Chapter Ten

Spencer sat in the darkness for what seemed like decades. He couldn't focus on one single thought; there were too many ideas swimming in his mind. He hated being in the dark; absolutely hated it. The dark was his biggest fear, due to the inherent absence of light. Every night, even up to recent times, he always went to bed with a dim lamp in the far side of his room, to keep some of the darkness at bay.

There wasn't a single sound in the basement that he sat in; no whir of an air conditioning system, or even a single footstep coming from above. Spencer dreaded the absolute silence of his surroundings. He wished there was a steady drip of water coming from a leaky pipe, something, anything to fill his ears. He wished he could be back in his apartment, in his comfortable bed, knowing that he was safe, with his family at his side.

He felt terribly alone, more so than he ever had. At least when he was abducted back in Georgia, he had Tobias there. When he'd been infected with a horrifying anthrax sprain, Morgan was at his side. So many times he needed other's help, and they were always there to support him. But now, he felt utterly alone. Even though the team was the best group of profilers, and they could solve any case given to them, he felt this time was different.

Spencer was unsure how long it was before he heard something. Footsteps. He could hear the floorboards above creaking under her weight. The creaking stopped for a moment, and then started again. The bare light bulb above flashed on, temporarily blinding Spencer. His eyes were squinted tightly from the sudden brightness.

The footsteps soon started down the stairs.

"Rise and shine, Spencer," the overly sweet voice said with a sing-song tone. Soon she appeared with a water bottle and an apple in her hands. She wore a white t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants, and her golden hair was neatly up in a ponytail, like she often wore it when Spencer knew her.

"Here," she said, handing the water bottle to Spencer. Hesitance washed over him. "Tsk," she scoffed, "You really think I'd kidnap you, just to kill you with poison? Please, I could have done that at that coffee shop that always go to, you know? The one that's three blocks from your apartment?" He still didn't reach for the bottle. She groaned as she roughly unscrewed the cap, and then she drank a mouthful from the bottle.

"See? Not dead. Drink," she said, pushing the bottle towards him. He looked up at her tanned face, and then grabbed the bottle with a shaky hand. She grinned, and then sat down cross-legged in front of him. Spencer was secretly grateful for the water; his throat had been quite dry. Once about half the bottle was emptied, he set it down at his side. "You sleep well?" she asked.

"I-I didn't sleep," Spencer answered after a moment, considering lying to her. She frowned and gritted her teeth.

"I told you to get sleep! You're supposed to listen to me! I am in control of your life! I decide if you live or die. Remember what I told you yesterday? 'I'm not going to hurt you, that is, if you do what you should, and what is expected of you,'" she recited. "This just might deserve punishment."

"I tried to sleep! I did!" he cried out, "I just h-had so many thoughts r-running through my head... I-I couldn't fall asleep!" She sighed in frustration. She reached into her pocket, and scooted herself closer to Spencer's cuffed hand.

"This is a lesson that you obviously need to learn; follow orders," she snapped coldly. She pulled out a pocket knife and unfolded the largest blade she had. Spencer's eyes widened, knowing exactly what she had planned.

"No! P-please don't do this; I'll learn!" he pleaded desperately. He closed his hand into a fist to prevent her from carving his palm. "I promise I'll listen for now on, just don't do this, please!" All she did was chuckle as she tried to pry his hand open.

"A lot of people say pain is the best teacher; I agree with that," she stated. She managed to pull his fingers away from his palm. She then held them with a firm grip. Spencer could instantly feel the blood circulation being cut off. She raised the blade, let it hover over his palm, and then pressed it harshly into his skin. He let out a cry of pain. He tried to pull away, but found it impossible. She continued cutting into his hand, certainly taking her time, and eventually forming a perfect "R".

She took the blade of the knife and wiped it down on Spencer's white shirt sleeve. His arm was shaking. "See why you listen to me? For being a genius, you're pretty stupid." Spencer felt weak, sore, and helpless. His hand felt as if it were on fire. He could feel his sticky blood oozing out of his hand, yet he couldn't bring himself to look down at it.

"I was going to catch up with you on things, after all, it's been nine years, but you don't look up to it," she taunted with a smirk. She tapped her chin with the tips of her fingers. "Hmm, I could wrap up that hand of yours so you don't lose as much blood. Then I'd be doing you a favor. Now why would I want to do that?" she asked out loud, as if talking to herself.

"What do you want from me, Kristen?" he asked, almost instantly regretting it. Her confident face contorted to one of anger.

"What do I want from you? I want your happiness, your spirit and hope! I want to break you! Slowly but surely. I know just how to do it too, Spencer. I'm a person that knows what buttons a person has, which ones to press, and which ones will hurt them the most. I have your buttons memorized.

"I don't want to kill you, no; I certainly don't want to do that; it'd be too easy! I want to ruin you, so that when and if, your precious 'team' ever find you, there won't be anything left to save. You'll be the hollow shell of the once amazing, fantastic, brilliant Dr. Spencer Reid!" she screamed, venom mixed with Spencer's name. She stormed back up the stairs, shut the lights off, and slammed a door. His own beating heart was the only thing the registered in his ears.

Spencer could scarcely breathe. If this was only the beginning of her "punishment" for whatever he did to her all those years ago, he didn't want to know what the end would be like. If there would be an end. He thought of everyone on the team, his good moments with them, and then began to weep, letting the tears leak from his eyes and short sobs escape his mouth. The chance of him being found suddenly seemed bleaker and almost impossible now.

I feel so evil for making Spencer go through that. That woman is seriously messed up. I for one don't want to be alone in a room with her, you know… if I pissed her off anyway… I also feel psycho because 1.) I was able to write this chapter easily, and 2.) I actually/semi enjoyed writing it. O^O'

Um, thanks for reading, like always! I'm glad that people actually like it :D Unfortunately, I'm going to start only loading chapters on weekdays, since I know people get busy on like Saturday and Sunday, plus that gives me recovery time ^^' Thanks for the comments, favorites, alerts, and what not. It always cheers me up to hear what you guys think :) Thanks for everything guys!

(This was originally Chapter Nine, but switched it with the original Chapter Ten so that everything would be in chronological order. Sorry for any confusion this switch may have caused ^^')