A/N: I have no idea where this came from. I didn't intend to start another story, but it seems my muse had a different plan. This might be a slightly darker (and hopefully much shorter) tale than my previous one. It takes place in early season six, somewhere around 6x03 or 6x04 and goes AU from there. The story will be purely from Lisbon's POV...for reasons of suspense, I guess you'll know why after you read the prologue.

I thank the very talented Mayzee for beta reading the chapter!

Reviews of any kind, especially also critical ones (with the exception of flames of course) are very welcome.

Prologue

Red - everything was red. It was the first thing she noticed as she stepped inside. Sunlight streamed through the half-closed blinds revealing thousands of dust particles dancing through the air - it would have been a beautiful room if it wasn't for the body. The stench of blood filled her nose and Lisbon took only shallow breaths as she stared at the scene in front of her.

"Boss."

She turned around and looked at Rigsby.

"They found a bloody knife outside the house, it had been thrown into the little pond."

She acknowledged his words with a nod. "Have it sent to forensics. Any trace of the gun?"

"Not so far."

She turned back towards the body on the floor. The once light brown sheriff's uniform was stained red. Lisbon stepped aside as the coroner arrived.

She threw a glance at her phone, frowning. Still no news from Jane; slowly her anger at him was turning into worry. As she looked up, her eyes fell on the young deputy standing close to the door. He was white, his fists clenched at his side. Lisbon sighed; each murder was horrible, but nothing came as close to a living nightmare as a dead cop. She braced herself and walked over.

"I'm Agent Lisbon with the CBI." It took a few seconds for the young man to tear his eyes away from his former boss and look at her.

"Henson," he said, shaking the hand she'd offered him. He seemed too shocked to be annoyed by her presence - at least for now. She expected it to change soon, experience had taught her that. Nothing worse than a bunch of locals trying to avenge their colleague. God, how she hated these cases.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," she told him sincerely. She hadn't particularly liked McAllister and the fact that he'd been one of the seven names on Jane's list hadn't changed that…still, seeing him dead unsettled her. She shuddered; first Partridge and now McAllister…the number of Jane's suspects was dwindling down fast - only it hadn't been Red John this time, or at least it didn't look like it at first sight.

Lisbon led the young deputy out of the room. The fresh morning air lifted her spirits - if only slightly.

"You were the one to find him, is that correct?"

Henson nodded, wiping a few droplets of sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah," he swallowed, "we agreed to meet at the station at 5am for an early morning patrol, but he didn't show."

He stopped again, looking back at the house. "I knew that something must have happened. He was never late; never!"

Lisbon nodded, waiting patiently for him to continue. As the seconds passed and nothing followed, she softly asked, "So that's when you decided to drive to his house?"

Another nod. "Yes. Everything seemed quiet at first. I knocked...several times, but there were no sounds of movement inside."

He rammed his hands into his pockets, clearly agitated now. He was very young - Lisbon suspected he hadn't been with the police for more than a year, two at a maximum. This might very well be his first homicide ever.

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

He shook his head.

"Did you see anyone, or did anyone cross paths with you when you came out here?"

He shook his head again, "No, I saw no one."

He took a shaky breath.

"McAllister liked the quiet here. I think hardly anyone passed this way."

Lisbon had suspected as much. She threw another glance at the house. It was spacious and in excellent condition; it looked like the refuge of a man that didn't want to be disturbed.

"Was the door looked when you arrived?"

"Yes, I had to break it open to get in."

And ruining any chance of figuring out how the perpetrator had gotten in - assuming he'd used the front door. But then...what murderer would lock the door again behind him? A clever one, a voice in her head reminded her, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Jane. Another surge of worry and annoyance swept through her. Where the hell was he?

If possible, the young deputy looked even worse now and Lisbon decided to leave it for the moment. She told him again how sorry she was and asked him to come by the bullpen later for a few follow-up questions.

Cho came out of the house and she saw immediately that he had bad news.

"What did you find?" she asked the moment Henson was out of earshot.

"I think it's best you see for yourself." He led her inside, past the gruesome body and up a wide staircase.

"Any news from Jane?" Cho asked her. Lisbon was taken aback by the question.

"No, not since yesterday morning. Why?"

A short pause. "He better show up soon."

Something in his voice made Lisbon shudder. What the hell had they found?

They reached a door that had been camouflaged as a book shelf.

"A hidden room?" Lisbon asked, astonished. "Why would he need...?" The words died on her lips as she stepped inside. Every inch of the walls around her was covered with pictures.

Red - for the second time it was the first thought that came to her mind. Blood, stabbed women and red smileys looked down at her from everywhere. She didn't recognise the pictures, but the scenes they depicted. The Red John murders - every single one of them. The middle of the wall adorned a bloody smile, covering the wall from ground to ceiling.

"This isn't possible," Lisbon murmured in disbelief. "It can't be."

Cho didn't reply. Instead, he carefully unbolted a wooden chest close to the door. The glint of metal caught her eye; her heart racing in her chest by now. Dozens of linoleum knives filled the chest, neatly stacked on a lining of red velvet. Most of them were still covered in dried blood.

"It seems we found him at last," Cho said, his voice emotionless. But Lisbon knew him too well to be fooled by that.

"Or rather someone else found him first."

He didn't say a name, but Lisbon's blood froze in her veins. For a moment, the walls seemed to close in around her, drowning her in red, and taking her breath away.

A/N: I first intentend to write the whole story and only then start publishing...but after four months and only one prologue and a few half written chapters I realised that I need the pressure of having to update to get this finished. I therefore can't promise you very regular updates, but I'll try my best.