Chapter 51

Demonology

We got home a few weeks later and the cases were actually light. JJ came back from maternity leave and Jordan went back to Counter Terrorism. But Emily was acting weird and keeping away from me. At least far enough away to where I couldn't get anything off her. I finally grabbed her and pulled her aside.

"Freya please don't."

"I'm not gonna feel anything off you if you don't want me to. But I know something is wrong and I don't need to be an empath to know that." I said.

She sighed and I let her go.

"Emily we're best friends. Tell me." I begged.

She looked down.

"Come with me to see Hotch."

I just nodded. She walked in and Hotch looked at us.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head and Emily cleared her throat.

"I just found out that an old friend of mine died."

I closed my eyes and looked down.

"I'm sorry. Do you need to take some time?" Hotch asked.

She shook her head.

"Um there's a chance he may have been murdered and there may be a second case."

"What do you need?"

"Just some leeway to check it out." She said.

"Of course. Anything."

"Do you want me to help?" I asked gently.

"And Emily if you wanna take a few days and let us look into it…."

She was fighting back tears and I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Matthew was….incredibly messed up and I hadn't seen him in a long time. But he was important to me." She said.

Her voice shook a little and I hugged her.

"At least let us help." Hotch said.

She nodded.

"Thank you."

She left and I sighed.

"I don't think I've ever seen her like this." I said.

"Nor have I, but I want you to keep an eye on her. Just in case." he said.

I nodded and then went home. I told Spencer everything that had happened and he looked worried.

"She'll be okay. We'll figure this out, we always do." I said.

He hugged me and I sighed. There was something strange going on here. I just didn't know what.

Spencer's POV

We went in early the next morning and I immediately went for the coffee.

"Thanks for coming in early."

"Where are Morgan and Prentiss?" JJ asked.

"At the morgue examining this man."

Hotch handed us the files and I looked at the photo. He looked like a happy man.

"Matthew Benton a friend of Emily's. She believes his death may be connected to this man's."

"Thomas Valentine." said Rossi.

"Dehydration?" Freya asked.

"Did she know him?"

"No but Benton seemed to think that someone was after both of them." Hotch said.

I took the file from Freya.

"One dies from dehydration and the other from a heart attack. What's the connection?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Are the police investigating?" JJ asked.

"No, right now we're just helping a colleague."

"So we talk to the families, see if there's anything suspicious." Rossi said.

Hotch nodded.

"Is Emily alright?" JJ asked.

"I don't know. That's why I asked Morgan to go with her."

Freya sighed and I put my hand on her back.

"It'll be okay. You said it yourself."

She nodded and Hotch took her and JJ to go and talk with the Bentons.

Freya's POV

We knocked on the door and a man and his wife opened. We told them why we were there and they seemed confused.

"I don't understand why the FBI is interested in our son's death."

"We were investigating another death recently under similar circumstances and we just wanted to make sure there's no connection." Hotch said.

"He suffered a heart attack." His mother said.

"It's just routine señora." I said.

"There's nothing routine about investigating a heart attack." she said.

"It's okay." I looked at the father. "I assume you're investigation is drug related."

Hotch, JJ and I looked at each other.

"We're just trying to rule out foul play. May we come in." Hotch said.

"You may. but she is not welcome here."

He pointed at me and I frowned and so did Hotch and JJ.

"She's a federal agent."

"She's unholy."

I sighed and walked back down to the car.

"Freya."

"It's alright Hotch. I'm used to it."

I waited in the car. Being a Wiccan I was used to being shunned by a lot of people. They weren't in there long, and when he came back out he had a troubled look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I mentioned Prentiss and they threw me out."

I frowned.

"Odd."

"That's what I thought, let's go."

"Oh but can we not tell Spencer they wouldn't let me in the house? He'll get upset."

They nodded and I drove back to the office. Hotch walked over to Emily.

"They threw us out the moment we mentioned your name."

"I told you not to mention me."

"You didn't say it would get us thrown out." JJ said.

"Is there something we should know?" Hotch asked.

"Matthew and I met in Rome when we were 15. My mother was stationed there, his parents didn't like us hanging out."

"And they still hold a grudge?" JJ asked.

"They were extremely religious. They thought I was a bad influence."

"You?"

"Yeah."

"Well we could tell they were religious. They wouldn't even let Freya through the door."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Who wouldn't let Freya through the door."

I closed my eyes.

So damn close!

I smiled and looked at him.

"Hola mi amor."

"Nice try. Who wouldn't let you through the door and why?"

"We'll give you guys a minute. But only a minute." Hotch said.

I nodded and sighed.

"I'm waiting Freya."

"The Bentons. They probably saw my ring or my pendent and wouldn't let me inside. It's not a big deal, I'm used to that happening."

He looked upset.

"And why wouldn't you tell me this?"

"Because I didn't want you to get upset. You get angry when people treat me poorly." I said.

He passed his hand over his face and I hugged him.

"It's alright. Now come on, let's go."

He nodded and we sat down at the round table. Every time we were sitting at the table, I felt like one of King Arthur's knights. Or I should say King Hotch's knights.

"We saw scuff marks on the floor underneath Thomas Valentine's bed. Almost as if someone had been tied off and struggling to get free." said Rossi.

"We saw the exact same thing in Matthew's bedroom." JJ said.

That concerned me a little.

It could be maybe…..no…No! That's impossible, that isn't even practiced anymore.

"Has anyone been able to make a connection between Benton and Valentine?" Hotch asked.

Garcia walked in.

"According to my snooping both Benton and Valentine traveled to Galicia, Spain, over the same week four months ago."

Morgan looked at Emily.

"That mean anything to you?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"No."

"I did the quick guide book thing, there's a church there Santiago de Compo Stella, it's visited by over a hundred thousand religious pilgrims every year." Garcia said.

"Did his parents say anything about him going on a pilgrimage?" Spencer asked.

"Quite the opposite actually, his mom said his soul was possessed by evil." JJ said.

"Yeah."

We all looked at Emily.

"Que?"

"Matthew had a thing about challenging the church. He could push it. When we were in high school his mom and dad consulted a priest because they were afraid he was possessed." She said.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I respected all religions, but I did not believe in possession.

"Well I think in this case she was talking about drugs." Hotch said.

"Are you sure? There's a pattern here. The talk about evil, the soul and scuff marks on the floor." said Rossi.

"I was thinking that too. But it isn't practiced anymore." I said.

"What are you getting at here?" Hotch asked.

"Well drug addiction and schizophrenia are two afflictions most likely to present as demonic possession." said Rossi.

"You think these were exorcisms." Morgan said.

"It would make sense. I've seen it before in Mexico."

"I think it begs the question." Rossi added.

"Look, I know the bible just as well as anyone. But I also know there's no one more open to behavioral interpretation than religion." Morgan said.

"Meaning what?" I asked.

"I think it's dangerous for us to try and find a connection between these two victims." Morgan said.

"Wait, was Thomas' wife religious?" Emily asked.

"She was concerned about him cursing god." Rossi said.

"Exorcism rituals can take days to complete. It's possible stress could induce a heart attack." Spencer said.

I took his hand.

"That would explain the timeline of someone dying of dehydration." JJ said.

"Guys look, I'm willing to say that we might have an unsub who ritualizes killings as if they were exorcisms, maybe! But right now we don't even have a crime yet." Morgan said.

"Morgan's right, we need to step back. Let me talk to someone before we have us all telling ghost stories. I'll meet you all here tomorrow." Rossi suggested.

I nodded and Emily looked at me.

"Freya can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Of course."

We went out into the hall and she took a deep breath.

"I'd ask if you were alright but…."

"You already know the answer, yeah I know. Can I confide in you?"

"Of course."

"There's another reason why Matthew's parents never liked me. Matthew went with me to get an abortion."

I took a minute to take in what she said. I sat her down and took her hands.

"Was Matthew the father?"

"No. I was young and stupid and I just wanted to fit in. First we went to the priest of our church and asked him what we should do. He said that if I got an abortion I was no longer welcome in his congregation. But I did and that Sunday I went to the church, Matthew held my hand and walked me down the aisle. He held onto my hand the whole time. And I'm sorry if they were rude to you."

I smiled and hugged her.

"Oh Emily think nothing of it. They weren't rude to me, they just didn't want me in their home. And I promise we'll find whoever did this and bring them to justice."

"Gracias Freya."

"De nada amiga."

We separated and she smiled at me.

"There's the smile."

She laughed a little and we walked out. Spencer took my hand and we got into the elevator with Morgan.

"Something's still bothering you. I can tell."

I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Something's wrong here and I can feel it. I can't explain it but I just…..I just know something's wrong."

He put his hands on my arms.

"Freya listen to me carefully. I want you to keep a low profile on this one."

"What?" I asked.

"I don't like the way those people treated you….."

"So you want me to back out of the investigation?!"

"No I just want you to maybe hang around here with Garcia."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Spencer!"

"If they think these people are possessed then if they find you they might try and hurt you! I don't want that to happen!"

I shook my head and looked away from him. Morgan remained silent and I didn't speak to Spencer for the rest of the night.