White Rabbit - A Criminal Minds Fic

Eleven

"Becca, I'm bored. I'm gonna walk back to the library and see if they've got the rest of the Harry Potters back in." Alice hauled herself up from the towel she'd been sunbathing on and pulled her t-shirt over her bikini top.

"Kay' babe. I'm gonna stay here and toast myself for a little longer." Becca rolled over on to her front and peered up from beneath her sunglasses.

"Sure that's not the only reason you're staying?" Ally nodded over to the three guys who were fishing out on the lake, the same three guys that had been there almost every day that week, except they were normally accompanied by a fourth. Becca had a huge crush on one of them and would stretch out everytime their boat would pass by her spot on the shore.

"They normally pack up in an hour or so and I wanna be right here when they walk past. Today's the day I'm gonna talk to him."

"Sure it is." Ally rolled her eyes at her friend and shoved her feet back into her sandals, grabbing the tote bag she'd bought with her. "I'll be back by five. Remember, Rachel wants us home by six tonight."

"Ugh." Becca grunted and went back to people, well , guy watching, and Alice started marking her way down the well worn dirt track and out onto the main road.

She was enjoying her summer so far, Beccas Dad Ben and her stepmom Rachel were nice and they left the two girls pretty much to their own devices, only imposing a 6pm dinner time curfew and a 11pm evening curfew on them. Most days were spent by the lake that Rylon county was centered around, although Alice had soon run out of reading material and had borrowed Rachel's library card to be able to check out books. She couldn't just sit and sunbathe like Becca could, she needed something to do. They were going to be here for another seven weeks and at the rate she was going, Alice was going to have devoured the whole of the small towns library by then.

She walked the short distant to the building that housed the books she sought after and started perusing them. The latest Harry Potter had been released a few weeks before and she'd been able to purchase it when Rachel and Ben took the girls to the Target a few towns over. Now Ally wanted to reread the series, but the last two times she'd visited the library, book number four hadn't been there. This time it was, and she swooped upon it with glee, adding it to a pile of five other books she'd found. They'd keep her busy for a few days.

She checked them out using Rachel's card, the librarian smiling at her the way they did when they recognised an avid reader. As she existed the building she felt someone crash into her, her tote bag dropping to the floor and her books spilling out.

"Hey! Watch..... " She was about to berate the stranger but stopped mid sentence, seeing that it was fourth boy from the lake. Tall and handsome with a jaw that could cut glass, he smiled at her apologetically and bent down to help retrieve her books.

"I'm so sorry, that's my fault entirely. I was in such a rush to get here before they closed." Handing the books back, he kept his grasp onto the Goblet Of Fire.

"It's okay. It's probably my fault too. I'm so clumsy anyway."

"Now I'm sure that's not true."

The boy and Ally looked at each other for a moment, both grinning until Alice realised that he still had her book. She held her hand out for it and he smiled cheekily.

"This library only holds one copy of every book." He told her.

"And? It's a small library."

"Well... I've been coming in here everyday, specifically for this book. And you have it."

"You're a Potter fan?" Alice was surprised, he looked to be at least eighteen or nineteen.

"I'm a huge HP fan. I wanted to reread all of the books but one of the kids back at home has borrowed number four and none of them are owning up to it."

"A little brother or sister?"

"You could say that."

Alright.

"Can't you just search their rooms or tell your Mom on them?" Ally asked.

"Well, if I knew which one of the little buggers it was I could."

"Christ, how many siblings do you have?"

The guy grinned again, flashing straight pearly teeth at her. "They're not exactly siblings as such. We all live together, but there's around thirty children there all together. Actually.. thirty one I think now. One of the moms just had another baby."

Alice was even more confused now.

"It's complicated." He told her, seeing her expression. "Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to get around to asking is: do you think you'd let me take this one first? I can have it back to you in a few days time, I see you most days at the lake with your friend."

"Erm.... I mean.... It's already checked out, and it's not on my card... And if something happened to it, I'd be in trouble." Ally shifted from one foot to another.

"I promise you, nothing will happen to it. I shall guard it with my life, I swear it. Plus... It gives me a reason to come and speak to you again."

He was right and she definitely wanted that.

"Okay, I mean I guess it could be alright this once. But you have to bring it back in a few days. I can't move onto the Order Of The Phoenix otherwise."

"I will. No more than two days I promise. I'm Charles by the way, Charlie to most people." He held his hand out to her for her to shake and she took it, feeling the worn calloused texture of his fingers.

"Ally. Alice really but most people shorten it."

"Well Alice, it's great to meet you. And I look forward to returning this to you. I gotta run now, I gotta run a few more errands around town before I pick up my brothers."

"Your actual brothers this time?" Ally enquired.

"Two of the guys you see me with at the lake are, yes. The other is someone else from home."

Alice was very intrigued to find out where exactly home was and why there was apparently so many children living there. Maybe she'd learn more next time. Either way, she knew she was looking forward to seeing Charlie again.

...

"Alright so who was Charlie?" Spencer asked Alice as she reached for her water bottle. She'd been talking for about an hour now, literally starting right from the beginning.

"Charles was one of Lewis and Marnies sons. He was the second eldest. He was eighteen when I met him."

"So was he the reason you ended up at the compound?" Agent Rossi sipped on his now cold coffee.

"Yes and no. He bought me the book back two days later as planned and we got talking. Becca loved it because it gave her a reason to talk to his oldest brother, Eric; the one she'd been crushing on. I kept asking about his home and why there were so many kids there and after a few days of chatting he told me. He explained that he lived in a kind of 'commune', he called it. Around one hundred and fifty people lived together, they all looked after it. I was intrigued, he told me it was almost entirely self sufficient, they had animals, some crops, they'd rigged up solar panels and generators. He said he loved it there, he'd grown up there, all part of one big family."

And to someone who'd lost their parents at a young age and had a troubled relationship with her sister, a family was what Alice craved, Spencer thought to himself.

"That National Park is looked after by rangers though. I don't understand how a community of that many people could be living there and no one know about it." Rossi pondered out loud.

"If you were to have a look into the finances of the park rangers, I'm sure you'll see why. They were paid off. I'm not sure how much, but they used to come by each month and collect payment from Lewis or one of the other elders. Wonderland wasn't easy to stumble upon either. You had to know where you were going, being able to read the signs."

"So how did you and Rebecca Olson find yourselves there then?" Spencer spoke this time.

"Simple. We asked to go. And they took us."