𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 - 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃

𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

Forklea, or as Esther was calling it - Sleepyhollow, had seemed to calm down on the murder front; four days had passed since Michael Prices' murder and the attacker hadn't hunted since.

Esther thought that was odd, the fact that someone had so brutally savaged two seemingly normal people and then had just fallen silent – it was like a dragon laying in wait or something. Nonetheless, she was happy that nobody else was getting murdered and she hoped that soon people would stop their constant speculating and random accusations.

Her kettle had nearly finished boiling for her instant coffee when a knock at the front door snapped her out of her morning daze. Her brows furrowed as she left the kitchen and walked down the hallway and towards the front door – she pulled her robe tighter around her body as she wondered who on earth would be at her door this early in the morning.

'Nothing good happens this early in the morning' she thought to herself as she unlocked the door and came face to face with the strange man from the diner along with a shorter blonde woman.

"Spencer, right? From the diner?" she said, her brows furrowed even further.

Spencer's brows furrowed as well as his eyes raked over her bedhead and messy attire, "Uh, yeah – Esther, isn't it?"

The blonde women besides Spencer looked between Esther and Spencer before pulling out a wallet from her inside pocket and opening it for Esther to see the credentials inside.

"Esther Beckett? My names Agent Jennifer Jareau and this is Dr. Spencer Reid from the FBI, can we ask you a few questions?" the blonde woman introduced herself in a soft voice.

Esther's eyes widened for a second before opening the door wider and gesturing for them to come in, "Of course - please, come in."

The kettle had finished screeching from the kitchen by the time she had guided them into the small living room and offered them a place on the sofa.

"Do you two want something to drink? Water, coffee?" she asked as she still stood, "The coffee isn't that great though, its instant so y'know." She shrugged, giving them an apologetic smile – she was painfully aware of the fact she was standing in front of two FBI agents in her pyjamas.

"No, no" Spencer replied, a small polite smile on his face, "We're alright, thank you."

"Of course," Esther replied before she sat herself down opposite them. "So, how can I help you?"

"We've got some questions about the recent murders in this area?" Jennifer explained.

"Laurie and Michael?" Esther said, trying to think how she could have any answers for the FBI.

"You knew them?" Jennifer continued questioning.

"I mean, yeah; it's a small town and we went to high-school together. I had a few mutual friends with them back then but when I moved away I kind of lost contact with those friends."

"Kind of?" Spencer now joined in with the questions.

"I just lost contact with them, after high schools finished you figure out who you actually have things in common with and who you're just friends out of circumstance with."

"Are you still friends with many people from school?" Jennifer asked.

"A few. Quite a few of the friends I'm close with moved away from Forklea – I did too for a bit, but I came back around five years ago."

"Why'd you come back?" Spencer asked.

"Los Angeles wasn't what I thought it would be, and my grandmother was starting to get sick and I wanted to see her before it was too late."

The two agents opposite her nodded; but Esther felt as though she had been thrown through a loop. The last thing she had expected when she had woken up a little more than an hour ago was to be questioned by FBI agents about the murders – she certainly didn't expect one of those agents to be the Oscar Wilde quoting, messy haired man from Flora's but here she was.

"We think the unsub may be going after certain people from their past, perhaps people they went to school with." Spencer explained, "Is there anyone you can think of that stood out in high-school, maybe somebody who was a bit of a loner?"

"Nobody immediately comes to mind." Esther shrugged, "Laurie and Michael were nice to everyone, they were popular in high school; I can't think of anybody that would specifically target them."

The two agents nodded again, siling politely at Esther before standing.

"Thank you for your help" Jennifer said, reaching across to shake Esther's hand.

Esther shook it and shot her a small smile before shaking Spencer's hand too.

"Of course, I hope you catch them." she said as she led them out and opened the door for them.

They nodded again and spencer gave a small wave before they both turned and walked down the driveway, and even though they had reached the end of it – Esther could see Jennifer elbowing Spencer's rib.

Esther bit back her laugh before fully shutting the door. Leaning her back against it.

"What the fuck." She whispered into the empty house.