It isn't the first time, the second time, or even the third time that Will Graham has gotten out of bed and sleepwalked to an entirely new location.
He's in that state of half way between asleep and awake (or is it awake and asleep?). His vision is blurred and he's dizzy. It's a week till Thanksgiving and the ground is hard and cold, and Will is in nothing but boxers and a sweaty t-shirt.
It must be two in the morning. The forest is pitch black and there's not a soul around for miles. If he died out here, in the woods, right this very minute, it would be days before they discovered his body. In his barely conscious mind Will wonders how long it would take anyone to notice he was missing. Before becoming a professor at Quantico and starting to form some sort of friendship with Jack, Alana, and Hannibal, it would have been a long time before his absence was noticed, but nowhe doesn't even want to consider being in a different state.
Will reaches to his left, expecting his arm to rest on the log he tripped over, but he immediately recoils as if what he touched has burned him. It is unmistakable, the feeling of cold, human flesh.
It's a girl. A long and willowy build, her black hair is filthy, filled with dried leaves and dirt. She's naked except for a pair of strangely clean white panties and she has fresh bruises around her neck. Her large gray eyes are open. Starring at nothing.
Reacting too quickly, Will jumps up and is overwhelmed by the feeling of dizziness. He sways and starts to fall quickly back to earth when he is caught, and lowered slowly to the ground. Blinking, trying to work through his blurred, limited vision and the dark night, Will looks up to try and see who is there. Before he can focus in on the face of the tall figure, a sharp blow to the side of his head collapses him, and he blacks out.
The sheets are warm, a big difference from the forest ground he had been lying on. Will rolls over and slowly opens his eyes. The clock told him it was a little after eight. He had slept in, an unusual occurrence for him.
He gets up and walks towards the kitchen. His back feels a little stiff from sleeping in a funny position and he felt a migraine coming on, but otherwise he was fine. It wasn't till Will was in the middle of feeding his dogs when it all comes rushing back to him. The woods. The body. The killer? The food bowl falls to the floor, sending kibble everywhere.
Will rushes towards the bathroom and inspects his reflection. There are two lacerations which had not been there when he had gone to sleep. One was in the middle of his forehead and one was on his temple. Both had been cleaned withantiseptic. He doesn't remember cleaning them, probably because he hadn't. Will didn't even have a first aid kit in his house.
Sinking to the tile floor, Will tries to recall last night, but it was like trying to remember a dream. He knew what he thought had happened but he couldn't envision it at all, and the faces of the people he had seenwere out of focus.
He knows he probably needs medical attention, but when he gets into his car, Will heads for the closest woods instead of the ER. He has no way of knowing which forest he had been in but he figured he'd check the closest.
All day Will searches the woods for any sign of him or the girl, but he comes up with nothing. The news sites don't report anyone missing, either. Finally he wanders home and is left to lie in bed. He wonders if he had dreamed the whole thing. Even if he hadn't and it was reality, who would believe him?