It has been nightfall by the time the two agents and Will had managed to get into the house of Elise Nichols in Minessota. Her parents have been worried sick by the news, already aware of the other missing girls. Their worry was visible on their faces as they tried their best to keep their composure in front of the trio.

The one most rationalizing so far had been Mr Nichols while his wife, was the quietest one; tortured by thoughts of her missing daughter.

"She could have gone off by herself. She was a very interior young woman. She didn't like living in a dorm. I could see how the pressure of school might have gotten to her. She likes trains. Maybe she just got on a train and... "Mr Nichols said and continued to trail off, his words trying to comfort him.

The trio sat opposite them, listening. Jack had the most natural and distant expression, while it was Rana who gave the most head nods and tried to be comforting to the two parents. It was kind of their thing after all, whenever the duo worked together in cases. Will, on the other hand, tried his best to avoid any eye contact with Nichols.

Mrs Nichols finally spoke after being quiet for so long. "She looks like the other girls."

Jack gave a small nod. "She fits the profile"

Mr Nichols came next. "Could Elise still be alive?"

This made the two agents exchange a glance. It was a common, very understandable question that almost everyone did. However, the tricky part was the answer one would give. You have to be very careful and not give immediate false hopes, especially with the lack of evidence. Yet, at the same time, you should not show any pessimistic approach for it can affect how cooperative they will be against you.

"We simply have no way of knowing" Rana answered, her tone stable but with something of a comforting tone.

The couple gave a nod, eased slightly but not truly relieved. It was a pretty vague answer and they would have preferred a more specific one. To know whether they should mourn from now or keep on hoping.

The silence that had started between them, was interrupted by Will, who chose to offer an odd question. "How's the cat?"

Mrs Nichols looked at him puzzled. "What?"

"How's your cat? Elise was supposed to feed it. Was the cat weird when you came home? It didn't eat all weekend. Must have been hungry." He continued.

The Nichols are unsure of what to answer or where Will was leading the subject. "I didn't notice."

It was then, what Will said next that made the two agents realize what had taken place. "He took her from here. She got on a train. She came home. She fed the cat. And he took her"

Rana felt like facepalming at how clueless she had been. Of course, the scent of the girl was still lingering in the house, but she had suspected it was from the last time she was in since it had not been that long since she was in the house. She had spent too much time with humans and needed to brush off her senses once again, for they had started to let her down.

While she was mentally at odds with her other nature, Jack stood up and picked up his phone. "The Nichols house is a crime scene. I need ERT immediately. Zeller, Katz, Jimmy Price, a photographer."

The Nichols were trying to wrap their minds around the quick flurry of action and what it meant to their little girl.

"Why is it now a crime scene?" Mr Nichols asked.

Rana stood up as well. "It looks like, that the kidnapping happened here. We must look around for clues that can point us to your daughter and also the kidnapper" she explained simply as Will joined her.

"Can I see your daughter's room?" he asked.

"Police were up there this morning," Mr Nichols said as he stood up but gave a nod and headed for the stairs.

Rana followed Will, who pulled on gloves as they approached the room. To their surprise, the Cat was outside the door, pawing it; being eager to go inside. Just as Mr Nichols was about to reach the doorknob, Will stopped him. "I'll get that. Mr Nichols, would you put your hands in your pockets and avoid touching anything please?"

Mr Nichols did not seem to understand or truly like the idea. Rana interfered, offering a friendly smile. Something that seem kind of odd, when someone put it with her trained physique and the FBI agent badge around her neck. "Please, Mr Nickols. You can hold the cat if it's easier"

There was that tone again, although this time, there seem to be a small order hidden behind it. To Will's surprise, the man did as he was instructed, and he gave Rana a thanking nod. He then wrapped his gloved hand around the knob and opened the door.


The light from the hallway streaked across the floor and up the wall as Will and Rana entered. The latter was right behind him, her hands ready to grab the gun by her waist. They both came to a halt by the door and seem to sniff the air slightly.

"Will?" Rana called his name quietly, taking the scent in the room once again. She wasn't sure why she called out to him, considering she was not aware of how much he knew about their kind and her. However, at that moment, her instinct told her to confirm with another one like her and she did.

"Yeah..." he replied.

To some, it might sound weird, to him even but at that moment...something has changed. Her being close to him offered a strong sense of security and safety, all while making his senses on high alert. This proved useful for the scent of blood made his pulse increase slightly.

He did not think at that moment, what he truly said, for someone to smell such a faint scent of blood would be very rare. Yet, with her question using his name, he felt she did too. When she didn't comment anything else, his suspicions stood correct and he decided to flick on the light. switch, illuminating the room.

What came next, came as a shock to everyone...

Elise Nichols was laying coffin-style on her bed, dressed in pyjamas as if she had just gone to sleep. The grey pallor of her skin, the clean puncture wounds visible under her pyjamas, and her un-breathing bosom were immediately evident to Will.

Sadly, Mr Nichols failed to notice. Blinded by hope, he stepped forward. "Elise?"

Rana grabbed his arm in a firm grip, stopping him from going inside any further. "I need you to leave the room, Mr Nichols. Please come with me"

The man took a moment before he understood and dropped the cat in shock. He tried to take a step forward, but the woman had a good grip on him, preventing him from doing anything other than trying and eventually managing to lead him out of the room.


After the body was found, the team was quick to gather. Rana was busy wiring Will, an idea for Jack. Will tended to mumble while 'envisioning' the ways of the killer and Jack thought it would be a good idea to record everything; hopeful they might find something.

However, when it was time to be wired; Will was the most sceptical and he was tensed with any agent approaching him. As he had said before, he was not the most social and he had a thing about his personal space, despite Jack constantly ignoring it.

To Jack's surprise, Will did not truly argue back when Rana offered. He was still a little bit tense, but he seemed to allow her more than he allowed others. That of course puzzled Jack but he brushed it off, suspecting that it had to do with the fact that Rana was a woman with her charisma.

In the end, once she was done, she offered Will a smile. " You're all wired. You talk it out to us when you feel like it, don't say anything when you don't feel like it. Take as long as you want. We will come in when you tell us"

Will gave a nod at her words as she took a few steps back. She then followed Jack, who motioned everyone to follow him outside the room and offer Will his much-needed space. However, it was not long before Rana realized that someone had not listened to Jack's orders.


Rana was busy listening to Will, along with Jack and some other agents. But she felt there was something odd going on. That was until she scanned the room and realized that someone was missing.

"Katz" she muttered; her head wiped to the direction of Elise's room.

Jack noticed her reaction and heard her words. Their annoyance seem to be of the same level, and she was the first to head upstairs. Her body was tense and there was a moment when her thoughts clouded, with only one thing in mind...Will.

Her boss and teacher followed right behind her. He was not sure why she reacted that way, something being off, ever since he brought Will into the case. However, at that moment he did not care. He knew how the said woman was and the last thing he wanted, was for someone to do anything with Will.

As they climbed up, Rana picked up pieces of conversation despite the distance she had yet to cover to reach the room of the girl. Something that Jack would never be able to hear but she was not him, was she?

"Never been an F.B.I. Agent?"

"Strict screening procedures"

"Detects instability. You unstable?"

Before Will could respond to the very direct question of Beverly Katz, the lead forensics of the team, Rana marched into the room. The door was practically forced open, banging on the wall from the strength used to push it.

"Agent Stones," Katz said, trying to sound as ignorant as possible and ignoring what had taken place just now.

It was known among the team about Rana's temper when it was triggered. There was also something unsettling about the muscled woman, who had aced all the tests while still being in the Academy. It did not help to be Jack's favourite or have quite a score at tackling, chasing, and capturing bad guys.

Rana had respect for the said woman, merely for being a woman in a field dominated by men. She had, also, proven to be very skilful and her help had played an important role in many of their cases. Yet, that did not seem to matter that much to her at that moment. For she had deliberately ignored orders but most specifically, was being too noisy about Will and his uniqueness.

Jack arrived soon after, equally displeased and annoys as Rana and Will. "You're not supposed to be in here." He told her with a warning tone, clear that she was testing his patience.

The woman, used to it by now, decided to focus on the matter at hand. "Found antler velvet in two of the wounds. Like she was gored. Was looking for velvet in the other wounds but I was interrupted" she explained, trying to show her side of this situation.

Before more could take place, another key member of the forensics team appeared in the room. His name was Brian Zeller, and along with Beverly Katz, they have often found important evidence in the years they had been assigned together to work for the FBI.

"Deer and elk pin their prey, put all their weight on the antlers and try to suffocate them. That's how they would kill a fox or a coyote" he explained subtly, making Rana glance at the dead girl again.

She was aware of that information about the said family of animals, but it still did not seem to fit very well into the conversation.

"Elise Nichols was strangled and suffocated. Ribs were broken." Jack informed him, based on what Will had figured out.

"It's not rutting season. Male deer aren't competing for female deer this time of year"

It was Rana's turn to interfere. "No, they don't. But anyone could have killed a deer in the past and have the antlers for display, or even bought them"

Jack looked her way. "Bought them?"

"Yes," the woman gave a nod with her head, hands once again behind her back. "I mean, antler velvet is rich in nutrients. It promotes healing and it is often used in many cultures and home remedies"

This made Will, who had retreated from the four of them and their conversation, become part of it. "He may have put it there on purpose" he added, once figuring out another piece of the puzzle, thanks to Rana's addition.

"You think he wanted to heal her?" Jack asked him, now even more confused about their killer.

"He was trying to undo as much as he could, given he already killed her"

Rana was the quickest to connect the dots. "That's why he put her back where he found her. Most likely, he kidnapped her from this very room if the theory stands"

Will gave a nod at her. "Whatever he did to the others, he couldn't do it to her"

This made Jack quiet for a moment, glancing at the dead girl in question. "Is this his Golden Ticket?"

"No. " Will corrected him, suddenly feeling a headache coming. "This is an apology" The last word was caught in his throat and hung in the air. He ran his hand over his forehead and took a deep breath. "Does anyone have any Aspirin?"


After the exhausting day and night, of travelling with a Jet and trying to find a serial killer that kidnapped teenage girls; Will had the chance to finally return to his humble home. On his way back, he found a dog just roaming in the middle of the road. After some tries and persuasion with corn dogs, the dogs came home with him.

William Graham was a lonely man who had a habit of gathering stray dogs. Already, he had his small pack in his house. All of the dogs, trained by him, are friendly and loyal. He had given them a safe place, a home, and a place of food. There was always something about dogs that drew his interest and his compassion.

He always felt as if he could relate to them, feel, and understand them to a degree he did not with humans. He did not have to try and avoid eye contact with them, and he was never too shy in talking to them when he felt like it. Finding them lonely, roaming the streets, always triggered something within him.

Something that urged him to take them home. To his surprise, the first few times, they followed him happily and he did not have to try hard to teach them, let alone keep them in a line. This was something he had not expected at the beginning, but as time passed, some things made more sense as to why that was possible for him.

At last, the new dog was clean and freshly cut. For his first night with the pack, Will had placed him in a comfy kennel until he got accustomed to everything, and the pack got accustomed to him. Speaking of the pack, the time had arrived for Will to introduce their latest member.

"Winston. This is everybody. Everybody. This is Winston" Will said to his 8 dogs that were watching the newcomer.

While the rest of the pack watched him, it was the supposed Alpha dog that took a step forward. He started to growl at Winston but in seconds, Will had interfered. With a 'Tch' sound, the dog was forced to look at him, only to be met with a sharp look of glowing yellow eyes.

Immediately, the dog took a step back and laid down obediently. "That's right," Will added as the gold in his iris faded away to his normal eye colour.

He then looked at Winston once last time, offering a small smile. If only that little dog could give him the information he was looking for...