Chapter 10: The Woods

Silent tears streamed down JJ's rosy cheeks. She gripped the wheel with white knuckles and trembling fingers. She fought the urge to push the pedal right to the floor and keep it there until… until something happened to break her out of the internal prison she found herself trapped in as she sped down a familiar but hidden back road.

The radio lightly played in the background while her heavy thoughts took precedent throughout the dark vehicle. The darkness felt like it was slowly closing in around her, suffocating with its presence. JJ angrily reached across and pushed the off button, releasing the car into true silence. Now it was just her and the shady trees hanging over the darkened road lit only by her dim headlights.

She'd never liked the woods.

Yet, somehow the surrounding plant life was reassuring and comforting. Morbidly, she wondered if this was what it felt like to know your life would be cut short. She felt as though she was driving herself off a metaphorical cliff. Things would never be the same again after this.

JJ remembered when her grandmother had died. In the days leading up to before she passed, there had been something peaceful about her, as if there was something outside of this world preparing her for the next part of her journey. Whatever that may be.

Was this that?

JJ briefly closed her eyes tightly, fighting the new onset of tears as she forced her thoughts away from everyone she had ever loved. Everyone that had ever made her feel loved. She then focused on the road before her and on her new life, her new fight; a fight that involved her and no one else.

Her eyes had been glancing between the road and her rearview mirror every few minutes to see if anyone was following her. During her forty-five minute journey, she hadn't seen one car on the road heading in either direction.

JJ drove silently for several more minutes before she thought she caught a glance of something in her rearview mirror. But as her eyes scanned the darkness looming behind her, she couldn't make out anything. It couldn't be a car, there weren't any lights, and she couldn't see the silhouette of anything. So she pushed her foot down a little harder on the pedal and kept going, her senses on high alert.

She glanced at her car clock and noted the time.

12:51 AM

Again she looked in her mirror, only this time JJ felt her breath run cold. Her heart stopped. Her fingers clenched a little tighter as she fought to see if her eyes were deceiving her. This time she could see the silhouette of a car about 100 yards behind her without their lights on. She bit the inside of her lip and tried to figure out how long this car could have been following her.

"Damn it!" JJ cried out as the fear rose in her throat.

She began to berate herself for every stupid decision she had made while under the control of this delusional psychopath. While her anxiety rose, it ultimately spiked right as the car behind her slammed on the gas and turned on their bright headlights, momentarily blinding JJ.

She was too disoriented to be sure about what happened next.

Her car jerked and JJ's head hit the nearest window hard enough to leave a thud sound echoing through the walls inside her head as blood immediately began to trail down the side of her face. This proved to be the least of her worries, as her car tipped over the side of the nearby ridge and rolled down a ravine, invisible to anyone driving by on the road.

JJ couldn't be sure if she lost consciousness, she only knew she had to get out of her car and she had to do it fast. Her wrist cried out in pain as she fought to release the buckle holding her against the driver's seat. She haphazardly looked out the cracked front window but her vision was impeded by the smoke surrounding her totaled car.

Expelling an impatient moan, JJ finally broke free and focused next on opening the door. She froze in her tracks as she heard something moving around nearby. Her panic increased and so did her urgency. She pulled on the handle to the door but the latch was broken and wouldn't budge. She maneuvered into a different position and began kicking it with both her feet as hard as possible. Finally, the door broke open and JJ fell to the wooded ground in a heap.

Brushing her messy hair out of her face, she tried to control her breathing as she examined her surroundings and listened earnestly for the thing coming after her. After a split second of silence, JJ pushed herself to her feet and began running as fast as she could away from the wreckage. Adrenaline filled her body as she forgot about any pain she previously felt. She had one goal. One mission.

Survival.

JJ had gotten roughly 50 feet away from her smoking car when she heard something rustling again. She held her breath and momentarily paused while searching for the direction the noise was coming from. She needed to get as far away as possible from her hunter.

Without another thought, JJ began sprinting as fast as her injured body would allow, heading deeper into the woods. The only thing that mattered was distance.

Her lungs struggled to inhale the breath she required to keep going. The further she went the slower her cadence fell. After several more minutes, JJ felt like a car slowly running out of gas. She didn't have anything left in her and she was struggling to breathe.

JJ paused in between a few tall trees, attempting to hide her pulsating body. Everything around her grew darker, the deeper she went the less she could see. That was until her eyes focused on a large cabin not too far away. She took a long look at her surroundings, scouring the area for any signs of danger before she made that last trip to the cabin.

It was completely dark, but in stellar condition from what JJ could tell. She crept around the property, looking in the windows and tugging on the doors. Maybe there was something inside that she could use to call for help. Or at the very least, something to get her out of the cold air and away from the danger threatening her life.

To JJ's dismay, every door and window was locked. If she wanted to get in, she was going to have to break in, and she would have to do it quietly so as to not draw attention to her location.

She moved to the back of the cabin and found a window that appeared to provide the easiest access to get inside. It was located next to a door and JJ hoped that if she reached in through the window, then she could unlock the door and let herself in. She just needed to find a way to get through the window. She was running out of time.

JJ looked at the ground around her and found a circular rock perfectly fit for her fist. She just needed something to help buffer the sound of the window breaking. Glancing around quickly, she couldn't find anything that would help her accomplish that.

JJ finally decided to pull off her shirt and wrap it around her non-injured wrist which was holding the rock. She couldn't prevent the pained gasp her mouth emitted as she pulled off her t-shirt, leaving her in just a bra and a thick layer of goosebumps covering her pale and injured complexion.

She didn't have time to give it any more thought as she counted to three and hit the window as hard as she could. It wasn't silent. Far from it. But she was in.

She used her shirt to clean the edges of the glass around the hole she had just created, and she reached her arm in all the way up to her shoulder. It was just enough for JJ to reach the door lock and handle. The sound of the lock twisting before it released had never been so satisfying. She let out a deep breath and brought her arm back out to pull on the newly opened door.

Before she knew it, JJ was inside the dark cabin. The first thing she noticed was that it was warmer than she had expected. She pulled her shirt back over her shoulders, covering her bruised torso, as she began searching for anything that could help her. She needed a flashlight, some bandages, and in the best-case scenario a radio of some sort so she could contact Hotch or Morgan.

Through all of her scouring of the kitchen, she finally found a first aid kit, consisting of both bandages and a flashlight. For just a second she felt like the heavens were looking down on her. Maybe she was meant to live after all.

JJ started going through each room, looking for anything that would assist her with getting help. Room after room and there was nothing. She was starting to feel discouraged until she noticed an extremely dim light coming from a room in the back corner of the hall she now found herself in.

Instinctively, she reached for the hip where she usually kept her gun, and instantly she froze in her tracks. JJ quickly realized that her gun was still in the wreckage that used to be her car. And even worse, that meant he could have it.

With no other option, she pushed forward, taking slow and cautious steps toward the ominous looking door. As she got closer JJ noticed it was open just a tiny bit.

With every part of her being, she hoped and prayed whoever owned this cabin had simply forgotten to turn off a light before they left, but she knew hope was a dangerous thing. With one final step, she slowly pushed the door open, revealing an immaculate room.

Her breath ran cold as she took in her surroundings. The room was an exact replica of her master bedroom.

Swallowing hard, JJ took another step inside. In the corner on the nightstand, she noticed the brush she had thought she'd lost during one of her cases.

Her hands shook as she continued to look around, slowly recognizing more and more things that had gone "missing" from her house.

JJ couldn't recall another instance of being so shocked that she couldn't move, she couldn't think. She was just trapped in a reality that seemed incredibly surreal. Until she was ripped from her thoughts by a deep and raspy voice.

"JJ...ah…JJ."

A/N: hey ya'll I'm sorry for the late update. I'm hoping to have more updates for you quicker than they have been. Been going through a rough time, but thanks to JJfanCM for beta'ing this and encouraging me, we're back. Thank you for all the kind reviews, the support is so helpful. I'd love to know what you think about this chapter. Peace and blessings, friends.