A/n this is my Halloween story for this year. Please let me know what you think
Disclaimer: see my profile
Thunder cracked over his head and big fat rain drops started falling around him and onto his brown corduroy jacket. The wind ruffled his hair and threw his bangs into his eyes. He quickened his pace to a trot, trailing his messenger bag behind him. The sky was a dark grey and black, with edges of light blue around the storm clouds. A yellow fork of lightening streaked across the sky just as he ran up the concrete steps to the double doors of the grey stone building.
He grabbed the brass door handle and pulled open one of the doors. A tall, thin boy with red hair and lots of freckles passed him and slipped out the other door. A short, plump woman with black hair streaked with grey carried a large stack of books, and was looking out the door as though the weather had personally insulted her.
The large room in front of him held a horseshoe shaped desk near the door. There were three women manning the desk, but only one was busy. She was busy with a very short black woman, with a riot of red blond curls bursting out over her head as though she had been electrocuted.
To his right was a reading area with a round table surrounded by several comfortable looking easy chairs. He went to his right and stepped into the fiction section of the stacks of books. Thunder crashed again and the yellow lights set into the twenty foot ceilings flickered before burning steady again.
He reached the end of the long aisle between the long shelves of books and turned right. He headed to the far end of the big room passing two kids on the way, who were fighting over a children's book. Their mother stormed around one stack and began hissing at them to be quiet, or they were going home.
The last aisle had what he was looking for. If he stood really still he could smell the paper, ink and dust. There was another crash of thunder and the sky split with lightening. Rain was lashing the windows and the drops elongated and ran down the panes.
The light was dim in the corner he retreated to, and under the sound of the storm, he could still hear the screams of the young boys their latest un-sub had tortured and killed. One young boy had been taken just hours before they found the man, or monster, in his lair. The poor boy had been burned with cigarettes and cut with a piece of glass from a broken mirror. He'd been beaten to within an inch of his life. They'd left Iowa not knowing if the kid was going to make it or not.
Reid began to peruse the shelves of books, looking for a specific story his mom used to read to him when he was six years old. He'd spent the entire flight back home with his eyes closed, trying to remember the title of the book. It helped to keep out the pictures of the little blond haired boys and the horrible things Elmer James had done to them.
The rain lashed the windows that curved into the building as though they were trying to get inside and grab the unsuspecting readers, to drag them out into the downpour. The wind had picked up, and Reid looked up to see the half denuded trees and bushes swaying in the wind. Fall had come with a vengeance in 2008. His birthday was in two days and it was a sure thing that he would have to endure another party at the BAU.
Why couldn't his friends understand that he hated birthday parties? Why couldn't they understand that he wanted to be left alone to mark the passing of the years he was given? It didn't matter to him if he was one year older or not? Why was it such an important thing for others?
He went back to searching the shelves for the book. It had to be here. He had checked on line just a half an hour ago. Surely no one had come in for that particular book in the last half hour. It would be too much of a coincidence.
Come on… think, don't let the case drive everything out of your mind that's good and soothing.
Wait… There was the familiar dark brown spine and gold lettering. Good… he'd sit down until the storm was over and read in a real library. There were more reading tables and chairs against the windows and along the far wall. There wasn't anyone around to stare at him as he read, so - his hand fell on the spine of the book and so did another hand - he leaped back in surprise and the book fell to the floor with a thump.
"I'm sorry, that's my favorite poetry collection," The voice said.
Reid turned and saw a woman standing there. He jerked in surprise at how close she stood to him. She was about his height, with black hair and blue eyes that reminded him of the ocean. Her skin was alabaster and her face was heart shaped. Her hair was long and hung in spiral curls around her face. Her lips were rose pink and she wore a simple pink dress that fell to her knees.
He could feel his cheeks getting hot and he dropped his eyes to the old cream colored tile floor. His mouth didn't want to work for a reply. He had to say something though, or she'd think him rude.
He looked up and she was still standing there looking at him with a tiny smile. "I - um… well I guess I didn't t-think anyone else w-would want that b-book."
Damn… Why couldn't he speak without stuttering like a fool?
"Elizabeth Barrett Browning is my favorite."
"Me too…" He said feeling a bit light headed from the scent of lilacs that hung around her.
"What's your favorite poem by her?" She asked.
"Um… I - Hm… I don't remember." He whispered, feeling his face get even hotter under her gaze. His heart was pounding very hard, so that he could hear it in his ears as though he'd run a marathon.
"And yet, because thou overcomest so,because thou art more noble and like a king,Thou canst prevail against my fears and flingThy purple round me, till my heart shall growtoo close against thine heart henceforth to knowhow it shook when alone. Why, conqueringMay prove as lordly and complete a thingin lifting upward, as in crushing low!And as a vanquished soldier yields his swordto one who lifts him from the bloody earth…"
She quoted softly.
"Even so, Beloved, I at last record,Here ends my strife. If thou invite me forth,I rise above abasement at the word.Make thy love larger to enlarge my worth.
Reid finished the quote. "Sonnet sixteen," He said.
"Yes, I adore that one." She said.
"D-do you like -"
Suddenly the young woman's face took on a look of extreme terror and she said. "I'm so sorry I have to go."
"But -"
She turned, and left without another word, disappearing around the corner of the shelves.
"I didn't get your name." Reid completed his thought out loud in a soft voice. Then he sagged back against the shelves.
Of course she would leave, it's not like he was the kind of guy that girls liked. He should just pick up the book, check it out and leave. Instead, he hurried to the end of the row of shelves and looked around the corner. She was gone of course. He walked quickly up and down all the rows of books looking for her, driven on by something that he didn't understand, but she was gone.
With slumped shoulders, and an inexplicable hole in his heart that hurt like nothing he'd ever known, he went back to the row of books that held Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry and grabbed the book on the floor. He also took every copy of her poetry books he could find and trudged back up to the checkout desk.
"Dr Reid, are you alright?" The woman behind the desk asked him.
She was very short and plump with graying dark brown hair and eyes the color of good whiskey. Her face was lined, and she had a kind smile that made him want to spill everything and beg her if she'd seen the young woman, or knew her name.
"Oh… ah no Mrs. Warren, I'm fine."
"You look a bit pale."
"It - it was j-just a bad case."
"You poor dear, and the storm outside isn't helping I'm sure."
"I - well," He looked around and saw that no one was in hearing range. "I was looking for a girl I saw in the poetry section."
He was oblivious to the look the librarian gave him and listened to his description of the young girl. The poor young doctor was stuttering and red faced by the time he finished telling her about his encounter.
"I've never seen anyone that looked like that here, and you know I know everyone that comes in here. Besides, I was in the office a minute ago, so I might not have seen her leave the library." She let her glasses fall to her chest on the beaded chain she wore around her neck.
"Oh… I was just wondering if you knew her name."
"I'm sorry dear boy…"
"It's okay, I'll just take these."
She watched him fish out his card with trembling hands. The poor boy was so cute and he didn't seem to have a girlfriend. He was so painfully shy, it hurt to watch sometimes. Maybe she would set him up with her niece.
She scanned all of his books while planning a way to get Marcie to go out with him. Her niece was just the sort of girl to drag him out of his shell. She gave him his card back and smiled. "I'm sure you'll find someone very nice one day." She said with the air of an aunt pinching his cheeks and telling him how adorable he was.
"Thanks Mrs. Warren."
"Don't bring them back late." She joked. He never brought his books back late.
"I won't," He said distractedly and then he was gone out into the rain.
"He's going to get soaked. He needs someone to take care of him." She said to herself and pulled out her address book from her bag.
--
The storm was over when Reid parked his car in front of the small rental home he lived in. The sky was completely gray and turning dark as the clock turned over to six pm. He shuffled all the books to one arm and tried to put his key in the lock without dropping the books. He managed to hang on to them till he got inside, where they all fell to the floor along with his messenger bag, which hit his right foot.
"Ouch… damn it." He yelped.
He thought about leaving everything where it lay, but then he heard his mother saying. "We don't leave library books on the floor Spencer."
He gathered them up and stacked them on the edge of the table in the entryway. He left his messenger bag on the floor next to the table and headed into the bathroom for a towel. His hair and shirt were soaked, and his cords were well splattered with rain. He grabbed the towel and went to his bedroom for a pair of pajama bottoms and a tee shirt.
The furnace kicked on at the same time he was throwing his clothes in the washer. The warm breath of the heater made his skin prickle. Just like that girl had made goose bumps pop up on his arms.
Don't think about her!
Yeah, he needed some coffee and a sandwich, or something else. He was thirsty and he was starving. He went to the kitchen and decided he was too depressed to cook, or even make a sandwich. His fridge had the number for the nearest pizza place under a magnet. He called it and then went to his living room.
He could still see her smile and her beautiful eyes in front of his eyes. He should have been like Morgan. His partner wouldn't have let that girl just walk away. He would have got the girl's name, her phone number and made a date with her.
You're pathetic Dr. Reid.
He pulled his legs up on the couch and stared at the clock till the pizza guy brought his pizza. He paid the man, and grabbed two pieces and a beer instead of the coffee. It was Friday night, maybe he'd get drunk. He took the pizza and the beer to his living room and turned on the Sci-Fi channel. There was a Star Trek marathon on till midnight. Star Trek was better than dealing with real life and women any day of the week.