Philophobia

Twenty-Two; Always

June 14th, 2010
12:30 am
Liberty Ranch
La Palma County, Colorado

Hours passed, the sky turned dark, and still, Eliza was left alone. Desperate, she began separating the blades of the shade with her boot heel, hoping Morgan or Hotch was outside waiting to send a message. She was aiming to gain their attention, to show where she was hidden.

Assuming they had listening devices positioned at the windows she spoke, "if you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming." There was no response. "Come on Morgan," she whispered, turning to see if anyone was at the door. She took a breath and then began to repeat herself. "If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming." No response. "If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming." No response. "If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming." Again, no response. Eliza began to panic slightly but composed herself. "If you can hear me, I know you're coming. I can try to get the women and children down to the tunnel, but I need to know when you're coming. If you can hear me-" that's when she noticed a red dot on her boot.

She smiled, relieved, and took a breath. The dot moved from her boot to a blank space on the wall. Eliza turned her head, to confirm her suspicions. It was, in fact, a red laser. "Okay, okay. I've got you. What time? What time?" she asked rapidly. The dot flashed on the wall three times. "Three am?" The dot wiggled up and down like a head nodding yes. "Understood." She breathed, letting her head rest on the pillow for a moment before turning towards the window to be understood clearly. "Spencer is on the first floor somewhere with Cyrus. Make sure he's alright. And please remember, there are children here." She heard a noise outside the door. "Someone's coming," she said removing her boot from the window and resting her head to make it look as though she'd been lying there. The door opened and Kathy entered the room. She was holding a glass of water, so Eliza moved to a sitting position, hands still behind her back. Kathy held the water to Eliza's lips so she could sip the water, carefully pulling curly black hair out of her face in a motherly fashion. She looked at Kathy. "Cyrus is planning a mass suicide," she informed the mother figure. Her voice was hoarse from the lack of water and the talking. Kathy's mouth opened slightly in surprise, looked towards the window then back to Eliza. "You made the 9-1-1 call. You did what any good mother should do," Eliza said.

Kathy squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again revealing tears. "This is all my fault," Kathy told the younger woman. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't made that call."

"You were trying to protect your daughter," Eliza argued.

"There were other girls before Jessie. He...he would marry them in secret. Then after a while, he'd take another, and we weren't permitted to speak of it." Kathy looked towards the door, concerned someone might be listening and reveal her disloyalty. "When she asked for my consent, I wanted to just take her and run. But, I was afraid she wouldn't leave him."

"So you wanted us to take her," Eliza said slowly. She admired the lengths Kathy would go for her daughter, and was positive her mother would not do the same.

"Well, I--I wanted you to take her from Cyrus." Eliza looked at the desperate women, debating her options.

"I can give you another chance," she told Kathy in a hushed voice. "The FBI is coming here at three am. I need you to gather Jessie, the kids, the other women." Kathy began shaking her head.  She got up from her chair and moved away from Eliza. "Get them to the basement just before three am."