English class, something Melissa never paid much attention to. Instead, she diverted her attention to the BAU team unloading themselves from the two large black SUV's they just drove up in.
Their leader, presumably, was a slightly older man, with a serious, yet kind face. The second-in command, however, looked as if he had never smiled a day in his life. Melissa hoped that when they came to talk to her, she didn't end up with him. She didn't respond well to people like that. Actually, she didn't respond well to people at all.
A petite blonde young woman slipped out of the back seat and immediately went to talk to the group of angry parents and photographers forming outside the school. Like she would be able to hold them back. The blonde reminded Melissa of Constanza and her band of shallow wanna-bees.
Another woman exited the driver's side of the second car. She was the complete opposite of the blonde. She had dark smooth hair and walked in a way that radiated self-confidence, something Melissa never managed to do. She recognized the man who exited the shotgun side as the man Constanza was talking about. He was handsome, but definitely not Melissa's type. He looked like he had never read a book before in his life.
Finally, another man hopped out of the backseat. He reminded Melissa of a sweater-clad string bean. His hair was messy and he looked at the building as if it was sent from Hell. According to the midnighters, it was.
Melissa motioned at Rex to get his attention while the teacher was babbling on with his back to the class.
Rex eyed the BAU team warily and mouthed to Melissa, Can you hear anything?
Melissa closed her eyes and tried to hear, but she kept getting the depressingly disgusting thoughts from her classmates. She sighed, frustrated, and shook her head quickly.
Don't worry about it, you'll get them later, said Rex. He knew how annoyed Melissa got when she couldn't hear something.
Melissa just grimaced and turned up the volume on the MP3 she was concealing, sinking farther into her chair.
Spencer eyed the building and he couldn't help but realize how similar his high school was to this one. The brick buildings, stark white halls, and horrifyingly similar football fields: it was all there. The only difference was the odd thirteen pointed star he saw hanging above the entrance.
Reid had noticed these on the hospital and police station walls as well. In fact, he saw them on every single building he drove by. It must be some old tradition, if an odd one.
The team walked into the building and stopped right outside the cafeteria. The principal had already given them a list of the "populars" and the "trouble-makers." It was a start. The team knew that none of the kids would rat out who went to the parties: there would be booze and a number of other illegal things.
Hotch looked into the cafeteria window. "We have to make sure the kids know we aren't trying to rat them out for the party. Make them feel important, that their information is vital to the case, which it probably is, since we have practically nothing."
"We should just send Reid in, he's practically one of them," teased Morgan. "Of course, he should only talk to the socially retarded ones. He'll fit in best there." Morgan laughed as Reid's ears and neck turned red.
"Morgan!" muttered Reid. He hated it when Morgan did this.
"Enough you two, we don't have time. We'll start interviewing them now," said Hotch, handing each of them a file.
"Play nice," said Emily, as she entered the cafeteria to find Tiffany something-or-other.
Reid looked down at his file. Desdemona. Peculiar name, especially for someone so young.
Dess observed the skinny man before her. She liked him. He reminded her of herself; smart, young, and a bit of a loner.
The man was reading her file, or more accurately, skimming it quickly.
"Wow, AP Trig. Are you a sophomore?" asked the man, a light twinkling in his eye.
"Yup. I'm a math dork," stated Dess simply.
The man laughed quietly. "That's okay, so was I. I was actually a bit of an overall dork," he laughed. "I'm Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, by the way. You must be Desdemona."
"Dess is fine," said Dess, cringing at the use of her full name.
"Okay, Dess. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about that pit out by the desert."
Dess's eyebrows went up slightly. She was not expecting that. "O-o-okay."
"Have you ever been to any of those parties before? We don't care about what goes on there, we just wanted to know if you have seen anything suspicious happening out there at night."
"Um, I haven't been to one since Freshman year, they get kind of bizarre, so I don't think I'm the best one to be asking," said Dess. "What exactly would I be looking for?"
"Anyone who would seem out of place. An adult among a group of partying teenagers or anyone acting suspiciously," said Reid, looking intensely at Dess through the strands of messy hair that had fallen into his eyes.
Dess thought for a minute, trying to remember if she saw anything in the Blue Time. "I'm sorry but I can't remember anything."
Spencer smiled. "That's okay, but if you do, give us a call," he said, as he handed Dess a card with his number on it.
"Okay, will do," said Dess, popping up. She was late for Trig and she should probably tell Rex and the Bitch Goddess what was being asked.
She was about to leave when Spencer stopped her. "Can I ask you something?"
"Um, sure," she said, confused.
"What is that thirteen pointed star hanging everywhere?"
Dess smiled. "The mystery and secrets of Bixby." She left, leaving an increasingly more confused Reid behind her.
Melissa waited outside the room for one of Constanza's minions to come out. She was next. Whoopee.
She had the dark-haired woman. Her name was Emily Prentiss.
"Hi, I'm Agent Emily Prentiss. You're Melissa, right?" said Emily. She was way to peppy for the end of the day.
The agent held out her hand for the mindcaster to shake.
Melissa nodded and ignored the hand, crossing her arms tighter across her chest.
This Emily Prentiss left a funny taste in her mouth, so she didn't trust her. Yet.
If Agent Prentiss was bothered by Melissa's rudeness, she didn't show it. Instead, she sat down and motioned for Melissa to do the same.
"This will only take a little bit. We just want to know if you have been to any of the parties out in the desert recently," said Prentiss in a casual manner.
Dess had warned Melissa of this, so Melissa just raised one eyebrow and shook her head.
"We don't care what you all do out there. We just want to know if you have seen anything odd happening out there. Any people who seem out of place or that shouldn't be there?"
Well, thought Melissa, the last time I was out in the desert I was fighting off an army load of darklings. Does that count as odd? But she didn't say that, instead just opened her mouth and said, "I've never been to one before. Not my kind of place."
She heard Prentiss's thoughts.
Of course she hasn't. Doubt she even leaves her home unless it's dark out. She looks horrible…
Melissa frowned at this. She didn't look that bad, did she? Sure, a little thin, but she couldn't eat during the day. And duh, she was pale, since sunlight hurt her eyes. The only reason she wore black was to force people away from her so no one would bother them. It wasn't like she was a vampire…
Prentiss kept thinking about some profile of the guy she was looking for. Melissa knew someone had to be helping the darklings, so she and Rex would have to keep their eyes open tonight for someone that fit the description.
"Is that it?" asked Melissa, eager to get away from the agent's pitying stare.
"Um, yes that should be it---wait!" said Prentiss, just before Melissa exited the room. Prentiss laid a hand on Melissa's arm and Melissa quickly pulled away forcefully. Although no skin was touched, the contact made her skin crawl.
This time Prentiss did look taken aback.
"Um, sorry. I just wanted to tell you that—I think it would be a good idea for all of you to stay away from the desert until we find who we are looking for. You know, just in case," said Prentiss, eyeing Melissa up and down like she had four heads.
Melissa hated it when people studied her. She took her defensive position again, arms crossed in front of her tightly and murmured, " Yea, whatever," before snaking out of the room to go find Rex.
Emily couldn't help but pity the girl. She was obviously a bit of a loner, her only good friend seeming to be the tall boy Morgan had interviewed before. She looked almost anorexic and as if she was in pain all the time.
She was definitely an oddity.
"Prentiss!" called Morgan, coming over to Emily.
"What's up?"
"Garcia's on the line. Says she got some stuff that could be our guy. We might have a profile."