Running

Chapter 12

We get to the station. The place is pretty much a ghost town. One person at reception. Three officers in the bullpen. And a janitor.

We all sit in the glass room. The others listening as I explain what happened when I awoke this morning. I however, leave out the fact that Spencer was there with me.

"Okay... that would make a whole lot of sense," Emily says. "But how do you know so much about the Raymond Grace file? I mean, even I have hardly had a look at it."

I swallow the lump in my throat, glancing at Reid, and then Hotcher.

"Raymond Grace is my father..." I say, and the others falls silent.

I give a quick summary of everything that happened to me between the age of twelve and sixteen, and by the end everyone is nodding along.

I wipe the single tear from my eye.

"If Ray was the one to mentor our UNSUB, then he probably gave him the same place to store his victims that he'd used on his own. And I know for a fact that I've been there, at least once, but I can't remember at all. I hardly remember anything from that time."

"You need a cognitive interview," Reid says.

Rossi nods. "Yeah kid... Prentiss? Why don't you do that one with her?"

Emily glances at Hotchner before looking at me with a soft smile.

"Of course. Let's go to another room, one a little more silent."

I nod, and we both begin to exit the room. Meanwhile, I can hear Hotch give out the order to figure out my fathers whereabouts.

We get to a small break room, where Emily sits me at the sofa. She pulls up a chair to sit infront of me.

"Okay... close your eyes."

I do.

"You're opening your backdoor. You're running outside. What do you hear? What do you feel?"

I rip open the door, running out. I don't care about being subtle this time. He practically chased me down the stairs.

"It's colder than I thought it'd be. I can feel the hairs on my arms stand up... it's windy. And I can hear the whistle in the air."

I criss cross between trees, trying my best to zigzag. But I never stray far from the trail, and that will always be my downfall. As I'm running, I see another trail. One slightly worn. Small. And I see... drag marks.

I gasp silently.

"What's happening now?"

"He's chasing me. I've escaped him so far, and I found another trail. Drag marks. There's drag marks in the dirt."

"Okay... follow it."

I run down the path. It's wide enough for me to slip through without a sound, but small enough that once I hear rustling I know my father isn't far behind.

I keep running. No glancing back. That's my rule. Do that, and he wins.

Suddenly, I enter an opening.

"I'm in a clearing. It's huge. And right in the middle. There's a building. Wooden. Two stories..."

"Do you go inside?"

"Yes..." I breathe. "He shows it to me."

I stop dead in my tracks. My dads laugh filters into my ears.

"Looks like you found my little resting spot. Come on... let's take a look inside."

I want to say no, but he grabs my arm and thrusts me forward.

I walk through the door. It's a living room. Simple and tiny. But beyond are doors. All locked. I head up the stairs and enter a bedroom, with many more locked doors.

"I built this place all myself you know," he says. "Look..." he grabs a key from the nightstand and opens one of the locked doors. I walk up to it.

Inside sits a girl. A blindfold on. She's thin. Her black hair matted as she cries. "No please don't hurt me," she whimpers.

"Dad... that's Cindy Lewis. She's been missing for two years. Did-did you take her?"

"Now honey... this will be our little secret. Because you helped make it possible."

"There's a lot of locked doors inside. All of them had a girl inside, but he only showed me one. Cindy. She'd been missing for two years at the time... he built the place himself."

"NO! Dad no! I'm not responsible for this, you did this on your own! Oh my god. You've been hurting them!"

"No no... not me. I just keep them. The men here in the woods, they hurt them."

"He told me the people in the woods hurt them. Not him."

"But all the girls confirmed Raymond as their rapist..." Emily says. "Keep going."

"How could you!" I run out of there. Out of the building. Out of the clearing. All the way home.

"I left. I ran back home, and I just left. I-... I don't go back for a whole three months. By that point I've pretty much forgotten. But one night I was going for a walk...

It's colder now that Autumn has fully set in. I'm not escaping this time. I just wanted some air. But somehow I find myself walking the unfamiliar trail. All the way to the house.

I step inside. The doors. I barely recognize this place. But I go upstairs, and find all of the keychains in the bedroom. One by one I lead all of the girls out of the house, but I leave the blindfolds on.

"Run. Just run," I tell them. "Be careful. Count to thirty before you take off the rag." And off they went. Every single one.

"I let them out," I say. "I helped them escape."

I open my eyes. A tear rolling down my cheek. "I set them off into the woods..."

"That's amazing Elle, you did great. Do you think you'd be able to find this building again?"

I nod slowly. "And my mom still lives in the same house."