Chapter 7: A Real-Life Nightmare

"Thanks for letting me stay here for a while," JJ said as she slipped through Emily's front door holding her overnight bag.

"No problem at all, I'm sorry to hear the plumbing went out. You can stay here as long as you need."

JJ forced a smile and followed Emily towards her guest bedroom. A room JJ was already familiar with, as she had stayed there plenty of times. JJ and Emily had grown extremely close over the years and even though they didn't talk about it often, their relationship brought a sense of security that was necessary to do a job like theirs.

Luckily, JJ hadn't found any other cameras in her house despite an extensive search. Of course, she couldn't be sure that didn't mean there weren't more. It briefly occurred to her that perhaps whoever was behind all of this had let her find the camera on purpose, to show that he was always watching, always close by.

She shivered and shook away the thought, not wanting to dwell on it any longer than necessary.

"What do you want to do for dinner?" Emily asked as JJ set her stuff down on the bed.

JJ bit the inside of her cheek before turning back to face Emily in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, I don't have much of an appetite. I think I'm going to go visit Spencer tonight instead." JJ offered bluntly.

"Sure, I'll come with," Emily replied before JJ cut her off.

"Actually- Em, do you mind if I go alone?"

Emily paused and tried to hide her concern from displaying on her face. "Okay," She said hesitantly. "Is everything okay with you? I mean with Spencer and now your arm…" Emily trailed off.

"Oh yeah, of course. I'm perfectly fine. I should probably go though. Don't wait up for me tonight, and thanks again for the room."

"Anytime." Emily barely managed to get out before JJ was around the corner and opening the front door.

JJ sat silently next to Spencer's bed. The doctor had said he was improving and that his body was healing as they had hoped. But he still needed some time before the doctors tried to wake him up. The damage was extensive. It was a miracle he was alive.

The thought brought unwilling tears to her eyes, which eventually rolled down her cheeks and dropped to her fidgeting fingers across her lap.

She tried to look at Spencer. She did. But it hurt too much to see him so lifeless and limp. He shouldn't be in that bed. She should be.

And I'll never be able to tell him how sorry I am.

JJ decided to leave, her emotions gaining momentum and beginning to overwhelm her. She didn't have the heart or energy to look at one of her best friends in this condition. Maybe it was selfish or maybe it was just guilt. Regardless, JJ couldn't wait to walk out of that hospital and take a deep breath of fresh air.

She wasn't sure how many she had left.

JJ awoke to her phone loudly buzzing on the bedside table next to her. She struggled to keep her eyes open as she was ruthlessly dragged from her deep sleep. She glanced at the window and noticed through the blinds it was still dark, suggesting it was at best very early in the morning.

JJ grabbed her phone and held the blinding light to her face, forcing her eyes to adapt so she could read the incoming messages that had awoken her.

She had been right in her assumption about the time.

4:17 am

Her eyes fell to read the new message. Fear gripped her heart and her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the number to be from her very own monster.

If you don't leave that house in the next 10 minutes I will place a bullet between sweet Emily's eyes. Don't think I won't. Your time starts now.

JJ pushed herself into a seated position, her eyes growing wide as she read the message over and over again to convince herself this wasn't a figure of her imagination. Each minute that passed he sent another text message, warning JJ that her time was running out.

Seconds later she jumped from the bed and began throwing her few items back into her go-bag haphazardly. She whipped her hair into a messy ponytail, and as quietly as possible slipped out through Emily's front door.

She closed the door behind her with six minutes to spare.

A couple of days had passed when Emily worriedly and angrily, rightfully so, questioned JJ about leaving her house in the middle of the night. JJ barely managed to save face. Her brain felt like it was either moving at the speed of light or the pace of molasses with no in-between. She was disappointed in herself for not coming up with a more believable story.

After all, she did work with profilers, and her lies were beginning to eat her up, bit by bit.

"Sorry, Em… I uh- wasn't feeling good and I got a call about my plumbing being done sooner than expected… so I just, I guess I wanted to sleep in my own bed." JJ had said, knowing full well her eyes did not close once that night other than to blink.

"At four am?" Emily questioned, not believing JJ for one second.

JJ hesitantly nodded, her brain spinning as she tried to come up with more specific details to help make her story more believable. She used to be so much better than this. She didn't used to be crippled by fear. But over the last couple of days, her senses were shot. She hadn't slept, she had barely eaten, and she was constantly looking over her shoulder just to see if it was finally time for the monster behind the text messages to kill her.

"I told them I needed it done as soon as possible. And it was a friend, so he worked outside of normal hours." JJ said, forcing herself to keep eye contact with Emily. A little trick she had learned over the years.

"JJ. I'm going to put this as nicely as possible. What the hell is going on with you?" Emily replied while taking a step closer towards her. "At first you were just acting a little weird. But then you broke your arm. And please don't lie to me again about it happening at the gym. I saw the bruises on your ribs when you stayed that night. And now, the last couple of days, you're like a different person. You're not showing up to work and when you do you're barely awake. I see you flinch anytime your phone rings or someone talks a little too loud. You disappeared in the middle of the night and didn't bother to tell me. Jayje, we've let you come this far, but I'm not doing it anymore. Tell me what the hell is going on." Emily finished. Her tone stern, but concerned. Firm, but understanding.

JJ's eyes welled up with tears so fast that she couldn't stop them. And as Emily's face softened, JJ knew she saw the deep emotion behind her eyes.

"JJ, is someone hurting you? Are you in danger?" Emily pressed, her voice dropping a level and her concern rising.

"Please," JJ whispered, her eyes glancing around the room to see if anyone was watching them. "Leave it alone. I… can't talk. Not here, not right now. Please Em." Her eyes showed the depth of her earnest plea and Emily couldn't help but notice the fear behind her shaking eyes.

After a moment she lightly nodded her head.

"Okay. But, JJ... if someone is hurting you-"

"I'm fine," JJ replied shortly and walked away, desperately hoping she didn't put Emily's life in danger by her slip of control.

Over the next couple of days, JJ kept receiving phone calls that were coupled with heavy breathing and no response. By the end of the call, a loud, high pitch sounded before the line went dead. The last time it happened she was at work. It had caused her a massive panic attack while in the bathroom because she had thought he was standing right outside of her stall.

JJ couldn't remember another time being so paralyzed by fear. And that's when she realized that was the only word to describe her new life.

Paralyzing.

Although JJ considered this method of torture to be mild compared to his other tactics, he had taken away the only place she felt safe, her home. And when she tried to leave, he forced her to go back. She felt like a bird in a cage. And in that cage, she kept noticing things were going missing. Like her hairbrush, or her favorite shirt, along with a few other items.

This perpetuated a type of fear in JJ that she had never experienced. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't sleep. Couldn't eat. He controlled every aspect of her life.

And that's when she figured it out. He was trying to scare her. He was trying to absolutely destroy her mental stability and peace of mind. But she couldn't help it, his plan was working. She had a sickening feeling that as soon as he saw her completely broken, once he had taken absolutely everything from her, that was when he would end her life. She couldn't explain how she knew it or when it would happen, but she knew it would.

He was always watching.

Morgan tapped lightly on the door to JJ's office. She responded by telling him to come in, but he noticed there was nothing on her desk and her expression was something akin to blank. She'd been in her office for a couple of hours at this point and Morgan briefly wondered if she had just been sitting there that whole time.

He had cornered her a day or two ago. He tried to force her to open up to him and let him help. He hated being helpless, but unfortunately, he couldn't do anything unless she told him. Morgan had even gone as far as talking to Hotch. But Hotch only reminded Morgan that they all have their demons and when JJ was ready, she'd open up about hers.

Hotch may have been right, but it didn't soothe the anxiety and urgency bubbling in his stomach. He knew something was wrong. But he didn't know what to do.

He shook the thoughts from his head and delivered the news to JJ that he had been sent to relay.

"Hey Jayje, we were right to think another body would be showing up soon," Morgan said.

"They found one?" JJ asked with obvious trepidation. Her palms perspired and her voice shook ever so slightly despite her effort to keep it even.

Morgan nodded his head. "Get this, it's Ray Alderman's brother. And the word in his pocket, fear."

A/N: My fabulous beta reader JJfanCM helped make this chapter come to life. More to come soon...