A/N: Welcome back, everyone! I still don't own CM!
Chapter 16
JJ POV
I was horrified by the scene. It didn't seem like a coincidence that it was practically only on Emily's side where the damage was done. The whole passenger side was destroyed. It was the kind of crashes that you would find in car commercials where they show you the car where everyone died in, the car that they weren't selling, of course. As we walked closer to the car, I caught the sight of all the red. All the blood. An unbelievable amount.
"There are about 1.8 pints of blood around the car," Spence rambled anxiously as he walked around the car. "That would be about 33 percent of the total blood volume. Her blood pressure would have decreased as her heart rate would be increasing. She would have lost consciousness-"
"Reid…" Derek whispered as he grabbed the genius' arm, pulling him away from the car.
Spence tried to shake away from Derek's hold. "She would have shallow breathing. If she woke up, she would be fatigued or... or weak…"
"Spencer," Derek said. "We can't do this. We have to find her. Not focus on what could have happened to her."
I stared at the interaction not knowing how to help. Not knowing how to comfort. That was usually my job. Helping people feel better. But I couldn't help them. Fuck, I needed the help, myself.
"JJ," Hotch muttered as he stood next to me. "We will find her."
"I feel like there's nothing I can do. I can't profile and I can't be there for everyone and all I could think about is-"
"JJ, don't do this to yourself. We have to pretend like this is any other case. We are going to interview Tyburczy. She got some stitches and is now okay. Even though she has a concussion, she's not allowing any care from a hospital. She wants to talk to us. I want you to interview her with me."
Somehow Hotch understood that I needed to interview her. I still couldn't believe that they took Emily and not Sasha. It seemed too suspicious to me.
"Rossi, take Reid, Morgan, and Garcia to the precinct. We'll meet you there after we talk with the detective," Hotch directed at the rest of the team, giving them a job so they wouldn't have to look at the scene any longer.
Once the three of them left to go find Pen in the car, I turned to Hotch. It was obvious that he couldn't hold in his anger.
My attention turned to Tyburczy, who was stumbling to walk in our direction. She looked beaten up, furious.
"Hotch," I whispered, not sure that I should say it. "Hotch, why didn't they take her instead?"
"Either, the leader wasn't with them and they got their target wrong… Or, this could be a message for the Detective. To stop working on the case, maybe. But Prentiss just got here. So I don't understand why she would be used as a bargaining chip for Tyburczy…"
Before she approached us, I lowered my voice, even more, telling him, even against my own judgment, "They were more than just friends."
He turned his head and stared at me. I couldn't tell if he was disappointed with me that I didn't tell him sooner. But I didn't want to betray Emily's trust. And now I have.
"Agent Hotchner, Agent Jareau," Sasha greeted as she walked up to us. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe-"
"Stop," Hotch interrupted. "There is no need for apologies. We all want to get her back. Are you well enough to answer our questions?"
"The doctors don't believe my concussion is too bad. I can answer your questions. I need to answer your questions. I need to do something."
I stared at her carefully. She obviously looked concerned and angry. But there was something off. Something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"Alright," Hotch said. "You were going back to the precinct? From where?"
"We had just spoken to Manson. He- he didn't know who the leader was. He didn't have any names. But he gave us the letters they sent him. But they're gone. They must have taken them when they crashed and took-"
Hotch nodded as if he understood. "Has anyone threatened you directly? Or Prentiss? Did Manson say anything to either of you?"
She shook her head. "No, nothing. Back at the precinct, we have Sandra Good in custody. She felt threatened by the cult. She came to us. But we haven't gotten any threats ourselves. Manson took a special interest in Emily. He forced her to answer his questions to give us information."
"Do you have a recording of your interrogation with Manson?" Hotch asked her.
Sasha bit her lip as if she was uncomfortable with answering. "Yes. I have it. But I'm not sure Emily would like you all to hear the answers she had to give him-"
"I'm sure Emily would prefer to be found if it meant that we had to hear answers to embarrassing questions. To be frank, Detective, we are probably going to have to ask a lot of questions that you aren't going to want to answer, but our goal is to find Emily. Not to keep things private."
Sasha nodded, but she looked reluctant. "Right. Of course. Let's go to the precinct. Everyone should hear."
Emily POV
I woke up with a ringing in my ears. I groaned and tried to feel my head wound. It was covered with a bandage of some sort. I opened my eyes. A woman was standing right next to me. Quickly, I jolted up and realized I was chained to the bed. My wrists were handcuffed to the frame. With my leg that was now bandaged (I only now realized I had cut the leg open), I kicked the woman against the wall. I noticed that I was being tugged by something in my arm. I was given blood.
When I was about to rip them out, the woman screamed, "Don't! The blood is saving your life."
I stopped and turned to her. She had her hands up and her eyes were widened. She looked scared. She definitely wasn't the leader.
"Where the fuck am I?" I asked the small woman. "What are you doing to me?"
The quaint woman replied, "They didn't mean to hurt you this bad. You lost a lot of blood. So we had to give you some. You looked really bad for quite some time. We saved your life."
I couldn't believe what she was saying. "I wouldn't have needed saving if you didn't fucking crash into me! Why haven't you killed me yet?"
"We don't want you dead," She told me. "No, no, no. Charlie doesn't want you dead. You're going to live with us. You're going to help us start Helter Skelter."
I almost laughed at the absurdity. "I will never help you. Where is Sasha? Did you take her, too?"
"She's safe. Just like you. Don't worry, Mary. You're safe here."
I snarled, "My name isn't Mary! My name is Emily! And get me the fuck out of here before my team comes and gets you all."
"Don't be silly," The woman replied, all cheerily again. Like she was some happy zombie. "They could never get you here. This is God's home, Mary. You're home."
Another chapter bites the dust! Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome!