Hey ya'll! So this is my first Criminal Minds fic and I'm hoping it'll be good enough. I haven't watched every single episode like I'm sure most of ya'll have. So if I get a fact wrong I'd appreciate someone tell me so I can change it immediately. Thanks for taking interest and please enjoy and review!
Trust Me
Chapter 1: The Case
Everything was so quiet; Carter laid in her bed, her sheets wrapped tightly around her. She couldn't stand the silence, it was so haunting. Sometimes, quiet was just too loud. She rolled over to the other side and faced the wall and then reached for her phone and her ear buds. She stuck one in and picked a song that would distract her from all the silence, she pressed play and rock music chased away the quiet, letting her feel relief, so much relief that she actually cracked a smile.
She rolled over again and faced the door, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw it wide open, Carter quickly pressed pause on her phone and propped herself on her elbow, having a staring contest with her door. Before she could get up and close it, something cold touched her back, making her gasp and jump. She wanted to turn around but the cold object was pushed deeper into her skin, making her whimper and cower in fear.
"Not a word," a low voice spoke behind her. Carter's eyes grew wide and her heart beat increased. She wanted to look behind her to see the owner of the scruffy voice but she was just paralyzed.
"Do you hear me?" the stranger asked louder, making her flinch. The teenager nodded her head and felt a tear roll down her cheek. She began to wonder if her parents were okay, so innocent in their deep sleep, not a clue to what was going on across the hall.
"Now get up and do it slowly," the man growled. Carter could only nod, she had no idea what the man wanted but she figured obeying his orders would keep her alive long enough to figure out what to do. She slowly pulled her sheets off of her legs and fixed her silky, white pajama pants before crawling off the bed. She wondered if that was the last time she would ever sleep in it. She finally stood up and felt the nozzle of the gun dig into her back with extra force. As if the stranger was making sure she wouldn't run away.
"What do you want?" she asked in an unsteady voice, so unsteady she choked in the middle of her question.
"Shut up," the man snapped through gritted teeth. "Now walk." Carter followed his instructions, he pushed her straight with the gun and she almost cried when he pushed her into her parents' room.
"No, you can't," Carter whispered, tears beginning to douse her cheeks.
"I said shut up," the man commanded again. The stranger pushed her along to her dad's side of the bed.
"Wake him up," the man said. Carter chocked back as much tears as she could before she did as told, she wanted to look strong for her dad. She slowly stuck out her arm and gently shook her dad's shoulder. Her dad softly groaned and cracked open an eye to see his daughter.
"Dad," Carter whispered. Her dad gasped and sat up, making her mother sit up as well. Carter whimpered as the stranger jerked her back as soon as her parents sat up.
"Oh my," her mom said, covering her mouth. Her dad set a steady hand on his wife's knee to calm her down. But as much as he wanted it to, she was still scared and confused, just like Carter.
"Who are you?" her father asked. The nozzle of the gun switched from the teenager's back to the side of her head, making her parents gasp.
"Both of you stand against the wall or I'll shoot her," the unwanted guest ordered, ignoring her dad's question. Both of the parents looked at each other and did as they were told slowly, her mother crying softly.
"Whatever it is you want just take it," her dad said as he made his way to the wall. He leaned his back against the wall and looked at the man holding his only child. "Please don't hurt her," he pleaded. Carter heard the man above her snicker.
"That's just cute," he said.
"Just tell us what you want, please," her mother begged. The man paused for a second and bent down to where he was right beside Carter's ear.
"Carter," he said, his voice making her shutter and chills run up her skinny body.
"Why do you want me?" she asked, almost regretting asking him.
"Shh," the man shushed her quietly and began to stroke her midnight black hair.
"Don't you dare touch her," her father snapped. The stranger stood up straighter and pointed the gun at her dad.
"Dad!" Carter shrieked right before the man pulled the trigger. Her father collapsed to the ground and blood began to leak form his mouth.
"I've been watching you three and I need her for my collection," the man said. That's when Carter broke apart and cried for her dad on the ground. He looked at her and her mother.
"I love you both," he whispered before closing his eyes for the last time. Her mom screamed and knelt beside her husband, beginning to cower at the stranger above her. The man pointed the gun at her mom.
"No, don't!" Carter yelled at him, starting to squirm. He gripped her shoulders and yanked her around, letting her see his face for the first time. The man had gray hair on the top of his head with a thin, gray goatee.
"Don't struggle!" he commanded. He gripped her jaw and made her turn around to face her cowering mother. She tried to shake her head violently but the stranger dug his fingers into her cheeks, making her cry harder.
"Say goodbye," he said.
"I love you," Carter choked.
"Everything will be okay," her mom said. No more than five seconds later the man pulled the trigger and ended her mother's life. The rage Carter was feeling was indescribable. She turned around quickly and grabbed the lamp that was beside her dad's side of the bed and whirled around to smack the man with the object. The glass shattered across his face, making him scream. Carter hopped over the mess and tried to run out the door but felt a powerful force jerk her back by the arm.
"No!" she shrieked, fighting for her life and kicking both her legs. The man dragged her down the stairs and marched into the kitchen. He pulled out a drawer and found her family's roll of duct tape. She wondered how long the man had been stalking her and her family. He knew where everything was. It took him forever to get her pinned down before he could shut her mouth and bind her hands. But it didn't stop the teen, she still screamed under the gag. He picked her up and ran to his van, throwing her in the back seat and running to the driver's seat.
The man started the car and drove away from the one place Carter called home. All the memories, shattered. All the love, shattered. And her life, shattered.
()()()()()()()
"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks." Isaac Watts.
Dr. Spencer Reid waited for the elevator doors to open with a cup of coffee in his hand and his bag in his other. He stood in a white dress shirt and brown tie tucked into his tan khaki pants. He looked down at his favorite pair of Chuck's right before the door opened. He walked into the office and greeted others as he walked into the round table room, where his teammates sat in, waiting for a presentation.
He sat beside his best friend, Derek Morgan and nodded at him as a greeting. Across the table were his other friends, Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, and at the board, about to start her slide show was Jenifer Jareau, but he and the rest of the team referred her as 'JJ'.
"So what's this case on, JJ?" Hotch asked the blonde. She looked at the board and pressed a button on her remote. A picture of a girl that looked about thirteen or fifteen was shown on the screen. She had long, midnight black hair and light blue eyes. In the picture she had the biggest smile on her face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Carter Stevenson, she was abducted two weeks ago in Columbus Ohio after witnessing her parents' murder and is still missing," JJ informed. Before she could continue, Morgan beat her to it.
"Why did they call us then?" he asked.
"Because Carter isn't the only one. About a month ago two other teenage girls were abducted and forced to watch their parents die," she answered and pressed another button. Two pictures of two different girls showed up with smiling faces, faces that lived short lives. The next slide showed them dead on the cold ground with stab wounds on their chests.
"Parents called police when their kids found the first victim dead in a poorly buried grave at a playground called Looney Park. The first victim was Karen Bogsley. About four weeks later they found the second victim, Tiffany Clark, in a different playground called Fun World," the blonde continued.
"Does the unsub have bad history with playgrounds?" Reid asked. JJ only shrugged.
"That's why they called us," she replied with a small frown.
"How long were they kept before they were found?" Prentiss asked.
"Police said both teenagers were missing for exactly three weeks. So far, Carter has been missing for only two."
"And they decided to call us now?" Morgan asked. JJ nodded.
"If we don't find Carter then the unsub will keep going," Hotch said.
"Why only three weeks? Why not just kill them immediately?" Rossi thought out loud. Reid began to answer immediately as usual.
"He probably wants his victims to suffer before he kills them. Just watching my parents die would haunt me for a few weeks," he suggested.
"We don't have much time, Carter only has a week before she finds herself dead in a playground," Hotch said and began to get out of his seat.
