A/N : Thanks again to everyone for coming back to this! :)

And btw, how exciting is it that the new Criminal Minds episode this week is named "Alchemy" ?! *fangirls* Although, expecting FMA there is a tad too much :3

Anyway, things get a bit exciting from here!

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Chapter 4

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Morning found them all back in the police station, even a whining Edward, who had been dragged here by Reid and Morgan.

"At least tell me what you're working on. It's pretty boring sitting by with nothing to do. And also really confusing, to hear everyone talk about something but not being able to understand most of it," Ed told them, frankly getting quite pissed off.

It was agent Jaraeu who replied, "Alright Edward –"

"Its Ed, actually," he interrupted. "You can call me Ed, agent Jaraeu."

"Okay Ed, call me JJ, then," she smiled.

Ed then listened as he was told of the four murders that had recently happened here.

And his golden eyes went very wide.

"What were the names again?" he asked them, his voice betraying a little fear.

"Vincent Edger, Rita Holst, Brian Edrip and Susan Tuls. Why? Do you know something about any of them?" asked Reid.

He shook his head but his eyes remained wide.

"Can you write that out? And can I see their pictures?" Ed requested.

"Ed, if you know something, now is the time to tell us," Morgan told him, handing him the photographs with their names.

"I - Its just –" he pointed at the documents in his hands, "Look - Edger, Holst, Edrip and Tuls. Their names spell it out. Greed, Sloth, Pride and Lust."

"Oh! He's right!" exclaimed Reid, wondering how he could have missed it. When the others looked at him questioningly, he told them, "It's the Seven Deadly Sins from mythology. Greed, sloth, pride and lust, and the other three are envy, wrath and gluttony. Maybe the Unsub somehow connects these people to the sins they represent."

"Their last names being anagrams of their 'sin' doesn't help," supplied Prentiss.

"So what, the Unsub is the religious type? Or a savior from evil?" asked Rossi, incredulously.

"And where does their physical persona fit into this? Are they supposed to represent the manifestation of their 'sin'?" wondered JJ. "Edger works in a law firm in Hartford, so he's 'Greed'? Or Susan is a model so she's 'Lust'?"

"Its actually- " Ed began, but was interrupted by Officer Donovan barging in.

"Another person reported missing. Tom Nevy, seventeen years old, didn't reach school this morning."

"Envy," murmured Ed.

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"Keep lookouts on Tom's school, home and any particular place he liked to hang out. Going by the time frame between the disappearance, death and finding of bodies of the earlier victims, it's likely the Unsub will complete his ritual by tonight," Hotch addressed the police.

There was a general tension in the air. A kid, disappearing on his way to school, did not help the growing unease within the police department. Many of the policemen had kids in the same school. And as if looking out for each other wasn't stressful enough, they now started worrying for their families too. No one was safe.

They weren't privy to the same information as the BAU, for now.

"Morgan, call up Garcia and ask her to find anyone with their names spelling out the other two 'sins'. They might be possible victims. We'll be putting protective details on them," Hotch told the gathered BAU.

"In the meanwhile, there's something we're missing," said Rossi. "Why the ritual? Is he punishing them?"

"Or he could be cleansing their sins?" asked Reid. "If he thinks he's fulfilling god's mission and he has been sent as a vessel."

No one noticed Ed's eyes go ever so dark at that. Here to fulfil god's mission… to rid this world of their sins…

"What if they are the sins?" Prentiss broke Ed out of his reverie. "What if who these people are, what they did, made him objectify them to the point where they're no longer human to him?"

No longer human… there was something very wrong with that thought, but Ed couldn't place it right now…

"Alright, we can finish this later. We need to be there at the possible dump sites right now. Its our only chance to catch this guy," Hotch reminded them.

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Ed looked on at the quiet building in front. He had never seen a schoolhouse so silent. It was starting to get dark now, the faint traces of the sunlight now decidedly gone.

After much persuasion on his part, he had been allowed to go with agents Hotchner, Reid and Morgan in their car, which was to go to Tom's school. The others went to his house to wait there. Police force was deployed on all the familiar routes he took. But Ed was strictly supposed to remain in the car, at all times.

He gazed out the window, mind reeling with the facts of this case. Someone was killing off what they believed to be were – homunculi. Ed knew it couldn't just be the Seven Deadly Sins or whatever the thing the BAU believed it to be. He couldn't shake the feeling that his being here was linked to this. Why else would he wake up in that warehouse, of all places?

And so it was, lost in his thoughts, that Ed completely missed it when the commotion started.

The FBI agents ran in through the front, and the police went in from behind, fully intending to trap this guy in. Well, I'm not gonna be sitting in the damn car while this shit goes down!

He quietly slipped into the school building through the side, creating an entrance for himself with just a small clap. He then sealed it back. Surveying his surroundings carefully, he could tell he was alone in this corridor. So he let his keen senses guide him towards the source of the noise. For he could hear something going on in the building.

He reached the end of the corridor and went up a flight of stairs. There were rooms on both sides, and he tried to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible as he tried to get a glimpse of each room.

And it was the very last room on the right that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"You!"

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A/N : Sorry for the cliffie but any guesses? ;) It'll be revealed very soon in the next update! :) Please review! ^_^