Psychopathy

Chapter 2- Somebody's Been Watching

Isabel was alone once again. She wasn't sure what was worse- being with that man or being utterly alone. When he was there, there was nothing but pain in store for Isabel- but at least she wasn't completely by herself. Now that she was isolated with nothing to keep her company but the darkness and the cold, she almost wished he'd come back, just so she wouldn't be so alone anymore. But that, of course, was what he wanted. He wanted to torture her with isolation. He knew that if he kept her alone for long enough, she'd eventually give in and do what he asked, just so the isolation would cease. And damn it all, it was working.

Isabel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wrapping her arms around herself in the best self-hug she could. At least all of her senses were still working- she still had that going for her. Distantly, she began to wonder if anyone on her team had even noticed she was gone yet. She wondered if anyone was missing her, or if anyone would even look for her.

As she thought, she felt a presence form beside her, and she wondered if it was the man. But when she opened her eyes, she saw it wasn't him, but the redhead. How did she...? The redhead started to laugh, and Isabel's heart fell. She wasn't there to liberate her. She was there to torture her. Had she been in cahoots with the man the whole time, or did she just sense Isabel's weakness and decide to exploit it? She put her hand under Isabel's chin, raising it until they locked eyes.

"Oh, Isabel, you silly girl," she said with a clack of her tongue. "Nobody's coming for you."

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Reid stood at the front of the round table room, waiting for the rest of the team to show up. Hotch stood next to him, while Morgan and Akilah were sitting at the round table- on opposite sides though, probably to deflect suspicion, if he had to guess. As soon as the three of them had explained to Hotch what was going on, he had sent all of them to the round table room, saying he'd call the team together. Reid had asked how much he'd tell them- just that it was an emergency and they'd get the details when they arrived, Hotch had said.

"Reid?" Reid was broken out of his thoughts by JJ's voice, and he turned to where she had just walked through the door. "Spence, have you been crying? What's going on? Did something happen to your mom?"

"No, this isn't about my mom."

"Then what-?"

"We'll explain everything when everyone is here," Hotch stepped in, and JJ nodded, before taking a seat next to Akilah. As the rest of the team started to slowly drift in, Reid tried to calm himself down. Everything was going to be okay. They were the best at what they did. If anyone could find her, it was the people that were slowly gathering in that room. But still, he couldn't stop thinking about Ciara- what was happening to her right at that moment? Was she scared? Was she alone? Was she in pain?

Or worse, what if she's not feeling anything at all? What if while we're waiting for everyone to get here, somebody out there is disposing of her? What if, while we're here, her body is being tossed in a dumpster, or being buried in a shallow grave, or being thrown into a river?

"What's going on? What's the emergency?" Thankfully, Garcia's concerned voice pulled him out of his mind before he could work himself into even more of a frenzy. He was already panicking- he didn't need to make it any worse by thinking about if Ciara was dead or alive.

"Now that everyone's here-" Hotch started, but before he could continue, Prentiss spoke up.

"No, we're not. Where's Ciara?"

"That's why we're here." One might have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed Hotch's words. Reid watched as Prentiss and JJ's faces both dropped into shock as they processed what they had just been told, while Rossi already looked ready for action, and Garcia looked just about ready to cry at any moment.