Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, but I certainly wish I did, just like all those other fangirls out there...

WARNING: This following chapter contains many, many dark themes and violent content not suitable for the young and the easily frightened.

Chapter 14: Omaha, Nebraska: The Archer Family

"Hello? Eric? Daniel? We're home!" Mrs. Archer said as she walked through her front door, depositing her car keys into a little blue bowl.

Sure enough, two small boys came rushing over, but stopped and hesitated when they saw me. Mrs. Archer seemed to notice their discomfort and beckoned them to come closer.

"This is Niko," she said. "He'll be staying with us for a day or so until we sort through some things. Why don't you show him around and play with him for a bit?"

The boys perked up and grinned easily.

"Yeah! Mommy never lets us go to our friends' houses often! We can have so much fun!"

Mommy. Just the spoken word stabbed my heart and brought back such horrible feelings.

But then, a middle-aged man walked in, probably Mr. Archer.

"And, who might this be? Have you brought me another son, Monica?" he smiled, wrinkles crinkling around his eyes.

Mrs. Archer laughed. "No, we're just taking him in for a bit."

I forced myself to sound cheerful and grateful. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Mr. Archer."

"Ah, it's no problem. Monica always brings me a few temporary sons or daughters from work. It's always a pleasure."

What a shame to waste such a kind human.

"I'm going to start dinner, okay? You guys have fun." Mrs. Archer smiled and walked towards the kitchen.

"I better help you with that, or we'll be eating more of that burnt salmon like yesterday…" Mr. Archer ambled after her.

They continued bantering good-naturedly until they reached the kitchen. And, I think if I were a few years younger, I probably would have given anything to have my parents together…and happy like the elder Archers…

"Niko! Niko!" Eric and Daniel yelled, interrupting my thoughts as they jumped up and down. Yes, they sure had plenty of energy.

"What?" I asked, bending down to reach their height.

"Let's play! Upstairs! We can show you are toys! And our books! And! And! Other stuff!"

"All right." I forced myself to chuckle…to smile…It was the least I could do, given what these kids would go through this night.

So, I followed the boys as they pranced up the stairs, flung open their bedroom, and pushed me in. More crayon drawings were messily taped among the green walls of their room. Then, as they shoved toy after toy into my face, I couldn't help but notice just how…innocent they were.

And, honestly, that scared me. How could they be so…pure? So…oblivious to the stupidity…the complete insanity…of the world…They smiled at everything. They laughed at everything.

How?

I could never remember a time where I was so…happy like these boys here.

I watched them play and run around for a bit longer. It would be such a shame to take away such innocent life away from them.

Too bad.

Ah, well. I might as well begin my plan. I was a bit worried that I might hesitate, seeing as they're only kids and I've never, ever…killed any humans before.

And I've never really thought about taking away someone's breath. And I've never really thought of how scared they'd be…And I'd never know if they were…afraid of dying.

What's it like? To die? Surely, more people…not just me…would want to know…

I admit it.

I. Am. Afraid.

I am afraid of dying, I am afraid of not breathing, and I am most certainly afraid of just…being gone. How does it work? How could humans, such dominant creatures, have to die, too?

Why?

WHY?

I do not know. But, what if the Archers were afraid…of dying? Would they scream and cry as I slowly ripped life's breath away from them, completely frozen in fright until they were…just dead?

…I should not hesitate, then.

And I should not forget exactly why I am doing all of this.

Staring ahead at the effervescent Archer boys, my heart hardened, and my mind was set.

"Hey, boys?" I called, catching their attention immediately. "Do you want to play a game with me?"

Both Eric and Daniel Archer immediately turned their heads towards me.

"Yeah! We love games! What type of game are we going to play? Let's play it!"

And, so it begins.

OoOoOo

Within a few moments, I explained my game to them. We were going to play a game of humans versus monsters. The sole monster, that would be me, has captured two of the humans' sons, which would be them, to use for bait to capture and kill the other two older humans. The humans had to rescue their sons before the monster killed them all.

They were excited about it.

They just didn't know everything I described would just happen. For real. This was no childhood game of pretend or imagination.

This. Would. Happen.

This. Was. Real.

Heck, I guess I am a real monster, aren't I?

Probably.

Within moments, I, using various items around their room, tied up and gagged those foolish boys while they still grinned excitedly. I then hid myself in order for my plan…game to work.

And we waited.

And we waited.

And we waited.

Until, Mrs. Archer's voice echoed in the room.

Boys! It's dinner time!

And we waited without coming to dinner.

And we waited.

Until, Mrs. Archer finally opened the door and panicked. She immediately rushed over to their still smiling faces.

"WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?"

Grabbing the nearest hard object near to me, some sports trophy, I sneaked behind Mrs. Archer, and bashed her head, effectively knocking her out.

The Archer boys' faces stopped smiling.

Immediately, they began struggling to free themselves from their bonds, but to no avail.

Now, only Mr. Archer was left.

And so I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And finally, Mr. Archer opened the door and freaked out, immediately rushing to the fallen Mrs. Archer and their sons. In the same fashion, I rushed out and clobbered him on the head, also knocking him out.

Eric and Daniel looked at me with such pitifully frightened eyes that I had to turn around without feeling such remorse and disgust with myself.

I then found improvised string-like materials and tightly bound up Mr. and Mrs. Archer, and dragged them both out of the room to the living room one at a time.

It would take a bit of time for them to regain consciousness. Until then, I needed to find a weapon.

In the kitchen, I found the best possible one ever. A knife. Not as great as the one I saw in that mall so many years ago. But, it was still a knife. So, I grabbed it, tested out its weight, sharpened it a bit more, and walked back.

The elder Archers seemed to be stirring.

"Had a nice nap?" I casually plopped myself onto a sofa near them and shifted the knife between hands to incite fear.

Mr. and Mrs. Archer regained conscious, looked at their surroundings, and panicked.

"Why are you doing this? What have you done? Please let us go!" They screamed.

I ignored them and gave no answers.

"Please!" Mrs. Archer pleaded. "I know your mom left you, and you must be feeling so terrible, but just don't do this! This is not the right way to deal with your pain!"

Angered, I turned to her.

"You don't know anything. Besides, I think it's time for me to check on your sons."

I snatched up the knife firmly, and as I stalked up the stairs to Eric and Daniel's room, I could hear, downstairs, both parents desperately begging for their sons' lives…

Entering the room, Eric and Daniel stared at me wide-eyed, clearly and obviously frightened. Their house was not sound proof, and the fearful yelling of his parents most likely echoed up into the room. And, who knows? Maybe they figured out that this certainly was not a game by now..

It was that moment. Now.

I didn't want to see the smaller Archer what I was about to do with his brother, so I moved him into a separate corner, where he faced the wall, trembling in complete fright.

The other Archer, I never bothered to know the difference between them, stared at me.

Just stared. At. Me.

I reached forward, about to grasp his neck, but my palms were much too sweaty. And, I couldn't bear the look on his face as he watched me patiently…as if he, at this young age, knew what I was about to do.

No. I couldn't…kill him like this. So, I turned him around, so the back of his neck faced me, placed my hands around his throat…and…and…squeezed as hard as he can.

I sat there beside him and…choked the life out of him as he thrashed and squirmed in complete fear. When he stopped moving…I…I gently laid him down, and his face…oh his face!

It's unnatural shade scared me…

Completely shocked, I edged away from the now dead boy, and moved towards his younger brother with the knowledge of what I just did. Somehow, his gag I placed over his mouth was loose, but he still faced the wall.

"…Mommy and Daddy couldn't save Eric and me, could they? We lost the game, didn't we?" he said, shaking and trembling.

I think that just about broke my nonexistent heart.

Was I really about to tear another young boy from his short, short life?

"Yes. I'm so sorry, Daniel…" I tried to keep my voice from wavering, but I failed.

And so, I grasped his neck, and the time it took for him to collapse from the lack of oxygen seemed like eternity.

Mentally exhausted, I laid the other Archer boy down.

And, what? What was that feeling? Of complete shame?

No….No…I couldn't feel guilt. Or remorse. It would only make what I was about to do so much harder.

And so, I sat there in the lonely bedroom and willed away all the remorse I had.

No guilt. No guilt. No guilt…

Shakily standing up, I grabbed the knife and started downstairs, scraping the walls with the knife. I heard Mr. Archer try to quiet his hysterical wife as she recognized the sound.

"Your sons…Eric and Daniel…they had such tiny and bony necks…" I said.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. THEM?" Mrs. Archer screeched.

"They're…gone now."

"No…NO!"

Mr. and Mrs. Archer quickly succumbed to fits of raw sorrow.

"Your. Turn." I said, looking towards Mr. Archer.

I bent down to a trembling Mr. Archer, and softly scraped the front of his shirt with the knife.

"Please…NO…" he yelled.

"I'm quite sorry, but I can't really…stop now."

Then, I swiftly plunged tip of the knife deep into his chest.

Mr. Archer made a strangled gargling noise as blood spewed from the wound, effectively splashing my face with it.

"NO!" Mrs. Archer yelled, twisting in her bonds.

I pulled the knife from the dead body and turned towards Mrs. Archer as I slowly and tauntingly walked towards her.

"Look at you…poor thing…" I sneered over her cowering body. "You're whole family is…dead…Why? I killed them…Your husband over there in the corner? Dead. Your sons, whom you told me to entertain? Dead."

Mrs. Archer, who was already sniveling and sniffling, burst into loud, ugly, and ragged tears. Weird. The cinemas always portrays crying people still perfect…perfect hair…no blotchy face…perfect makeup…What an inaccurate representation…Humans just don't look perfect when they cry.

Mrs. Archer was a perfect example of that. Currently, she hopelessly sobbed. No shame there. Her eyes were clenched shut as tears flooded her blotchy face as her bound hands clenched by her side.

She just…cried so heart-wrenchingly I almost felt so sorry for her.

Almost.

Remember? No guilt…No guilt….No guilt…

"YES!" She finally answered. "I. HATE. YOU!"

That was all the confirmation I needed. Finally, a real, honest answer. She started rambling on and on…But, that's all I needed to know from her. She was useless to me now.

"I WISH I NEVER BROUGHT YOU HERE! I WISH I NEVER PITIED YOU! YOU SICK SON OF A B—"

I chuckled. I sure was. Oh, dear Mom. Yes, I'll be coming for her later. To extract her answers.

"OF COURSE I HATE YOU!" she continued.

Ah…A repetition of the truth. The true… She hated me… And, as the lines of delusion and reality blurred together as I saw my…mom in Mrs. Archer, there really was only one thing left to do…

Kill. Her.

I grabbed the nearest object near me. An empty, stiff porcelain vase. Edging closer to her hysterical body, I raised the vase just like I had raised the baseball bat when I was about to smash my first car, and swung.

That terrifying sound of a skull breaking reverberated throughout the room overpowered a piercing scream that erupted from her throat. Blood seeped from her nose…her mouth….and her eyes stared blankly ahead.

Dead.

She was dead.

But, my hands still itched to stab something more as the knife stained with Mr. Archer's blood twitched under my palms, and I remembered my odd obsession with those beautifully dangerous knives.

I then turned my eyes towards Mrs. Archer's unblinking eyes and her dead, dead body, and brought my knife downwards as the sound of metal sinking into human flesh filled my ears.

I thought of my…mom and every single terrible memory of her from my childhood. Sudden bursts of raw emotion and pain flooded my mind, and I did the only thing I could do at the moment.

Stab.

Stab.

Stab.

Stab.

STAB.

Soon, the only sounds echoing in the Archer household were the violent sounds of the knife sinking into a human body and my ragged breathing. What? Killing is physically and mentally exhausting. Finally I stopped, dropped the knife, and felt the blood absolutely dripping from my hands.

I suddenly felt exceedingly drained…as if I had not slept for days…As I stood up, I observed the scene…

There was Mrs. Archer…just lying there…bloody…and most certainly dead.

I don't really remember how many times I drove a knife into her body…

All I know is that she's dead.

She's gone.

And her whole family gone as well.

Remember when people would say…What have I done? after they did something….so terrible or horrifying? Well, not me, in this current case.

I know you must think that I must feel some guilt since I just executed my….ah…first kills.

Honestly? I don't know…I suppose I just wasted four potential glorious lives. I suppose I may have ripped them from the company of the living.

I suppose all that I really know is just….I did this.

I. Just. Killed. Four. People.

It's not a matter of remorse, but just…a recognition of the current events.

I. Know. I. Killed. Four. People.

Four people are dead because of me.

You know all that stuff people say about eternal life and all of that stuff? Well, I never really understood that at all, to be honest. I mean…you just temporarily live for some amount of time, and when you die…well...that's permanent.

You are just…forever dead…

A/N: This was probably the darkest chapter yet, and I'm thinking of changing the rating to M for all that. Do you think it was too much for just a T rating? Oh, and thanks for the reviews! :) In response to one reviewer, yes, I will write all of Jeremy's story (About twenty chapters long).