A Bullet to the Head

In Dreamcatcher, Stephen King wrote: "We don't know the days that will change our lives. Probably, just as well."

"Hey, love, how are you holding up?"

Spencer sighed and adjusted the phone against his ear, "It's been a long day."

"I know, but hey I think I found something that might cheer you up."

"Garcia, I really don't have time for-"

"Your sister keeps a vlog, there's one a week for the past 4 months at least. There may be something that could help."

Spencer nodded, "Can you-"

"Already sent, they should be arriving on the laptop any second."

"Thanks, Garcia."

"Of course, my darling." She said as she clicked the line off.

Spencer sat down in front of the computer and opened the first file.

"Of course, I'm packing mom! What else would I be doing?" Rylee yelled, her head tilted slightly away from the camera, but her gaze turned towards it. She had a look on her face that was a mixture between humor and an excitement that sprouted from either not doing what she was suppose to or whatever she was packing for.

She turned her full attention back to the screen, "Okay, so, as you heard I'm supposed to be packing but someone-", she paused for a moment to glare over the top of the camera, and a muffled giggle sneaked into the audio, "has decided it would be a good idea for me to actually do the vlog we started. Her excuse is that we'll be able to keep in touch while I'm interning, but the phone has worked well up until this point. So I think it's-", there was a shuffling off camera, "just to embarrass me."

"No!" a red head plopped down beside her, both girls were laying on their stomachs in front of the camera, "It's because little miss genius right here," Rylee rolled her eyes and looked away as her nameless friend nudged her, "Is going off to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville. Milledgeville! So not only is she going to a different hospital, she's going to a different hospital Hours away from me! Her best friend!"

"Okay, Best Friend," Rylee said turning a glare on her, but it was merely playful there was no malice behind it, "Why don't you let me finish my video for my blog."

"Go right ahead." She said waving a hand, as if in invitation.

"You're in my shot."

"The shot is better with me in it."

"Cassidy, if you don't-"

"What? What will you do?" the red head said with eyebrows raised.

"I'll start talking in big words that you don't understand."

Spencer snickered as Cassidy fell silent and slowly got up and walked back around the computer.

"You know," Rylee said, looking away from her friend and at the camera, "Sometimes it's good to be a genius." A purple pillow was tossed at her head, and the video cut off amidst her laughter.

"What's that?" a voice behind him said.

"Rylee apparently kept a vlog, Garcia found it. She posted this one four months ago."

Morgan leaned over his shoulder to look at the frozen image on the screen; she was holding the pillow down enough to see her face that was alight with laughter and innocent happiness, "How many more are there?"

"At least sixteen." Spencer said, minimizing the video to find the next one, "There was another girl in this one, Cassidy. Has she come up in anything?"

"They worked together at Emory, where they were going to school. JJ talked to her on the phone, they were apparently pretty good friends."

Spencer nodded, "From the looks of this, I'd say they really were."

Morgan pulled up a chair, "Well, let's see what else she can tell us."

0000

Rylee had maneuvered herself so she could lie on her back, her hands chained above her head with her elbows bent. Her forehead rested against her bicep, and her eyes were closed as she slept in fitful exhaustion. Her face and clothes were dirty, and her face was shiny with sweat. Her brows were furrowed together and she twitched occasionally, her fingers flexing and relaxing.

A large hand moved to grip her ribs gently, a thumb moving the cotton of her shirt in a gentle swipe. Rylee began to awaken as the hand slid lower and lifted her shirt, revealing her small frame beneath it. She bit her lip and turned her head away, whimpering hoarsely. She opened her eyes and they fell on a tripod, holding a camera with a red light glaring through the dimly lit room. Her eyes grew wide with tears, "Help Me." She whispered before she closed her eyes with pain and cried out.

00000

JJ had turned away from the video, Hotch and Morgan's jaws were both set, Spencer was gripping his chair so hard his knuckles were turning white but he wasn't looking away. He was doing his best not to watch, but to look for anything that could help.

"There." He said lunging forward and pressing the pause button, "He's got a tattoo on the back of his neck."

Morgan was on his cell phone in an instant, Hotch and Rossi were in search of the sheriff, and Spencer had averted his gaze from the computer.

"Adam Xolani had a tattoo like that." The Southern drawl said, the local sheriff looking at the computer, "But he moved outta the state after he graduated high school, hasn't been back since."

"Did he have a girlfriend in high school? They may have left together." Rossi asked, giving the Sheriff one of those looks.

"No, he wasn't one for dating. There was a girl though, a good friend of his. I think they were going to college together."

"Where did he live before he left?"

"Off the main road, but his dad had a cabin up in the woods near the old gym."

"An old gym would fit the background of the videos." Spencer said standing from his chair.

"I'll call the deputies and the fire department."

"The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision - whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment." -Richard M. Nixon