in his car seat, "I'll call the hotel and ask them to ship our things home, Jack."

He nodded.

As Haley opened her car door, she looked up to the hotel and the window where their room was, she thought she saw a little girl waving at her, and around her neck was a brown rope.

…...

The End