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"Oh, and you better put that knife away boy. We'll discuss your punishment for trying to escape later," John stated before he tucked into his dinner.
Those ominous words sent chills all the way down Reid's spine. Had he heard the man right? Surely he was bluffing about the knife. Could Reid take that chance?
"I'm not going to tell you again boy. You really think you're the first person to try that? You're just making your punishment worse for yourself," John said with no emotion whatsoever, almost like he was bored with the situation.
Against his better judgment Reid decided to see how serious John was by feigning innocence with the knife, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Suddenly John's chair flew behind him and tipped over onto the floor. He stamped over to Reid and gripped him around the neck above the metal collar. He squeezed his throat tightly causing the young man to sputter for breath. Meanwhile, his left hand started to search Reid's body for the missing kitchen utensil. The man quickly found it and positioned it beneath Reid's eye.
"That was a stupid decision boy. When I tell you to do something, do it! Now clean up this poor excuse for a dinner. Spaghetti is not supposed to be crunchy. I sure hope you improve your cooking or you won't last long here," John roared in his face. He made sure to use the knife to nick Reid under the eye causing a small welling of blood to appear, resembling a macabre teardrop. He shoved Reid into the counter behind him and laughed when his captive let out a whimper of pain when the corner was shoved into his kidney.
Reid wasn't even aware that he had been holding his breath when the hulking man approached him. He involuntarily let out that hoarded air the second John gripped his neck and was never able to get back a sufficient amount to breathe easy. The blow to his back caused Reid to have even more trouble getting in a good amount of oxygen, and as a result he felt a bit light headed. Unfortunately, it wasn't time to start getting woozy. He needed to follow John's instructions to appease him and hopefully avoid a serious consequence for his stupidity with the knife.
Reid tried to clean up as quietly as possible in vain hopes of making the man forget he was there. It was a wonder that this man had working plumbing at such an isolated cabin. Though Reid was thankful for John's talented plumbing skills because at least he didn't have to haul water into the cabin and purify it on the stove. He quickly washed the dirty dishes and stacked them back into the cabinets where they belonged. Once he was finished he stood in the corner again, trying to make himself as small as possible.
Mentally he was berating himself for pushing John. He knew he wasn't stable and yet Reid had challenged him. Deep down Reid knew that whatever consequence this man had up his sleeve wasn't going to be pleasant.
While Reid was busy following orders John was getting himself prepared for bed. He had a strict ritual he followed which started with a shower and ended with brushing his teeth. He sauntered back out to the living room when he was finished and started a small fire.
"Don't want to make it too large 'cause the Louisiana nights are hot enough as it is," John said to no one in particular. Once he was successful lighting a small blaze he went over and unhooked Reid from the chain in the wall. He grabbed his arm and steered him to the easy chair. He practically threw Reid down on the seat then made himself comfortable on the couch.
"Now, you need to tell me that story you was telling your friend last night at the diner," John ordered lying back with a pillow under his back.
Reid was confused. He had expected a beating or something worse as a punishment. All he got instead was a place to sit and the demand that he finish a story. If this was his consequence then bring it on!
Taking a deep breath and licking his lips in preparation to begin orating he focused his gaze on the crackling fire.
Remembering exactly where he left off Reid picked up the story, "In order to stop King Shahryar from killing her…"
"No! I want you to tell it from the beginning like you did last night. This time you'll tell the whole thing, no stopping. Now start it over and put some feeling into it," John spit out at his personal storyteller.
Nodding his head Reid retold the beginning of the famous tale of Scheherazade again.
"Once the king accepted the councilor's daughter as his wife he immediately took her to his bed. When he finished his deed as a husband he dismissed Scheherazade, but she did not go. She offered to tell him a story to help him sleep. Pleased with this development King Shahryar accepted her offer and listened to her enchanting voice tell the tale of merchant who ran afoul of a jinni. It was when she came to the climax of the story that she abruptly stopped her telling. She explained to the king that she was tired and that she would conclude the story the next night. The king was in so much suspense that he agreed to her terms and allowed her to live another day. From that night forward Scheherazade was the king's personal raconteur, completing the story from the previous night and beginning a new one, always leaving him wanting more. She continued this for over a thousand and one nights, telling him stories about a poor young man who found a magical lamp, Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and a sailor named Sinbad among many others. By the end of the thousand and one nights she had born the king three sons. Moreover King Shahryar had fallen madly in love with Scheherazade. Realizing that he could never kill her, the king orchestrated a grand celebration and renounced his vow that women cannot be trusted and pardoned Scheherazade from the death sentence," Reid concluded the story and silently sat by to watch John's reaction.
"Wow, boy. You are almost as good at telling a story as Schez…Scherz…that woman. You keep that up and you'll live a nice long life here with me," John said as he sat up from his horizontal position on the couch.
This comment sparked a question in the relaxed Reid that he couldn't hold in, "What do you mean? What happened to the girls that were here before me?"
"Well, like you I asked them to tell me a story each night. Unfortunately, they ran out of things to say and that meant that they had run out of usefulness to me. They kept trying to tell me fairy tales and the same old same old. So as long as you can come up with new and original things like tonight's, you'll be fine," the man said with a huff as he launched off the couch.
At this point in the night Reid had grown a bit too cozy and his guard was down. In fact, he was congratulating himself on telling the story so well that John probably forgot all about that stupid punishment stuff. So Reid was definitely did not expect it when John yanked him up by his neck and pulled him out of the chair.
Before he could even comprehend what was occurring he was thrown down to floor. He started to push himself up and got to the point where he was on all fours when John came along and fastened his collar to a short chain in the floor. He was fastened to the ground with little wiggle room to move, and no way to stand up and defend himself. Reid was momentarily confused, but then realized that his stupidity was coming back to haunt him.
"Stay exactly the way you are boy," John muttered.
"What…what's happening?" Reid's voice quivered in anticipation of the coming pain. He heard the clinking of metal and tried to turn his head to see behind him.
"Stay still! You're only going to make it worse," John commanded as he prepared to dole out his lesson to the trembling mess of a boy.
Without any warning whatsoever John began. Seconds later a stabbing pain erupted on Reid's back from the chain that the man was using to whip him with.
"You get five lashes for taking the knife, five for not putting it back the first time you were told, and five for making such a terrible dinner," John explained while he was delivering the blows.
Each lash left a red streak on Reid's back that was sure to welt after the punishment was over. The feelings that each hit created were unique in that they sent sharp pain through his body upon contact then a throbbing sensation lingered pulsating from each wound.
At first Reid promised himself that he would not make a sound. He didn't want to give his tormenter the satisfaction of success. He didn't make it past the fourth lash and when he let out a yelp. From there his yelps turned into squeals, and squeals into screams.
By the end of the punishment Reid was a sobbing heap on the floor. His body, which had long ago fallen from his position on all fours, curled in on himself. The chain never once drew his blood, but it did cause deep bruising that would stay with him for weeks. Unbelievably, he found himself longing for the padded floor of the cage and the safety of the wire mesh.
It took a few minutes for Reid to realize that John wasn't standing near him anymore, but making himself comfortable in his bed. His sobs finally had abated and he unsuccessfully tried to sit up. The problem was that the chain length holding him to the floor was only a foot long. His only semi comfortable option was lying flat on the floor stretched out on his stomach. He coughed a little to get John's attention in a nonverbal signal that was meant to say, "Hey, you forgot me."
"Boy, you're staying down on the floor tonight. That's for making me get out of my seat at dinner to take care of your disobedience!" he said as he pulled the covers over his body and went to sleep.
Knowing that challenging his captor now would get him nowhere Reid stretched out and laid his head on his arms. A shudder quaked through Reid's body, not from a chill but from the anticipation of what was to come tomorrow.
It was seven in the morning and five exhausted agents dragged themselves back into the local precinct. Of course, not all of them looked like crap but if you looked deep enough in their eyes you could see the long night of tossing and turning reflected there. The dingy coffee pot in the station was already brewing the caffeinated beverage to help the profilers wake-up.
"Ugh…I can see why Reid was so intent on getting coffee from somewhere else. This pot looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ten years," Rossi lamented as he returned with a cup.
No one responded to his statement. They were still having a hard time with the fact that their friend and coworker had disappeared. Hotch had dismissed everyone last night at ten saying that they weren't going to get much done unless they got some sleep. Of course he was met with a chorus of protests from all of the team members, even Garcia tuning in from her cave, so he had to make it an order. Now they were back where they left off the night before, no closer to finding the unsub or Reid.
"Alright, let's review what we have so far on the unsub," Hotch began.
"We know that he's comfortable with the area based on the locations that he chose to kidnap his victims. He knows the schedule of the locals and picked a time when the fewest people would be present," Blake started the ball rolling.
"We know that he doesn't seem to have a specific preference, unless you count the victims' connection to the field of education. At this point, we know he is targeting women, unless you count Reid. If we do than that throws out the gender specific part of the victimology," Rossi continued noticing the way JJ cringed at the mention of Reid and the unsub in the same sentence.
"But that's just it…we don't know if Reid was taken by the same unsub or a different one altogether. He doesn't fit the initial victimology and his abduction would throw the whole thing off. We may need to work this from a two unsub angle, make a profile for the one that took the woman and another for the one that nabbed Reid," Morgan stated with a hint of frustration in his voice.
"But if you look at the time of day he was taken it does match two of the victims. Also, his age is in the same range as the victims too. It's quite possible it is the same unsub," JJ added trying to help.
"Yeah, but I don't want to sit around and wait a month to see if Reid's body turns up in a gator. Until we have more conclusive evidence I think we need to treat these as completely different cases," Morgan defended his point of view.
"For now I'm agreeing with Morgan. We can't assume that Reid fell victim to the same unsub until we have more evidence. Of course if another victim doesn't get taken over the next few days, we will assume Reid took the next girl's place and reanalyze the profile," Hotch said, putting the debate to rest.
"Now, Morgan go over again what the ME found from the body parts of the victims," Hotch prodded his agent.
"Alright," Morgan said, reluctant to let the topic of Reid drop. "Now, none of the women were found completely intact. Each one had various body parts recovered, and as of yet none of their heads have been found. At least one arm from each girl was recovered from their respective alligators. Each arm showed ligature marks on the wrist. The marks were about two inches wide indicating a manacle as opposed to rope. Jasmine's right leg was found with only faint marks around the ankle, but neither Destiny's nor Shana's left legs had similar marks. The ME said that Jasmine had been restrained at the ankle but not for a long period of time. Finally, the only semi-intact torso that was found belonged to Jasmine. The other two victims did have chunks of their abdomens recovered but the only thing found on those was extensive bruising and cuts. Jasmine's on the other hand had the bruising and cuts but also showed signs of sexual abuse. We can tell by the wounds on each girl that they all received the same type of treatment so it's safe to assume that the other two were assaulted too," Morgan concluded by taking a drink of water to coat his throat after that long report.
"So he likes to control his victims, as evident by the restraints. He also inflicts some kind of punishment or torture on the girls causing the all the bruising and cuts," Rossi added to the profile.
"Let's not ignore the sexual assault," Blake said. "He clearly has some of the signs of a sexual sadist."
"What was cause of death?" Hotch asked Morgan.
"As far as the ME can tell, it was the alligators tearing them apart limb from limb. Unfortunately, without the heads he couldn't be one hundred percent sure," Morgan explained the inconclusive evidence.
"Okay, from here we need to split up and tackle both cases. I want JJ and Blake to go back to Maybell's and reinterview her about Reid. See if she can remember anything else or if there may have been other witnesses in the area at the time. Hell, maybe Mr. Brookins was still in the area. Try to get ahold of him too and see if he saw anything. If you can't find him leave another note with Maybell and have her pass it along. Rossi, you and I still need to tour the bayou since we put it off yesterday. We need to get a feel for the area in order to better understand the unsub we're dealing with. Morgan, you need to stay here and work angles on both of the cases. Call Garcia, get her involved in making a list of people that may fit the profile. We will meet back here at noon to go over what we've found," Hotch ordered.
Everyone nodded their agreement and set off for their tasks intent on solving both cases as soon as possible.
It was still dark out and the crickets were chirping up a storm. The moonlight gave off the only illumination in the whole cabin, which wasn't much considering there was only one window. Regardless, Reid was disturbed out of his restless sleep by the sounds of John shuffling around the cabin. The man had already gotten dressed and had made his way into the restroom. The door to the room was open and the sound of water running was loud in Reid's ears.
The young agent was extremely stiff from his long night on the wooden floor. His back was still emitting a steady thudding pain from any location that the chain made contact with his back. It was so bad that if there were some prescription pain killers in his vicinity he would seriously contemplate taking them. Alas, that was not an option and he couldn't help but be a little bit thankful that he wouldn't have to deal with that temptation. To make matters worse though, Reid's bladder felt like it was going to explode. He needed to use the restroom. Now!
"John! John, I need to use the bathroom. Please, I can't remember the last time I got to go. John! I don't want to make a mess on the floor," Reid yelled out in desperation. He didn't know how much longer his bladder would hold out.
Reid shut his eyes and concentrated on keeping his dignity intact by not urinating on himself. He heard the rough steps make their way over to his body and listened to the jingling of the chain being unfastened. Reid shot up off the ground faster than lightning and barely made it to the filthy bathroom.
The job of urinating was a bit complicated due to the hand restrictions, but Reid didn't let that stand in his way. Once he took care of himself and washed up he opened the bathroom door and stepped out.
Unbeknownst to Reid, John was waiting on the other side of the door. He nailed Reid in the face with his fist the second he saw those befuddled brown eyes.
"I told you to call me Sir," was his only explanation to the sudden attack.
Reid and Review :)
