A/N: It's update time! (grins) My head's spinning a little bit with potential ideas. We'll see just what's becoming of this story…

BUT, first things first. THANK YOU, with a ton of hugs, for that load of love you've given this story! (GLOMPS) You can't even imagine how happy it makes me. (hugs once more)

Awkay… (takes a deep breath) Have fun, everyone. We'll see what's up ahead…

Ghosts From The Past

With his new ability waking up in a hospital wasn't a very comfortable experience for Spencer. The first time, followed by falling through the ice with Kurt, he had nothing short of a meltdown upon seeing all the recently and long ago deceased people occupying his room and the hallway outside it. The building's walls locked inside a million stories of death, loss, pain and suffering. Some of the souls left behind were eager to share theirs. This second time wasn't any more pleasant.

As he became aware of the pale light of a new day the first thing Spencer saw was a extremely beautiful little girl with blonde hair and huge, green eyes. The child's unhealthily pale skin held a slight touch of blue. In his barely coherent condition Spencer wondered if she looked as dead while she was still alive. If her parents sat by her bedside day and night after another, knowing…

The child grinned. "You woke up!" She sounded excited, alive. Like she'd completely forgotten the fact that she was dead. "The others… They said that you can see us."

Spencer swallowed and nodded, pretty sure that he should've been in pain but unable to feel a thing. He couldn't bring himself to move. Nor could he look away from the child.

In a way it was amusing that the world he faced awake was stranger than the one he just came out of.

The little girl's smile widened still, almost made her dead eyes shine. "Good. It's boring to play hide and seek all alone." She tilted her head, looking at him curiously. "I'm Mimi. What's your name?"

Spencer felt a stab of sadness. To think what might've become of this girl if she'd been allowed to live… He tried to smile. "Spencer."

The ghost opened her mouth until all of a sudden her face filled with sheer terror. Her eyes widened while she retreated. "No…! He's… He's here, Spencer! He's here!" Horrified and throughoutly shaken she looked at him, begging for help. "He hurts them. He hurts them so bad…!" She was starting to fade away."He scares me. Make him go away, please! Make him go away!" Those words were left echoing into his head as she disappeared completely.

Feeling utterly cold Spencer wrapped his arms around himself, his whole body trembling while his frantic eyes darted around. His head whirred around, unable to focus on any of the things going through it. Suddenly the pain was making itself known. His back and head… Had they been torn to pieces?

What the hell was going on around him?

The room's door opened and Derek entered, rubbing the bridge of his nose tenderly with two fingers. The man looked like he hadn't slept in a week. Despite that the older agent's eyes widened upon spotting him. "Hey! So you finally decided to wake up." Without waiting for his response Derek took the seat brought beside his bed. "How are you feeling?"

Spencer attempted to smile, or to at least sit up straigth. He didn't quite succeed in either. "I'm fine." It came easily, automatically.

Judging by the way Derek winced upon giving him a proper look he probably had a lot of bruises. "Why do I have a hard time with believing that?" The man then looked directly into his eyes, a nearly grim look on his face. In a flash Spencer knew that he was in a trouble. "Look, I know that you probably don't want to talk about this but… Someone attacked you in your own home. The forensics found no fingerprints, no DNA. Hell, I was right behind your door and I didn't hear the attacker's voice or catch a damn trace of him leaving! So… What the hell happened?"

Spencer shrugged, feeling scared, helpless and frustrated beyond all belief. How the hell was he supposed to explain this one? "I don't know." It was halfway honest, at least.

The look of disappointment and hurt that appeared to Derek's eyes killed him, tore his insides and made his eyes sting hellishly. It took his all to remain firm when the older agent spoke again, his tone revealing everything there was spinning around inside him. "Do you… Do you know that you've been unconscious for over a day? Your doctor… He said that if the hit to your head had been even the slightest bit harder we'd be talking about a fractured skull instead of a concussion. Your whole damn body is black and blue with bruises!"

Spencer swallowed, his fingers culvulsing desperately. The air in the room… It was changing, turning colder. "Morgan…!" he nearly whimpered.

Derek didn't show a sign that the man would've heard him. The rant went on. "There were words… scratched or carved to your back. That's why it hurts. It says 'STAY AWAY'. And your eyes… Do you have any fucking idea of how scared you look right now? Of how badly you scared me – us all? Are you honestly trying to make me believe that you have no idea of what happened? Hell, that you're fine? You're a genius but I'm not a moron, either."

The air… It kept growing colder. Spencer could actually feel something moving, breathing. The rage was so thick that he could nearly touch it. His breathing became so quick that he was an inch from hyperventilating while his eyes darted around, spotting no one or nothing. If it'd attack while Derek was still in the room…

Derek seemed to sense the change in him. A frown of worry appeared. "Reid? What's going on? Are you in pain?"

Spencer couldn't focus on his friend's words. For at that very moment he felt something extremely sharp on top of his ribcage, under his hospital gown. It moved upwards, towards his neck and throat, constantly pressing just a little bit tighter. "Keep your fucking mouth shut…", a hiss echoed inside his head, crawling down his spine. "… or I'll cut you open just like I did with those little bitches. I'll make you scream until there's no breath left in you."

"Reid!" By then Derek appeared terrified. One of the agent's hands squeezed his shoulder so tightly that it hurt. "What the hell is going on?"

Spencer gasped, feeling like he'd been suffocating. How long ago was it from his last proper breath? His stomach flipped upside down. "I…", he sputtered, bringing a trembling hand to his lips. "I've gotta…" He had no time for further explanations.

He barely remembered the I.V. pole while he dashed into the bathroom as fast as his pathetically weak legs carried him, slamming the door closed and crashing down far from gracefully. He never made it to the toilet. The stench of vomit made him throw up all over again while the disgusting substance spread to the floor.

Gasping for precious air and fighting back tears of terror and pain Spencer brought a hand to his face, only to realize that there was something warm and sticky underneath his nose. Confused, he lifted his hand and wiped, then gave it a look. His dazed eyes widened slightly at what he discovered.

His fingers were stained with blood.

JJ had always been a mother bear. Those she truly cared about… There was absolutely nothing she wouldn't have done to keep them safe. That's why being unable to protect someone who meant the world to her was driving her up the wall.

Spencer… He'd been attacked in his own goddamn home and there wasn't even the slightest trace of the one responsible. He could've been killed, again. Was she seriously expected to focus on a case and let other people attempt sorting out what'd happened to her friend?

She'd been so lost into her own whirring thoughts that she jumped when the room's door was opened. Her muscles remained tense even as she met Derek's grim face. "How is he?" she asked instantly.

Derek shook his head, the expression turning even darker. "He's… a mess. I could practically smell his fear but he won't tell me a damn thing."

JJ's eyebrow bounced up. "So now you believe that something's wrong?"

Derek's eyes were practically black upon meeting hers. "After seeing him like that… I'm willing to believe pretty much anything." The man ran a hand down his scalp, gritting his teeth with nearly exploding frustration. "We've gotta figure this out before it kills him, JJ."

She nodded, something between terror and hope fluttering in her chest. "I was really hoping that you'd say that." She opened a nearby drawer, pulling out a tape recorder. "Because a while back I contacted Kurt Anderson's mom. She was surprisingly understanding, all things considered. When I told her what's going on and that a friend of mine needs help she said that she'd have to give me something. That I'd need to hear it to understand."

Derek's eyes flashed, locking hungrily on the recorder. "What's on that thing?"

JJ felt a wave of embarrassment, like back when she was fifteen and her mom caught her trying to use a ouija board to contact her sister. She also felt as excited and restless as she did on that day. "I… don't know. I guess that I didn't want to try it alone."

A corner of Derek's lips twitched. "I see." He then nodded. "So, play it. Let's get to the bottom of this."

JJ felt like she'd been jumping off a cliff at night with her head first. Her skin tingled when she pressed a button, then waited. It took a couple of agonizingly long seconds before any sound at all came.

At first there was static. Then came Kurt's sobs, followed by his trembling voice. "You… You're here, aren't you? I can feel you." Something, perhaps a chair, was moved violently. Kurt cried out, the sobs becoming louder. "P-Please…! Stop hurting me, please! I… I promise that I won't talk about you anymore. Just… Just leave me alone, please! All of you! Leave me alone!" More things were moving. Some of them met the wall, most probably hit Kurt. He screamed and whimpered. A thud suggested that he fell to the floor. "Please…! I'll do anything, anything! Just please, leave me alone! Let me be!" The boy, still a child, was crying loudly."Get out of my life! I'll do anything!" Things started moving even more forcefully than before. Kurt wasn't just crying – he was screaming. There was a loud, inhuman screech before the recording ended abruptly.

JJ's gaze met Derek's, both their eyes wide beyond all human limitations. Her heart thumped so furiously that she feared it might jump right out of her chest. She could barely breathe.

What… the hell had she just listened to? What had Spencer gotten himself into?

Spencer felt completely, utterly trapped in the hospital room. Not knowing how the newest case was building up, if the team was on to his secret… It was driving him insane. And in the end he decided that he needed to do something before he'd manage to make his headache even worse than it already was.

With skill he hadn't even known to expect he pulled off his I.V., then struggled his unnaturally heavy body out of the bed and fought his way to the door, gritting his teeth and using the wall for support. Passing by the police officer guarding the door was no challenge – the young man was fast asleep on his seat. Leaving the room was his first mistake, though. It was incredibly hard to walk through the hallways and try to keep his expression even when dead people were everywhere around him. Shot, stabbed, bloodied, disease ridden… They came to him with their questions and pleas, with their pain, anger and confusion.

And all of a sudden Kurt Anderson was beside Spencer once more, a sad look on his face. "Now do you understand why I wanted to escape it so badly? This, what you're going through… It's only just the beginning. The evil that's threatening you… It's going to sink right into your bones. It's going to consume you. And the worst part is that you can't tell anyone." The boy's eyes were full of pain and fear, even though he wasn't even alive anymore. "You're all alone in their world. And they're greedy. They're so damn greedy."

Spencer swallowed and wrapped his arms tightly around himself, not feeling any particular desire to answer the boy. His head was throbbing. Maybe it would've been for the best to go into his room and…

"Reid!"

If his body would've been able to take such without crumbling apart completely he would've jumped. That voice… Where did it come from? Was it…?

As quickly as he possibly could he turned his head. There were several people – dead and alive. A lot of them gave him weird, worried looks, most likely wondering if he was about to pass out. His eyes, however, saw only one person.

There, about twenty something steps away, stood a very familiar young, blue eyed blonde. She was trembling so badly that it looked like she might collapse at any given moment. Her tattered clothes were covered in dirt and blood. He saw several deep lacerations littering her nearly bare arms and legs. One side of her head was also covered in red that matted her hair firmly to her face. Her trembling hand was pressed firmly against what looked like a gunshot wound dangerously between her chest and stomach. Her face… Gosh how pale she looked!

She swallowed so laboriously that he saw it, swaying where she stood. Tears filled her eyes. "Reid, please…! You've gotta help me! You… You need to find me, before he…!"

And then, in a blink, she was gone with a scream that was left echoing into his head.

His eyes widened and his breathing pattern changed. Suddenly his body felt much colder than before. "You…?"

Derek and JJ were so shaken by the tape that they didn't hear the steps approaching the room, nor did they notice the door opening. That's why Derek shuddered and JJ yelped when the familiar voice of Aaron spoke. "What… are you two doing?"

Derek, the faster one to overcome his shock, cleared his throat and spoke. There was some heat on his cheeks. "Just… listening to something that may be important." It wasn't until at that moment he noticed the look on the unit chief's face. He frowned. "What's wrong?" His stomach knotted. All things considered, perhaps it was only natural that he feared the worst. "It's… not about Reid, is it?" If something else had happened…

A wave of relief washed over him when Aaron shook his head. "No, the last time I checked he was still safely in the hospital. It's about the case." The man's eyes flashed in a way Derek recognized well. "Gabrielle Young's body was just discovered."

JJ sighed, folding her arms to her chest while a slightly haunted look took over her face. Derek swore under his breath. A burning entered his eyes. "Fuck…!" Another life thrown to waste. Another one they hadn't been able to find in time.

Aaron went on as though he hadn't noticed their reactions. "Another young woman is missing, though. It looks like she disappeared at around the same time as Gabrielle. She may very well still be alive."

Hope made Derek's head spin. Maybe they'd be able to save at least one life, after all. "What's her name?"

"That's why I wanted to tell you in person." The look on Aaron's face scared him a little bit. The man swallowed. "It's Ashley Seaver."

TBC

A/N: Oh mine…! This is about to become really, really ugly. (winces) How much longer will Reid be able to keep his secret, especially now that Seaver's at stake?

I've really gotta get going now. (groans) There's a ton of things on my to-do –list. BUT, first… PLEASE, do leave a note! Did you hate this, perhaps loved, felt nothing at all? Let me know. It could be your good deed for today…

Until next time! I truly hope that you'll all be staying tuned for that one.

Peace out!

neko-chibi: Awww, glad to hear you think so! (beams)

We'll see just what's incoming…

Gigantic thank yous for the review!

justsaying: It truly feels good to hear that. (sighs happily) I truly hope that you'll like the story to come as much.

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Ren: Yup. (groans) Who the heck is that annoying person typing this?! I want to send a complaint! (blinks) Oh, yeah…

But seriously, I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the chapter! I hope that the next one won't disappoint, either.

Loads of thank yous for the review.

Guest: How could I ever say 'no' after that? (beams and blushes) I really, truly hope that you'll be just as satisfied with the rest!

Colossal thank yous for the review!