the girl who lost things

part nine

--emily's pov

"I know we were having some fun, but hold your breakfast," Garcia says, pointing her remote at the board. " In Michigan, five females; Jacy Scott, Maria Shannon, Kelly Carioga, Madeline James, and Christine Anderson. All white females with brown hair and blue eyes were found stabbed ten times in a circular motion around the womb," she says, moving to the next slide. " medical examiner puts all their deaths in the span of a week." It displays a five-woman, with deep punctures in the womb. " brunette with blue eyes. that's a particular type." JJ says, flipping through the case files.

"a surrogate for someone." morgan adds,

" The percentage of people with blue eyes is already eight to ten percent worldwide but with brunette hair that brings the statistics to about three to five percent of them with brunette hair. In itself, Michigan has approximately 8.7 million people, with most of the population being brunette Caucasians." everybody looks at Reid. He whispers "what" under his breath. We let out a small laugh and continue to brief ourselves. " probably for a parental figure, maybe a mother or a girlfriend?" I say, looking at the womb marks. " and what's with the ten?"

" I was getting to that." Garcia clicks the remote again, making the screen change into the zoomed-in version of the woman's stomach. " the medical examiner found no sign of a struggle, but the cause of death is asphyxiation."

we all look at each other. " does that mean they complied to this?" JJ says. She was holding her stomach." It doesn't show they were drugged on the tox-screen report." she clicks off the page.

" well, they only screen for the known drugs; morphine, heroin, and Adderall," Rossi adds,

" he's killing these women without any break; we're looking at a spree killer. wheels up in twenty." hotch says, exiting the room

-- jessie's pov

" now, we have some of the solo tryouts. Two spots and ten dancers. but I've narrowed it down to three dancers." Ms. Thomas says. The girls begin to look at each other like blood-thirsty animals. " calm down, girls! The dancers are ava, Emma, and Jessie." She claps, but all the rest of the girls are quiet.

My heart drops when I hear my name, I could already feel the stares from the girls. They're animals. " stand-up girls." she says, showing us to the middle of the stage. We all stand in a line, " you have until Sunday to make a freestyle dance, to compete between each other." I try not to make eye contact with them. " We can spend the rest of the class practicing and stretching." she dismisses us.

I go into the bathroom to change and bring my bag, one missed call from mom. So I go into the private bathroom and call her back, "mom?"

" Hi, Jessie. I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"no, no, it's ok. We're just doing stretching and revising." I put my phone on the sink and press the speaker button.

" well, I was thinking after the dance. When you finish changing and stuff, Penelope, could pick you up and bring you to the bau."

"Yes, that would be great. I have a chance to get the solo for the competition." I remove my joggers and sweater. " that's great! you can tell me all about it when I land, the connections about to go out." She says in a rushed manner.

" Sure, bye, mom." I press the hang-up button and put the phone into my bag.

I check myself in the mirror before I leave. You could see every crook and cranny of my fat. Why couldn't I be in the back? No one saw me, and no one knew me. I head to my locker and stuff my bag inside, but something comes out instead. A burger, tears quickly fill my eyes. Don't let them see you like this. I canvas the area to see who could have put it in there, but everybody was gone. " Stay calm," I tell myself. The flood of tears I was holding back could have filled a whole bucket.

— emily's pov

" Emily and morgan, head to the dumpsite."
" Rossi and Reid, go to the medical examiners."
" and I and JJ will talk to the families and get set up at the station."

——

The place was cluttered, rocky, and swampy. Too cold for comfort.

" who dumps a body on a hiking trail?" Morgan says, kicking the dirt off his shoes. " someone who has a lot of time on their hands," I say; we continue to walk along the trail looking for more possible bodies.

" she's a teen, ya know," Morgan says, maintaining the conversation. " Please, don't remind me." I laugh, picking and feeling the ground.

" boys and gossip-." he says, coming next to me. I walk a little further.

" Jessie's not like the rest of the teens."

" we'll see about that." We both laugh and walk deeper into the trail. I walk ahead of Derek; the smell reminds me of my grandpa's cabin. I squat down to start swishing through the dirt. I hit something hard. another body. " I got a body."

" same here." Derek stands and looks around, " I think we found another dumping spot."

— jessie's pov

I exit the building and begin to walk towards the metro station. I got fat-shamed on my birthday, great! I dial Penelope's number, ring." Penelope Garcia, at your service!" she says in a perky upright voice.  I swallow my tears and begin to talk.

" hi! Penelope, are you still picking me up later?"

" of course, while they're gonna, we are gonna have a little bau sleepover! are you ready?"

" yea, I just got out of dance. Could you give me a couple of hours? I'm gonna hop on the train," I turn into the alleyway, the shortcut. " Okie, bye!"  she hangs up the phone before I could even get the last word in. I smile

the alleyway wasn't a long walk; be quick and aware, I tell myself. " Hi, Jessie." I voice from behind calls. After getting a better look at him, I turn around to see a man, probably in his late thirties and muscular build. I turn back and walk faster. I could hear him from behind; I struggle to find my pepper spray. I drop my bag. I reach down, and our hands touch. I scream. he puts his hands over my mouth. " quiet," I feel something poke me. Then, everything goes black. But, not for long. I shake myself awake.

" Please, let me go. You have the wrong person." tears burst out of my eyes.

" no, I don't. "He pushes me into his car and throws my belongings at me. It was like my body was still weak from whatever he had just injected me with. The windows were blacked out, and the locks have been taken out; no way out, I think to myself.

" You're Jessie, you take dance every Wednesday and sometimes a drop in class on Saturday. Your mother is Emily Prentiss, I know you! If you want to stay alive. do you what say." He says driving even faster than before. During that, I hear a thud in the back. I turn my head to see another girl. I was silently crying. She's not scared, though, at least not of him. She's not fighting; she's crying for me.