"Kia was a very unhappy girl." Reid said, with a little tear in his eye. He always got emotional with these sorts of cases. "It was really hard to read these." All the team were listening to his findings.
"All she wanted was somewhere to call home. He opened the diary to a page he had marked with a sticky note, and started to read.
I hate it here. I mean Michelle's nice and that, but it doesn't feel like home. It's just somewhere I am until social services decide they want to place me somewhere else. I don't want to talk or write or think about everything I've been through, it's too much. I can't open myself up to people for them to hurt me or judge me or put me somewhere else. I can't control my life, so I control my food. It helps me not think. I crave numbness. My parents didn't want me and neither does anyone else. I just wish I could die, but I stick around, desperately hoping that someone will come around and change things.
Reid finished reading the excerpt and everyone sat there silently.
"That's heartbreaking. I couldn't ever imagine hurting or abandoning Henry." JJ said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "And what, we find her and she goes back to her same old life. It's no life, she needs support. God knows, what they're going through right now."
"We have no leads." Hotch piped up, he was the only one who was composing himself. "He's clever. They're are no clues."
Kia Marshall opened her eyes and remembered where she was. She cringed as she tried to sit up.
"Hey baby, you're awake." Emily said, rushing over to her. She helped her sit up, leaning her against the cold damp wall. "How you feeling?"
"I'm in so much pain. My insides feel like they're being ripped out." She tried to hold back the tears. She noticed Garcia furiously working on something over the other side of the pit.
"What's going on?" Kia asked, trying to get a better look.
"Well, the guy gave us supplies to keep you alive and stupidly underestimated the power of the FBI's minds." Emily excitedly replied.
Kia looked away, she wasn't sure she wanted to go back to her old life. There was nothing there for her, she didn't know what she wanted.
"Kia? Are you okay?" Concern laced her voice.
"I, er. Yeah." She stuttered.
Emily placed her hand on Kia's shoulder .
"Talk to me."
"I don't even know if I want to go back out there." Kia said, quietly. "No one wants me."
"Sweetie, there will be a family out there for you, you just haven't found them yet."
Kia turned her head to look at Emily, tears streaming down her face. Emily's heart ached for the young girl as she pulled her into a hug. She kissed the top of her head and fought her own tears back. Kia sobbed into Emily's chest.
"I promise sweetie. Everything's going to be okay. Ssssh."
"Guys!" Garcia shouted, interrupting Emily and Kia's moment. "We're good to go."
Emily shot up and Kia looked over to Garcia with an intrigued look in her eyes.
"Emily, you're probably best going up the ladder." Garcia said, producing what she'd been working on. It was a fish hook on a bit of rope. "It's not much, but I'm hoping it will unhook the ladder"
Emily rushed over and grabbed the fish hook from Garcia.
"I'll do it. I've got a good aim." Emily said, obviously desperate to get out. She knew Kia needed medical help and soon.
She positioned herself a short distance away from the trapdoor and threw the hook up. It missed. She tried again and it missed again.
"Thought you said you had a good aim?" Garcia said, panic evident in her voice. Emily tried again and it hooked itself onto the ladder, it fell down and it swung from back to front.
"Yes!" Emily shouted. Garcia proceeded to do a little happy dance and Kia chuckled.
"Kia, do you have any idea when the man might come back?" Emily asked, looking over at the girl.
"No, he could come back at any time. But I want to get out of here." Kia said, standing up wincing in pain.
"Don't get up yet, sweetie."
"No, we're going. I'm going to have to climb up there. Pain or no pain. I got this." She said, with a determined look on her face.
Emily nodded and started climbing up the ladder. When she got to the top, she pushed the trap door and luckily it opened without any trouble.
"Can't believe it's not locked." Garcia said. "He clearly underestimated us."
Emily popped her head out of the door and took a look around. They were in the middle of nowhere, woods surrounded them. There wasn't a soul in sight. Emily climbed out.
"Kia, you go next." Garcia said, helping her get onto the bottom of the ladder. Tears streamed down her face, presumably from the pain but she kept climbing until she reached the top and Emily helped her out.
"You okay?" Emily said, a worried look in her eyes. She knew that must of being extremely painful for the girl.
"Yeah, can we please just get out of here. I don't have a clue where we are. I'm scared."
Kia felt safe with the two agents. She felt for once in her life, someone actually cared about her.
Kia snapped out of her thoughts as Garcia climbed out the top of the trapdoor.
"Let's go girls. I don't fancy hanging around her for him to come and find out we've escaped." Garcia said. Emily could tell Garcia was scared but was trying to hold it together for Kia.
The 2 agents each took one of Kia's arms and starting walking.
