❝ Some things scratch at the surface while others strike at your soul. ❞
𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 her whole life to catching the monsters in this world in hopes of fixing something that is broken inside of her.
Tha...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
" We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves."
— François de la Rochefoucauld
➴ ➴ ➴ ➴ ➴ ➴
15.1 ; THINGS PAST.
CAROLINE'S HEART POUNDED IN her chest as she walked through Quantico's doors. With her eyes focused on her feet, she did her best to block out the bustling noises of the building around her. Her attention remained solely on her feet and making sure they kept moving. Even when she stepped onto the elevator, she didn't glance up. Her fingers twitched as the elevator slowly made its ascent.
A sharp ding rang through her ears as the elevator doors slid open. She jumped at the sudden noise, her head snapping up. The agent who stood beside her gave her a side-eyed glance, but she ignored him as she took tentative steps out of the elevator. Hands clasped tightly in front of her, she stepped into the bullpen.
Don't look up, she told herself as she brisked through the office. She repeated those three words over and over in her head like a chant as she made her way to Hotch's office.
She knew if she were to pull her eyes from the floor for one second, the team would see that something was horribly wrong. When she had looked in the mirror this morning, she had cringed at the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her face. She had layered the concealer under her eyes and added blush to bring color to her face, but it had been pointless. No matter how much makeup she put on, the same empty look stared back at her through the mirror. It was cold and hard and didn't look like her at all. However, given how she spent the night before, she supposed her appearance could have been much worse.
Apparently, spending the night sitting in bed staring at a wall did not do wonders for her appearance. No matter what she did, sleep evaded her last night. Even the times she forced herself to lay her head down and close her eyes, the bright, painful images flashed behind her eyelids in vivid detail. Eventually, as the night rolled into dawn, she grew scared to even close her eyes.
The team would have questions if they saw her like this and she knew it. They would have questions she didn't want to answer. Questions she just wasn't ready to face.
She also knew that Spencer would be waiting for her and would want an explanation she didn't have for what happened. She couldn't stop the memory in her head.
❈ ❈ ❈
2:26 A.M.
They sat on the couch for thirty minutes, neither of them daring to say a word. Caroline was curled up in the corner of the couch with the letter clutched between her fingers. Spencer had tried to take it away from her and she had shut down, refusing to hand it over.
