"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would."- Alice (Alice in Wonderland: Lewis Carroll)

The two black SUVs made their way down the interstate; Hotch, Prentiss, and Rossi in one, Morgan, J.J., and Reid in the other. J.J. had the other car on the phone on speaker and the open case file on her lap. Hotch was the first to speak.

"How did the unsub abduct each victim? How did he get them from their homes to the forest without anyone?"

"He didn't. Take them from their homes, that is. Barbara was at her friends down the street for an all-night bible study. Sarah was at a bonding night with other girls from her volleyball team. And Amanda apparently snuck out to go party. They were each out of their homes on the night before their murders." J.J. studied the photos of the smiling girls with a mixture of sadness and determination.

"And they were all found just hours after they died?" Prentiss's voice was distant and hazy, being in the backseat and furthest from the phone.

"Apparently the police got an anonymous call that a body had been found. The caller gave the exact coordinates of the location before hanging up. Each call was made just before nine in the morning but the report says time of death ranged from 5 to 7 a.m. from victim to victim. Amanda, who was found this morning, was put at 6:45."

"He doesn't have them very long. He abducts them at night and kills them the next morning. That's not a lot of time to find his gratification," Rossi thought aloud.

"I don't think this is about gratification, Rossi. The execution-style killing along with the short time he had them makes it seem more like killing them was just a job. Just something he had to do," Morgan countered.

"The unsub still made contact with them somehow. They met and something the victims said or did put them on this guy's radar. We need to figure out when that happened as well as what happened. This guy has a pretty steady schedule of killing once a month. We have to catch him before he goes back under another month or before he decides to accelerate his executions."

Hotch stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

"Prentiss and Reid will go to the recent crime scene. See what you can find that might give a clue as to why these girls. Morgan and J.J., I want you to start talking to the friends and family. Figure out who these girls were talking to and what they were doing before they died. Rossi and I will go to the coroner, see if there's anything new they can tell us." Each person stated their agreement and J.J. hung up the phone.

It was quiet in the car for a while before Morgan's phone started to ring. He glanced at it before flipping it open with a smile.

"How's it goin', baby girl? You're on speaker."

Garcia's voice was filled with rage and a fiery determination that it rarely had.

"I'll tell you how it's goin'. Finding this guy is like trying to find a needle in a haystack the size of Texas and I'm blindfolded. But trust me, Derek. Trust me when I say I will find this needle even if I have to burn down every pile of hay from Hell to Huston. If he thinks he can just play with me like that and get away with it, he is sorely mistaken. I swear I will find this son of a bitch and when I do…"

"Whoa there hot stuff, bring it down. I know you'll find him but right now we need you focused on this case. Can you do that?"

Penelope scoffed into the phone. "Tell me what you need and it's yours."

"I need you to contact the friends and family of the victims that have already been interviewed and let them know we need them back at the station for further questioning. Then I need you to dig into the schedules of the victims. I want to know what they each did the days before their deaths. Can you do that, sweetness?"

"Honey, if they sneezed I'll tell you the time and place."

"You're the best!"

"Tell me something I don't know. Garcia out." The phone clicked and Morgan snapped it shut, chuckling to himself. Then he happened to glance in the rearview mirror. Reid was sitting as still as a statue in the backseat, staring out the window. Morgan hollered his name but got no reply. Reid just gazed at the passing scenery, his eyes not really seeing what was in front of them. He couldn't get that girl out of his head.

Rose.

Everything about her stuck out individually but when put all together, it just seemed to make sense. She had been short but something in her personality made her seem taller, bigger. He hadn't even realized just how small she had been until she stood up. But she had been fit, not thin, with curves… his mind wandered off and his cheeks flamed pink for an instant. Morgan's eyebrows rose as Reid's face turned bright red then back to normal as if nothing had happened. He tried to get the kid's attention again but again to no avail.

Her eyes had been odd too, one bright blue, like the sky, and the other bright green, like fresh grass. But paired with her platinum blonde hair that tumbled around her face, they seemed to complement each other. He remembered that moment she removed her hat like he remembered everything, like it had just happened moments ago. Her hair fell like silk down her face but she just absently brushed it away like it were nothing. Somehow that made her that much more endearing, the fact that she didn't act like her looks were a major deal. That, and the skillful way she played chess, even though she had lost…

His brow furrowed.

Morgan's eyes kept flashing from the road to the rearview mirror. He had never seen this many different emotions on Reid's face in such a short amount of time. He nudged J.J., who turned and watched Reid as well. The kid's face went from thoughtful to bright red and embarrassed then to confused until it landed and stayed on a mixture of confusion and deep concentration. The two people watching him shared a look before taking turns trying to get his attention.

She shouldn't have lost. The way she had played before showed a deep understanding of the game and a sharp mind for strategy and tactics. There was no way, looking back, that she should have missed such an obvious chance to win. Someone that good doesn't make such simple mistakes, especially after such a long and difficult battle. She had hesitated over the right piece but she changed her mind at the last minute. He could still see her tiny hand hovering over the piece that should have ended it all with Reid coming out as the loser. Then It just shifted to another and somehow he had won. He should feel victorious but the victory felt hollow, as if he didn't earn it form himself. As if… His mouth hung open in horror.

"DOCTOR SPENCER REID!" Morgan and J.J.'s voices were loud and right in his face but he didn't even flinch. Instead he just stared at them, mouth open, eyes wide, and body frozen.

"She let me win," he whispered.

"What? Come on, kid, speak up."

"She let me win!" He dug around in his bag and pulled out a journal and a pen. With quick hands he began to sketch out multiple drawings of chess boards, going move by move through the game until he came to the end. He extended the book to J.J., who was staring at him, completely lost. He indicated a chess board.

"See this move here? Only a player as skilled as Gideon would have seen it. I didn't even notice it! And this one over here is the same thing." He turned the book to himself and studied the drawings with searching eyes. "Almost every move she made was something a master would have done."

"Almost every move?" J.J. asked, still not fully understanding what was going on but it seemed important to Spence so what the hell. He nodded enthusiastically, showing her the last couple drawings.

"She should have moved her piece here after I moved there. It would have ended the game and she would have won. Instead she moved this pawn and as a result I won."

"Maybe she didn't see it?" Chimed in Derek but Reid shook his head just as enthusiastically.

"That's what I thought before but for someone as skilled as her to make such a simple mistake. It wouldn't have happened unless it was on purpose. She let me win."

"Well, I mean, at least you won, right? You'll never know for sure if she let you win or not." J.J.'s voice was comforting but Reid sat back in thought. He knew without a doubt that she had let him win. And it wasn't good enough that he had just won. Someone as skilled as that… letting him win almost felt like pity. Never before in his life had he felt such desire to defeat someone, not even when he played with Gideon. The moment they got back, he would find Rose and beat her by his own strength. That, he was positive of.

Morgan opened his mouth to say something but something about Reid's expression told him it was better if he didn't say anything. Besides, they had just arrived at the Luray Police Department. A detective was standing on the steps of the station and shook their hands as J.J. made the introductions. When Reid was called, he gave a half-hearted wave, catching the worried eyes of his teammates but he ignored them. Thinking about Rose had his headache from earlier returning with full force. He pulled his shades down over his eyes but it wasn't helping.

"Agents Morgan and Jareau will be remaining here to talk to the families. The rest of us will return shortly." Hotchner said before turning with Rossi and getting back in one of the large SUV. The detective, who had introduced himself as Detective Anderson, nodded and showed the way for J.J. and Morgan into the station. Prentiss turned to get into the other SUV herself but realized that Reid wasn't following her. Instead he was staring off into the distance and jumped when her hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey! It's just me!" Emily threw up her hands as well as her eyebrows, obviously confused by Reid's startled expression but he just laughed it off.

"Sorry. I was thinking."

"About that hacker who got your information?" She returned her hand to his shoulder in a comforting pat. "Don't worry about it. If anyone can find him, it's Garcia."

"Ahh ya, you're right. I'll try not to think about it." In fact, the thought that someone out there had all his information hadn't even crossed his mind. It should have but it didn't. That's how much that chess game had filled his thoughts. But Prentiss didn't seem to notice his bluff. She just smiled warmly.

"Good because I need you here with me. Come on, let's get going." She made her way back to the SUV and this time Reid followed.


Twenty-five minutes later, Prentiss and Reid were pulling into the Shenandoah River State Park. They parked next to two Virginia State Police cars. The officers themselves were another 5 minute walk through the trees into the park itself. They picked their way down the slope, over roots and uneven ground, until the bright yellow tape cutting off the crime scene came into view.

"That's not exactly an easy walk. Someone would have to be careful not to fall and break an ankle. It would be even harder dragging a person down it." Prentiss dusted some dirt off the side of her dark pants while Reid starting walking around the scene.

The area was a clearing created by a ring of tall trees with their thick branches blocking out most of the sun, creating a dim, dreary space. The body of Amanda still hung slump over a large boulder, a waterfall of dried blood flowing down the stony surface. Her hands remained tied behind her back, loosely secured with coarse twine. Her head remained where it must have landed and rolled, a few feet from the foot of the boulder, her eyes wide and mouth in a permanent scream, with rotting leaves clinging to her bright red hair.

"This area's pretty secluded. The trees block out most of the clearing. You can't see it from the road so he would have a lot of privacy to do what he wants. So why didn't he spend more time with them? He had the opportunity, so why didn't he use it?" Reid thought aloud.

"Was this exactly how she was when you found her?" Prentiss crossed the clearing to the blood-covered boulder.

"We didn't touch anything, just like you asked," said an officer. Prentiss started pulling on a pair of latex gloves.

"When was the call made?"

"At 8:43. Two hours after she had died."

Prentiss examined the girl. She was dressed in tight jeans caked in mud, a black tank top that left nothing to the imagination, and a filthy pair of black converse that looked like white skulls had been painted on them. Her bare arms were covered in swirls of green, blue, and orange, with glitter sparkling around the edges. Under the dim light, the lines seemed to glow.

"Is this glow-in-the-dark paint?" Prentiss asked Reid who lowered himself beside her to look. He cupped a gloved hand over part of the arm to block out the light and peaked through his fingers.

"Looks like it."

"Did the unsub do this as some kind of decoration?" Prentiss asked, leaning back on her heels.

Reid eased to his feet and crossed to the right side of the body, staring at the swirls on the other arm. After a moment he shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Assuming she's right handed, the markings on her right side are more wobbly and not as detailed. She most likely had to do these with her other hand. Also, some places are streaked and faded. If the unsub did this after or even before killing her, the lines would have been even and fresh."

"Must have been some party," she thought before examining the girl's bound wrists. "This wasn't done that tightly. That and the lack of defensive wounds makes it look like Amanda didn't fight that hard."

"Maybe she was scared."

"No, I doubt that. Amanda's record showed multiple suspensions from school for fighting. Plus," she looked at the multiple black and skull rings shining on Amanda's fingers, "some of these are dented and bent. It looks like she's used them on someone's face before. She would have most likely fought back if she thought she was in danger."

"So she must not have thought she was in any danger," Reid said, leaning over to examine the head. Her make-up was smeared and streaked. Dirt clumped to multiple studs and spikes in both her ears and her nose. Her hair was bright red but underneath ran streaks of blue, green, and purple. Overall, her look screamed rebellious grunge.

"Off with her head," he mumbled, Rose's face flashing through his mind.

"What?" Prentiss asked.

"Oh, nothing." As Reid leaned forward, something sparkled under a few decaying leaves. He stopped a passing officer. "I need a pair of tweezers." The officer nodded and scurried to do his bidding. Curious, Prentiss joined his side.

"Find something?"

"I think so," Reid said as he took the tweezers from the officer with a quiet thank you. Gently he picked at the top layer of leaves, revealing more sparkle. Then he pulled said sparkly object out of the decay and into the dim sunlight.

At the end of the tweezers dangled a gold chain. A tiny charm slid down the length of the chain as he lifted it up until it swung in a small arch toward the ground.

"Is that a tea cup?" Prentiss took the tweezers from Reid and examined the charm. It was a golden tea cup no bigger than her pinky-nail with delicate overlaying gold details.

"Doesn't exactly fit her usually jewelry choice," Reid said, indicating her black studs and spikes.

"I agree. I highly doubt that this," she swung the chain at him, "would be something that she would buy for herself."

Reid stared at the necklace for a moment before pulling out his phone and snapping a picture. "I'll send it to Morgan. Let's see if any of her friends or family recognizes it."

"Send it to Hotch too. The other two victims might have had something like that if it were given to them by the unsub."

"Good idea." Reid pressed a button and seconds later the tiny tea cup popped up on Morgan and Hotch's phone.


Hotch and Rossi were standing between two cold, metal tables with a victim on each side while the coroner went over her report. She started with Barbara on the left, leaning over her body and indicating the light bruises on her upper arms.

"Other than these bruises, there are no signs of physical assault." She pointed out the thin lines on the girl's wrist that were so faint, they wouldn't have noticed them without her saying something. "The bindings on her wrists weren't even tight enough to leave any real marks."

"Any signs of sexual assault?" Asked Ross but the woman shook her head.

"I can't imagine someone would willingly allow a stranger to tie them up and drag them into the woods without a bit of a fight. Even if he threatened them into submission, he most likely would have tied the bindings tighter in case they had a chance to escape." Hotch pulled out his buzzing phone and flipped it open to stare at a dim picture sent from Reid. It looked like a small tea cup smudged with dirt and what might have been a bit of decaying leaves.

"So you think the victims knew him enough to feel safe? That could explain how they got to the woods without much hassle but they probably would have gotten suspicious when the twine came out." Rossi took the phone that Hotch passed to him and squinted at the picture of the necklace charm.

"Right, which means he knew they wouldn't have been able to fight back even if they wanted to." Hotch turned to the doctor. "Was there anything in their systems?"

The doctor shook her head again and Hotch sighed in aggravation. There had to be something they were missing. It didn't make any sense that the unsub wouldn't have taken some precautions so his prey wouldn't escape. No matter how confident he was.

"However, I do have a theory, if you would like to hear it," the doctor said, flipping through the girls' files.

"Please," Rossi encouraged, giving her the floor. The doctor walked between the two tables and the two agents moved out of her way. She passed them the files and started with Barbara Johns.

"Well, to start, I also found the lack of trauma odd so I started with a toxicology test but it came back completely clean. There wasn't even any traces of alcohol in the blood. However, I did find something odd with both their glucose levels."

"Their blood sugar?" Hotch looked confused while Rossi looked thoughtful.

"Right. Now, the levels were normal, maybe even a bit below normal, but their insulin production was off the charts. Their pancreases were working overtime. And their stomachs? Completely full of candy. It's like they ate Wonka's entire factory. Not only that, there are traces of what was most likely some kind of drink with high levels of sugar. Not soda. More like some kind of energy drink."

"With all that in them, they must have been bouncing off the walls," Rossi commented. The doctor flipped back through her notes.

"At one point they were but the insulin levels show that, by the time they died, they were crashing and crashing hard. Most of the sugar had left their system but it brought along drowsiness and fatigue. Based off the amount of candy and sugar-based products that were digesting in their stomachs, their sugar high was unbelievably high. That means their crash was unbelievably low. I wouldn't be surprised if they passed out wherever they were. If they were still awake, they wouldn't have been able to use much energy, let alone put up much of a fight."

"So they were too tired to fight?" Hotch asked and the doctor nodded. He turned to Rossi. "Well, that would explain why the unsub didn't need to use much force. These girls were practically falling asleep standing up. They wouldn't have posed as much of a threat."

"Thank you, doctor," Rossi shook her hand and Hotchner did the same. They turned to leave when Rossi noticed the phone still in his hand. He faced the doctor once again. "Before we go, I have one more question. Did you notice either victim wearing this when they arrived?" He passed the phone to her. She examined it quietly for a moment.

"The second victim, Sarah Kay, had a necklace similar to this one tangled up in her hair. I had to cut it out, it was so wrapped up in the strands. It should be with her clothes in evidence. But Barbara did not have any kind of jewelry on. Her ears weren't even pierced." She passed back the phone and the two agents said their thanks again before exiting the morgue and heading back to the station.


Morgan's phone buzzed on the desk but he ignored it. So far he had talked to Barbara Johns' parents and a few friends but they were getting nowhere. Everything they were saying was exactly what they said the first time with the police. No one knew if Barbara had met anyone new or if something had been off before she died. Her parents had been strict about who she was allowed to see and where she was allowed to go. If they didn't know them, neither did Barbara. It was almost scary how much control Pastor Johns and his wife had on their daughter's social life. The lack of leads mixed with the uncomfortable feeling he got when he talked to a man of faith had his head aching. Looking over at J.J.'s strained smile as she talked to Sarah Kay's weeping friend from the volleyball team told him she was having just as much luck. Which was none at all.

His phone buzzed again. With a sigh he flipped it open and saw a picture message from Reid. Apparently the necklace in the photo had been found near Amanda's body. He snapped the phone shut after sending it to J.J. and scratched the back of his head. It really did feel like they were getting nowhere. Amanda's parents hadn't even bothered calling them back and no one knew who her friends were so they were stuck interviewing the other victims' loved ones who, so far, had nothing to offer.

He picked up the last file on the stack and flipped it open. It was the report given by Kayli Burns, the friend Barbara was supposed to have been with for an all-night bible study before she died. He read through it a couple times before calling out Kayli's name. A tiny, nervous looking brunette stood up and shuffled her way over to Derek's borrowed desk. Slowly she sat down in the chair across from him like many had before. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her hair was everywhere, and her clothes looked like she slept in them but not very well. Morgan's heart immediately went out to this small, obviously heart-broken little bird.

"Kayli," he started soothingly but she jumped at the sound of his voice all the same. "It's going to be okay. I just want to ask you a few questions about Barbara."

"The police-" Her voice broke so she coughed once before trying again. "The police already asked me a bunch of questions."

"I know that but we just have a couple more, okay?" Kayli hesitated before nodding. "Good. Now, how long did you know Barbara?"

"Bee. Her name is—was Bee." She choked on the words but she forced them out anyway. "Only her parents called her Barbara. She hated that old-fashion name."

"Right. How long did you know Bee?"

"Ever since we were little. We grew up in the same nursery at church. We were always together."

"What did you and Bee like to do?"

"We loved to ride horses. I wasn't that good but Bee could ride like she was a queen." Kayli smiled fondly. "She loved to read to me. Her voice was so soothing, it could put me to sleep. Whenever I had a nightmare when we were little she would read me fairy-tale stories. And she also-"

She stopped and stared at Morgan like she had wished she had never spoken.

"She what?" Morgan edged her on but she shook her head, tossing glances at Bee's parents. Morgan tapped the desk with his finger. "Hey. You can tell me. I promise I won't tell her parents. I just need to know as much about Bee as I can so I can find the man who did this to her. Please help us, Kayli."

She hesitated again but finally broke down.

"She was a fantastic designer. She could make anything: dresses, shirts, hats, even shoes. You name it, she could make it. They were beautiful and fit perfectly. I swear she had a gift from God."

"But her parents didn't like it?"

"Her parents didn't know. You saw how they are. They controlled everything. They were dead set on her going to some Christian college and finding a nice pastor to settle down with, just like her mom did with her dad. She was supposed to be a preacher's wife."

"And she didn't want to be." Morgan's voice made it more of a statement than a question but Kayli shook her head anyway.

"I mean, it wasn't like she didn't want to get married. If the guy she fell in love with was a pastor then fine, she would be a pastor's wife. She just didn't want to be a stay at home mom like hers is. She wanted to open up her own clothing store, start her own line, and maybe even see a dress of hers on the red carpet. She had dreams and she wasn't letting them go. But she couldn't practice at her house so she kept everything at mine."

"Was that what she was doing at your house the day she died? Instead of a bible study, she was working on an outfit?" Kayli looked nervous all over again and shook her head, a bit too hard.

"No, we were actually having a bible study. It was Saturday and we had church the next day. We hadn't filled out our Sunday school workbooks yet and if she didn't do them she would get ripped by her parents. So we were doing them together."

Something about her answer seemed forced to Derek. He glanced at her file and saw that the answer she gave matched what she had said earlier to the police almost word for word. Yet, something felt off. So, with that in mind, he continued the questioning.

"Okay, you were having a bible study. Can you tell me what happened that night?" She sucked in a breath and squeezed her hands together. But not before Derek noticed how much her fingers were trembling. When she opened her mouth to answer, she shifted her eyes away from his, instead staring at the back wall.

"We finished our workbooks early so we watched a movie. We-"

"What movie did you watch?" The question threw her. She just stared at him, wide eyed for a while.

"What?" Her voice shook. Clearly she wasn't expecting questions until she got down with her little speech.

"The movie. Which did you watch?"

"Oh um…" she thought back though her eyes still didn't meet his. "I think it was Gladiator. Her parents wouldn't usually let her watch something so violent. So she watched it at my house."

"Alright, good." He acted like he was scribbling down a note but in reality he was watching her reaction. She looked too nervous, too on edge, for someone who has gone through this before. "Continue."

"After the movie we went to sleep in my room. I woke up around four to go to the bathroom and-"

He cut her off again.

"Go to the bathroom? But in the report from earlier, it says that you went to get a drink of water." It didn't but her eyes widened anyway. She looked like she was about to faint.

"Right, I went to the bathroom then I went to get a drink of water. Then I fell asleep downstairs…"

"Well it says here you returned to your room." Morgan's eyes narrowed. She gulped.

"Ohh… well I did return to my room. Later. In the morning when I found out she was gone." Her face was one of a teenager who was very uncomfortable lying to anyone, let alone the police.

"Uhuh." Morgan slapped the file closed making Kayli jump. He leaned in and smiled as softly as he could. "Listen, Kayli, I told you that whatever you say to me would not be told to her parents unless you want me to. However, I do need you to tell me whatever you know, no matter how insignificant you think it is. And I definitely need you to tell me the truth. I promise you won't get in trouble. So please, tell me what really happened."

Kayli stared at the ground before glancing at her friend's parents who were crying on a bench next to the door. Bee's other friends who had come for questioning were also crying and hugging each other, searching for stability and support. She gulped and squeezed her hands even tighter.

"You promise you won't tell them?" She whispered.

Morgan patted her hand reassuringly. "I promise."

She took a deep breath and let it out, though it seemed to shake out of her more than just flow out.

"We weren't at my house. I mean, we were for a while but we didn't stay there."

"Where did you go?"

She looked up at him with wide, watery eyes and chewed on her lip, thinking about her answer. Finally, something in her seemed to break loose and her eyes took on a much more determined gleam, like she didn't care about the consequences anymore. She was going to say what was obviously weighing her down.

"Kayli, where did you and Bee go?"

She looked him dead in the eye and whispered, "Wonderland."