Chapter Text
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman
Elizabeth slowly turned her head from side to side as the grogginess began to fade.
The last thing she remembered was leaving the church with Hannah, just before the evening congregation. Elizabeth’s mind immediately flew to Hannah. Where was she? Elizabeth tried to sit up, but found that her hands were cuffed above her head.
The young woman took a good look at the room around her, or as much of it as she could see at any rate. She was lying on an iron bedstead, her arms cuffed to the railings on either side. To her relief she was still wearing her dress. But to her horror and slight confusion Elizabeth noticed that her boots were missing, as were her socks.
The room was a rectangular shape, with two dim bulbs hanging down from the ceiling. Elizabeth counted three beds on her left and two on her right. Each one had a different young woman lying on top, also cuffed to the railings.
The girl lying on the nearest bed to the left stared at Hannah with tired eyes, her messy blonde hair falling all over her face. The girl said something in English, which Elizabeth didn’t understand. The girl thought for a second before she spoke again.
“Caroline.”
Elizabeth guessed that this was the girl’s name. Elizabeth nodded and then spoke her name.
Caroline shifted on the mattress and managed to point at Elizabeth’s clothes. Elizabeth knew that look all too well.
“Amish?” Caroline asked. Elizabeth shook her head.
“Mennonite.” Then Elizabeth swallowed, dreading what the answer to her next question might be, or if Caroline would even be able to answer.
“Hannah?”
Caroline’s brow furrowed and then she shook her head. She hadn’t seen her friend. Elizabeth sighed, closed her eyes and prayed that Hannah would be safe.
“We’ve got a bit of a strange case in upstate New York,” Garcia came into the bullpen as she turned on the screen, “Last night there was a double abduction northeast of Buffalo. Two young women, Hannah Krahn, 18, and Elizabeth Balzer, 25, were taken as they left their church.”
“Why aren’t there any photos of the two women?” JJ looked at the screen, which simply showed a map of the area along Lake Ontario.
“Ah,” Garcia’s fingers fiddled with the remote, “that is because the two girls are Mennonites. We have their descriptions, though, which are in your tablets.”
Rossi gestured to the dots on the screen. “But these aren’t the only abductions, I gather.”
“You are correct; they are not.” Garcia pressed a button and more pictures popped up. “There was a kidnapping in Syracuse on the eighteenth. Sister Louise Garrard, 28, of the St. Hildegard Nunnery was last seen talking to a man driving a red, windowless van after finishing up her music class at the local high school. She also remains missing.”
“A nun, two Mennonites,” Reid scanned the paper in his hands, “Could our Unsub be religiously motivated?”
“It’s a possibility, but we shouldn’t discredit any theories until we know what might have happened to them,” Hotch addressed the team, “Wheels up in ten.”
Once they were on the plane, Morgan decided to suggest his idea. “From the descriptions of the two Mennonite women, they seem pretty similar to Sister Louise. Short, blonde hair, green eyes. Our Unsub is probably using them as surrogates.”
“That could well be true,” Rossi agreed, “It says here that Hannah had been into Buffalo and a few neighboring villages with her father, but Elizabeth stayed at home and doesn't speak much English, so I doubt that an Unsub would have lured them with a ruse. But why haven’t any bodies turned up?”
“That’s not quite true,” Garcia made a disgruntled noise from the screen, “Another possible victim was found on the day that Sister Louise went missing. Fifteen-year-old Sophie Holland was last seen on Pickering Beach in Delaware on May 1st, but her body was found by Sawmill Cove on Lake Ontario a few hours before Sister Louise disappeared. The really icky thing is that her tongue had been removed, which is enough to put me off my dinner, but what is most important is that although she had been dead just twelve hours, she had not been sexually assaulted.”
This changed the profile somewhat.
"There's more," Garcia informed the team, "Sophie had numerous blisters on her feet. Some of them had gone black. I refer you to my previous statement."
“Blonde hair and green eyes, that’s quite specific,” Reid faced the screen, “Garcia, could you please search for any women matching that description who disappeared in New England in the past year?”
“On it, my Junior G-man.” Garcia ended the connection.
“We need to talk to the families,” Hotch reminded them, “I’ll go and speak to the fathers of our two latest victims. JJ, Morgan, go to St. Hildegard’s Nunnery. Reid, go to the ME’s office and have a look at Sophie’s autopsy. Dave, you’re with me. These sites are some way away from each other, but we have to work fast. Hannah and Elizabeth might not have much time.”
Elizabeth still lay on the mattress. It had been several hours since she had arrived and her stomach was rumbling. The other women in this room were all quite weak. None of them wore shoes or socks and their hair was a mess.
But she had learnt their names. Two of the girls on her left and one on her right had been too drugged to speak, but Caroline had told her their names.
Rose, Marina, Evelyn and Matilda.
Rose, Marina and Evelyn were asleep, but Elizabeth could hear Matilda’s small sobs. She was much younger than the rest of them. Elizabeth couldn’t see her very well as Evelyn’s unconscious body was in the way, but Matilda’s high, tinny voice suggested that she was quite young. Elizabeth wondered if Matilda was even in double digits.
The sound of keys rattled in the door and Elizabeth turned her head. The door opened and then he came in.
Elizabeth saw a man wearing an apron and pushing a cart of food. The food was inside of small silver containers, unlike any food that she had eaten before. The man would unlock one handcuff on each of the girls and try to make them sit up and take their food. Rose and Marina were too sleepy to even eat properly, falling back onto their beds. But Caroline eagerly ate her food. Elizabeth didn’t know when Caroline had last eaten something and the food certainly didn’t look very nourishing, but she didn’t knew when her next meal would be.
As the man stood above Elizabeth, she dared herself to look him in the eyes. She spoke just one word.
“Hannah?”
The man scowled and then struck Elizabeth across the face, causing her to fall back across her pillow.
Despite the pain all that Elizabeth could think about was her friend.
Once they had landed in Syracuse, JJ and Morgan drove to St. Hildegard’s. The Mother Superior, a stern-looking woman in her late fifties. The way she frowned made JJ think that the woman could have given Strauss a run for her money.
“Hello, Mother Superior?” JJ asked, as the two of them walked up the steps, “I’m SSA Jennifer Jareau. This is SSA Derek Morgan. We’re here to ask you a few questions about Sister Louise’s abduction.”
The Mother Superior nodded once. “Of course. Come to my office. We shall speak there.”
Inside the office the two agents faced the nun as they sat down on unfortunate wooden chairs. Mother Superior addressed JJ first.
“Sister Louise is a devoted member of our convent. I have already told the police that there was nothing out of the ordinary on the day she disappeared.”
JJ explained, “Sometimes we see things that may not seem significant at the time, but turn out to be of some importance. If you could close your eyes then I would be happy to take you through a pre-cognitive interview.”
Mother Superior nodded again and closed her eyes. “Sister Louise had just finished her music lesson at the high school across the road. I was waiting for her by the entrance.”
“Do you see her leaving the school grounds?” JJ asked her.
Mother Superior frowned. Possibly. It was hard to tell with her wrinkles. “There was a red van parked behind the hedge out at the front,” she recalled, “There was a man standing directly in front. I thought that he was loitering, so I snapped at him to leave.”
“Did you go up to him?” JJ asked.
“Yes,” Mother Superior answered, “I was next to him. I told him that he had no business here. He didn’t say anything, but looked back at the school. I – thought that he might have been – interested in the students. He smelt of fish. I told him to get out before I called the police.”
“Where was Sister Louise?” JJ coaxed her.
“She was just about to cross the road. The man got into his van and drove around the corner. I stormed off towards the building. I –“ Mother Superior stopped talking, her words caught in her throat.
“What is it?” JJ asked.
Mother Superior’s eyes opened. “I heard her scream. It – It was very faint, but I heard screaming. I – I must have heard Sister Louise. Oh my word, what have I done?”
“He smelt of fish,” JJ repeated as she and Morgan drove towards the police station, “He could work at a fishmonger’s. The van might be his delivery van.”
“Or he could spend time by a lake,” Morgan pointed out, “Oneida Lake is only nine miles from here.”
“Nine point twenty-one miles.” JJ told him. He looked at her and she chuckled. “Reid.”
Morgan smirked. Then he said, “The Mother Superior was alone with the Unsub long enough for him to attack her if he wanted to. But he didn’t. Sister Louise must fit his type.”
Meanwhile in Buffalo, Hotch and Rossi were having just as much luck. Hannah and Elizabeth had left their respective houses just before services.
“They offered to clean the church after a storm a few days ago,” Hannah’s father had told Hotch, “They went with Bertha Ewert.”
“Where is Bertha today?” Hotch asked. He wished Blake was still on the team; he didn’t know if he would be allowed to speak to Bertha alone.
“She is over there,” Hannah’s father pointed to a young woman cleaning a nearby house’s windows. A young man sat on the porch, making some pottery.
“Who is that with her?” Rossi asked.
“That is Mr Ewert, Bertha’s husband,” Elizabeth’s father explained to the two agents, “He says that Bertha was approached by an outsider yesterday afternoon.”
“An outsider?” Rossi asked. Elizabeth’s father nodded sadly.
“Is it possible that we could speak to Mr Ewert?” Hotch asked.
Elizabeth’s father nodded, while Rossi asked to see the scene where the two girls had last been seen. He didn’t find very much. There were no signs of a struggle, nothing had been knocked over or disturbed. Unless the Unsub had somehow instantly knocked them out, they must have known him.
Hotch came back after a few minutes and they walked to the car outside of the Mennonite settlement.
“What did Mr Ewert say?” Rossi asked his superior.
“He said that Bertha was scrubbing the steps when a strange man came up to them. He said that he had gotten lost and wanted directions into town. He had parked a red van on the green just outside of the fence. She said that he was looking at her funny. Bertha said that she would get her husband, but she was worried about the other two.” Hotch played the conversation back in his mind.
“Bertha is around the same age as Hannah and Elizabeth,” Hotch spoke his thoughts aloud, “She was alone, vulnerable and in close proximity to his vehicle. He was looking at her in a strange way before she said that she was going to get her husband. Hannah and Elizabeth don’t have husbands. The Unsub has targeted two Mennonites and a nun. I think our guy is looking for virgins.”
“Don’t say we have another Michel Fourniret.” Rossi sighed.
“Until we have anything else to say otherwise, we must assume that this is his intention.” Hotch got into the driver’s seat as the two of them slowly made their way back onto the highway.
Elizabeth had screamed as her kidnapper pulled her up from her bed and pushed her out of the room.
He forced her into a dimly-lit, circular room with several trees aligning the walls. It took her a few moments before she realized that they were made from cardboard. Some were painted gold, some were painted silver and some were painted white with bits of colored tissue paper glued all over the branches.
She clasped her hands to her chest as she stared at him. He was not wearing his apron now, but instead wore a red coat with the buttons done up. He carried a long plastic stick in his hand with two prongs at the end.
Elizabeth heard a squeak and turned her head slowly to look at the source of the noise. Two other young women, both with matted blonde hair and dirty dresses, were crouched on the floor. Neither of them were Hannah. Long chains hung from the ceiling and were locked around their wrists.
As the man approached her, Elizabeth started to tremble. She begged, Lord, please do not let him defile me.
He reached for her shirt and she began to scream. He backed away slightly, hand still outstretched. The corner of his mouth turned upwards in a smirk and he shrugged his shoulders. Still holding the stick, he pointed it at her as he nodded his head towards two chains on the floor.
Elizabeth slowly knelt down, her eyes still fixed on the man, before she slipped the ends of the chains around her wrists. The man went over to a large wheel in the wall. He turned it and suddenly Elizabeth felt as if her arms were being yanked out of her sockets.
When she had stopped screaming, the man held his arms out at either side and called out, “Ashlynn, Pauline, Elizabeth.” Then he said a word that Elizabeth did not recognize. But as she saw the two other women weakly begin to move their legs along the floor, she chose to copy them. The man walked over to an armchair and sat down, watching them. Music came from alcoves inside the walls.
She did not know how long she danced for. Her tormenter did not wish to fall asleep, despite the late hour. Whenever any of them seemed to slow down then he would get up and poke them with the plastic stick. Elizabeth heard sizzling noises coming from it and the girls screamed when he touched them.
The man stuck the stick in her back and she felt as if she were being struck by lightning. But she carried on dancing for an absurdly long time.
Her feet were red and sore by the time he let them go back to their beds. Elizabeth was shaking from a mixture of fear, hunger and exhaustion and scarcely cared when he handcuffed her back to the railings.
All she could think about was Hannah.