Psychopathy

Chapter 60- Reunions

It had been a long few days, with everyone visiting Isabel. She'd been surprised by how many people remembered her; how many people wanted to see her again. But still, it was tiring. Always someone new, always someone wanting to talk to her, and worse, apologize to her. As if what had happened to her in hell was their fault. Isabel would be glad when it was all over, that much was for sure. But, until then, she would force a smile onto her face and try to act grateful.

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Akilah had yet to come back with the books, and Ciara was getting antsy. She didn't care so much about the clothes- she wasn't even sure they would fit her anymore. She vaguely remembered that she had always gotten T-shirts that were two sizes too big. She liked the bagginess. Only her work clothes had been the proper size. But now? How big would those shirts look on her now? And her leggings, which had also been bought to size, would also probably no longer fit. Maybe the shirts would be big enough that she could get away with only wearing them for the time being.

But it was the books that she really wanted. She'd meant it when she said that she didn't remember any of them. She didn't know how many she had, or what any of their plots were. Maybe once she saw them, she'd remember. But part of her hoped that she didn't. How many people got the chance to read a book for the first time again? If they were on her bookshelf, then she had loved them. She didn't keep books she didn't like- finished them, yes, but didn't keep them. And now she got to fall in love with them all over again.

When it came to books, she only had one disappointment. She couldn't remember her own books. The ones she had written. She remembered that there were five of them, and she could remember their titles. Abducted, Natalya, Forever Mine, Never Yours, and the one she had published at the very end of Before, Dear Sister, a historical fiction set during the Salem witch trials. She only remembered that detail because it had been the last one written.

She wasn't even sure she'd told her friends about that one. Then again, she wasn't sure it had ever actually gone to print. She'd been working on Avery at the time, and when she'd lost inspiration for that, she'd worked on Dear Sister. It was nothing more than a pet project, really, but it took shape when Avery didn't. Her publisher and agent loved it, but right before it was set to be released, Before had turned into Halsey. She wondered if they had released it. Ciara had sent them instructions on what to do with it in either case.

But she couldn't remember her own works. Something deep in her had broken when she had realized it. But maybe it was a blessing in disguise. She could read her own books with the eyes of a reader, not a writer. And maybe, just maybe, she could see just what it was that made her books so popular. She could actually see why people had fallen in love with them. How many authors had that opportunity? But still, reading would be a way to pass the time, and she needed that.

Maybe it wouldn't be that hard to pass the time. Teresa had said that the rest of the BAU was coming to visit her that day, with some surprise visitors on the way. She wasn't sure how she felt about the surprise, but Teresa hadn't taken no for an answer. She had changed the subject by asking if Reid could come in and see her. Teresa said he wanted to apologize, but Ciara had shut the idea down. She didn't want to see him, for reasons that she wasn't sure she could properly explain.

She knew she was being too harsh, that her freakout hadn't been warranted at all. But she had figured that they would know. They would understand why food was such a trigger for her. Now, the bed, that wasn't so much of a trigger. For all of Halsey, she had spent her entire time sleeping on the floor. She'd gotten used to it. So used to it, in fact, that the bed made her so uncomfortable that she couldn't sleep. That was all there was to that.