Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Or A Modest Proposal. At all.

WARNING: Moderately disturbing material ahead.


Chapter 12: How Many More?

John Collins couldn't believe his luck. He had been…disposing of some things outside his butchery when three children had walked straight past him. And, they were talking about him, of all things! Had word spread this quickly around Kensdale about his heroic acts?

But, it had all been too easy.

Was John just incredibly lucky, or had fate had sent the children to him? Perhaps John was meant to save Kensdale after all, and all of these kids that had been seemingly and…coincidentally crossing paths with him were supposed to be used to save Kensdale.

John knew he should have been more cautious, as calling out to them and leading them into his butchery's hidden basement in broad daylight was exceedingly risky. But, all of the new meat he had prepared was almost running out, and just think of all the meat three children could provide Kensdale!

"So…when are you going to call our dad?" the boy named James asked, diverting John's attention towards him as they walked down the stairs.

John gestured to the chairs in the first room, and as the children made themselves comfortable in them, he responded to them. "I could call him now, if you'd like. Do you know his number?" John said, plastering a fake, reassuring smile upon his face.

"Cool. Yeah…here's his number. Mum makes us keep emergency contacts wherever we go…Here you go." James said, pulling a folded paper from his coat pocket.

"Great…now, while I go and call your dad, would any of you like anything to drink? It's been rather cold outside, and I have some hot chocolate. Would you like some?" John asked.

The kids look at each other and grinned, answering him with a few choruses of 'Yes Please!' and 'Thank You!'

Nodding, John left to go make them hot chocolate. It would be their last drink after all…

After putting on a kettle on the stove upstairs, John opened the folded paper. He had absolutely no intention of phoning the children's parents, but he was still quite curious. Who were the children's parents?

He knew Michael's parents. Everyone in Kensdale knew them. It was common knowledge that the boy's parents were the town's top lawyers and often spent hours at work, leaving their older son to care for Michael. Hell, John was sure Michael's mother helped advise Moira on variously different forms of action during their…divorce.

But who were the other two children's parents? John wanted to know exactly whose lives he was regrettably but unavoidably ruining…So, smoothing open the paper with his hand, he peered at the list of names.

Oh! These were the Phillips' children. John remembered both parents occasionally stopped by to purchase meat. How heartbroken would they be? Yes, their children were being taken away from their lives for a good cause, but that never would stop the pain and hurt that would follow.

John clucked his tongue in regret, and prepared the cups of steaming hot chocolate before carrying the mugs downstairs to the waiting children.

"Oh!" Jenny exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "Thank you! Mummy never lets us drink such large cups of hot chocolate."

John nodded and passed around the steaming mugs before taking a sip out of his own. After relishing in that sweet taste and the spread warmth around his body, John cleared his throat. "So, you want to hear the true story of the flesh-eating man Michael told you about?"

The children nodded excitedly. "All right…Once upon a time, there was a tired man, weary with the burdens of life…For all of his life, he had dreamt of healing people…simply…helping them. Sadly, cruel fate swept him away from that particular path of life, and he became a lowly butcher instead…kind of like me!" John chuckled.

"But, sir…Mr. Collins? What does this have to do with the flesh eating man?" James asked confusedly.

"Yeah! Does he really eat the flesh of the children he steals away?" Michael asked, leaning forward on his chair.

"…And where are the animals you said you would show me?" Jenny asked, tugging on John's sleeve.

John smiled sadly at the children….Oh God…And such innocent beings would be gone so soon. But, it was all necessary

"All in good time, children. Now, on with the story!" John said, gesticulating with a free hand. "You know, one day, this man noticed the…hardships Kensdale had endured. Don't tell me you haven't noticed." John said, looking at the children.

"Well, Mummy says that Daddy has to work longer for us. Does that count?" Jenny asked, tilting her head a bit.

Michael merely scoffed. "Oh, please, Jenny…Have you seen my parents? They practically never come home at all…You're lucky you have your mum at home with you at least." He said as a frown began to spread across his face.

"Hey! At least you have an older brother Michael. Jeremy looks after you so much!" James said, smiling as he watched Michael's frown soften considerably at the thought of his older brother.

"Oh, children…Yes, our parents work very hard for all of you, but this man noticed that it just wasn't enough. Kensdale really just needed an extra push…So, that's where the excitement begins. He found this old manuscript of his, The Modest Proposal, a brilliant essay proposing various methods of eradicating poverty in Ireland. That essay laid down a new path for him in life, and, perhaps you're a bit young to understand, but it brought him a sense of…purpose. And, he then realized that in order to give Kensdale that shove to regeneration, he needed to get rid of the children." John dramatically stated, looking intently at Jenny, who had gripped her brother's sleeve tightly.

"So, he stole away all the children he could find…and…and killed them. That would be a few less mouths to feed, yeah? But, then…he had a thought. What if he could feed other people, so burdened with poverty, with the children? This is the part, children…Listen carefully. This man had a taste of the cooked children to make sure it was edible. It was. So, he sold bits and bits of the children to the townspeople. Look how much more meat the town had now! And today, this man still looks after Kensdale in his own, twisted way." John finished solemnly.

The children fell silent, staring at him with wide, wide eyes, evidently frozen with shock and fright. John realized that the older two would most likely figure out the truth and panic, so he had to act in order to pacify their growing, suspicious fear.

"Jenny? Would seeing animals make you feel better?" John asked the trembling girl.

"Yes, please! What types?" Jenny managed to say, perking up at the mention of animals.

"Come here...They're close. I have…chickens, pigs, oh, but you simply must see the cows! They're quite large." John said, reaching his arm out to the little girl.

"Okay…" Jenny simply said, taking John's arm and allowing herself to be lead away by him.

"Okay, lads. Why don't you stay there? I'll be back in a few." John said to the boys.

"Ooh! What types of cows do you have? Are they brown? Are they black? And, how do you keep cows down here? Don't they need grass? And sun?" Jenny rapidly asked.

John chuckled at her curiosity. "Oh, but I have special cows! They're red, and they don't need grass or sun anymore. Don't you want to see?"

Jenny nodded excitedly. "Where are they?"

John opened the door to the freezer room and patted his pocket to make sure his knife was still there.

"There. Don't you see them hanging from the hooks over there? Oh, look how big they are!" John said, anticipating a reaction from Jenny.

Jenny took one look at the hanging, red carcasses of some cows John had butchered a while back and simply screamed, ripping her hand away from John.

"JAAAAMES! MICHAAAEL!" Jenny shrieked, making an attempt to run out the door.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" John muttered to himself.

He quickly grabbed Jenny, roughly tilted her head up, and brought his knife over her throat.

The screaming stopped.

John laid her body on the ground and held up his knife once more, expecting the boys to run in.

In a few moments, James rushed in calling Jenny's name. He took one look at her motionless, bloody body on the ground, looked back up at John's wild countenance and his bloody hands, and simply yelled.

"Shh…I don't want another headache." John calmly stated, running towards the terrified boy.

And, for the second time that day, John plunged his knife into the boy's neck and tore it open.

The body dropped and John simply caught it before moving it towards Jenny's body. Standing up, he turned around and found Michael completely frozen, staring at his friends' crumpled bodies.

"…You're that man…that flesh-eating man." Michael accused, backing up, attempting to reach the door.

John sighed. "Yes, and it took you a bit longer than I expected to figure it out. Haven't your parents ever told you to never talk to strangers?"

John grabbed Michael and pushed him back into the room. Michael gave a startled yell and fell, using his hands to stop his fall. Michael solemnly looked up at John, noticing all that blood dripping around his friends nearby.

"You know…My brother's going to kill you, right?" He said, hugging his knees to his chest, watching the bloodied knife John gripped.

"Your…brother? But, how would he know what I've done?" John replied, circling the boy.

"I don't know. But, he said that if anybody ever tried to hurt me, he'd kill them." Michael said, staring up at John now.

"He can try if he wants…" John shrugged.

"…Why did you have to kill James and Jenny?" Michael whispered.

"To save Kensdale." John replied, examining his knife. Huh. He should really sharpen it soon…

"Can…Can you let me go?" Michael tentatively asked.

"Why would I do that, Michael? I'm afraid not." John sighed, raising his knife.

"Please? PLEASE!" Michael cried, edging himself away into a corner.

John walked up to the retreating boy completely overwhelmed with fear.

"PLEASE! I PROMISE I WON'T TELL! I PROMISE I WON'T TELL! PL—"

How regrettable…Poor Michael. John stared at the little boy's body, whose open mouth stopped producing those pitiful cries for mercy. He didn't blame him, though…Wouldn't it be absolutely terrifying to look into the face of the person who would kill you, knowing you had moments, maybe seconds left to live and to breathe?

No.

Michael's cries for mercy were…pitiful, but what did you expect from a young child?

John began to carry Jenny's body upstairs for butchering, and after he grabbed James' body, his body grew a bit tired. Carrying two children up the stairs was already strenuous…Now, he didn't want to carry Michael's. Perhaps, he would only need to butcher the Phillips children and if Kensdale needed more meat, then he would use Michael.

Upstairs, John excitedly began to butcher the children, falling into that familiar, mechanical pattern as he raised the knife up and down across the bodies until such glorious amounts of meat were produced. Turning the decapitated, unblinking heads away from him, John began to load all that new, fresh meat into the glass display in the front of the shop.

Yes! Three less mouths to feed! And two bodies worth of food for Kensdale to feed on. Oh my goodness! John wanted to see the effects of it all on the town.

So, he excitedly ran outside his butchery, bloody self and all, and stared out in hopes that he had made a noticeable difference. But, what he saw dismayed him. There were still tired looking people walking around. And, were those beggars lined up on the street?

No…Why were there still so many struggling people?

Irritation began to built up inside of John, and he felt on of those terrible headaches begin to build up again. Heading inside, he collapsed in a chair and let his mind succumb to aggravated and tumultuous thoughts.

DID THESE NEW CHILDREN DONE ANYTHING TO HELP THE TOWN AT ALL?

John clenched his head in frustration.

IT WASN'T ENOUGH!

No…how many more must fall in order for Kensdale to regenerate?

HOW MANY MORE?

John grabbed his keys, a large knife, and hobbled out the door, attempting to ignore that splitting pain in his head.

Fine. He would have to get rid of so much more people.

Driving around the town after grabbing James' and Jenny's heads and shoving them in his truck, John looked for an area secluded from witnesses but enough people to kill and also a place to dump the heads. This time, it wouldn't matter if he killed children or adults. Killing children was evidently not enough, and so adults would have to go as well.

John drove past a park, and then slammed on the brakes.

A park.

That was it.

The park was far from the road, no one else was around, and there were plenty of children and mothers there…

After parking his truck, John casually walked up to the people inside the park. He walked to one side shaded by large trees and placed the two heads on the ground with another card. At this point, he was surprised nobody saw him holding…heads. Nonetheless, he began to walk towards the playground. Mothers were either playing with their children or sitting on the bench talking to each other as their children ran around the park. And…why was there a teenaged boy there? Was he babysitting someone? John shrugged, but merely took out his knife, which no one had noticed just yet…

Then, piercing screams filled the air, replacing the previous calm, as John grabbed the nearest person next to him, not even caring if it was a child this time, and closed his eyes as he felt the blade sink into the victim's soft neck and noticed warm blood dripping out of the wound onto his hands.

The body collapsed, and John didn't even feel a shred of remorse. Kensdale needed this. The screaming women hugged their children, and some even tried to run away.

"STOP!" John bellowed, causing more children to cry and mothers to hug them closer. "If any one of you dares to leave here or call anyone, I will personally run after you and gut all of your pathetic little children." John snarled menacingly, waving his knife in the air.

Honestly, he was surprised that no one actually continued to attempt to escape. He was just a man with a knife…He didn't even have a gun. But, he supposed that fear incomprehensibly crippled the mind and judgment as he saw the mothers sitting back down, ceasing all attempts to run away.

"Oh my God…How many of you are pregnant?" John disgustedly said, looking around at the crowd, noticing a few swollen figures. "How did you even expect to be able to feed your children? Have you not….SEEN KENSDALE?" John practically screamed, causing a new wave of hysteria to crash over the people.

"IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOUR CHILDREN! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU STARVED FOR THEM? HOW CAN YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?" John said, continuing to bellow at the subdued crowd.

No one dared to answer him, and the park was devoid of all sound except a single wail of sorrow. John had killed a child, and the fallen child's mother hovered over the bloody body, obviously emotionally devastated.

"Well…" John said, his tone dropping. "I've been trying to fix that problem…For Kensdale. And, do you want to know the only way I can fix this….this economic crisis? Killing all of you. That's it. Maybe your children is not enough…Maybe all have to go." John raved.

And then, he leapt at the nearest person and sliced a neck open, causing more and more screams to fill the air. In the next moments, all of time seemed to blur together as John threw himself at the retreating children and mothers, causing mass panic and terrified screaming to erupt. He angrily stabbed body after body, not even bothering to give them a relatively quick death, while his knife became a silver blur tainted with blood.

It didn't matter.

They needed to go.

After a while, John stopped his assault and looked around at what he had done, and though he had mostly finished attacking all the people possible, the sound of metal tearing into flesh rang over and over in his head.

There were so many bodies…

Ah…John succeeded… What was that? About ten less people for the town to worry about? How great! John felt an overwhelming sense of pleased fulfillment and smiled to himself at the massacre before him, ignoring all the blood that had splattered upon him.

But, wait…

That teenaged boy he had seen earlier attempted to stand up with a groan, clutching his arm, which profusely bled. In his raged frenzy, John supposed he had missed his target and just opted to stab everything in sight without really looking at where he stabbed.

That boy still had go, though…But, oh God… Damn…John saw some people walking along the road far, far away…What if they saw him? There was simply no time…He needed to get out of here quickly. But, what should he do about this boy…the only remaining person at this park?

There was no time.

John grabbed the boy, slid the knife across the boy's neck and ordered him to walk to John's truck while throwing down another card with words from A Modest Proposal again.

"Hey, let me go! Stop!" The boy said, struggling weakly, wary of the blade pressed to his neck.

"Come on…" John growled, dragging him to his waiting vehicle.

Throwing him in the passenger seat, John ran to the driver's seat, turned on the engine, and drove away back to his butchery without a real plan in mind.

"What do you want with me? Why did you kill….all those people?" the boy asked, his face white with terror.

"…Haven't you heard about that man supposedly terrorizing the town? You've met him now." John offhandedly replied, not even looking at the boy.

"…Does this mean you're the one that took Michael Flynn?" the boy asked, warily eyeing John's knife, though noticeable anger crept into his voice.

John scoffed. "Huh. Why would you care? He was just another burden to Kensdale."

The boy simple glared back and raised his voice. "Don't you dare talk about my little brother like that. Where have you taken him?"

…Little brother?

This was…Michael's brother? The one who would supposedly kill him for taking Michael?

…How interesting.

That was all John could simply think, as his mind was preoccupied with a horrible revelation, and for now, he ignored Jeremy Flynn. He would deal with him later…

Killing all those women and their children helped a bit, he supposed, but perhaps a great sacrifice was needed to finally eradicate this damned poverty once and for all.

A sacrifice...

And what would he consider the greatest sacrifice for the cause?

His stepson.

Seamus.