AN: So here's chapter 2. We left off in chapter one with Hotch picking up the box that had hit the floor and actually

As he came down stairs he saw Alecta sitting in this deco style club chair, eating some oatmeal cookies and drinking her orange juice; she was grinning at him with a wicked gleam in her eye. She knew he apologized. That little imp.

Prentiss asked her why she was so hooked on the oatmeal cookie/orange juice combo.

"In pre-school, they used to give this to us as one of our morning snacks. Oatmeal cookies and orange juice, was the best snack EVER. Most of us had to go to preschool early in the morning, so by like 9 am, they had to find a way to keep us quiet, what better way to shut a kid up than to give them cookies. I've been addicted ever since." With that she took a bite out of a cookie and let Emma take the next bite off of the same cookie while she let Sofie have some of her juice.

They had a couple of good hours before it would be dinner time, so the kids went to play outside.

"Just stay back from the river. If you take the little ones down there, DO NOT under any circumstances take your eyes off of them. Do you understand?" Alecta gave instructions to Rachel and her other children.

"Yes momma, of course."

"But if I was being completely honest, I would prefer for you to stay away from the river, at least for now."

"Mom. It's ok, I've got this." Rachel knew why her momma feared the river. She had heard the stories about Jake's 'fishing trips' on the river, and how he kept her under water so long. And she had heard the stories about all the lives lost on the river over the generations since the area had been settled.

Mostly the kids hit the trampoline and played, or the swing set that was there. As the time passed, Kevin's deputies showed up one by one, bringing their kids and significant others.

Alecta had been out in the yard playing with her kids as well as Jack and Henry when she noticed the arrivals.

"What the hell…." She asked as she approached the house and saw Kevin and his dad standing out on the porch.

"They come over for dinner all the time. We have a crowd."

"Mrs. 'Ouisa, I'm sorry but I won't be joining you for dinner tonight." Alecta muttered as she went into the house.

"Seriously."

"Spurlock, ya'll were mean as hell to her back in the day, you think she's just supposed to roll over and forget that? That she's supposed to want to kiss and make up? You don't get it do you?"

Kevin wanted to go find her but his dad put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and asked him to give her a little time.

"Where has she gone, I can see if she'll talk to me."

"She's in the cupola on the roof. But she won't talk to you Hotch. Not right now, she's just too damned angry."

"I'll go,' voiced Reid. "She's mad at me anyway, but for an altogether different reason and it may take her mind off of it."

"It's worth a try." Kevin shrugged.

"I better go ahead and start on dinner. It'll be storming soon. Ya'll better play while you can." With that Mrs. 'Ouisa walked back into the house and got busy getting dinner started; Mrs. King went with her to help out.

"Oh dear, with both of them cooking, we'll be lucky if we run out food this time next week." Mr. Dan'el commented wryly.

"We heard that old man." Mrs. 'Ouisa's voice could be heard floating through a window.

In the meantime, everyone had gone inside and settled down in the living room; including Mrs. 'Ouisa and Mrs. King, taking a break from the cooking.

Ten minutes later, Reid came back down with a puzzled look on his face.

"What's wrong pretty boy? She shot you down."

"Actually, yes. The door was locked. She wouldn't even listen to reason."

"Welcome to my world. Keep your head, hands, and feet inside at all times while the vehicle is in motion." Kevin replied smartly.

"It's ok. We got Chaz coming over a little later, she'll listen to her."

"Who's Chaz?"

Mrs. 'Ouisa looked over to JJ, 'Chaz is Lex's sister-in-law."

"Lex has a brother? She never mentioned it."

"Agent Prentiss…"

"You can call me Emily, Mrs. 'Ouisa."

"Emily. She wouldn't mention him. He's a lot like their father….abusive. You know how they say 'the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree'…they were talking about Jax. Alecta didn't even know about him 'til around the time that Chaz married him. His momma was some tramp from the next town over I think. Somebody that Jake frequented, if you catch my drift. Alecta and Jax never met, until Chaz brought them together just before the marriage took place. They look alike, except Jax is a man, and is quite a bit taller than Lex. It's almost spooky."

"Yeah, Chaz said that at first he was a great guy, and then one day he woke up and it was like the Jax she knew was replaced by the devil." Mr. Dan'el filled in. "After a couple of years of marriage, Chaz needed out. He was going to kill her if things kept getting anyworse. Lex helped get her out, and made sure that Jax stayed away from her and the kid."

"And when Lex was finally able to get away from Fletcher, Chaz flew out to get her. Victor flew the plane. It took about two days to make the arrangements. This is a small town, we woulda been down two deputies. We had to wait for some help to arrive." Mrs. 'Ouisa explains.

"By the time we got there, we were too late. Chaz and I ran to the room that she told us she would be in, and not only was she gone, but everything was destroyed. He'd beaten us to her. We had to go get her from the hospital. Luckily, one of her 'friends', a guy that said we could just call him 'George', realized who we were and what we were doing there. He let us sign release papers for her and take her on to the air strip. In all truth, she should have stayed in the hospital for a few more days. She was still unconscious when we got to her. She doesn't even really remember how she got to Quantico. 'George' gave us an address that we were to take her too. I flew them out there, dropped them off. A woman that called herself 'Solange' met us at the address, she was with another woman and a rather large man. They took us with them into whatever the building was and showed us that she was going to be well cared for and sent us on our way."

"That person calling herself 'Solange', did she look remarkably like Alecta, with dark hair and eyes?"

"Why yes she did. Why do you ask Dr. Reid?"

"Victor, 'Solange' was a young French woman who was a sheperdess that that was beheaded when she denied the advances of a young man who tried to rape her. She is one of 10 known patron saints of rape victims/survivors. It's likely that this person was actually Alecta's friend, Cossette. Cossette was a girl that Alecta met when she was being held by a human trafficking ring. They have been close ever since. Cossette was French, like Solange. Likely the group didn't want you knowing who they were. It's safer for them that way…and for you, if someone looking for one of them ever came after you."

Alecta had since come down the stairs, and was standing just out of sight, hiding in the hall, listening. Victor had flown the plane that brought Chaz to save her? This gave Alecta pause; she didn't know what to do with the information. She didn't have long to think on it, because at about that time the door opened, and in walked Chaz and her little girl, Dare.

"An' Lessa!' the little girl squealed.

Busted!

"Hey baby." Alecta turned and scooped the little girl up, playing along as if she hadn't been scared out of her skin; she leaned over and hugged Chaz as she caught up to her daughter.

As Alecta came into the living room where everyone had congregated with a little girl in her arms, the child's arms wrapped around her neck, talking animatedly about some craziness and twirling one of Alecta's curls around and around her little finger. This little girl looked as much like Alecta as Sofie and Emma did.

"So, did you have time to do some thinking baby?"

"Yeah." Alecta answered quietly. She walked over to where Victor was standing near a window with his son, Niko; and as Victor turned to face her, 'You…flew the plane?"

Victor answered 'yes' as he saw the puzzled look in her eyes.

With a wavering voice, 'I'm sorry I was so mean to you when you first showed up."

"Nah. I deserved it. Even Stephens?"

"Sure, why not."

"Thank God that's resolved!" Kevin muttered exasperated.

"Who is this little girl?"

"Mr., I'm not little, I'm four."

"Morgan just got served."

"Keep laughing Prentiss."

"Dare, behave."

"He called me little."

"So, your name is Dare?"

"Uh-huh, sure is. Ashully, mommy called me after An' Lessa. Most e'erybody calls me '2' though."

"That's an odd nickname for a kid."

"Well, what kinda name is Morgan?"

The little girl had folded her arms across her chest and had a determined look on her face that was all over Alecta.

"Dare!"

"Mommy?"

"Be nice."

"Do I have to?"

"Seriously, you have to ask that question? Do you wanna go take a nap before dinner?"

"I sorry mommy. I'l be nice. But for real….what kinda name is Morgan?"

"It's my last name."

"What's your first one?"

"Derek."

"It'll do."

"Well, my momma will be happy to hear that you like it."

"Good to kn…an' Lessa, who that?"

"Those are my little girls; Sofie and Emma."

"And who's them,' the little girl pointed at the three nearly grown children.

"Those are my big kids….Sasha, Eva, and Oleg."

"Um-k. Can we go play before dinner?"

Mrs. 'Ouisa told the little girl it was alright with her; Alecta put her down and she ran over to Sofie and Emma.

"You wantsta play? Who are those boys?" Dare asked Sofie and Emma.

"Oh, this older boy…that's Jack. His daddy is that tall guy just there…." Sofie started off.

Emma picked up the introductions, 'This boy with the yellow hair….that's Henwy. His mommy and daddy are over there."

"Yeah, well that's my boy Niko. His daddy is Bictor, o'er there. And then there's Zane…Ratliff is his daddy…their mommies should be here later. They hadda work." Turning to Jack, 'Where's your mommy?"

"Dare! You have no business asking Jack that yet."

"Sowwy."

"It's ok. My mommy died a few years ago. A bad guy made her go away."

Dare sniffed, 'I'm sowwy."

"But my daddy made the bad guy go away, so it's kind of better now."

Looking at Hotch, 'You did?"

Hotch nodded. Dare ran to him and hugged him around the legs.

"If you help an' Lessa I give you my allowance for a month, Mr."

"Dare, really? Don't you think you should go play now?"

"Gotta go Mr." Dare ran past Sofie and Emma, grabbing their hands and pulling them along with her, 'come on boys."

The four little boys went running as Dare explained that there would be more kids joining their little clique later. It seemed as though Esteban and Maria would be coming and bringing their three children. And some of Kevin's aunts and uncles would be coming by; they had a few kids that were the ages of Sasha, Eva, and Oleg. Mrs. 'Ouisa said that they may plan to have some of Mrs. King's family (brothers and sisters, etc.) come over one day while everyone was there. But that had to be done a bit more delicately; most everybody thought she was dead.

The children had run back outside to play. They had found an old ball and were kicking it around; it wasn't really an organized game, but it kept them busy. They played on the swing set and trampoline. The parents inside were grateful they were playing so hard; this meant that they would sleep like crazy when bed time hit.

Mrs. 'Ouisa and Mrs. King got back into the kitchen and went back to cooking dinner. Mrs. 'Ouisa was frying the cat fish, and Mrs. King was making some grilled chicken in case there were people there that didn't care for the fish. Rachel and Lex went in to help with making the side dishes.

"Should any of us go in and help?" JJ asked, trying to be polite.

"Are you crazy? Three generations of women from the same family, in the kitchen cooking at the same time. You're safer out here. " Mr. Dan'el informed her.

"They're going to fight?"

"Oh no sir; in the south, cooking is like an Olympic sport. You have relays and timed events. They have a system worked out. And adding another member to the team must be done carefully or it throws off the whole balance." Kevin corrected poor Reid's thinking.

"But Davis has been gone for about 25 years. And has Rachel ever been here?"

"Time doesn't matter. Lex was raised around these ways. And Rachel inherited it. It is what it is Emily."

There was a clanking of dishes and utensils in the kitchen. Then there was a yelled, 'Boy get in here, wash up, and set the table' that came from Mrs. 'Ouisa; at which time Kevin obediently stood and went into the kitchen and did exactly as his mother instructed him to do.

The kitchen table was huge it was a long and rectangular, once it had likely been a lovely oak finish, but it had seen years of wear and tear. It was still shiny in places, but some of the finish had worn off. You could see on the legs of the table, a wear pattern after years of having children's feet all over it. It comfortably sat everyone. The small children had a smaller child sized table set up for them. But just like every other time they would probably wind up at the adults table, sitting on someone's lap.

After Kevin got the dishes all laid out on the table, working around the women as they sat the food down lining the center of it all, Mrs. King went to the door and called for everyone to come into the kitchen and eat. When they came in, they saw enough food to feed the National Guard.

The meal took about an hour to get through. And during the meal, the storm that Mrs. 'Ouisa had promised came to fruition. There were loud claps of thunder; bright lightening that seemed all the more so due to the wide open spaces. As soon as it became apparent that dinner was winding down, both Rachel's as well as Mrs. 'Ouisa and Alecta began clearing the table; they were putting extra food away. The clean-up was much like watching Kevin and Alecta eating…it was very much an assembly line. One person would scoop the extra food out of the original dish and take the storage container of food to the fridge. One person would wash, another would dry, and then yet another would put away the clean stuff. There was a dish washer, but they chose not to use it.

"Um. Why don't they use the dish washer?"

"Reid, hush. Finish your dinner, we ain't gonna be at this all night."

Alecta had been busting his ass since they were on the plane. Of course, once she saw the look on his face when she called him out, she felt sort of bad for being so snippy. As the cleaning process came to an end, everyone made their way back into the living room. Seeing Reid taking his time, admiring the house's architecture as he went, Alecta had an idea.

"Reid, come here!" Alecta whispered, sort of, and grabbed his hand. Hotch and the team turned to see what was going on. To tell the truth, they sort of feared for Reid's life, after the way Alecta had been treating him all day.

"Where are you dragging me, Davis?"

"Hush and enjoy it will ya?"

"Hotch….shouldn't we follow them?"

Hotch looked at Morgan with an arched eyebrow. Kevin sat down and was chuckling.

From somewhere about the middle of the stair case they hear, 'Oh shut up. I'm not gonna kill him or anything. Gah; too many witnesses."

After two flights of stairs, if not three, they came to a door that was closed. Alecta unlocked it with a skeleton key, a loud clicking of the locking mechanism signaling that it could be opened. Alecta reached out her little hand and grasped the white porcelain doorknob, the sash of which was black iron, and turned it, causing a slight squeaking sound…but she paused.

Turning to Reid, 'Whatever you see in here, don't freak out. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. It's just….a bit…strange. And some people have issues with it. But, I promise, nothing bad will happen."

The storm outside was still raging as hard as ever when she led him into the small cupola. This was where she had come to hide earlier. Looking around, Reid could see a day bed of sorts it was wedged in there. It was very much the style of the late 18th century, even venturing into the early 19th century. The space for it was only about 4 ½ - 5 feet across, from corner to corner behind the day bed. The cupola itself couldn't have been more than about 8sq. ft. The space that was behind the day bed and wrapping around the cupola (until you reached the bit where the door was) was mostly windows. They started at about two feet up from the floor and went to an equal distance of about two feet from the ceiling of the room, giving them a height of approximately six feet, with the distance between floor and ceiling being around 10ft. There was a small table in front of one of the windows, sort of adjacent to the daybed. There was a small lamp that gave off dim light on the table, it was plugged in below. There was a very low slung shelf, running the length of the baseboard that held a few books scattered carelessly along its length.

"What is it that you wanted to show me?" Reid asked, not in a moody way. If anything he really liked this room.

"Just sit here,' Alecta shoved him onto the day bed, into the back corner, 'and watch the show."

Sitting beside of Reid, on the outer edge of the bed, Alecta leaned over the rolled arm of the bed, she pointed out to him that the windows were single pane and they were original, and they were foggy.

"Yes. What's the point of all of this?"

"Just be a good boy, and watch. Please."

Carefully, with the index finger of her right hand, Alecta wrote out the words 'Constance, are you there?'

Expectantly she looked over to Reid who began to say something, but Alecta placed the first three fingers of her left hand against his mouth to signal him to be quiet. In just a matter of a few seconds, Reid heard the unmistakable sounds of another finger making marks against another window pane, the squeaking sound that you would hear if you were using a squeegee to dry one off. Between the stormy skies outside and the dim light in the little room, Reid began to see words forming in response to Alecta's written question.

The response said simply, 'As always'.

"What the hell is that?"

"If I tell you will you do your best to believe me?"

Reid only nodded; he knew this was far beyond him. He was a man largely of science. He knew that other people have various beliefs on a wide range of topics. Normally he didn't believe in ghosts and things like that. Usually those things could be explained away; magnetic fields, electrical currents, etc. But for what he just saw, he wasn't sure how to explain that.

"Her name was Constance. Hotch met her sister Abigail earlier. Abigail lived here with her husband Ezra. Constance lived…she lived in my old house with her husband, Virgil. In those days, most of the wealthy families around here, including our two families, owned a lot of property. They farmed and then they would sell some of what they harvested here in town, or they would load it onto ships and carry it on the river to the next town or even into the next state if that's where the business took them. Well the story goes that Virgil's business was going to take him out of town on the river. He was to be gone for about two weeks or so. While he was gone, Constance, who was 25 at the time, came to stay here with her sister and brother-in-law. Constance and Virgil had been married when they were about 17, that was normal back then, just like her sister Abigail. By the time she was staying here, waiting on Virgil to return home, she had four children…small ones at that. The day he was set to return, there was a storm, much like this one, if not worse. It tossed the ship that Virgil and many others were on….tossed it around like it was a child's toy. Soon, the ship was driven into some debris in the river…I guess some log or something sticking out of the water….the ship hit hard enough that it started taking on water and sinking. Many men died that day; including Virgil. Constance waited and waited to hear from him or about him. It took days to sift through the wreckage that could be found. As it turns out, nearly all hands died. There had been a crew… just a crew of nearly 20…and then when you factor in the businessmen, like Virgil, there were 25 more of them onboard. Nearly all of them perished. There were only three survivors. They never found Virgil's body. Most seem to believe he just washed down river and was trapped under some underbrush and never found. All I do know is that Constance couldn't take it. She stayed in this room, waiting to see her husband come up the dock, just out there.' Pointing to the sight of the river out of the window, 'she waited, and waited…for so many days. She never really ate much. When she died it was from hunger and exhaustion. She just dropped. And now, nearly 250 years later…she's still here, in this room. I haven't talked to her in a long time. I used to come up here and watch the storms with her. She probably won't have much to say tonight, because she doesn't know who you are, but she is a talkative one."

"How can you expect me to believe this, what you tell me?"

"Constance? He needs proof."

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, Reid looked over towards the door. As he looked on in disbelief, there appeared a woman. She was tall, but her bone structure was delicate. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She was lovely. Her dress was a vibrant blue in the Regency style that had been popular in the early 19th century, but it was still very much an informal dress. Her hair was pulled back, most of it being in a twist, with a few curls hanging loose at the back and around her face ever so lightly. She looked like a porcelain doll; she looked for all the world like a collectable Bisque doll that you would see in an antique shop somewhere.

"Does he believe us now?" Reid heard the young woman ask.

"Holy…."

"Watch your language Reid. You'll make her blush."

"What's your first name?" Constance asked him.

"Spencer."

"Like the poet?"

"Yes."

"Your mother liked The Faerie Queene, am I right?"

"Very much so."

"She sounds fascinating."

"Constance, how are you today?"

"Still no word. I haven't heard anything in days. I must know something soon. I really must."

Alecta could tell Constance would start getting worked up again….if she did, they would have to buy a new lamp for the room.

"I'm sure word will come soon. Just give it time. You know how these things are. Look, we have to go back downstairs with the others, but I can come back tomorrow if you like."

"Would you, it gets so lonely up here by myself."

"Of course. Do you want me to bring Spencer, or anyone else?"

"Anybody will be good enough for me. And bring some cards, we shall have a game."

Alecta and Reid had gotten up from their seat and begun to leave, Alecta turned back to agree with Constance about the upcoming card game. As soon as Constance saw Alecta shake her head in the positive, she vanished.

Going down the stairs, heading back to the living room, 'Now do you believe what I said on the plane?"

"I think that I do. Tell me…how much of this town is haunted?"

"The easier question to answer would be, what areas ARE NOT haunted. That wouldn't take nearly as long to explain."