Chapter Six

19/04/2020 16:16 hours. An unidentified house in Salem, Virginia.

Gravel crunched beneath the tyres as the van pulled up on a driveway and came to a halt. Mel shoved open the passenger door and slid down from the seat, glancing around, her pink locks drifting into her eyes and clinging to her lashes in the breeze. They had chosen a perfect area with little traffic or footfall. The surrounding houses were devoid of any vehicles or people, which made it ideal for Mel and James to bring their prisoner. Mel closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through her nose, relishing in the crisp air around her. The house they had chosen was quaint. It had two floors with spacious rooms and a roomy basement. James had already prepared the basement for Spencer's arrival. Mel turned on her heel at the sound of James' boots against the driveway. He tugged open the rear doors of the van and clambered inside. Spencer had barely regained consciousness when the brakes were released on the wheelchair and he felt himself being lifted out of the van. His ribs and leg protested loudly as the wheels collided with the driveway, forcing a groan out into the tape over his mouth.

James guided the wheelchair into the house through the sparsely decorated hallway to the large kitchen. A dark wooden door was situated just inside the main kitchen doorway. James wrenched the door open and pushed the wheelchair through it. He turned the chair around and began to walk backwards down the wooden stairs, taking each step carefully and dragging the wheelchair down with him. The wheels bounced against each step. Spencer's muffled moans became louder, his fingers clenching the arms of the wheelchair tightly with each bump sending jolts of pain through his leg and chest. Spencer was relieved when the wheelchair finally stopped moving. James slid a penknife out of his jacket pocket and flicked the blade out. He pressed the razor-sharp edge of the blade to Spencer's throat. Spencer swallowed anxiously, his Adam's apple brushing against the knife.

"I'm going to cut these ties off you, and I'm going to help you onto the bed. If you hit or kick me in any way, this knife will go straight into your balls. Understood?" snarled James, his mouth close enough to Spencer's ear that the genius could feel his hot, wet breath. Spencer nodded stiffly.

James made quick work of the zip ties binding Spencer to the wheelchair and grasped him underneath the shoulder, forcing him up onto his feet. Spencer could only limp along with him, hands blindly trying to seek purchase on any surface. His fingers crept towards the blindfold as he was shoved harshly down onto a hard mattress. His hands were roughly slapped away.

"Leave the gag and blindfold alone, or I'll start chopping your fingers off. Gown off." Spencer trembled as he reached for the ties at the back of the hospital gown and pulled them loose. The itchy fabric fell away from his shoulders and slid down his arms. He felt exposed and ashamed of his naked form and tried to cover his modesty with his hands.

"Get in the middle of the bed and lie down." Spencer shuffled back into the centre of the bed. His broken leg felt heavy and throbbed with each movement. He lay back, the knot of the blindfold pressing into the back of his head.

"The warning still stands. You're going to let me tie you back up, or you can kiss goodbye to your future spawn." Spencer could only nod and turn his face away as James wrenched his left arm up and bound his wrist to the wrought iron headboard with a new zip tie, pulling it tightly and harshly. His right hand was pulled up and bound to the other side of the headboard. His gangly legs were spread out, and zip ties bound around each ankle, with another fed through and tied around the bottom of the bed frame. James tightened each of the ties to ensure they were as painful as possible. Spencer shook his head to try and dislodge the blindfold, his curses trapped behind his gag. James threw the blanket over Spencer's waist to offer him a pathetic attempt at dignity. Spencer stilled when the blade traced over his throat once again. The mattress dipped beside him slightly.

"You will give Aly what she wants when she wants it. If you so much as upset her, I'll make you wish you were never born. Is that understood?" Spencer did not react in any way. The blade pressed harder into his neck, blood beading up against the edge. "I asked you a question. Do you understand?" Spencer nodded, unable to prevent his tears from rolling down his face from beneath the blindfold. "Good boy." James smirked, patting Spencer on the cheek patronisingly.

It dawned on Spencer there and then that James was going to be far more sadistic than Mel. He had not encountered James a great deal in the storage unit. There was also something else underlying in James' behaviour, something that exceeded a typical sibling relationship. It chilled Spencer deeply to the core and made his blood run cold. He pulled against the zip ties, but they were too tight and cutting deeply into his flesh. He listened intently at the sound of shuffling to his left. He heard the sound of a box popping open, the plastic latches snapping back on themselves. Spencer felt a leather material brush across the front of his neck and swallowed hard.

"You need a little help following the rules. This should keep you in line." Two metal prongs pressed into the flesh of his throat from a heavy black box. A shock collar.

"Lift your head," demanded James gruffly. Spencer compliantly lifted his head from the pillow as much as was able to allow James to buckle the collar tightly around his neck and secure it with a padlock. James whistled for his sister. Mel appeared at the door at the top of the stairs and glanced down at the bound, gagged, and blindfolded genius. He looked perfect. She relished in seeing every ripple of muscle, every dimple as he laid stretched out before her. His bare chest rapidly rose and fell, limbs pulling at the bonds.

"I wanna see his eyes, Jimbo," purred Mel as she sauntered down the steps towards her hostage.

James roughly tugged the blindfold up over Spencer's head. Spencer blinked several times to readjust his swimming vision to the dim light of the room. It was just like the room in his nightmares. Spencer glared at the pair, his fear turning to rage. The anger swept up from his toes and seeped into his brain. He was not permitted to speak with the tape sealing his lips shut, but he was damned if he was not going to try, so he yelled and swore into the gag. He knew that his words were completely incoherent, but he had to get them out of his system. His face flushed crimson in fury, arms pulling harder at the zip ties. James slipped a black remote from his jacket pocket and jabbed his thumb harshly into the button. Spencer's eyes squeezed shut, and a muffled scream tore from the depths of his throat at the surge of electricity through every nerve and synapse, sending every muscle into spasm. His skin beaded with a cold sweat. He panted heavily as the shock subsided, leaving behind a lingering tingling in his fingers and toes. James leaned in close to Spencer's ear.

"Did that tickle, doctor?" Spencer's eyes flew open and stared dangerously at James. He threw his head forward, successfully connecting with James' jaw. James took a surprised step back and wiped his fingertips across his bottom lip with a smirk on his face. A cut graced the side of his lip.

"You've got some balls, shithead. I'll give you that. But you'll soon learn that Aly is a pussycat compared to me. For that, I'll gladly show you." James flicked out his knife once again and held the blade to Spencer's left nipple. Spencer jerked his torso away from the man as much as he could. James' eyes glinted as he firmly grasped Spencer's throat with one hand, pushing him further down into the mattress and pressing the collar harder into his flesh. Spencer bucked, desperate to try and gain his breath back. James drove the blade down into the genius' left thigh. Spencer let out a choked cry.

Mel pried James away from Spencer by his upper arms and sent him for the first aid kit from the first floor bathroom. James pounded his way up the basement stairs in anger. Spencer was visibly shaking, tears streaming down his face. Mel clambered onto the bed and gently cupped Spencer's face in her hands. His breath hitched, desperately trying to hold back the sobs that were trying to break free.

"I'm sorry, Spence. I really didn't want to have to hurt you. I just wanted to have you again. You know how much I love you." Spencer peeled open his bloodshot eyes and hiccupped. Mel swept the tears away from his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Your team will know you're missing by now. I should let them know that you're safe. Can't have Rossi having a heart attack now, can we?" Spencer shook his head. Mel lay herself down beside the doctor and pulled out her cell phone. She opened the front facing camera and held it up. She snapped a picture and smiled.

"You're going to make your eyes all red and puffy. Why don't you have yourself a little nap? I'll bring you some food a little later." Mel sat up straight when she did not get a response.

Spencer's eyes were flickering back and forth, eyelids twitching. She noticed the blood crawling out of his nose and across his cheek, mingling with his tears. His huffs were muffled, and his hands had become tightly fisted, skin turning purple beneath the zip ties. Mel climbed off the bed and watched, hand clasped over her mouth in horror as Spencer convulsed violently, the bed thudding against the concrete floor with the force of the seizure. She turned her head slightly, a lock of pink hair falling over her face at the sight of James bounding back down the stairs at the noise. Mel handed the vial of Ativan and the syringe to James, unable to steady her trembling hands enough to draw up the injection. James hesitated slightly, then drew his lips into a thin line and filled the syringe. Spencer's jerking made it difficult to get close to him. Only the whites of the genius' eyes were visible, his neck contorted painfully, and his hollow throat exposed. Spencer's nose was gushing with blood and continued to fill with more. James poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth and steadied the needle over Spencer's protruding jugular. He quickly jabbed the needle in and pressed down on the plunger. Within minutes, the medicine got to work, and the convulsions slowed. Blood soaked the pillow under Spencer's head. More blood trailed down Spencer's arms from under his bonds. Spencer's eyes drifted shut, and his head tilted to the side, consciousness slipping away from him.

19/04/2020 17:13 hours. Bethesda Hospital, Virginia.

David had taken great pleasure in interviewing the security guard, and the usually calm and collected man wasted no time in tearing into the guard until he left the room a quivering mess. Emily sighed as she paced Spencer's hospital room. She knew David was blaming himself for Spencer's abduction. She could not help but want to throttle the genius herself for keeping it to himself. Too many times, he kept secrets and tried to solve his own issues. But it never panned out well for him. Emily began to deeply consider forcing Spencer into retirement or a full-time teaching position. They could not do this any longer. Her and David were not getting any younger. David was in his seventies. Spencer could not keep going through trauma after trauma. It pained Emily greatly to have to consider letting her friend go, but it was clearly becoming more of a necessity. Her cell pinged, and she tugged it out of her jeans pocket and opened it.

Garcia: Mel can be seen getting into the elevator with Reid, but then the power goes out. There's nothing more seen until they exit the elevator. The only visual I have on Reid is from behind, and all I can see is that his hands are bound to the arms of the wheelchair. The cameras didn't pick up a vehicle when they exited the elevator.

Prentiss: Good work, PG. Keep looking for anything. I want you to search for properties and vehicles anywhere in Virginia that may be linked to Mel, Alyssa, her brother, or her parents.

Garcia: Understood. Emily? I'm scared for Reid.

Prentiss: Me too.

Just as Emily went to return her phone to her pocket, it pinged once again, this time from a withheld number. She narrowed her eyes and knitted her brow at the message on her screen.

Spence is okay. For now.

Emily felt her heart stop at the image that slowly came into focus. It was Mel lying on a bed next to Spencer. His arms were stretched up above his head and out to the sides slightly. A long strip of black tape was so firmly pressed over his mouth that Emily could almost visibly trace the shape of his lips beneath it. His eyes were bloodshot and ringed with red. His chestnut curls were dishevelled. His cheeks were blotchy with tears. Most disturbing was the leather shock collar around his neck that was digging harshly into his flesh. Emily could feel the fear exuding from the genius through her phone screen. She could only hope that Mel had slipped up when she took the photo.