Chapter Seven

Jennifer Jareau really wasn't enjoying this case, not that she enjoyed most of them, but this one in particular seemed to be sadistic. She wasn't enjoying the shack of a hotel room she was stuck in, or the fact that the coffee was always too cold. The fact that Officer Crainyard was hiding the truth made things even worse. And the five hour dive to Bretching Institute to visit a lead who wasn't sane wasn't doing anything to cheer hr up.

JJ parked the SUV in Bretching Institute's parking lot. It was the only car in it, making her and Reid stick out like neon sign in a snow storm. The two made their way to the door and opened it, ending up in a sterile, blank looking lobby.

The secretary, a bored lady in her mid forties with a nose that looked remarkably like a beak didn't even look up from her computer screen. "Welcome to Bretching Institute. Is there anything I can do for you?"

JJ approached the desk, "I made arrangements to talk to Chris Stevens about the night of the crime."

"The doctors have been notified. Take the elevator to floor three, room 339," She told them. JJ and Reid arrived at room 339.

Reid raised his hand to knock, before a doctor from the other side of the hallway yelled at them, "No!"

Reid froze as the doctor sprinted towards them. He was a stick thin man, so tall that his white coat barely went to his mid thighs. His lips were as narrow as his body and his voice sounded like someone had clogged up his throat with a tennis ball.

"Is something the matter Doctor," JJ squinted at his name tag, "Anderson."

"Yes! Quite! Firstly, who are you people and secondly, why are you knocking on Mr. Steven's door?" He demanded.

Reid fished his FBI badge out of his bag, "FBI. We made arrangements to talk to Chris Stevens."

The Doctor groaned, "I thought you were coming in a week."

"You were misinformed, Doctor. Now, can we go into his room?" Reid asked.

"Well, I suppose, but you can't make any loud noises. Even the slightest thing sets him off," The Doctor warned them, unlocking the door.

"Thank you," JJ said, opening it. The room was blank. The only sign that someone lived there was the vase of dried out flowers and the man in the rocking chair. He looked student aged, with short brown hair and eyes to match. If he hadn't been in a mental asylum, JJ wouldn't of thought anything of him.

"Mr. Steven? Chris?" JJ asked.

The man flinched, "Who is it?" His voice was dull.

"FBI. I'm SSA Jareau, this is my co-worker, Doctor Reid," JJ introduced.

The man let out a bitter, hollow laugh, "Another Doctor? I thought they'd given up on me by now."

"I'm not a medical doctor, Mr. Stevens," Reid informed him, sitting down on a white chair, "We need to talk to you about the night of the crime."

The man froze. "What do you want to know?" He whispered.

Reid stared up at the man, "Was it a hoax?"

The man laughed again, "They're still asking about that? Of course it wasn't a hoax! Do you think I would of slept through my roommate's brutal murder without waking up?"

"Well Mr. Stevens, the idea that an entire town suddenly couldn't talk is just as improbable," Reid argued.

"Well considering both happened, you should probably rethink your definition of improbable," Stevens responded.

"So, to be clear, you are telling us that the entire town stopped speaking," JJ checked.

"Ask anyone who was there. They'll tell you," He snorted, "Actually, they won't. Sunnydale has this incredible tendency to ignore everything about them. You know, a friend of mine warned me about the place, he told me all about the weirdnesses of Sunnydale. The little unspoken rules that each little citizen obeyed. Not going out after dark, not visiting graveyards especially." He got a little crazed look in his eyes. Stevens crouched lower to Reid and whispered, "We don't even run the place anymore. It's all the monsters! The demons! They are the real citizens! We're just the cattle! The meat!"

Reid backed away, "Thank you, Mr. Stevens. It was a…pleasure talking to you."

Stevens stood up, his eyes glinted madness, "Everyone knows, but no one cares! No one cares!"

JJ opened the door.

"Sunnydale is a doomed town, full of monsters! Even the protecter can't slay all of them!"

Reid and JJ quickly existed the room. A moment later, they heard two fists banging on the door. JJ could still hear his muffled voice, screaming and yelling.

Doctor Anderson was waiting next to the door, leaning against the wall, "It's not often Mr. Stevens can stay calm long enough to finish a whole conversation. If you would like, I can escort you outside."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Once they were in the elevator, Doctor Anderson began talking, "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Stevens is very disturbed."

JJ waved him off, "We're used to that, Doctor. But we do have a few more questions for you, if it's alright?"
The doctor hesitated, "I have work to do."

"It would only take a few minutes," JJ told him.

The Doctor sighed and begrudgingly nodded.

"Thank you, now was it possible Mr. Stevens had gone temporarily deaf the night of the murder?"

The Doctor shook his head, "One of the first things we checked for."

"And the monsters he was talking about—"

The doctor cut Reid off, "Nonsense. Mr. Stevens has been going on about them for his entire stay here. We believe they might be a corporal way to deal with his guilt."

"Yes, but about the monsters, did he ever mention a type?" Reid asked.

The Doctor fixed him with bafflement all over his face, "Type? Like Frankenstein? Or zombies?"

"Yes, exactly," Reid said.

"Well, he does talk a lot about vampires, but it does make sense considering what happened during his trauma, with it being nighttime and the blood around he crime scene," The Doctor told him, "But I don't see why it matters. Mr. Stevens isn't in his right mind."

JJ answered for Reid, "Every little bit helps."

The Doctor nodded, still not looking very convinced, "Is that all?"

"Yes and thank you again, Dr. Anderson," JJ said, leaving the building with Reid. As she suspected, they easily found the black SUV.

The car was muggy and hot, JJ felt like a pie, slowly roasting in an oven. Even her seatbelt tried to burn her.

"I guess this confirms our vampire theory," Reid said, "As well as the hoax not being a hoax."
JJ frowned, "Are you sure? Stevens didn't seem all there."

"He was right about the vampires, wasn't he? Whose to say he was right about the hoax?" Reid asked.

JJ sighed, "I just think we need a little more evidence before we say for sure that the entire town went mute. Vampires are one thing, but a whole town? That's just slightly too much."

"We follow where the evidence takes us, JJ. No matter how improbable," Reid reminded her.

"I know, believe me Reid, I know."

"What do you think he meant when he was talking about monsters running the town?" Reid asked.

JJ shrugged, "It makes sense, considering how far Officer Crainyard was going to hide the evidence of the vampires. Do you think he has a deal with them?"

Reid frowned, "It's possible that he made one to protect himself and his team, but considering the fact that one of the vampires attacked Officer Warden, he would of had no reason to keep the deal."

"Unless, the deal wasn't to protect anyone. What if the deal was made to stop Sunnydale finding out," JJ mused.

Reid shook his head, "Doesn't make any sense. Crainyard has no incentive. The townspeople finding out about vampires would help him. Someone else must of ordered it."

"So we just keep looking up the chain then? Crainyard's boss might of issued it," JJ said, "Anyone above him could of made the deal." JJ felt a new wave of hopelessness go over her, "How far up do you think this goes?"

"I doubt it's too high. With that many people on the grapevine, it was bound to of spilled. The person who ordered the deal is a Sunnydale citizen. Someone high up, lots of power."

After a few minutes of silence, JJ felt a lightbulb go on above her head, "The Mayor!" JJ exclaimed, "Garcia was talking about him, remember? She found the photos of the town's last mayors and they all looked exactly the same."

Reid nodded, "Yes, the dopplegangers."

"Well you were talking about incentive and what's more incentive than trying to hide what species you are?" JJ told him, "Mayor Wilkins the Third was a vampire! What if he made Sunnydale a haven of sorts for his species, let them eat all the people they want and sending his police force to clean up after them? And if the human citizens found out, imagine the panic. Wilkens would of probably been killed, along with all the vampires in this town."

Reid took in the information in a second, "It fits the evidence."

"And we go where the evidence takes us, don't we? I think we need to do some more digging on the mayor," JJ said, as she reeved up the engine and started the drive back to Sunnydale.

Ha. That definitely didn't take me 3 months to publish. Ha. Haha. Right. Sorry.

Real sorry about all the long waits. With school and other stories, this one has really fallen down my priority list. But this story will reach an end! Someday, like 10 years maybe. Anyways, hope you liked. Bye.