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"I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall"
Episode: Omnivore (Season 4, Episode 18)
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The Boston Reaper.
That name had been haunting Bella for the past 14 years. Growing up she read about some of the most notorious serial killers, studying their signatures and their M.O. She would watch documentaries about Ted Bundy and how he used to lure trusting women into his car. She read articles about John Wayne Gacy and how he buried 26 bodies in his crawl space. At the age of 12, she was staying up until 4 in the morning reading true crime books about The Zodiac Killer. None of it bothered her, none of it kept her up at night. She grew desensitized to it.
But The Boston Reaper kept Bella up at night. She first learned about him when she was only 9 years old, hearing about him on the news while she ate pancakes at the breakfast table. Her mother hurried to turn the channel to something child friendly, but Bella had already heard enough. She knew that this man was dangerous and he was only 6 hours away. Reading about serial killers in the 70s and 80s didn't scare her, because she knew that they were all either dead or in jail. But there was now an operating serial killer closeby, that made the young girl terrified to even walk outside.
Something about him always tormented Bella. She didn't know whether that was the fact that he killed 20 people or the fact that he completely vanished. She knew that it was both of these things combined. Who was The Boston Reaper? Where did he go?
Tossing and turning in bed, Bella's forehead beaded with sweat. She was trapped in a horrific nightmare, seeing The Boston Reaper kill someone right in front of her. She attempted to draw her gun but it was missing, she attempted to call out for someone but she didn't have a voice. The Boston Reaper slowly turned around and started to walk towards her. But when she turned to run, she couldn't at all. The Reaper inched closer and closer before he was finally about to grab her...
"No!" Bella cried out, quickly snapping out of the dream and sitting up in bed. She was drenched in sweat and her heart was pounding as she attempted to catch her breath.
"What?" Spencer asked, his voice groggy. He quickly reached over to his nightstand and turned on his lamp. "Bella, what's wrong?"
Bella shook her head as Spencer reached out, rubbing her back. She buried her face in her hands and tried to calm herself down enough to speak. She wiped away the sweat on her lip and looked over at the clock on the nightstand, it reading 2:18 a.m. She had to be at work in less than 5 hours.
"It was just a bad dream," she whispered. "I-I've had it ever since I was little."
"What happens in it?" Spencer asked softly.
Bella sighed, "Do you remember The Boston Reaper? He operated from 1995 to 1998...he killed 20 people."
Spencer nodded, "Yeah, I remember him well. There's only ever been one survivor. Hotch worked that case, eventually, The Reaper just disappeared. I think it eats at Hotch to this day."
