Isabel was ready. She was going to break the last chain, the one around her mind. It was going to be the hardest one yet, she knew that much. And maybe she wouldn't manage to break it tonight, but if she only weakened it, that would be good with her. One thing at a time, right? She sat down on her couch, readying herself for the task before her. She cleared her mind of everything, searching for the feeling of those chains. Getting into this state of mind was as easy as breathing at this point. When she felt the chain around her mind, she reached up for it.
She stopped when she felt another chain starting to form.
She opened her eyes slowly, knowing that if she opened them too quickly, she'd be kicked out of this realm. She breathed slowly, forcing her heart rate to stay steady. She looked down at herself and saw the new chain wrapped around her stomach. It was fading in and out of perception, but she could tell that it was there. Her heart leapt into her throat, and like ripples on the water, her concentration was shattered. Both chains flickered out of perception, and Isabel went searching for something.
She hadn't read the diagnosis the doctor had given her. She hadn't even waited for him to explain it to her. Whatever it was, she knew she could take care of it on her own. But as she read over the diagnosis, her heart sank. She should have read this before she attempted to break the last chain. Now she may never be able to. She thought she had escaped hell, once and for all.
But as it turned out, the devil had laid one last claim on her.
********************
"Ciara? Are you going to be okay?" Akilah asked as they drove together to Quantico. Whenever they didn't have a case or the case was close to home, they always drove to the office together, just as they had in Before. When the rest of the team was away, she often rode with Garcia. Speaking of. Ciara looked back down at her new phone, seeing a message from the tech analyst that she had refused to open.
When she hadn't texted Garcia to tell her what the doctor said, she had reached out in concern. But she'd know soon enough. They all would. When the two women woke up, they'd tried to work out a game plan. They didn't know what to do with Ciara's diagnosis, but they knew they had to tell the team. As their superior, Akilah suggested that they tell Hotch first. Ciara had silently nodded, not wanting to speak on the issue.
Ciara was more than willing to let Akilah take the lead. She knew full well that there would come a point when Akilah would stop telling her how to proceed, and she dreaded that point. Having to make her own decision would mean coming to terms with what had happened. It would mean facing it and making it real. And, for now, she wanted to pretend that it wasn't. She wanted to pretend that her mind was making things up again. It was easier that way.
Hotch had agreed to meet them before anyone else had gotten there. He'd asked what the meeting was about, but Akilah had promised that they'd explain in full, but only when they were at Quantico and behind closed doors. After the call, Akilah had made them breakfast, but neither of them could eat much. They were both too shaken by the news Ciara had received. Not that Ciara could have eaten, even if she did have an appetite. Her entire focus was spent on not bursting into tears at any given moment.
Once the call was finished, they finished everything they needed to do and drove off. The whole drive, Ciara had sat silently, focusing solely on trying to forget what was going to happen. She was unsuccessful. Her every thought was dominated by her diagnosis and how to tell the team. That was what scared her the most. How could she tell the team when she couldn't even tell Akilah? When she'd made Akilah read the test results because she couldn't force the words past her tight throat?
"No," Ciara answered honestly. Akilah reached out to pat her shoulder, but Ciara shied away from her. She didn't want to be touched, not now. Not when her diagnosis had brought up so many memories she wished she could delete. Maybe she should finally invent mind bleach. How much better would she feel if she could just go through her mind and clean it of the memories she didn't want? Akilah sighed, putting her hand back on the wheel.
YOU ARE READING
Psychopathy
Fanfiction(A Criminal Minds Fanfic {Dr. Spencer Reid}) Book 2 in the "Psychosis" series. As long as the members of the BAU have known her, Ciara Byrne has kept a wealth of secrets- secrets that seemed to destroy her even as she held tightly onto them. After...
