CHAPTER SEVEN
The wheezing breaths and wet coughs coming over the speakerphone had grabbed the attention of most of the station and there was a stunned silence before pandemonium erupted. Officers were yelling at each other, assigning who was to drive up to Knightly's house, who was going to contact the hospital. The agents were trying to get Knightly to talk to them, trying to figure out if the unsub had gotten in. Reid was wracking his memory to see what would stop a spell while it was being cast. The unsub was probably not in Knightly's home, but he didn't know where the unsub would be, so they couldn't interrupt the spell on her end.
He glanced at Garcia, wide-eyed, and saw her whispering something under her breath, staring at the phone. It took a moment to realize what words her lips were forming, but he jumped up and nearly yelled into the receiver.
"Burn it! Knightly, you have to burn the hex bag right now!"
The surprised noises from the rest of his team drowned out whatever reply Knightly was able to croak out.
"Reid, what are you talking about?"
"That's evidence, man!"
"What are you on?"
"Shut up!" Reid yelled, the shock of it silencing the people around him. "Knightly, burn that hex bag if you want to live!"
There was another wet cough from the phone, but it sounded affirmative, so Reid turned to the others and said, "We should get down there." He barely waited for anyone to follow him before he rushed out of the station and into a SUV. Garcia was quick to follow, and she tossed him the keys as she climbed into the passenger seat. He started the car just as Morgan jumped into the back, buckling up as an afterthought.
"I don't know what you're trying to pull, kid," Morgan said, closing his own seat belt as he looked worriedly at the man in the driver's seat. "But you owe us a full explanation once this is done."
"Deal," Reid said, and he stepped on the gas. He had to resist pressing the pedal to the mat, knowing his cornering skills weren't the greatest at the slower speeds and not wanting to test them out any higher. He turned on the siren and sped through the streets, Garcia rattling off directions as she looked at her GPS.
It wasn't long before they found Knightly's home, three cop cars already parked on the street in front of it. Reid parked half on the sidewalk and turned the car off swiftly, unbuckling his seat belt and opening the door in one motion. The three of them rushed out of the car and through the open doorway. An officer was standing there, scrubbing his face with the palm of his hand.
"How is he?" Garcia asked, her voice small with fear.
"He should be fine," the officer said, nodding slowly. "He got attacked, but it's only a little. The ambulance is minutes away."
The agents nodded in thanks and moved up the stairs. The other officers at the scene directed them towards Knightly's bedroom, where they found two other cops crouched by the man lying still on the floor, a pile of ashes by his head. He was still breathing, but blood was staining the carpet and was smeared all over his face. From where they stood, they could see a small trickle of blood coming from the centre of his throat, where half a razor blade could be seen jutting out from the flesh.
"Knightly?" Reid asked softly, kneeling next to the man's head. The cop next to him shifted, patting Knightly's arm as he stood up and walked away. "How are you?"
There was a moment of silence, where the officer seemed to try and gather his breath as his eyes slid over to glance at the pile of ashes before looking at Reid. "It was blue..." he rasped out. "The flames... were blue..."
"The ambulance will be here soon," Reid said, hearing the siren as he finished talking. "You'll be fine."
"Why... why were the flames blue?"
Paramedics soon arrived, taking the man out on a stretcher with murmured assurances that he would be fine and solving crimes in no time. Most of the officers left with him, either to accompany the man to the hospital, or to return to the station to tell the others their comrade was still alive. Morgan called Hotch and the others to update them on Knightly's condition. They were already en-route to Knightly's house, so they told Morgan they would just turn around and head to the hospital.
Reid took this time to kneel next to the ashes, turning them over with the tip of a pen. He could make out crumbled, scorched bones, but there was nothing else to identify what was in it. But it was an authentic hex bag. Knightly had burned it – Reid could see the lighter tossed under the bed – and that had stopped the spell.
He felt Morgan looking at him, knowing he was expecting some answers. Reid hadn't thought he would have to reveal the supernatural world so soon, but he wasn't about to think up some lacklustre lie on the spot. He stood up and turned to the other man, who had finished his call and now stood by the foot of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest.
"You gonna tell me what that was all about, then?" he asked, and Reid sighed, scratching his throat self-consciously.
"Um, well, it's a little out there, I know, and I can't expect you to believe me at face value, but our unsub is a real witch," Reid answered, and Morgan made a disbelieving cough. "The Supernatural series follows the real-life exploits of the Winchester brothers, who are a pair of monster hunters."
"Wait, Winchester? Those guys Hendrickson was after?" Morgan asked, taken aback.
Reid nodded. "The very same. Apparently they've tricked death again and have been continuing their work, joined by an angel-" Morgan scoffed again and unfolded his arms, placing his hands on his hips and shaking his head. Reid continued, "-an angel named Castiel."
Morgan looked ready to continue denying everything Reid was saying, but he paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. Reid watched him as he worked it out, Garcia standing by the doorway and biting her lip. Then he saw the realization dawn across Morgan's face.
"Isn't that the same name as that guy..."
"The one that saved me from Hankel?" Reid asked, his voice soft. Morgan nodded. "It's the same. I also looked up the photos of Sam and Dean Winchester, and they match the faces of the other men with him."
"You were saved by a bunch of criminals?" Morgan asked, and Garcia made an exasperated huffing sound from the doorway.
"Technically, yes," Reid said. "However, I would like to point out that the crimes they were charged with were either because they were wrongly accused or because it was necessary in order to dispatch whatever creature they were hunting at the time. Except for the credit card fraud. That is so that they don't get caught for said crimes and sent to jail."
Morgan laughed, his feet shuffling backwards as he ran a hand over his face. He alternated between pointing at the two of them, looking at the ceiling, and watching his feet step back and forth over the carpet. Finally he stopped and looked at Reid. "You really believe this is true, don't you? This could just be a big coincidence."
"Knightly was attacked by the witch, and the attack stopped when he burned the hex bag. And the fire burned blue, you heard him."
"Knightly was just attacked and barely conscious, you can't just take his word for it."
Reid huffed and he saw Garcia roll her eyes and cross her arms. "Well, we'll just have to wait for him to recover and give his testimony, then," he said stubbornly. Morgan rolled his eyes, but conceded the point.
The three of them looked through Knightly's house, but left the thorough searching for the officers itching to get some justice for the attempted murder of their colleague. Reid knew they would be looking for signs of the unsub in the house, but there would be none. Garcia suggested they go to the hospital and meet up with the rest of the team as they awaited news of Knightly's condition, and Morgan agreed.
Reid let Morgan take the keys to the SUV and sat in the back for the ride to the hospital. He was anxious to see the rest of the team, knowing they would ask him about his abrupt instructions to Knightly. Morgan was disbelieving, and even though he tried to make it seem like he was open to the idea, Reid knew that it would be hard for the man to swallow the truth, especially when it came to Heaven and angels, considering the man's wavering issues with faith. But he didn't know if the rest of the team would believe him, or even hear him out.
The silence in the car was stilted and awkward. Garcia shifted in her seat and opened her mouth every so often, but she couldn't find the right thing to say, and so the silence remained unbroken. They arrived at the hospital and Morgan found a parking spot. The rest of the team was waiting in the lobby, and Reid could feel their stares burning into his flesh.
"How's Knightly?" Garcia asked before anyone could begin interrogating Reid.
There was a small moment of silence, then Hotch answered, "He's in surgery right now. They did an x-ray and found that a razor blade had made its way into his stomach."
"It's nothing too serious," JJ added. "No major arteries were hit, and it doesn't look like he'll need a blood transfusion, so they just have to go in, remove the blades, and make sure everything's all stitched up."
There was a murmur of approval and relief, but Prentiss piped up almost casually, "The strange thing is, the doctors said it looked like the razors had come out from the inside of his neck."
Reid nearly fumbled on his feet, even though he was standing still. Hotch glared at her, Morgan and Garcia gave her a shocked look, and the others glanced around warily. Prentiss just gave Reid a little smile and continued, "There were no lacerations in his mouth or the top of his throat to indicate they were shoved down there. It's really something."
"Reid," JJ said, her voice soft. "Can you tell us why you told Knightly to burn the hex bag?"
Reid squirmed on his feet and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. It was a lot easier to talk about it when he just had to tell Morgan. Now everyone was staring at him, and Hotch's stern gaze was particularly unsettling. But he had to tell him. He inhaled sharply and looked at the clock that was a few inches to the right of Hotch's head.
"Garcia and I learned that the Supernatural series that we have been reading were, in fact, the chronicles of a pair of real life brothers who hunted mythical beings, including a certain brand of witches who gain their powers from demons and use hex bags to channel spells, including a kind of bag that includes something personal of the targets in order to hurt them. In this case, our unsub was using a spell to conjure razor blades to cut up the victims, and the quickest known way to stop a spell is to burn the hex bag that is being used, though there are potions and counter-spells that can be used, and there's also the option of attacking the witch casting the spell, however, seeing as how we don't know who the unsub is, I decided that the best way to ensure that Officer Knightly lived was instructing him to burn the hex bag, which he did, proven by the ashes at his house and by the fact that he's still alive.
"Now, I know you're probably wondering why I'm taking the story so seriously. But I assure you that I have thought long and hard and after this morning's chat with the author, I have come to the conclusion that the Supernatural series, while most likely embellished for artist purposes, holds the truth in regards to the world of monsters. I've searched out the dates and facts given in the book and matched them up to real events, and there are real documented people within the series, including Agent Hendrickson, whom you all may remember, as well as Sam and Dean Winchester, whom I have positively identified as two of the three men who rescued me from Tobias Hankel's alternate personalities. As I have come to understand it, the personality of Raphael was actually the archangel Raphael that had become trapped in a human vessel and was a driving force in trying to bring about the Apocalypse. It's... rather a long story, and to understand it all you really should read Supernatural, but a talk with Chuck Shurley confirmed that it was all true. There was even written documentation of my encounter with Raphael, and the Winchester's involvement."
There was a long silence, only the soft sounds of nurses taking calls and bustling around in the background heard. Rossi gave a coughing laugh that he quickly smothered and then Prentiss cracked a grin.
"I only got, like, half of that," JJ said, an amused smile on her face as she crossed her arms. "But essentially you're saying that witches are real, and that almost two years ago an archangel kidnapped you?"
"Well, technically Tobias kidnapped me, but Raphael did keep me there and pointed a gun at my head, so..." Reid trailed off, feeling very nervous, and Hotch's raised eyebrow wasn't doing much to help. He felt Garcia move to stand beside and pat him on the back, her hand soothing in its comfort. Prentiss seemed like she believed him, and JJ seemed open enough. Rossi was a little harder to read, but he at least didn't seem angry at him for spinning such a yarn and for telling Knightly to burn a piece of important evidence. Hotch hadn't changed his expression much, and Reid was sure he wasn't really buying it. He wasn't sure how to convince the man any further, though, unless he came into direct contact with a supernatural creature. Especially one that was visibly inhuman.
Not that he was certain he wanted to do that. Although an altercation with a witch was inevitable, Reid wasn't sure he wanted to come into contact with something like a vampire or a wendigo. Though he had to wonder how many cases they had looked through that were actually the result of a supernatural creature. Had they ever arrested someone who was innocent, simply because the real perpetrator was something they couldn't even conceive of?
"You're here for Leon Knightly?" A nurse walked up to the group, a clipboard in her hand. They all nodded and murmured various forms of confirmation. "He's out of surgery now. We've got him set up in room 207, but he's still sedated and should remain so for at least a few more hours. We'll probably keep him under for the night, just to be safe."
"Alright," Hotch said, giving the nurse a polite nod. She nodded back at him and walked away, murmuring something to the nurse behind the reception desk and dropping off the clipboard before leaving. Hotch turned back to the rest of the team. "There's not much point in staying here. I'll head back to the station and update the officers on Knightly's condition. Everyone else can go back to the motel, review the case. We'll talk to Knightly tomorrow. Reid," he said, and Reid flinched subtly. "We'll talk more on this later."
"Yes, sir," he said, trying not to feel guilty for telling the truth. He quickly turned away, walking with Garcia back to the SUV. Prentiss climbed in with them and clapped a hand on Reid's shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze.
"I believe you," she whispered, and Reid smiled softly. "You've never given me a reason to think you'd intentionally tell such an incredible lie. But just so you know, if you were lying, the consequences wouldn't be very pleasant." Her grip on his shoulder tightened, and her eyes gained an amused and devious glint to them that almost made Reid gulp. Instead he gave her his most reassuring smile.
"I'm not lying."
"Good," she said, and she released his shoulder. They drove back to the motel in a more comfortable silence, and Reid settled himself in the room he shared with Morgan. He was looking over the list of possible suspects, trying to decide who was the best bet now that Pestle was eliminated, when his roommate entered. Morgan looked at him for a moment before sighing and sitting down at the edge of the bed.
"I'm not saying I believe you," he began, and Reid curled a little closer in on himself. "But Knightly survived an attack that didn't have any trace of another person, and apparently he did that by burning some voodoo bag. And I knew Hendrickson, and I remember him talking about those Winchesters."
Reid nodded, his eyes on the papers in front of him, but he wasn't looking at the words. "I didn't really expect you guys to believe me right away. I figured you would need some kind of proof, but given as how, aside from the Hankel case, I was only just introduced to the world of the supernatural, I don't really have any visual proof that they exist."
Morgan gave a soft laugh. "Well, apparently we're after a witch. Maybe she'll be kind enough to get us up to date." Reid chuckled along with him, simply pleased that Morgan was being so accommodating, considering his trouble with believing him. The last thing he wanted was to be shunned from the group because of this.
"We'll see what Knightly has to tell us in the morning," Morgan said, getting off the bed. He ruffled Reid's hair and laughed as the other man scowled and fixed it. "You need to shower, Pretty Boy," he said, and Reid just barely resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at him, though he gave his hair a discreet sniff as Morgan left the room.
He showered and ate dinner, and avoided Hotch as best he could. He reviewed the case until he fell asleep, and entered dreams filled with vampires and angels and a pair of familiar brothers.
"It's true," he assured himself, holding a shotgun and leaning against Sam's sturdy back. "I'm not lying, I'm not crazy."
Sam whispered beside him, "It's true."