Hello! Glad everyone seemed to enjoy the last chapter. This one does leave you hanging a little bit! But what would a story be without some cliffhangers! And sadly, school starts up again on Monday so I may not be updating as often. On the plus side, I do still have quite a few chapters already written! Comments are more than welcome! Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 4

Wandering Minds and Monsters Haunting Dreams

Prentiss listened to Reid halfheartedly as they walked into the small hotel. He was off another tangent and spouted off numerous statistics that her mind refused to focus on.

She needed sleep; plain and simple.

After landing, they had immediately started working; she, Morgan, and Rossi went to the crime scene, while Hotch, JJ, and Reid went to the small police station to set up.

It was unsettling at the crime scene; how similar it was to those of Benjamin Chandler. Her name was Anna McGregor. She was twenty-two and just returned home from college to begin what should have been the most exhilarating years of her life.

Now she was only destined to be another body in a box or ashes in a jar on mantle, or maybe to be scattered in the wind. None of her options were exactly pretty.

White dress and arms resting on her chest with a single rose resting in her hands, eyes open; cold, empty and lifeless. The dress hid the bloody wounds; the cuts, the bruises, the burn marks, not to mention the cracked and broken bones beneath the battered skin. He was care and meticulous in his torture; careful not to leave a scar or cut on her face.

It was a haunting image, but one that they had seen six times before until three bullets to the chest had put a stop to the monster.

But now it was starting all over again.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall of the elevator as the six of them rode together in an exhausted silence. Reid had at least finally taken the hint to stop talking after none of his comrades responded to his rant.

The bell chimed at the second floor and they all filed out. Hotch and Rossi took the room directly across from JJ and Prentiss, and Reid and Morgan the one just beside them.

The halls of the hotel were silent and still, but in a small town at midnight, you couldn't expect anything else.

The hot water was almost too hot as it pelted against her skin but she made no move to adjust the temperature. She stood there for a long while, letting the water stream down over her face; letting it relax her aching muscles.

By the time she returned to her bed, JJ was already fast asleep and only a small lamp on the nightstand gave light to the room. She couldn't help but smile at her sleeping friend, still holding her cell phone in one hand.

Emily suspected that JJ had intended to stay up so that they could talk, but clearly sleep had over powered her will. She delicately took the phone from her sleeping friends hand and switched off the light.

Darkness swept over the room.

She blindly found the covers and pulled them back; letting out a sigh as her head rested on the pillow. But now that sleep was finally an option, it seemed to just be on the edge of her grasp but never fully in it. Her mind reeled with the events of the past two days.

She replayed the conversation with Hotch over and over, still finding it hard to believe that he had actually allowed her to be on this case. He knew it was personal for her, even if she didn't want to believe it was.

He knew that she needed it; needed to see it through to the end. The end should have been with Chandler, but somehow it hadn't been. She just thought that the feeling would go away once she returned to the full duties of work. Now the feeling was there because it was starting all over again.

Part of her felt like she never even got full closure with the aftermath of Doyle. And that was far greater than any recent events she had endured. Doyle wasn't just a shadow of the past, he was a black out.

A time in her life that could not be forgotten or brushed under the carpet, like she felt some of it had. She had greatly and eagerly returned to work, but as Hotch had once pointed out to her, she was over compensating.

She had never fully healed just as the team had never fully recovered as a family. Trust had been shattered; it wouldn't repair instantly like they all desperately hoped for. Building trust took time.

Maybe it wouldn't be as strong as it had been before, but she hoped and believed that one day it would come close.

She breathed deep, trying to stop her mind from wandering. Her lids felt like sand paper against her tired eyes; sleep still danced around her but was never quite close enough to take.

She rubbed her eyes, not that it would make any difference, but she wanted to stop seeing images of Doyle and Chandler flash before her. Lack of sleep always played tricks on her, and she knew they weren't real, but every time she closed her eyes and started to drift into sleep, one of their faces would appear as clear as day.

Turning over she tried to find a comfortable position; her muscles protesting and unable to find peace. She reached out and blindly searched for her phone on the nightstand. The small screen blinding her as she looked at the time; it had only been an hour.

Tossing back the covers, she slid out of the bed as quietly as possible and found her bag. Popping two sleeping pills into her mouth, she swallowed them dry. They normally gave her an excruciating headache the next day and she hated taking them but she knew her body would protest even more, not to mention the state of her own sanity, if she didn't get some sleep.

Slowly the effects began to take their course; she could feel her body relax as her eyes grew heavy, finally she would be able to find peace.

She could feel his breathe against her skin; heated and slow. Feather light fingertips grazed over her arm as he whispered her name.

The scar on her shoulder burned with white hot intensity as his lips touched it in a kiss. She knew who it was, yet she still didn't want to open her eyes.

His face was inches from hers and her name dropped from his lips once again, just above a whisper. She flinched as she felt his breathe wash over her lips; he was too close. She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood; she couldn't breathe with him there.

She tried turned away, still refusing to open her eyes, but her body was numb under his weight. It was becoming harder to bring air into her lungs. Then his hand laced around her neck and she was forced to open her eyes.

But now the voice didn't match the face. His greenish eyes and brown hair, she wasn't ready for it; she wasn't expecting it. He tightened his grip. "You know their dead because of you."

She tried to scream, tried to fight, but she was numb. She couldn't think straight, couldn't breathe, she couldn't even fight him; she just lay there, helpless.

Pain shot through her shoulder again, but he wasn't event touching it. Instead his face slowly became farther away from her, a sick smile on his face, just like the one that had been there when he died.

Everything was dark; all she could feel the throbbing pain. Her hand pressed against her shoulder, trying to make it stop. But then she felt hot liquid on her fingers and as she pulled her hand away she could see that it was covered in blood.

Suddenly his voice surrounded her; echoing off the nonexistent walls and coming at her from every side. "You let them die."

This time she screamed, letting out as much air as her lungs could hold; she couldn't take it.