CRIMINAL MINDS

MURDERING OF THE MIND

PROLOGUE

"It's hard to imagine the possibility of being a prisoner of your own mind, of being caged by your thoughts. People don't seem to realise that intelligence, creativity and understanding can come at a price. I've never considered the possibility that I am a slave, a servant to my unyielding nature, to my suggestive thoughts, but the more I consider it the more possible – no obvious – it is that I am.

I don't really understand the nature of what I write of – my own nature -, perhaps that is because I don't wish to understand myself. Perhaps I wish to remain a mystery to myself, I don't want to understand why I think or feel the things I think and feel.

I guess that I'm writing all of this down with the hopes that someone will come across this, and understand what I am – what I'm afraid to know. If I'm lucky, someone will be reading this, maybe it'll help them some way – I don't know. In any case, at least someone will have taken the time to care..."

...

...

"Reid what are you reading?" Morgan called out to Reid across the small, cluttered room.

"It's a diary entry from someone, don't know who, but I think it might be from one of the Unsub's victims'." Reid replied rising from his crouched position by a small desk and thin sheet on the bare, wooden floor.

"What's it say?"Morgan asked wandering over next to Reid, careful to avoid the yellow evidence markers.

"Well whoever's written this thought that people who were intelligent, creative or understanding were, possibly, crazy, and that they might have been crazy as well" Reid muttered, handing the thin, paperback notebook to Morgan.

Without replying Morgan nodded and flicked quickly through the first few entries, only to find little of interest. "Well, we'll bag it and get it analysed" Morgan said looking at Reid. "Reid?"

But Reid didn't seem to hear or didn't acknowledge what he'd said as he'd discovered a small, printed book beneath a loose floorboard. Quickly and efficiently, putting his ability to read 20'000 per minute to good use, Reid read the small book pausing only when he had to turn the page.

"Hey Reid, you in there?" Morgan asked slightly bemused, he always found it strange how Reid could read so fast.

"Mmmm...what? Sorry, I was just..." Reid trailed off as he continued to read. His chocolate brown eyes flickering back and forth as he followed the lines of words along the small A5 pages, until there were no more words to read. "Strange..."

"What is? Reid man talk to me" Morgan said seriously, he was getting a little bit annoyed at the fact that Reid was contemplating something that might relate to the case.

"Oh, nothing really, it's just whoever was reading this book wrote in pencil and wrote a message on the pages" Reid muttered, almost as if he were speaking to himself.

"What's the message?" Morgan pressed leaning over Reid to look at the faintly pencilled words in the margin of the pages.

"Errr... I think we should tell Hotch and the others first" Reid side-stepped the question "I think it's something we should all know at the same time." Without another word Reid stood and left the small, cluttered room and headed straight for the SUV parked on the street outside the small, one bed-roomed house on Eastland Avenue. A frustrated Morgan followed him quickly, quietly cursing the boy genius.

...

...

(The Hidden Message in the book)

"Do not be alarmed whoever is reading this intermittent message. I am only informing you of the fate that has befallen others and soon me as well. You must not show him fear you must not give in. Do what you must but do not surrender. You may be able to survive your fate. I wish you all the luck I can possibly spare. He will cause you more pain than you will ever know. He will make you cry and beg for mercy before he ends you. Do not cry and beg be resolute and say no. Stand up to the small petite man and show him that you are better than he. His torture will end when you give in. DO NOT give in and you may be saved. There is a team of people who are hunting him – the BAU – they may be able to save you if you can last long enough. He is sadistic and narcissistic – he takes pleasure from your pain, and pleasure from his 'obvious' superiority. Play his game for as long as logical and common sense would dictate your reactions. When the time comes to making a choice where if you choose to obey him he says you will live, and if you choose to be obstinate he will kill you, choose to be obstinate – you will survive longer than if you chose to obey."

...

...

"This girl is smart" Rossi commented on the message "she's profiled the Unsub and has explained it to the victims that she knows will follow her, showing that she's realistic and knows that the chances of her survival are slim."

"Yes, she's offering advice to future victims" Hotch muttered staring at the digital image of the message on the screen in the conference room of the NYPDs precinct.

"Well hopefully we'll stop this guy before there are any more victims" Emily said dryly.

"Does she give a description of the Unsub?" JJ asked walking into the room with Morgan and Reid right behind her.

"She's done one better; she did a sketch of him." Morgan said holding up a sketch of a man. "It was in the back of the book on one of the blank pages."

"Disclose it to the public and give the description to all police officers in New York" Hotch said looking at the sketch of their Unsub. It was surprisingly detailed and could have been a photograph that had been made to look like a sketch with one of those strange computer programs that Garcia probably uses. "This girl is extremely observant; the detail in this sketch is astounding."

"I think she might have either an eidetic memory or, she got to know the unsub's face so well that she was able to draw it simply from familiarity." Reid explained quickly, his voice naturally raising an octave or two and speeding up as he spoke.

"Well you have an eidetic memory Reid – which means you remember everything – and you can't draw to save your life!" Emily smiled as Reid frowned at her, his eyebrows knitting together in that way.

"I'm not very artistic" Reid said indignantly still frowning at Emily.

"So, what, you can do statistical analysis easy but stick-figures are beyond you?" Emily asked smirking.

"What? No!" Reid said his voice rising even higher. He glared at Emily for a moment then pointedly ignored her "Hotch, I read the rest of the diary and I found out her name."

Hotch, who had been ignoring Emily and Reid's little discussion, turned to look at him his face serious "What's her name?"

"Katrine Quilks. She's an English citizen Hotch." Reid replied passing Hotch a small file on the girl. "She came to America to visit her aunt and uncle, but never arrived at their home."

"Least we have a name, all we need is a face" Hotch muttered more to himself than to Reid.

"I'll get Garcia to find a photo." Reid said as he turned and left the room to call on Garcia in her office.

...

...

"I think I'm afraid. It sounds strange to write but it's true. I don't know if I'm afraid. Crazy. I've been kidnapped against my will – not that you're usually for getting kidnapped I suppose – and I'm now awaiting the death that I know will befall me before anyone can get here quick enough to save me.

Anyway, that little random thought put aside, I have noticed that the room I'm in isn't very well lit. I'm going to see if I can 'convince' him to take the boards off the window so I can actually see the sunlight, I don't want to die without seeing the sun one more time. Funny really, I never really liked the sunshine but now that I'm faced with the prospect of never seeing it again, of never feeling its rays warm my skin with gentle caresses well it just makes me appreciate it so much more than I used to.

He's coming back. Sounds angry, I wonder what's got on his nerves? Oh that's it! Obviously! The BAU have been called in. This should be fun! That's sarcasm by the way – I don't want anyone thinking I'm a crazy psychotic person or anything. I've got to stop writing now, I haven't written what I wanted to though. Damn! I'll have to do it next time... when I'm allowed back out into this room – I really hate small, dark and dank cupboards that have NO LIGHT whatsoever!

Wish me luck...please."

...

...

"I feel sorry for this girl," Reid muttered quietly to himself, not noticing the others in the room with him were listening.

"Why Reid?" JJ asked him making him jerk his head up in surprise at her question.

He looked at her for a moment before sighing and answering her in a quiet and subdued voice, "It's just... she's so intelligent and she understands everything that's happening to her. She's realised that she won't get out of this alive but instead of becoming hysterical or begging for help she's doing what she can to help others... to help us! It's just sad that she's doing, or done, all of this and we didn't get to her."

The others all were silent as they considered what Reid had just said, he'd spoken the truth of the matter and they couldn't offer words of sympathy nor comfort for they had none to give. The only thing they could do was use what this poor girl had given them to their advantage and do what her last wish was; stop this Unsub from doing to another what he had obviously done to her.