𝓼𝓪𝓯𝓮 ➣ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝓽𝓮𝓷

Hotch went to talk to the kids that knew Bailey while Rossi and JJ went to their crime scene, Garcia, Morgan, Reid, and Mara making theirselves useful in the library where they were all set up.

Mara was reading through the personal files of the boys that were out in the trip while Reid and Morgan went to find some coffee. Garcia was typing away on her computer, still trying to set up a decent connection.

Mara couldn't help but feel eerily disturbed at the dark and cold room around them. Sometimes, she found old books beautiful and works of art but also creepy. They held years of usage from people that were probably now dead. There was only a single lamp in the back corner and the lights on the table but besides them, it was pretty much black.

"Boo!" Reid appeared in the doorway, a grin on his face as both Mara and Garcia jumped.

"Geez!" Garcia jumped, reaching for something to throw at him.

"I thought you were a ghost." Mara muttered, ready to punch him in the throat.

"You know, older buildings like this emit a low enough frequency that you can't consciously hear," Reid said, setting the coffees on the table. "Because the sensory overload can't be explained, it wreaks havoc with your emotions, inducing fear, panic, and dread, hence the feeling of being haunted."

"What about the vision?" Garcia asked as Mara's eyebrows furrowed. She wasn't he only one who'd seen a damn ghost.

"Oh, your eyes compensate for what your ears are missing." Reid shrugged, sitting down next to Mara.

"You'd think the laundry rooms would be closer to the dorms." Mara said after a few minutes of silence, Reid taking some of her files to read.

"It's not in the basement?" Reid asked her.

"It's the opposite side of campus." Mara answered.

"That's strange."

JJ and Rossi returned, telling the team what the gathered from the crime scenes. And that JJ had somehow gotten poison ivy.

"I never got to ask how Josh's parents are." Mara said, pulling the alcohol swabs from the first aid kid and swabbing it on her poison ivy.

"Upset," she answered. "They sent him here to keep him away from trouble. Tawes made it seem like these guys are the only family they have."

"You make it sound like a cult." Mara said.

"It kind of is." JJ shrugged.

"This is a well-respected institution," Strauss said from the doorway where she was listening. "They're not on trial."

"An integral part of the investigation is gonna be understanding what these victims lived every day," Reid replied to the woman, shocking everyone. "And with who."

"Bailey Shelton killed himself in Josh Redding's room." Reid read for the file.

"Was Josh in the room that night?" JJ asked.

"According to the records." Reid said, his voice strained because he knew someone was lying. 

Garcia started typing. "I will dig for dirt."

"You find anything in the woods?" Hotch asked as he walked in.

"Josh's tent was secluded," Rossi answered. "His things were left behind; he just took off.
Massey said he never got any respect from Josh."

"Josh's own parents said he was impossible to control." JJ added.

"His course load indicates increased isolation." Reid nodded.

"Isolated, smart, angry- that could be a budding psychopath." Mara said quietly, taking a sip of her coffee to try and keep herself awake.

"What are you saying?" Strauss asked. "Josh Redding killed his classmates?"

"Then he's not missing, he's on the run," Hotch said. "And he has been for a week."

"That's one hell of a head start." Rossi said.

While Hotch and Strauss talked to the Colonel about the possibility of Josh killing all of his classmates, Reid came back with the M.E.'s report. It was coming into two in the morning and Mara was struggling to keep herself awake.

"Bilateral fracture of the pars interarticular of the C2 vertebra." Reid read from the file.

"Uh-huh, what's that?" Garcia asked as Mara chuckled.

"Classic hangman's fracture, but only one of the five victims had it." Reid replied.

"Which one?" Mara asked.

"Tucker Calhoun." He answered.

"Who is this guy?" Mara shook her brad, rubbing her eyes. "The others suffered rotational fractures, hanging was secondary."

"Staging the crime scene." Rossi said, taking a seat at the table.

"Josh is more sophisticated than we thought." Reid replied.

"And vindictive," Rossi said, his eyes falling to the tired girl. "He wanted Tucker to suffer."

Mara yawned into her hand and met Rossi's eyes. "Someone's sleepy."

"Sleepy usually means you slept too long and your body wants more sleep," Reid suddenly said. "She's tired. Her body needs more sleep."

She picked up her coffee cup and raised it in the air. "Amen to that."