Chapter Two

Long AN at the end :)

Spencer turned towards the others, ready to review what little information they had so far.

"Let's start with the Donnel family," Hotch began, giving everyone the signal to open their files.

"Family of three, single child, single income home," Emily stated out loud.

"The child, 13 year old Lexis looks like she was killed first. The parents must have heard her scream; they run into her room, only to have the mother stabbed next. The father puts up a fight, gets a couple of non-threatening cuts on his arms and one on his left cheek, and then is finished off," Derek explained, the gears in his head clearly working, trying to slide into the mind of the UnSub.

"Then the UnSub carries the family into the living room," Rossi continues.

"Are you sure he didn't drag them?" JJ asks.

"There was no blood indicating drag marks," Rossi explained. "So he gets them in the living room, poses them with their arms out to their sides, palms up, and carves the letters into their hands."

"Doug Donnel had T and G, Alyssa Donnel had I and W, and Lexis had another I and W carved onto her hands," Reid noted to seem more like himself. Everyone looked up at him. Reid simply lowered his head down to study the pictures. "Why did he give the mother and daughter the same letters, and on the same hands?" he muttered out loud to no one in particular.

"Maybe the UnSub saw the mother and daughter as the same person. They do have a striking resemblance," Hotch suggested.

"Eh, I'm not too sure about that, Hotch. This guy is doing everything for a reason; he poses them, and then to top things off he turns off all appliances and lights. Actually, from the police reports, it says that all the windows and doors were closed too; peculiar for June. The letters weren't an accident," Reid countered.

"So it is a code then?" JJ asked the genius.

"Probably," Reid answered. He closed his mouth and then sat further back in his chair.

"Now onto the subject of, like Reid said, the appliances, lights, and windows and doors. Why?" Rossi said.

"It's said if you see a dark window in a dream, it indicates a loss to your perception or vitality, and a closed door signifies opportunities that are denied and not available to you or that you have missed out on," Reid informed.

"Thought you didn't believe in that dream analysis stuff, kid," Derek said with a grin.

"Just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean I can't research and know about the topic," Reid retorted with a slight snap. Derek put up his hands as if retreating, or to say "I give up." The grin was instantly wiped from his face, to say the least.

"Since light is a symbol of hope, power, and happiness, turning off all the lights and turning everything else off takes away hope and power from the family. Closing the doors and windows might also be a way of keeping the family blocked off from others," Emily said.

"I think that's a good explanation, and that we certainly can't rule that out as a possibility," Hotch supported.

"I have to agree with Emily on that. It seems like this guy is all up for power," Rossi said. "He always takes out the weaker link first; in the Donnel family it was Lexis; with the couple, the woman was killed first. We should move onto the couple next."

"Breanne Michelson and Tyler Brecker. They lived apart, but it seems like Tyler came to stay the night at Breanne's last night. Tyler must have went outside to grab his bag, he heard Breanne's scream before she was stabbed so he drops his bag and runs into the house to find her dead, then he's stabbed from behind.

"After that, the UnSub goes to work in carving the letters, turning everything off, and closing doors and windows. No evidence from the UnSub was left behind, only proving the fact that Spence stated; he does everything on purpose. We've got an organized killer on our hands," JJ supplied.

"That's for sure," Emily commented grimly. Garcia's face suddenly appeared on the laptop.

"Hello my darlings. I started digging into their lives, looking to see where paths crossed," she started as she pushed up her glasses further up her nose. Hotch turned the screen so everyone could get a clear look at the colorful tech analyst.

"So far, they don't have anywhere that they cross; no common workplaces, well besides Breanne Michelson and Tyler Brecker, no common banks; nothing. It seems like the only connecting factor is that they all lived within 5 miles of the police station."

"Which one?" Reid asked. "There are eight stations; seven district stations and one Narcotics Task Force," he stated.

"The District Six station," Garcia answered. Reid muttered inaudibly under his breath.

"Did any of the victims have a criminal record?" Morgan asked. Garcia speedily typed and then replied,

"Nope; they're clean as a whistle, my doves."

"Thanks baby girl," Derek replied.

"Always a pleasure, love," Garcia said with a smirk before the screen returned to the FBI's emblem. Everyone took the following silence as their individual thinking time. Reid was certainly thankful for it; finally being able to sort through his thoughts.

Reid turned his head to glance out the window, and he let his mind get lost in itself, and his vision wondered between the large puffs of clouds above and below the jet. The bright sun remained hidden behind the clouds, and didn't dare peek out from behind them.

Morgan studied the crime scene photos, and tried to fit himself into the situation as the UnSub, as he often did with cases. He attempted to imagine why the killer chose the letters he did, and why use a stab to the head to kill? The blade would be difficult to get out of the skull, so why even bother? Is that simply a challenge? Or is there a deeper meaning to it? There always is, he thought to himself.


AN: Hey guys! I told you I'd post the next chapter soon! Anyway, yeah. I'm sorry that this was kinda short (and somewhat boring) but it's simply where I felt the chapter should end. I promise there will be more excitement in the next chapter; I do! So please look forward to it. I also want to inform you guys of my schedule. Next week, and every other week following it, I will most likely not have internet access :'( meaning I can't update. BUT! When I do have the internet, I'll update at least twice or three times a week. Let me know your feedback on that :) That's sorta my reason for posting two chapters in a day; to make it up to you guys for next week.

Thanks for all the reviews, story alerts, and favorites guys! The response I've received is beyond what I thought it'd be, seriously. At most I thought I'd get maybe one or two story alerts, and that's it. Instead, I've got at least ten of you so far, and I got two reviews not even half an hour after I posted the first chapter. I already love you guys :D Thanks again! (I'll see what I can do about putting up the next chapter tomorrow!)