Psychosis

Chapter 7- The First Case

"Yeah, I... I just washed this shirt with a new detergent, and I think I might be having a bit of a reaction to it. I'll make sure that I don't use it again," Ciara lied.

"Do you need me to look at it? I can tell you how to stop the itching," Reid offered, going for her sleeve.

"No!" Ciara pulled her arm back, a little too quickly, and she could see the suspicion on his face. "No, ye don't need to see it. That would require ye touching me, and we both know I don't want that. I've had this happen before. I'm fine, really."

"If you're sure. But hey, in addition to not using that detergent again, you might want to try some over-the-counter cortisone ointments," he suggested.

"Thanks. I'll take that into consideration. Oh, it's nearly 10 o'clock. We should probably go to the round table room," Ciara said, and Reid looked at the clock. "I have an uncanny sense of time. One of my many talents."

"You do seem to have several of them. Alright, let's go." Reid led her back to the round table room, and he took a seat, while she preferred to stand in the corner, head down. She didn't feel like she was part of the team yet, so she wasn't going to sit with them. Instead, she just decided to watch from a distance, try and understand how things worked. While she remembered what Reid had said, hearing it was different than actually seeing and experiencing things. After all, wasn't that exactly what Addie Bundren had said? Words were invented for those who hadn't experienced. That's why Ciara hated being able to remember words so much better than experiences. That, and it seemed that all the experiences she was able to remember were bad ones. Really, really bad ones. Slowly, everyone else in the BAU slowly filtered into the room, JJ being the last one in.

"Alright, we've either got the best case for Ciara to be on or the worst, depending on your point of view. Three girls at a college campus in Massachusetts were all found dead in their dorm rooms," JJ started. Ciara was able to see one reason why it could be either the best or the worst case for her. To her, it didn't really matter. She didn't see a difference. To her, it was just a case. Just some dead girls. Ciara also knew that if any of them knew what she was thinking, they would tell her to go home. Or worse, lock her up.

"Any connection between the three?" Gideon asked.

"None so far, but I'm having Garcia check for any possible connections. They haven't determined the cause of death yet, but all three victims have two small puncture wounds on their chest," JJ kept going.

"Like an arrow or a needle," Ciara whispered, and Hotch asked her to repeat herself. They hadn't heard her. "I said they look like the wound from an arrow or a needle."

"We'll keep that in mind. Good observation," Gideon told her, and Ciara nodded.

"How much time was in between the murders?" Morgan asked.

"Four days. The last murder happened three days ago," JJ answered, and even Ciara knew that meant they had to work quickly.

"Then we've got no time to waste. Let's go to Massachusetts." Ciara agreed with Gideon and grabbed up her bag, which she always seemed to have with her. It had all of her stuff, so why not keep it with her? Marina appeared beside her when they boarded the plane, talking to her about who the killer could be. They both agreed that whoever did it was obviously organized. How else could they pull off such a clean kill? The killer, or Unsub, as Ciara had heard them call the killer, also had to have an understanding of the body. Perhaps an anatomy student? Again, how else could he pull off such a clean kill? Ciara was working under the assumption that it was a male, but she knew full well that it could be a female. She was looking over the file, trying to figure out a connection between the three.