Winnie

Double Check

Spencer spent the rest of the day at his apartment, rerunning the events through his head.

Tobias Hankle, he was real. Reid knew that. The beatings, those were real. He had the scars and bruises to prove it. Dilaudid, that was real. He had more bottles of it too. But that girl... was she real? Or had she merely been a figment of his imagination? Like Hotch said, the human brain can make up characters to help your body cope when in duress. 

Eventually, Reid couldn't take it anymore. He had to know, to check himself. So he grabbed his jacket and headed back to the crime scene. The thought of being there made him sick, but he had to be sure. His hands shook slightly, so he shoved them in his pockets. When he got to his car he had already changed his mind several times on weather or not he should actually go. Nevertheless, the car started and down the road he went.

This was crazy, Reid thought to himself. Driving to Georgia would take over nine hours. He didn't fly. The others would find out if he took a flight. So down the highway he went, going well over the limit. 

By the time he had arrived the night had come and gone. The only time Spencer stopped was when he needed a sugary coffee to keep his eyes open. The house looked the same as they left it. Junk cluttered in and around the house. Spencer had decided on the way there that he would look around the house first, then go to the graveyard after. The first time he was there he had barely gotten a glance inside, but now he could scavenge through everything. 

He started with Tobias' journals. They were written in two separate points of view; Tobias and his father, Charles. Once Reid had read every one twice, he moved on to a different part of the house. 

This is the room where Spencer saw her. When he had first gone round the house with JJ, he caught a glimpse of Tobias arguing with himself and a girl tied up in the corner. He had called out to JJ but she didn't hear. She was preoccupied in the barn. Tobias saw him. He grabbed the girl and ran out the back door and into the fields. Spencer drew his gun and chased after them. Every so often he caught another glimpse at the girl being dragged along by Tobias. 

Spencer remembered every detail of that night. And yet, no one at the BAU seemed to believe him when he said he saw that girl. 

He drew pictures of her. He could never forget her face even if he tried so he drew her. Penelope checked all missing people in Georgia from the past year and a half, which was even before Tobias had killed his father. Spencer looked at every face and didn't find a match. So Penelope widened the search to the surrounding states but it still came up empty. 

Reid couldn't just leave it alone. He knew what he saw. When he was tied up to that chair he saw the only picture frame and whose face was in it. He also saw Tobias leave with it when he went to murder the young couple Reid couldn't save.

Reid looked around the room. The computers were the only thing missing. The police must have taken them. He walked around, examining each book shelf. Sometimes pulling out a book if it looked out of place. 

Spencer sighed as he finished looking through the last book shelf. There must be something he missed. So he walked back across the room to start again.

Creak. 

Spencer backed up. He carefully replaced his foot on the wooden floor then shifted his weight. 

Creak. 

Spencer quickly got down on his hands and knees hoping he had just found a clue. He placed his hands on the one creaking board and slowly lifted it. Under the board was a little hole in the floor. And in the hole was a very worn-out looking journal and the framed picture of the girl. After staring at the picture, thankful that she was real, Spencer opened to the first page of the journal. 

April 13, 2004

That date was before Tobias had killed his father. Before his split personality emerged. Spencer scanned the page quickly. Soon he had finished the entry, which to his horror was signed,

Raphael. 

Spencer read on and discovered that Raphael was a personality that Tobias had had for quite a while. Raphael had not always been murderous but when Tobias took Charles' personality as well, it changed him. Spencer continued looking for any sign of the girl he had seen. Soon he found an entry that gave him what he was looking for. 

September 9, 2004 

Reid read through then went back to the part that struck him.

I found an angel today. Fallen from the heavens, this angel has sinned against God and against heaven, but to kill a sister would be as sinful as falling myself.

Reid skipped to the end.

So I shall keep this angel until The Messiah returns, so that He would do what He will.

Reid shivered. This entry was from 2004, over two years ago. He kept reading to try and find a clue about where she might be. 

The heart of Jesus. 

Reid had read The Fault in Our Stars, but could the ramblings of an angel really be lines from a romance novel? 

The heart of Jesus. 

This line had been repeated several times throughout the journal. Spencer just couldn't get Hazel Grace out of his head. She had been in 'the literal heart of Jesus' every week she went to support group. Spencer shook the thoughts and continued reading. 

The bells rung.

Almost every entry had this line. Soon Reid decided that this journal was written while in a church. So assuming that would mean that the heart of Jesus was probably in the church as well. Reid held the journal tightly as he ran to his car. He remembered passing a church on his way here. Driving back down the way he'd came. Soon coming to an old baptist church. He could see, high in the tower were church bells. 

Reid got out of his car and raced to the front door, his heart pounding. He was so close. 

The doors were locked. He banged on the doors but no one answered. 

I guess no one's home, he thought. He figured no one being inside was a good thing, because that would mean no one's around to hear him break in. 

Crash. He broke a window and climbed inside. He looked around everywhere and still no sign of the girl, whose face he memorized. Spencer was feeling awfully discouraged. She had to be real. The thought of himself going down the same path as his mother was overwhelming. Tears welled up in his eyes. 

She had to be real. 

He took out Raphael's journal and went over it for what felt like the thousandth time.

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19. Reid thought about that for a while. Why he decided to ponder proverbs was unbeknownst to him. 

He sat on the back stairs of the church, facing the empty parking lot. His tired eyes looked across the lot. He soon found his gaze landed on a puddle a little ways away from him. He stared at it. It reflected the horizon in front of him, only upside down. Spencer stared at it some more. There was a square in the reflection of the puddle. Small and made out of red brick, the puddle reflected this square. Almost like a chimney. 

Of course! It was a chimney. 

Reid looked up, further in the distance was a house. He would have overlooked it if it weren't for the puddle. Spencer got in his car and drove toward the house. 

It looked old and abandoned. On the side in bright orange spray paint read the word, "DEMO" with a big X under it. All the windows were boarded up, but it didn't make a difference. The house was falling apart anyway. Reid managed to break off a piece of wood over the window. The glass behind it had already been shattered. He climbed inside.