after about ten minutes all the others arrive and take their places around the table. Garcia is the only one standing, as always, and begins to present the case by pointing to the bodies of the victims on the screen.
"we have 6 victims, all male, the first, Jason Rodriguez, was found in a dumpster in a small alley in the suburbs of Los Angeles, the other two, two brothers Theo and Adam Whites were found in another abandoned alley a little furthest from where Jason was found. Matthew Robinson, in another alley, together with Daniel Müller and Davyd Antonov all in different neighborhoods."
says Garcia.
I'm too shocked to see the wounds they bear. I bring a hand to my mouth and try to hold back the tears. They were all my friends and college acquaintances.
"are you ok y/n?" Hotch asks me for the second time. But this time I'm not ok.
"No, I'm not. Because I knew all of them. We were friends at college" I say.
"I'm sorry for your friends, can you tell me more about them?" Hotch continues.
"we had a group of friends, before college I never had a real one. Some of them were not part of it, the unsub only killed the only males in our group, but there were also two other girls with us. Are you sure they weren't killed earlier?" I ask to Garcia. She takes her computer and searches for the murders of girls around Los Angeles in recent weeks. But she finds nothing.
"You said not everyone was part of the group, who wasn't?" Rossi asks me.
"Matthew and Jason, I think they were cousins, the twins had told me about them, but I didn't talk to them much." I say.
"Did you know any of their relatives?" Emily asks me.
"Davyd's sister Kateryna was part of the group. Then I met the parents of each family." I say.
"but wait, someone is missing. Where's Liam? there were 5 males in our group. And here 4 were found. Liam is missing, he was the glue that united the group." I say.
"no body with Liam's name was found." says Garcia as she searches on her laptop.
"maybe he can be the next victim, wheels up in 30" Hotch concludes and everyone gets up from their chairs to be able to take their things and carry them to the jet.
I have a headache. who could ever destroy a friendship? a jealous person, but why the boys? Why is Liam the only person alive?
I get up from my chair and walk to the jet with the rest of the team.
nobody talks on the jet, we just analyzed the case and it doesn't seem like a good solution to talk about it now.
"as soon as we land Emily and Rossi go to the coroner. Y/n, JJ and Morgan will go to the families to talk, Reid and I will go to the sheriff and then to the crime scene." Hotch says and we nod.
as soon as I arrive at the police station I see the families of the victims, I know them all. There's Liam's too, but I don't understand why. A little while ago I explained to JJ and Morgan that I've known Liam since middle school, and also the twins, and we coincidentally ended up studying in the same college years after the same faculty.
There are also Kateryna and Charlotte, the last living people of this group. they come to me and hug me. then they start asking a lot of questions.
"you will take him right?" Charlotte asks to me and Morgan.
"we will do our best." Morgan replies.
I will speak to the first family, that of the twins. They have known me for a long time and are surprised to see me solve the case on their children.
I seat them on a sofa, and close the door so that the Antonov family, who are talking to JJ, won't be disturbed.
"I feel very secure now that the case is in your hands and those of the FBI." Mrs Whites says as she's blowing her nose.
"then I'm happy to see you again after all these years" she continues.
"I'm glad to see you too, but not under these circumstances" I say.
"but let's get to the point, have your guys talked to anyone in the group recently?" I ask.
"only Theo, he chatted with Charlotte I think, but Adam was always a little bit introverted, he wouldn't leave the house and the only time he did was with his brother and well, you know what happened" says Mr. Whites.
"did you know about their dislikes? Or people who didn't like them as a character or as a personality." I ask.
"well, you know in middle school Liam was very active, Theo didn't particularly like him, it made him nervous and I think that dislike has remained over time. You know, Liam was always the center of attention especially with the professors and he attracted the attention of the professors as well as that of some of his classmates. His parents will tell you the same thing." says Mrs Whites.
"I always felt it was mutual, and from what my kids told me Liam was just unbearable." she continues.
suddenly Morgan opens the door and interrupts the conversation.
"Sorry to bother you but Liam's parents are gone, no one saw them leave, did you hear anything?" he says.
"is it for something I said?" asks Mrs Whites.
"impossible, the door is closed and these rooms are designed to keep the noise in here." I reassure her.
"y/n, I think JJ got something, and I discovered something too." Morgan says.
"I'm coming give me just 1 minute" I say to him.
"last question then I leave you free, have you seen Liam in the last two months?"
"he walked around our house, one morning I saw him on the sidewalk, then another in front of the Müller house opposite ours." says Mr. Whites.
"Thanks again, you have helped us a lot" I thank them and go out, I run down the corridor, where I find Morgan and JJ in a room who were arranging the photos of the victims, families and Liam on the transparent board.
"I asked the Antonov family about Liam. They told me that in order to be the center of attention, he sometimes teased Davyd and sometimes fought." says JJ.
"and the same for the Müller family, they say he was like a stalker for them, he often wandered around their neighborhood even though he didn't live there." says Morgan.
"even the Whites badmouthed it to me, bringing back certain embarrassing memories from middle school. He is the center of attention, challenges the professors or makes friends with them. He once told me he had coffee with my old middle school math teacher. She's almost 60 now and I didn't see her since the 95s and he was also good at lying." I say.
"let's try to see all of this from Liam's point of view. Let's pretend I'm Liam. Let's pretend Liam is the unsub. Why kill my best friends?" Morgan plays this "game" a lot lately and I have to say it works sometimes.
"to stay closer to those who remain" I ask.
"yes but that's not enough. Charlotte's parents told me she was also in his class in high school. He wants to get someone's attention, but not Kateryna's or Charlotte's. Maybe he knows you work for the FBI, so it could be a way to get the feds' attention, and therefore your attention." says Morgan.
"he's right. This does make sense." JJ replies.
"I'll call the others" I leave to call Emily and Hotch.
Hotch and Reid return after 5 minutes calling them, while Emily and Rossi after a little more. We all sit around a table and explain our theories to each other.
I suddenly get an anonymous call, I warn the others and put it on speakerphone.
"Hello y/n, it's been a while" says a male voice.
"Liam? Is that you?" I ask.
"I'm glad you recognized me, but know that I have some bad news for you. Do you know where your friends are, indeed our friends? The tall blonde and the short redhead." His voice is kinda creepy and weird, I've never heard him talk like that.
"but wait they're not really the only ones here, my creators are here too" he's talking about his parents, this is why they've gone.
"what would you like us to do? we already have your attention" Hotch asks.
"Let's meet now in that restaurant where you and the others always ate, you know the one where we all studied together in the afternoon." he says.
"you will find them here alive, perhaps" he hangs up.
"I think it's a trap" I say to the team.
"not if we're in the club watching your back." says Emily.
"at 4am? what is that place open at 4 in the morning?" I ask.
"if he has managed to enter, it means that he will involve other people and consequently it's open." says Reid.
"let's start going before the sun comes up and a lot of people will start to enter" Hotch walks out of the room and we follow him.
I'm not sure what I'm doing but since I have to I do it anyway. after all what could possibly happen? I'll do what I've always done.
hi,
if you've come this far I just wanted to let you know that for the creation of the characters in this story (which do not include the original characters of the series) I was inspired by some of my "friends", unfortunately I don't have a large group of friends, in fact I have only 3 that I trust, and in this story they are represented as the twins and one of the two girls. As for the other victims, in my head I associated them with my real "friends" with particular characteristics, a bit like Liam.
thanks
-ssaeleanorr