Escaping to the Genius

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I'm Agent Jareau, we spoke on the phone. These are Agents Rossi and Prentiss, and Dr. Reid."

The police chief looked at the sixteen-year-old girl and narrowed his eyes. "Why does the FBI have a girl with them?"

Rossi said, "She's an agent in training, Sheriff, and right now she's the best bet we've got to making Elli talk."

Then he nodded for them to go set up, so Spencer led Celeste over to a back room and they put their bags down. "Do you want me to stay here for now?"

"No. It's best if we can talk to Elli immediately. Do you mind going in alone? We can't monitor her without making her distrust us even more."

She nodded. "I'll be fine. Elli looks harmless."

He nodded. "Then go ahead, and come find me if you need anything."

She walked out and easily found the last room on the right, in which sat a young woman Celeste instantly recognized as Elli Richards.

Knocking softly on the door as she opened it, Celeste walked a few steps in. Elli had her head bowed and eyes closed; she was trying to rest without sleeping. Celeste knew the posture because she had done it before.

"Miss Richards?"

"I'm not talking to another officer," she said quietly. Celeste closed the door back and sat down across from her.

"My name is Celeste. I'm not an officer; just a girl." Elli looked up, surprised to see that Celeste was even younger than her.

"Then why are you here?"

"I'm here because my uncle is a FBI agent, and I heard you were having a rough time. I'm sorry to say I know what it's like."

She suddenly got angry. "You have no idea what it's like, to be fighting and fighting, but he just holds you down! Rips you apart and leaves you there!"

"I do," Celeste said softly, now keeping her eyes on the table. "I do know what it's like. It's happened to me before, Elli."

Elli calmed down immediately and became sympathetic. She was only sixteen! "Oh, Celeste."

"But my uncle, he was always there for me."

"Always?" Elli echoed breathlessly. "What do you mean, always?"

Celeste smiled a bit and looked up. "You thought having a stranger do this to you once was terrible-try living with the man."

"You mean...sex slaves?" she guessed.

Celeste shook her head. "No. He was my father."

Tears came to Elli's eyes and she almost reached out to Celeste, then hastily withdrew. Celeste knew why. She was afraid to touch anyone again, afraid that they would remind her of him.

"I didn't come here to make you feel bad, or to minimize your situation, Elli. But you wouldn't talk to anyone, and I know what it's like to feel alone. Thankfully I have my uncle. I'd call him whenever I was scared, or needed to talk. It would calm me down. And actually, he's the reason I'm out, not with my dad anymore. Do you have anyone like that?"

She nodded slowly. "M-my fiancé."

Celeste smiled. "Do you want me to go get him for you? You could talk it out with him. Trust me; it helps." Not that she really knew; she hardly spoke to him about it.

"Not right now." She shook her head. "But your uncle; maybe-maybe I could talk to him."

"Do you want to be alone, or would you like me here?" she asked. It was just a formality; no woman in her right mind would want to be alone with a man after that.

"I don't want to be alone."

Celeste nodded with a smile. "I'll go get him."

She walked out, going back to where she had last seen Spencer. "Hey, Uncle Spencer, Elli wants to talk to you."

Everyone in the station, that heard her anyway, looked up in surprise. Elli was asking to talk to someone, a man no less. Spencer nodded and followed her back.

Before they walked in, Celeste stopped him. "Before you see her, I have to tell you something."

"Alright. What's up?"

She said quietly, so no one heard, "Don't freak out, okay? We can talk about this later, but you need to know before you talk to her." He started to get worried, and pulled her away from people.

"Celeste? Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Those nights that I would call you crying?" He nodded; it happened at least once a week, and he felt so bad for her when she called. "I had made Brent angry those days. He knew it was punishment, so when I made him angry, he would..." she choked and just tried to gesture. Spencer didn't get it. "Like Elli." She couldn't say it.

Finally it clicked, and the furious rage she saw on his face almost made her flinch. But he listened to her and simply acknowledged that she had used that as an empathic way to get to Elli.

"I told her you were the reason I could hold on, which is why she wants to see you."

He wiped his hand down his face, leaving red marks around his eyes and on his nose as he fought back angry tears. "Brent...I never thought he could do these things to you, Celeste. If I had known..." and it suddenly made sense why she didn't want to get close to other men.

"You didn't, because I didn't tell you. But that's not what matters. I'm fine; Elli needs help."

She wasn't fine; she was traumatized. Both of them knew that, but because of Elli, they just put off talking.

Spencer opened the door and Elli stiffened. "Hi, Elli."