A/N: I sincerely apologize for such a late update! I've been really busy and was incapable of giving this story the attention it deserved. Updates may still be a little erratic, but I'm going to try to get them more frequent! I thank you all for your patience.
Warning: Descriptions of animal brutality to a rather graphic extent!
That night things just about spun out of control. Penelope and Jennifer thought they should get Strauss to show her; while David, Derek, Aaron, and Emily all felt it was useless. Strauss would find some way to excuse it. They all had made individual efforts to look calm and together, but everybody's form shook with fear. Penelope stood to the way back.
"A rat," she said in horror. "He killed a rat!"
Spencer still stared at the pills. He was just about positive they were the same ones his Mother used to take, but it made no sense. Did the killer know that? Was he/she taunting him? How could they possibly know? It wasn't possible for them to know. Even those closest to him and his Mother never knew the medicines she took, no one but himself and her doctor.
Spencer examined the rat closely. He adjusted his glasses that rest on the bridge of his nose so that they sat better on his face. He then quickly reached for a pencil he saw Derek drop on the floor earlier that very day, and slowly pushed it up against the dead animal.
"Spencer," Aaron cried out with alarm, his vision had obviously been redirected to Spencer, who ignored him. "What are you doing?"
Spencer pressed the pencil up against the side of the animal, watched the tip sink into the gray fur of the poor rat. He felt his heart clench slightly, he'd actually always liked rats. His Mother hated them, as did his Father. They hated mice, too, they both set up traps in the basement, and Spencer would have to dash around the house ruining them. His Mother felt they carried all types of diseases, and his Father just found them unpleasant.
He pressed the tip in harder, and turned his hand slightly to turn the poor animal onto its back. More pills spilled out of its mouth, and made a clacking noise on the hardwood floor. Spencer couldn't help but think how much trouble they'd all be in if anyone were to walk up the stairs at that moment; but he knew he couldn't focus too much on that, he had something else to focus on.
"There's an incision made in the middle of the rat," Spencer observed outloud. The rest of the group seemed to still to listen to his words. "Whoever did this took time, it was planned and done with a steady hand. But the incision." Spencer paused and bit his lip, he adjusted his glasses with his hand that didn't hold the pencil and squinted. "I can't tell what it was made with, it's sewed up. Messy. Whoever sewed it up has no prior experience," Spencer declared. "I would say the incision wasn't made with the proper tools, but I can't be sure."
"What the hell does all this mean?" Derek asked, voice impatient.
"It means whoever did this cut the rat open," Spencer explained, voice entwined with disgust. "My guess is removed its internal organs, stuffed it full of pills that you see protruding from the mouth...and cleaned it."
"Cleaned it?" Jennifer asked.
"There's no sign of blood," Spencer explained. "It's like whoever did this cleaned their mess up."
"Well," Emily said, and slowly leaned down next to Spencer. "That's something."
"Yeah? What?" David asked.
"He didn't want the extra mess," Spencer explained. "Or she," he corrected. "It's kind of like poison. No blood, but you still have a body."
"What about the pills?" Jennifer asked.
Spencer stiffened up, but no one seemed to notice. His mouth had gone dry, and he felt emotions swirl within his belly to the point where it made him feel physically ill.
"Like the cup, this is a message," Aaron explained. "This is just a stronger one."
"Do you think the rat was alive when he cut it open?" Penelope asked in tears. Derek spun around and winced, she looked distraught.
"Doubtful," Spencer replied logically. "The incision would have been a lot less precise."
"Killing animals is a beginning sign of psychosis," Aaron pointed out.
"Yeah, I think our guy is a little past that point," Derek cut in. "This is an obvious threat."
"There's something else in its stomach," Spencer exclaimed with surprise. He eyed around the room at the other curious faces that all seemed to lean in.
"Don't tell me you want to cut it open..." Derek's voice was laced with complete disgust. He eyed the rat and shook his head.
"I think the word want isn't exactly fitting for the situation at hand," Spencer corrected him, his own features twisted with disgust.
"This is what boarding school has come to," David announced. "Cutting open dead rats." He gestured to the dead mound of grey hair on the ground and winced. "Could cleaning it be a sign of something like OCD? I got a cousin who has that."
"I doubt it," Emily answered. "It's clean, and doesn't leave a mess, but nothing is precise enough, like the stitches."
Spencer nodded. "She's right."
"Okay," David said dryly. "That's great. Fabulous. Now what the hell do we do with the rat?"
Spencer winced and eyed the fallen furry friend. "Anyone got gloves?"
~.~.~.~.~.~
"Do we have to do this in here?" Derek asked with disgust. The rat had rest on its back on top of a plastic plate, pills had spilled out all around it. Spencer had taken David's small pocket knife, and held it in his gloved hands as he gently put it at the incision line.
"Where else would we do it? Outside on the lawn?" Emily asked dryly, she rolled her eyes at Derek in annoyance, and then winced when she saw Spencer press in with the pocket knife.
Penelope gagged and turned away, and Derek ran his hand up and down her back in soothing circles. "This is horrible," Penelope whimpered.
"It's not much better over here, either," Spencer snapped, his voice wrought with disgust. He carefully cut away each stitch, and nearly gagged himself when the line popped open. Pills were stuffed all inside the poor animal, along with a piece of paper.
"Well," David breathed, eyebrows raised. "There's something."
Spencer winced. The whole inside of the rat had been completely cleaned out, like his pumpkin after he had gutted it. The rat outside their door had been nothing more than a hollow shell filled with pills, and a large crumbled piece of paper. He felt bile crawl up his throat, and blinked his eyes rapidly. Inside his emotions swirled and screamed, the fact the pills used to be his Mother's made the entire thing feel more personal. Made it feel like it wasn't just an attack made on all of them, but on Spencer especially.
He recalled the pills so well. He'd given them to her every day.
~.~.~.~.~.
"Mom, you forgot to take your pills this morning," young Spencer reminded her. His hair had grown so long and untamed that it hung in his eyes. He had to continuously shake his head so that it didn't obscure his vision too terribly. He held in his hand a tiny plastic cup, and in the other a water bottle. He looked hopefully at his Mother, hoped she wouldn't argue about the incompetence of the medicine she so desperately needed.
His Mother hadn't even looked up. Her hand moved at rapid pace, it flew over the notebook paper, it was as though she were in another world. Spencer gulped down a lump in his throat, he knew the scene in front of him wasn't good.
"Mom..." He attempted again with hope. He jiggled the pill cup a little, so that they bounced in the tiny plastic structure. That had earned him his Mother's bleary attention, but she looked at him with little recognition. She blinked her eyes a few times and squinted at him, her long blonde hair stood with static in all directions. "Your pills?"
"Oh," she said softly, her voice still filled with confusion. "Oh, yes. Yes, of course." She stuck her hand out, it was dry and cracked. Spencer winced and took hesitant steps forward. "I need to take them before I teach my next class."
Spencer deflated instantly, all the hope that had built up inside of him vanished, and he felt hollow, except for the little pang in his heart. He bit his cracked lip, and made the rest of the stride over to place the pills in his Mother's open palm. "Here," he said softly, eyes on the ground. He then held out the bottle, which his Mother gratefully accepted.
"So glad I didn't miss this dose," Diana Reid said cheerfully, her hand resumed its rapid motion across the notebook paper as she tossed the bottle to the side. "It wouldn't have been good."
"No, ma'am," Spencer agreed. "It wouldn't have been."
~.~.~.~.~.~.
"Spence?" Jennifer said his nickname with concern. Spencer hadn't made any move to grab at the paper, and he'd just stared blankly at the spilled pills. His eyes had been glazed, and his jaw had been slightly slacked, as though he were in another world. At the sound of his nickname, he cleared his throat and shook his head.
"Sorry," he apologized, and gave a tiny cough. "Sorry. I was just...thinking. Sorry," he rambled. He ignored the concerned looks his friends shot him, and almost felt guilt about the fact that they truly didn't have a clue about anything that happened in his life. But to be fair, he knew nothing of them, either. It was odd, he hadn't been at boarding school for long, but he felt as though it had been years. When you spend each and every day with the same people, while bodies drop around you, you'll find time seems to stretch.
"The paper, Spencer," Aaron reminded him gently, voice carried a note of concern with it. His eyes observed the young boy carefully.
Spencer nodded, and whimpered as he stuck his gloved hand into the rat. Those around him made a small noise of disgust, and he knew for a fact that Penelope had her eyes pressed shut. He pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and looked at it in his gloved palm. He felt a sense of dread about opening it.
When he opened it, he felt as though a chill had gone through the room. He really should have expected the image that was printed on the paper, but he felt his heart rate pick up upon sight of it, anyway.
A skull with two crossbones.
"Son of a..." David trailed off and wiped his mouth with his hand. "We really should have seen that coming."
"How did the warnings escalate from a glass with a floating skull to a dead rat filled with pills?" Emily inquired in disgust.
"Do the pills have any meaning?" Jennifer asked, and Spencer stiffened again.
"They're probably just whatever he could get his hands on, right?" Derek suggested.
Spencer felt a swarm of emotions within him. On one hand, if he spoke of his knowledge of the medicine he'd have to explain why on earth he knew about them. But on the other hand, if he didn't speak about it and the pills did have meaning, he could be failing them all. Neither of the possibilities were pleasant, and both made him feel sick to his stomach. He sat there, his hands gloved, holding a piece of paper that was shoved in a dead rat. To say that he hadn't expected boarding school to go that way would have been the understatement of the century.
"What is it, Spencer?" David inquired. The fact it had been David, and not Aaron, who picked up on his discomfort surprised him slightly. With David's humor he sometimes forgot the fact that the boy could be perceptive, and obviously had a keen eye on Spencer; which did the boy no favors.
"I know the name of them," Spencer admitted softly. The whole room stared at him in confusion, he kept his head down but he could feel the eyes as they burned holes on the back of his neck. He swallowed, desperate to try to nourish his dry throat. "They're anti-psychotics. I can tell what kind from the writing, color, and size of the pills. I've seen them before."
"Where?" Derek asked. Spencer closed his eyes. "Spencer, answer me, where have you been seeing antipsychotics?"
"I-I have an eidetic memory," Spencer explained, but the shake in his voice revealed his nerves. "I see and remember everything."
"Odd thing to see and remember," Derek replied to him.
"Spencer," Aaron's voice had been stern, and Spencer had closed his eyes tight at the sound of it. "Anything you know that could help-."
"I don't know anything that could help," Spencer snapped. "If you want to know what they are, I'll be happy to tell Penelope so she can run a scan on her computer to see who is taking them. But I know nothing that'd help otherwise."
"You wouldn't be so defensive if you didn't know something," Derek stated, arms crossed over his chest.
"Spence," Jennifer's own voice had been soft, but still firm, and passionate. "You need to tell us what you know. I've lost a friend because of it, and any information-."
"I have no information!" He snapped again. "I have no idea who these belong to, okay? None. I know a lot of things, and I don't see you grilling me on that."
"Spencer, calm down," Aaron demanded. The rest of the room seemed shock by the anger that had leaked into Spencer's words, not to mention his defensive posture. "If you know something-."
"It's personal, alright? It's personal, and it has nothing to do with any of this. I don't see you guys talking about your life stories any time soon." He'd known as soon as the words left his mouth that they wouldn't be favored by the group. All of them had secrets, and seemed to never talk about their personal lives. It wasn't like they'd known each other forever, but no one said anything at all. It was as though it were an unspoken rule of privacy that no one was allowed to invade. The fact he even scratched the surface of it all showed the depths of his annoyance.
"My life story isn't shoved in a rat," David replied cooly.
"Fine, you really want to know?" Spencer put down the piece of paper to rest atop of the rat, with deceiving calm despite the rise in his voice. "I knew someone who used to take them, okay? That's how I knew what they were."
"Who was it?"
"That doesn't matter!"
"It could," Aaron reasoned. "If they knew it meant something to you they could target you by shoving them in the rat," Aaron explained. "It could mean you're the next target."
"Or it could mean they found some pills and shoved them in the rat," Spencer returned.
"Were they yours?" Derek asked. His voice was calm, arms crossed over his chest, Penelope watched anxiously next to him. The whole room went silent, and Spencer stared at him in horror.
"No!" He cried out. "I never took them!"
"Then why are you so defensive about them?" Derek asked.
"Why are you so defensive about your personal life?" Spencer shot back at him. He rose up from his kneeled position and turned to fully face them, he kept his gloved hands away from his body, but not outward towards them too much.
"Spence," Jennifer begun calmly. "We need to know all we can possibly know about this."
"Fine, you guys really want to know?" He inquired. "Fine. My Mom used to take those exact same pills." He saw the look of shock come over all of their faces. "I would know. I brought them to her every single day since she never remembered. I was the one who gave her the meds, and I was the one who saw to it that she never missed a dose of them. So yeah, I saw them enough to memorize every little detail," he ground out. His eyes were dark, near blinded by frustration. "So congratulations," he said sarcastically. "You now know more about me than I know about any of you."
Before anyone had the chance to respond, Spencer removed his gloves and threw them down on the plate that the rat still rest on top of. They floated down and landed with abnormal amounts of grace, which hadn't seemed to fit the situation at hand at all.
"Spence..." Jennifer begun softly, and she stuck her hand out as though to put it gently onto his shoulder. But he pulled away from her instantly, not making eye contact with anyone.
"Spencer-." Derek opened his mouth to say more, but Spencer hadn't wanted to hear a word of it.
"I'm going to go wash my hands," Spencer ground out. "I don't care if I had gloves on, my hands feel gross. Figure out something to do with the rat."
He turned to exit immediately, but Derek spoke up again,
"You really shouldn't be going into the bathroom alone."
"What's he going to do? Drown me in the toilets?"
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Spencer had come back that night to the room empty and the rat gone. He knew that the others had all walked back to their own rooms, and that Derek and Aaron were seeing them to it for safety reasons. So Spencer got dressed in his PJs, and crawled into bed. He'd removed the makeup and elf ears in the bathroom.
He felt a moment of embarrassment when he turned on his side away from where the door faced, and curled up slightly. He took his alone time and allowed himself to shiver, and let the waves of terror pass through him. He should have lied, or concealed his emotions better, but the fact was he'd just cut open a dead rat and stuck his hand inside of it, he wasn't feeling very in control.
He knew he should have been thinking about probabilities, facts about killings in this type of nature, and what the threat could have meant. But the truth was? He couldn't. All he could think of was his Mother. The second his eyes closed, images of his Mother flooded into his brain. He couldn't make them vanish, he couldn't close his heart off from the ache that threatened to overtake it. He heard his breath quiver out, and his bottom lip tremored. He shut his eyes tight, and burrowed further into the blankets when he heard the door open.
"Spencer," Derek's voice was gentle, and he heard Aaron shut the door carefully from behind him. "We know you're up, man. We need to talk."
Spencer ignored him, and tried to give the illusion of himself being sound asleep, even though it was a moot point. He couldn't deal with whatever conversation the two boys wanted to have. He wasn't ready for it. Whoever was killing the kids had officially ruined Spencer's favorite holiday, and he was upset and exhausted. He'd just cut open a stitched up dead rat, filled with pills from his past, with a piece of paper shoved in its belly. To say he was disturbed wouldn't be a strong enough word.
"Spencer," Derek tried again. He sat down slowly on the edge of Spencer's bed, and reached for Spencer's tucked up ankle. "Come on, man. We just want to talk some things over." Not even a tiny movement. "Spencer..."
"Derek," Aaron said softly, and Spencer could imagine the boy giving Derek a grave look and shaking his head in the negative. "Just let it go. He's not up to talking right now."
"But-." Aaron must have cut Derek off with either a glare or another headshake, because Derek backed off. "Fine," Derek agreed. He gave Spencer's ankle one last fleeting pat, and spoke gently, "We'll be right here if you need us, man." The bed let out a loud creak as Derek got off of it, and Spencer heard the lightswitch shut off. "Goodnight, pretty boy," Derek said softly before he finally left Spencer's bedside.
"Goodnight, Spencer," Aaron said softly, Spencer could tell from how far away his voice was that he had already gotten in bed. "Happy Halloween."
He tried really hard not to cry.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
The next day Spencer hadn't said a word up until breakfast.
His whole night had been plagued by nightmares. He'd witnessed Kathryne's death over again, but this time when she tumbled to the ground, pills has spilled from her mouth, and he could have sworn he'd heard his Mother crying in the distance. It was one of the single most horrifying experiences of his life, and it wasn't even real.
When he'd gotten up, Aaron and Derek had both softly greeted him good morning, but Spencer hadn't replied to either of them. He was irrationally angered by the fact that part of his secret had come out. They'd all managed to keep parts of their lives hidden from each other for years, while he becomes exposed after just about two months.
"Hi, sweetie," Penelope greeted him softly at breakfast. She offered him a tiny smile, and looked at him with hopeful eyes. It couldn't help but slightly melt the ice wall he'd built around his heart that day; because he knew Penelope must have been beyond terrified, yet she still was most worried about his own emotional state. "How'd you sleep?"
Spencer set down his food on the, blessedly, clean table, and shrugged his shoulders. He still hadn't quite felt like talking, and even if he wanted to he hadn't a clue what to say.
"I thought some stuff over last night," Aaron announced after a long period of awkward silence and food picking. His voice had been hushed in the announcement, and everyone had leaned in with interest. "Spencer, I think you should resume hanging out with Liam's group, if they should still have you."
Derek looked at Aaron, mouth agape. Spencer instantly perked up, and looked up from his plate to the boy with shock. His mouth had dropped into a surprised 'o' and his eyebrows had raised high up. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Emily looked pleased, Penelope looked frightened, and Jennifer and Rossi looked conflicted.
"You can't be serious," Derek hissed at him. "We received a dead rat last night."
"I think our best bet is for Emily to search Liam's room," Aaron said, voice still hushed. Derek rolled his eyes. "It's not a good plan, but it's a plan. Besides, what I was thinking is if we see anything in there, we put it back, and then we make an anonymous call to Strauss saying there are drugs in his room. His room will be searched and they'll find it."
"Or she sweeps the entire call under the rug," Derek pointed out.
"A direct call she might not be able to. Sighting, assumptions, and such she could, but this could have repercussions," Aaron replied.
"So could messing with autopsy results," Jennifer said.
"Look, if we find something then we figure it out from there. This is the only plan we've got, we have to at least try it," Aaron reasoned. He hadn't looked overly fond with the prospect, almost grave about it, in fact.
"I'm down with it," Emily said. "We need to stop sitting around and doing nothing. It's going to get us killed."
"Shhh," David hushed her, finger pressed to his lips as he scanned the room. "We can't talk about this here."
"Well, our rooms aren't much safer," Jennifer pointed out. "Especially not mine. I think my roommates want to have an intervention about you guys."
The rest of the group snorted, except Derek, who just looked into space. He gulped, and Spencer could see his adam's apple bob. He flashed his eyes nervously to Spencer's, and they locked for a moment. Spencer couldn't figure out quite what Derek was trying to portray to him, so he just raised his eyebrows in inquiry.
"I know a place," Derek announced. Spencer's eyebrows shot up even higher, and his mouth made an audible pop as it opened. The whole group turned their attention to Derek in confusion. "No one else knows about it, and its totally safe."
"Where?" Aaron asked with apparent suspicion. It must have seemed impossible, for Derek to know of a place for so long and not inform anyone of it prior.
"I don't want to say right now," Derek told them all, tone hushed. He looked at Spencer, and bit his lip. Spencer felt a pang in his heart, it must have hurt Derek to give up the one place he felt at home and safe. "But meet me tomorrow night, past curfew, on the grounds near the garden. I'll show you to it."
"Where the hell is this place?" David hissed. "Is it even on campus?"
"...kind of," Derek answered.
"Kind of?" Jennifer repeated, worry evident. "How long have you known about this place?"
"...A While," Derek responded.
"What do you mean awhile?!" Aaron hissed at him. "You've had a private place where we could have met this whole time and you didn't say anything?!" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is that where you've been going at night?!"
All eyes were on Derek, and Spencer could tell that despite how intimidating the boy was, that he himself was nervous. "Everyone needs quiet," Spencer said in a sad attempt to stand up for him. But then, he noticed his grave mistake when all eyes shot towards him and Derek looked exasperated.
"He knew?!" David asked. He pointed his finger at Spencer in an accusatory fashion, and Spencer shrunk away. "You barely know him!"
Derek sighed and ran a hand over his scalp. "This isn't easy for me."
"Isn't it dangerous to sneak out on the grounds after dark?" Emily asked, apparently willing to give Derek a break from his "betrayal".
"We'll all be together," Derek reasoned, voice still hushed. "Just...trust me on this, alright? I've never let any of you down."
"Yeah, that one chemistry final was just a fluke," David reminded him, eyes playfully narrowed.
Derek laughed. "The fact that you even thought I could help you with that is ridiculous, man."
"You tried to help him with a chemistry final?" Spencer asked with disbelief, both of his eyebrows raised, and his eyes almost slightly mocked the other boy. Derek just glared back at him, though his lips twitched up.
"You know, kid, there is a brain somewhere in here," Derek told him.
"Yeah, if you do an x-ray, get a microscope, and look really hard, you just might find it," Emily taunted, her mouth curved into a smile.
"Leave him alone," Penelope told her, her voice in a coo. "He has a big beautiful brain the size of his heart."
"Aw, mama, always coming to my rescue," Derek crooned back, and placed a hand to his chest.
"You all have the worst attention spans," Aaron informed them as he shook his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Focused, we don't all have a pretty blonde that we stare at all day," Emily replied to him, and gestured her head towards Haley, who was laughing with some of her friends.
"You guys have the option," Penelope pointed out, and gestured to herself.
"Two, in fact," Jennifer agreed.
"What do you think, Spencer?" Derek asked, and tossed his arm around the younger boy. "Do we have some beautiful women for company, or what?"
"Um...yes?"
"Good answer, kid." Derek winked at him. "You're learning."
"Learning? Oh dear God, tell me you're not making Spencer your mini-me," Emily groaned.
"Well why not? Apparently Spencer is the Robin to his Batman," David mused, his voice held a dark tone to it. "That's why he showed him the batcave."
"Aw! Don't be sad! Batman has more than one Robin!" Penelope reminded him. "Well, not all at once. But he had Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne-."
"I'm not jealous," David cut her off in annoyance. "I'm just still wondering why he didn't tell any of us about it."
"Listen, man, I'll explain everything tomorrow, okay? Wait...crap...happy almost birthday, Aaron," he muttered.
Aaron rolled his eyes and snorted. "Please," he scoffed. "You guys know I hate birthday celebrations."
"Why?" Spencer inquired curiously.
"Because Aaron and fun don't mix," Derek informed him, arm still around the younger boy who looked up at him with large eyes. "At least, not anymore." He looked at Aaron and winked. "But I'd still like to let the beast out tomorrow."
"Can we please stay focused on the problem at hand?" Aaron insisted, he did his best to ignore the looks Derek was giving him. "We really need to focus on this, we can't mess it up."
"Is the plan the same as the original?" Emily asked, she'd sobered up quickly, leaned in, and spoke hushed. It was insane the paranoia they all felt, like someone's eyes were constantly upon them.
Aaron nodded his head, he'd shoveled french toast into his mouth. He swallowed harshly, and took a sip of orange juice. "You sneak in," he whispered. "While Spencer is out with Liam and his friends, you search the room, Spencer sends you text messages for when they're going back, and no matter what you leave immediately."
"What if they don't accept me back into the group?" Spencer inquired. He fiddled with his fork anxiously, his foot tapped rapidly on the smooth floor. "It's been awhile. I've been obviously avoiding them."
"Then we figure something else out," Aaron answered with surety. "I know one thing for sure, we can't sit around doing nothing for any longer. Or we die."
"My friends are getting really suspicious," Jennifer informed them. "It's insane. They want to know why I've drifted, and think I'm losing it after Kathryne."
"Well you obviously are," Emily said. "I mean, look who you're hanging out with."
Jennifer let out a tiny laugh in response, and raked her hand through her hair. "It's funny. Everything seemed so...normal when I was with them. Then I get away from them and everything just seems like it was..."
"A crazy dream?" Penelope suggested.
"Nightmare," Jennifer corrected. "Everything just seems so petty."
"Welcome to boarding school," Emily said dryly. "You're either petty or hunting a serial killer." Emily gave Jennifer a smile, which the blonde returned. Their relationship had improved drastically with time; which was good, Spencer hated conflict.
"I don't know if I like this plan," Penelope said honestly. She eyed Aaron, and then Spencer, her gaze weary and nervous. "I have a really big fear that this will go horribly wrong."
"60% of the things people fear never come true," Spencer offered.
"You hack into places that could get you thrown in jail for YEARS, and you're worried about Emily searching through some kid's bedroom?" David asked her in astonishment.
"I'd like to clarify a few things there, my dear sweet David," Penelope begun. "First off, if I was thrown in somewhere for years it would most likely be prison, not jail." A muttered 'Okay Spencer' was the reply she received. "Second off, this is some kid who could have possibly killed people...and a rat. I don't want him coming near my family."
"He's already near us," David told her, he'd obviously become more used to the idea of carrying out the plan. Spencer watched him with interest, there was this odd chill in the room which made him shake, and he nearly shared Penelope's fear. "All the time. Every day. Watching us, making us scared to talk, we need to put an end to this."
"Or we all die," Jennifer completed. "God, this is insane. We shouldn't be doing this alone."
"We've got no one else to help us," Aaron said. "It's just us."
"This is not how I planned my senior year going," Penelope whimpered.
"It'll be okay," Spencer told her softly, completely stumped on how to comfort her. She looked up from the table and offered him a tiny smile, and he returned it.
"He's right, babygirl," Derek agreed. "I don't like this plan. At all. But everyone is going to be okay, alright? We'll protect each other."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Spencer swallowed down the anxious lump in his throat when they urged him to go over to Liam's table. Sweat seemed to suddenly slick his skin, and he felt disgusting. His hair stuck up in all odd directions, and his lips had been bitten red and chapped. His fingers twitched anxiously underneath his plate as he cast a look back at his friends. Breakfast was midway through, but he needed to talk to them before they went off to whatever they had planned for their Saturday.
Spencer took in a deep breath, and approached Liam's table. They were all already seated, and were talking amongst themselves. They hadn't even noticed Spencer approaching until he stood right before the table and cast a shadow upon them. All of their heads seemed to turn towards him at once, surprise, and some annoyance, reflected in their eyes.
"Well," Amelia drawled, she twisted a finger through her hair, and her eyes flickered up and down Spencer's form. "Look who it is."
Ella gave Spencer a nervous smile, and Spencer frowned at her demeanor...she seemed...off. She also looked completely exhausted, like she'd had to force herself out of bed that morning.
"I...I'm sorry I've been kind of..."
"Elusive?" Owen supplied. He didn't look particularly upset, neither did Sawyer, who had already proceeded to go back to eating. "We noticed."
"My friends got upset I was hanging around with other people," Spencer lied, he awkwardly shuffled his feet, and put on the sad puppy expression Penelope told him he always made. "I guess I just...wanted to make them happy."
"Then go over there." Amelia pointed to the table, where the group was trying to act as though they weren't watching them. "Continue to make your nice little group of friends happy. Why are you here?"
"Amelia, please," Liam huffed, and rolled his eyes. He flashed Spencer one of his fake smiled, and gestured to a seat on the other side of Ella. "Peer pressure is a difficult thing, take a seat." Ever the diplomat.
Spencer gratefully took the seat, and Ella once again gave him a shaky smile. He frowned at her, she was acting off.
"Looks like you can help me with my biology notes again," she said. Spencer smiled back at her and nodded his head in agreement.
"We were all going to hang out at the café again today," Scarlett told him, her eyes watched over him suspiciously. "If your friends are fine with it," she said that part with large amounts of sarcasm. "Then you're welcome to come with us."
"I'd love to," Spencer replied, almost too quickly. He flushed a little bit, and regained his bearings, cleared his throat. "I-uh...missed the scones."
"The scones are terrible," Sawyer said, and eyed Spencer like he had to be joking. "They're like rocks with blueberries crammed into them."
"That's because they make them that way on purpose," Ella said cryptically. She drew designs into the table with her index finger, and looked at it fondly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amelia asked her, and stared at the girl strangely.
Ella just shrugged, and poked at her food. Spencer frowned and observed her, something was wrong.
"Why do you let those friends control your life?" Scarlett asked, her eyes darted over to the table. She rolled her eyes. "Since when did Jennifer Jareau start hanging around you guys again? I thought she ditched that scene a while ago."
Spencer shrugged. "She came back, I guess."
"I wouldn't count on that lasting," Amelia said with a careless shrug. Every piece of her french toast was expertly cut, the syrup on the other side of the plate, and she'd dip the little squares in and chew her food for the same amount of time every time. "She got in with the popular crowd. Once you get a taste of something better than what you've got? There's no going back."
"That's why you're here," Scarlett said after Amelia had finished, and Spencer looked at her with surprise. "Isn't it?"
Spencer just smiled stiffly and nodded, not even he had the energy to tell a lie so grand.
~.~.~.~.~.~.
The café was much too cold for Spencer's liking. The temperature outside had really begun to drop, and it was as though the place didn't get the memo. In fact, he even felt a cool breeze at his feet, and wondered if they were still running the AC. There was an old woman in the corner with a winter jacket on, she clutched her cup of coffee as though it were her lifeline.
"Should old people really be drinking coffee?" Amelia inquired. She looked at the old woman as though she hosted diseases. "My Grandmother never drinks coffee."
Spencer's phone vibrated, and he pulled it out of his pocket to glance at the screen.
"The bird is in the nest," it read, and Spencer resisted the urge to snort out loud. "Need name of med for search. Just to be safe."
Spencer quickly typed out the name, and then plopped his phone back in his pocket when he saw Liam trying to make an attempt to look at the screen. He just gave the boy a stiff smile, while Liam's eyes continued to watch him intently. He really thought he should have a staring contest with Aaron.
"Who are you texting?" Amelia obviously had no problem being more outwardly nosey than Liam. Of course, Spencer noticed that the girl seemed to be even ruder to him since his return that day. Obviously, Amelia didn't like being second choice. Wasn't that why she hated Derek in the first place? She had to feel better than everyone; and when she felt like she wasn't be picked first, she had to believe that person was lesser to build herself back up; and she didn't associate with lesser, so they never mattered in the first place. The only one who seemed to escape the rule was Owen, and that was possibly because Amelia thought she could still win over Ella.
"Aaron wanted to know where I was." Spencer rolled his eyes for dramatic effect, and Scarlett followed suit. "Wanted to know why I wasn't hanging out with them today."
"They're so pathetic," Scarlett said with obvious disgust. "You should ask Strauss if you can switch rooms. Owen and Sawyer have a free bed."
Spencer tried not to shiver in absolute horror at the idea of sharing a bedroom with Owen and Sawyer. The two other boys didn't look all that fond of the idea, either, but Owen tried to conceal it more.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Spencer said instead, a polite smile that probably looked more like a grimace graced his face.
"It's only been almost two months in," Scarlett pointed out. "Yet you're already having trouble."
"Everything is fine," Spencer assured her. "They're just a little overprotective." That part was true, at least. The group seemed to think sixteen meant six. He blamed it on the fact his growth spurt hadn't quite kicked in yet.
"I think obsessive is the right word," Sawyer snorted. He had this stale bagel in front of him that he kept poking with a plastic fork. It had to be pretty bad if he wasn't even eating it.
"How was your Halloween?" Spencer asked the group, changing the subject. He watched Liam's face specifically, for any clues whatsoever. It remained almost expressionless, and all the boy really did was shrug.
"I hate Halloween," Ella said softly. "It was just invented to sell candy and scare kids."
Owen frowned at Ella, and tucked some hair out of her face. "You okay, baby? You seem tired."
"Haven't been able to sleep," Ella replied dully. She drew the same pattern on the table with her finger. Over and over again. Spencer watched it, he tried to figure out what on earth it was.
"You might want to try later," Amelia advised, her voice void of any genuine concern. "You're half dead."
Ella shrugged with disinterest. Owen frowned and continued to card his hand through her hair, it driftly landed on her forehead for a moment, as though to check her temperature. Spencer saw Amelia grip the table tightly with both hands, her knuckles turned white and her fingers just about looked like claws. She was practically seething. It was as though she thought Ella was acting ill and tired on purpose.
"You know, Spencer, we practically haven't seen you since homecoming," Liam said, he ignored Ella's behavior as though it were nothing new. "What have you been up to?"
Spencer shrugged. "Um...the usual?" He offered lamely. "I've been helping out in the gardens a lot."
"I don't get why you help out that groundskeeper," Amelia said with disgust. "He's creepy."
Spencer frowned. "Creepy? How is he creepy?"
"He's just pathetic," Scarlett agreed with Amelia. "I swear, people like him need to find a real job."
"If they do something that makes money then it is a real job," Spencer told her sharply. "He's a good man, and he works hard."
"He doesn't even dress well," Amelia replied.
"He works with dirt and soil," Owen pointed out to her, even he sounded exasperated. Amelia's eyes instantly widened, and she sat up straighter. "What do you want him to wear? A suit?"
"A uniform would be nice," Scarlett said, she wasn't troubled to get into a fight with Owen. Unlike Amelia, who had sobered up instantly and pressed her lips tightly together. "Just because you work with dirt doesn't mean you can't wear a uniform."
Spencer almost had to fight back the urge to smile. He was positive at that moment that Scarlett would never be a suspect, there was no way a girl that ignorant to work would gut a rat by herself. She'd have to hire someone to do it, force them into a uniform, and direct them from about a mile away.
They all talked amongst themselves for awhile. Spencer hung back and just listened absentmindedly, he hoped if anything of interest was said that he would be able to catch it. But nothing seemed to come up that was incriminating.
He hoped Emily was having better luck. The brunette was more than capable to lead the investigation at hand.
Spencer almost felt as though people at school underestimated Emily Prentiss. The way the girls that sat with him talked of her almost seemed to prove that fact. Everyone just took her for what she seemed at face value, a rich kid who tried to rebel against her Mother. She reeked of cigarettes, constantly talked about how she wanted a smoke, drank, and showed little to no interest in the life of luxury. She wanted to decide her own fate, dictate her own destiny. No one saw the fact that she was exceptionally intelligent, one of the best poker and chess opponents Spencer had ever faced, and was probably smarter than anyone Spencer sat at that café table with. Amelia would call her a whore, Scarlett called her trashy, and everyone reacted to her like she was beneath them, but Emily Prentiss was probably above them all.
Spencer had no doubt that she would succeed in life.
If no one at the table ever committed a crime, well even if they did, they would probably all succeed, as well. That was something that broke Spencer's heart a little bit. The fact that it didn't matter if you were good or bad, honest or dishonest, kind or unkind, you could succeed all the same. Well, if you had a large bank accounts, and rich parents to pave the way. Emily also had all of that, Spencer assumed they all did, but he knew she would work for everything she got. It might not earn her more money than anyone else, nor would it win her many favors, but at the end of the day, Emily was honest and hard working. She would never take short cuts.
It warmed his heart a bit that the brunnette believed in him.
His thoughts were interrupted when his phone vibrated. The whole table turned to look at him as he fumbled for the piece of technology. It was a phone call from Penelope, that alone concerned him a little bit.
"One second, please," he pleaded of the group, and rose from the table to enter a more secluded corner of the café. He hit the talk button with his finger, he still hated the stupid touch screen. What was so wrong with buttons? Why did people have to abandon things that made all the sense in the world just for something new and fancy? What was so wrong with old and boring? "What is it?" He realized he was rather rude, but he had to get back to the table or he could miss something.
"You have to get back here, now," Penelope demanded of him, her voice shook slightly. Spencer frowned in concern and eyed the table.
"What? Why?" He asked.
"We need to regroup," Penelope told him. "We didn't expect this."
"Expect what?"
"The pills are Ella's, love, not Liam's, not anyone's. She's schizophrenic." Spencer felt his skin grow cold, and the world seemed to move in slow motion. His eyes zeroed in on Ella's disinterested face as she continued to draw the same odd design onto the table. Over and over. As if it meant something. "She just stopped going to therapy before she came here. She even has a history of hospitalizations in the last year. She developed this all very berry early. You need to get back, Spencer. We're shutting down Emily's search."
Spencer just continued to watch as she drew her designs. He heard Penelope continuing to chatter on in his ear, but it didn't seem to matter, his eyes were focused on Ella. The quirks that he'd noticed in her...they were side effects of certain antipsychotic medicines.
How had he never noticed?
She stopped her drawings, the conversation around her still chattered on, but she rose her head and her gaze met Spencer's. It was as though the world were on mute and they were the only two in the room.
She smiled.
A/N: So, now I would like to know what you guys think. Do you think Ella is the killer? If not, I'm really curious to know who you all think is! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!