Piercing winds attacked the small log cabin relentlessly, stray gusts penetrating through the cracked glass and uncovered holes, causing the temperatures in the already numbing room to decline further. She'd only seen this one room, this one, dingy room. Cobwebs hung from the window and the unused light swaying above her as it was caught by the ferocious wind. The eerie, creaking of the lamp as it moved back and forth through the air made the feeling of dread in the girl's stomach worsen as she remained curled up in a ball in the corner of the room. From this area of the room, she had a good view of the crumbling wall that supported a fireplace that would have looked grand if it was dusted and lit. Something told her flames had not danced around within the structure for an age as dust was the only thing within its burning chambers. There were a couple of candles on the ledge of the huge, useless fireplace and cautiously she made her way over to them and with trembling hands took one in her hand, melted wax dropping to the floor, close to her feat. The candles had been her only source of light whilst she had been here. She didn't know hold long she had been trapped… she had been walking home from school when one of her daddy's friends had picked her up. Something had stopped them and she couldn't remember what that something was, but everything hurt. Her arms, her legs, her head. Her free, shaking hand worked its way over to the source of her pain located on her forehead, her dainty fingers feeling dampness under them. Gulping, thinking the worse, she walked forwards and towards the damaged door ahead of her, pushing it open and listening to the prolonged creak of rusted components groaning as they had to whirl into action for the first time in an age. Peaking her head around the side of the frame, she couldn't see anything or anyone, so took the small steps necessary to leave the room - when she finally was in the hall she scampered away with small thuds of feet attempting to remain unnoticed.
Once, her daddy had told her to do something if she ever found herself lost or away from home for any other reason, find a phone. She had to try and make contact with someone; she didn't know her house number but she knew the police line of course. Shuddering she began the journey to locate a phone to get out of wherever she was. She had been able to determine two things though, they were somewhere out in the wilderness, the trees she could see through the windows were in abundance and were quite the indicator to this fact, and she was alone. Whoever had brought her here had gone. Maybe to get help or maybe to go out for a drink like her mommy and her man-friend did every night. She'd be doing her homework and they would stumble into the living room smelling like something her daddy had once described as revolting when he had been around. He was usually at work though when this happened, so she had to do her homework alone and had to deal with the revolting smell solo. But her daddy had told her to never end up like her mommy and her man-friend, she assumed it was because the smell was sickening and would probably make people not like her. It had made daddy not like mommy anyway.
Thoughts of a broken family left her head and she focused on the picnic she and her parents had once gone on when things were better. The food was great, because her daddy had prepared it and not her mommy, and they had sat by a lake, throwing bread at ducks and had spent the day laughing and gossiping between each other. That had been one of the last good days. Before the smell and before the accident… she never talked about the accident because it made her sad and made her mommy and her man-friend angry. Which made her get more upset as they shouted at each other and then at her. Another sort of liquid was dripping down her face now, unlike the crimson substance before it, it was clear and cleansing in a way. Her mommy always told her to stop crying so she tried to do that.
Free hand wiping away the tears, she reached a door, scratched and covered in red streaks. Gulping, she pushed it open and with an echoing creak similar to the last one, she edged her way into the room, holding the candle aloft to get a good view of its contents. There was no phone, she could see that immediately. Plain walls were hosts to a ruined floor and a stained mattress that was precariously placed upon a rusted bed frame. There were no windows but the wind was still seeping in somehow. Deciding to continue her search, the small girl rushed backwards, not looking behind her as she did so. Resulting in her bumping against an obstacle that had not been there when she had entered the box room. Nervously, she froze, her grip on the candle tightening.
"What do you think you're doing you-" the man began, but she didn't hear anymore as all her focus was on the fact his grime covered hands were gripping at her. One around her arm and the other clamped over her mouth. Making her screams muffled and obscure. He simply laughed and after the excruciating events that occurred not long after his arrival, the girl found herself curled up in the corner once more. Hours and hours of agonizing pain inflicted on her leaving her crumpled in the corner as he snored on the filthy mattress. She found herself doing something her mother would disapprove of if she had seen her. Crying.
"Tell anyone and you're dead…"
"Guys! We have another case," A frantic JJ declared as she rushed past the desks of the team with files stacked within her arms, heading towards the round table. Casting a glance at each other, Reid and Morgan jumped up and followed the blonde, being joined by Emily with a steaming coffee in hand.
"Do we have any idea what is going on or?" Emily asked the boys as she tried to get the lid of her coffee, whilst walking at pace, and not spilling the boiling liquid down herself.
"No, but it looks pretty urgent," Morgan replied, gesturing at an hectic JJ who had gained speed and was way ahead of them, already walking up to Hotch and Rossi who were sat waiting at the table. JJ quickly placed the files in front of them and the three other agents sat down at the spare seats.
"Okay, so, we are wanted in New York," JJ informed them as she opened her own file to present the team with the needed information. "Four women in the past eight days have been found raped and murdered," she added as the team looked down at the happy, smiling photo's of the victims who would have had no idea the memories they were capturing in that moment would end up on a treated FBI desk whilst agents poured over them in order to bring justice to whoever violated and killed them in such an abhorrent way.
"Do we have any connections between the women?" Hotch asked as he looked away from the four photos and up to JJ for answers.
"No, not yet, but we can have a closer look on the jet. We need to get going right now," JJ told them. Hotch nodded and Rossi was the first to collect all the files up and leave the room. He was followed by Hotch who in turn was followed by JJ. Lagging behind once more were Reid, Emily and Morgan who left the room each looking down at the faces of the four victims, the photos not leaving their hands until they reached the jet, when they were spread across tables in an attempt to link the four together somehow.
They'd found nothing.
When the jet landed, the team immediately departed the landing zone and rushed over to SUV's waiting for them. The hours spent on the Jet, coming up with unlikely possibilities, had lead to nothing. They were no closer to catching the criminal than they had been back around the table in Quantico. Frustrated, they continued to rack their brains for something, anything, as they trundled towards the police station where they would hopefully have more to work with waiting for them.
"Hotch; do you think we'll able to do this before we have another victim? We have nothing…" Emily sighed, picking at her nails as she did so.
"I hope so," Hotch sighed heavily, brow furrowed in thought, knowing that, unfortunately, there would probably be another victim on their hands during their time in the city.
I know this ended in a rubbish way but the next chapter delves into the case so I thought, end it on the way to the station and pick up when they arrive. So yeah, everything will be explained in time. I hope you enjoyed this enough to stick with me. And if you are reading my: The Strings Inside Her Broke fanfiction, I will hopefully update that soon. I'm just suffering from feelings so am struggling to write about the two of them without sobbing over the keyboard. But anyway, thank you for reading and I appreciate any reviews/favorites/follows/whatever, they mean a lot. Thanks! Megan 3