Peace Of Mind (Spencer Reid)

Chapter Five - DHMIS

      "What can you tell us about the kids?" Rossi asks. I sigh and look down at the pictures. Today marked day two of helping with this investigation, and we hadn't made many processes. It's not like I expected to have made a breakthrough by now... except I did. I thought that this would go much faster.

      "Well, Carmen was a good kid, they all were." I start. "She was an only child. Her parents are really kind. Um.. Shes been practicing Guitar for an state concert. I've been tutoring her in math. Otherwise she was a really smart kid."

      "You tutored her?" Morgan asks. I nod. "Did you tutor the others?"

     "Only her. I watched her when her parents visited her grandmother upstate." I reply. "Now Kaleb, he was kind of a loner.

 Took a lot of pictures on his walks. Only had a few friends." I say.

             "One of which was Nick. He was outgoing. Top in his art class." I continue. "Thats about all I know about the boys. Carmen I can tell you more about, but..." I trail off. Hotch nods.

      "Are all the kids here so creative?" JJ asks. That one word. That one little word. Creative. It sends my mind spinning in all different directions. My entire body stops moving as my mind shoots forward. Or.... well... Back. Remembering exactly what I was trying to remember earlier.
     "OH!" I exclaim, startling everyone. I shoot up out of my chair, and dart for the whiteboards they have things pinned on. I grab the photos of the words carved on the kids stomachs, and I arrange them on the only blank whiteboard.

     'DON'T ______ ME I'M _______'

      I quickly fill in the blanks.

     'DON'T HUG ME I'M SCARED'

      I grab the photos of the symbols found at the body sites and place them in order of appearance. Sure enough, they matched up with the order the bodies came. I scanned the other pictures, but they didn't look like they had many relations to it.

      "Claire!" Someone puts their hand on my shoulder, and I spin around, surprised by the sudden noise. JJ is the one who had grabbed me, and everyone else was staring at me. The only person not looking at me strangely was Spencer.

      "What?" I ask. Morgan's eyebrows furrow.

      "We were calling your name for almost two minutes." He says.

      "Oh...." I trail off.

      "I tried explaining your little mind thing." Spencer says. "But they didn't listen very well." I roll my eyes.

      "Or you don't explain very well." I mutter.

     "Don't hug me I'm scared?" I turn to Hotch, who is looking at the whiteboard. I nod quickly.

     "The killer had the words out of order. Its a title, and he kept the words that would give it away for last." I explain. "Which was very smart on their part. But the symbols, they go in order of which they appear. Which means that they're about to get a lot worse."

     "What's it a title for?" Rossi asks. This time, it's my turn to look at them in surprise.

      "Seriously?" I ask, looking at them. "None of you have seen it?" I sigh when all I get is blank looks. "It's a youtube video. It went viral really, really fast. And It's..." I trail off. "Disturbing. To say the least." I slide into a chair in front of the laptop they have on the table and pull up the video. (Video up top)

      "It looks like a kids show." Prentiss comments when the video starts. I give a small laugh.

      "I wouldn't let a kid watch this to save my life." I say. It's a minute and a half in when we see the first symbol. I pause the video, and I see Reid grab the photo and hold it up.

      "It's the same thing." He murmurs. He grabs the other pictures before I start the video again. Twenty seconds later, the next symbol shows up.

      "The sticks..." I comment, taking the picture and holding it up. Sure enough, on-screen were sticks that spelt out the word                'GREEN' with an X over them.

      "That means..." JJ trails off, looking at the glitter-covered heart. I nod sadly. I start it again, and I watch the team's reactions as the video takes a dark turn. When the video finally ends, I turn to see a few disgusted faces.

      "It fits." Is all Hotch says. "Morgan, get Garcia to see how many people from this town have watched that video." Hotch says. Morgan nods once and pulls his phone out, hitting a speed dial.

      "Hey baby girl." He says, putting it on speaker.

      "What information do you seek today from the all-knowing?" It's the girl from the phone yesterday.

     "We need to know how many people from this town have watched a youtube video called 'Don't hug me I'm scared'. Particularly if they are on the list from before." I suddenly got an idea.

      "Garcia," I say, mimicking Reid's voice. It was something that annoyed the crap out of him because I could do it so well. "Did you get any more information on Claire?"

      "Hey boy genius!" She greets. Everyone had looked at Spencer in surprise, but we're even more shocked when they saw that it was me. "Actually, I found out some stuff about her. But I'm sure you already know." I raise my eyebrows in achievement, looking at the team expectantly.

      "You people are super nosy. I had my suspicions about you looking me up, but really?" A few of them looked guilty, but others remained emotionless. Spencer looked as shocked as I was.

      "You asked me while she was in the room?" Garcia asks.

      "No, I asked you." I explain. "In college, I had a knack for making weird voices, so I learned how to mimic Reid's. It annoyed the crap out of him, so I kept the talent." There is quiet on the other line.

      "Wow. You're good." Garcia comments. "Guys, can we keep this one? I like her. She has all the requirements." I let out a laugh, knowing that it would never happen. "Alright, back on topic. I pulled up the names from the town that have seen it, and there is a lot of them. On the list from before, we have about seven, unless you count the ones that have kids that may have seen it and showed them, then we have Eleven." She says quickly. "I sent you the updated list, and I will keep looking. Garcia out." The phone clicks, signalling that she hung up, and I look at the team expectantly.

      None of them says anything, and I cock my head to the side, acting like I heard something. "Oh... what was that? Oh... You know, I completely agree with you guys. You are all nosy FBI agents who feel the need to dig into people's lives. Honestly." I scoff. "If you wanted to know about my past personal life, you should've just asked Reid over here. Oh... unless you felt, oh, I don't know, guilty about prying?" I roll my eyes and stand up. "You guys are freaking ridiculous." I mutter. I grab my shoulder bag. "I need some air. I'll be back."