Phobias

“One, two, three, four…” A young girl counted the steps she took toward a large building with Behavioral Analysis Unit written on the side. She stopped in front of the door and waited. She sat down and waited until someone opened the door.

After about a five minutes someone came outside to talk on the phone. “Wait, hold the door open please!” The young girl called. The person walking out the door held it open and continued talking on the phone. “Thank you.” The girl said.

She walked into the building and through another set of glass doors where she was ordered to show her identity. Kara Wellington. “Where can I see Agent Aaron Hotchner?” I quietly asked.

“I think he’s in the conference room.” The guard that checked Kara’s identity said. The guard pointed Kara in the direction of the conference room.

“Thank you.” Kara whispered. Kara practically glided to the conference room. She took out a napkin and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Someone called. It was a male, probably the team leader. David Rossi.

“I can’t!” Kara whispered loudly. Someone opened the door. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. Derek Morgan.

“Why can’t you open the door? Or talk louder than a whisper?” Derek asked letting Kara in.

“Doors have multi-million numbers of germs and I am saving oxygen by breathing softly and talking softly. You won’t be able to hear my breath.” Kara whispered. Everyone in the conference room examined Kara.

They looked at her soft blonde hair that was pulled into a messy ponytail and shiny glasses placed on her nose. Then they examined her red and green plaid skirt and yellow button down polo with a green sweater vest. After the clothes, they looked at her shoes: loafers.

“Nancy Drew…” Someone with dark long hair muttered under her breath. Kara glared at her. She must have been Emily Prentiss.

“Everyone this is…” Aaron Hotchner said.

“Kara Wellington.” Kara whispered.

“Speak up, please.” Someone with straight blonde hair said. She was defiantly J.J.

“Kara.” She whispered louder. J.J. raised her eyebrows.

“Her name is Kara Wellington. She refuses to speak in anything but a whisper.” Derek Morgan said filling everyone in. David Rossi stood up and shook Kara’s hand.

“Ahem.” A guy with brown-blonde hair down to his eyebrows that was slightly curly said. He looked like Kara in male form. His name was Spencer Reid.

Everyone around the circular table looked at Kara then back to Dr. Spencer Reid. “Ya’ll look like brother and sister.” A women with a whack wardrobe said. She was none other than Penelope Garcia--the unit’s tech girl. Kara smiled revealing silver braces.

“How old are you?” Emily Prentiss asked rudely.

“25.” Kara whispered. Emily Prentiss sighed. Reid became frustrated and rushed out of the room.

“Reid!” Derek Morgan shouted and ran after him. Kara looked down at her shoes.

“What just happened?” Penelope Garcia asked quietly.

“I’m not really sure.” J.J. said confused.

“Do you know, Kara?” Penelope Garcia asked.

Kara pointed to herself. “Me?” She asked in a hushed whisper. Penelope nodded. “Yes.” Kara said in a whispered tone.

“Well, what happened?” Emily asked impatiently.

“Penelope had it right. We’re brother and sister.” Kara whispered barely audible.

“Reid never told us he had a sister!” David Rossi exclaimed.

“Hello? Don’t we have a case?” Hotchner said getting everyone back into the working mood. Morgan and Reid walked back in and sat down in their seats. That meant, Kara was left standing.

“As I was saying, three young females have gone missing out of Slidell, Louisiana. It didn’t raise a red flag until all three bodies were found in a Hurricane Katrina destroyed home.” J.J. said pointing to the projection screen.

“Wait, were all the bodies found together?” Emily asked. J.J. nodded.

“So, the un-sub strikes in pairs of threes.” Hotchner said. Again, J.J. nodded.

“He may strike separately. But use them until they die. Then dump the body after he’s down with all of them.” Kara offered by whispering.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. “Alright, wheels up in four hours.” Hotchner said. Everyone left the room except for Reid, Kara, and Rossi.

“Why did you do this to me?!” Dr. Reid yelled to Kara.

“Do what? I am doing the same as you. I am working.” Kara whispered.

“At the job I happen to be working at?!” Reid screamed.

“Reid,” Rossi began, “When’s the last time you saw your sister?”

“We were both little kids. I was probably two. He was probably five.” Kara whispered. She sighed and Reid looked down at his shoes.

“My boss was talking to me, Kara.” Reid defended him.

“Well, I answered my boss, because quite frankly you are too slow.” Kara yelled and whispered at the same.

Reid grabbed his shoulder bag and left the room and slammed the door. Kara followed after him but went the opposite way, getting lost. Rossi went back to his office. Derek saw Kara going the wrong way and ran to catch up with her. “Kara!” Derek called.

Kara stopped and turned to face Derek. “What.” She demanded. Derek saw that her eyes were wet with tears.

“Whoa, girl, no need to cry. Reid is just surprised to see you here.” Derek said trying to comfort Kara.

“Surprised is not the word. He hates me. Ever since our dad took me instead of him when he left our mom. Now he hates me because he was stuck with the insane mom.” Kara cried. She leaned her head on Derek’s shoulder.

“It’s okay…” Derek said and patted Kara on the back. “Come on, we have to pack to get on the plane.” Derek said. Kara dried up her tears and walked to the car garage and went to her apartment.
<><><>

Kara stood at the airstrip next to her brother, Spencer Reid. She was having a half conversation with J.J. and Emily. Kara tuned out once Emily and J.J. started talking about previous cases. “Spencer…” Kara whispered.

Spencer gave her a sideways glance. “What.” Kara momentarily closed her eyes. Then placed an envelope in his hand.

“From Dad…” Kara said slowly whispered. Spencer shoved it into his shoulder bag. A few minutes later, everyone was on the plane and talking about the case again. Spit-balling ideas, mainly. Then eventually the plane landing and they were headed toward the St. Tammany Parish Police Department.

J.J. introduced the team and then they got set up right away. “Garcia,” Derek said, “find the victim’s families.” He said into his phone. She must have said yes because he chuckled and said, “Thanks, Garcia. Behave yourself.” Kara didn’t get, but hopefully she wouldn’t like the rookie for long.

Hotchner called everyone into another conference room. “Wellington, Reid visit the victims homes. Talk to their families.” Hotchner said.

“Whoa, Hotch, you’re sure that’s a good idea?” Derek asked in a joking voice. Hotch laughed and nodded his head.

“Hotch, look at this!” Rossi said slowly. He was pointing at the victim’s pictures. “Kara, what do you notice?”

Kara looked at the pictures. “There was flashing lights in the pictures. It was taken the day before the women went missing. There are wearing the clothes they were found in. That also meant they were at a club, it meant they were partiers. They are all blondes and have hazel eyes. These pictures are all self-taken.” Kara whispered.

“Very good. Morgan go with Reid and Wellington.” Hotchner said rethinking his decision. Morgan nodded and the three left the room.

They all came to the black SUV. Morgan was about to get in the driver’s seat. “Hey, Derek, do you think I could perhaps drive?” Reid asked.

“Hah, don’t think so, Reid.” Morgan laughed. Kara was stepping into the backseat with a Wal*Mart bag over her hands. Reid climbed into the passenger seat, while Morgan was the drivers seat.

“Girl, what the heck is on your hands?” Derek said when he turned around to pull the out of the parking spot.

“I don’t know who has sat in this seat before me. I’m not touching it with my hands.” Kara whispered.

Derek shook his head and pulled the car to the intersection. Within fifteen minutes, the three pulled into the first victim’s house. “What’s the victim’s name?” Kara whispered.

Reid scoffed. Morgan cut a a sideways glance at him. “Not here, okay?” Her name is Samantha Parrish.” Derek said. Kara nodded her head. They knocked on the door and Samantha’s parents opened the door.

“Hello, we’re with BAU, Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI from Quantico, Virginia.” Derek Morgan said smiling shaking Samantha’s mom’s hand.

“Hello, I’m Marie Parrish and this is my husband, Gustavo. This is my other child, Percival.” Marie said. Her eyes were rimmed with red from crying, along were everyone else’s.

“Are you here to find my sister’s killer.” Percival asked Kara. Kara nodded and led Percival to a recess of the room.

“Percival---” Kara began in a whisper.

“Percy.” He corrected.

“How was you and your sister’s relationship?” Kara asked again in a whisper.

“She’s my sister. We loved each other, but we had our fights.” Percy said quietly. “I didn’t kill my sister or those other two. I swear I didn’t…” Percy started to cry. “I want her back.”

“I know you do, Percy. I lost my brother before I could talk.” Kara whispered talking about Spencer. And she was speaking the truth. She had lost Spencer, he just didn’t die. “But, to find who did this to your sister, you have to tell us exactly what happened the day she died.” Kara whispered.

“I-I knew she snuck out of the house. She texted me and told me, ‘If you tell Mom and Dad, I’ll tell where you keep those certain magazine’. So, I kept my mouth shut. By morning, when Sam hadn’t returned, Mom and Dad started to freak out. Next thing I knew, police were involved and then they found her body…” Percy said.

“Kara, we’re leaving now.” Morgan said. Kara stood and gave Percy a reassuring hug.

“It’ll be okay.” Kara whispered in his ear.

When they were safely back in the SUV, Kara whispered with a brown paper bag over her head. “Samantha snuck out. Percy said that Samantha wanted to go and she’d tell on their Mom and Dad.”

“Get the bag off your head.” Reid demanded. Kara shook her head ‘no’. Reid turned around in the passenger seat and took the bag off Kara’s head. Kara began crying and choking on air. “Morgan! Pull over!” Reid said urgently.

“Kara, Kara, breathe. Slowly. One. Two. One. Two.” Morgan said. “Reid, you’re the doctor, do something.”

“Um, I think she is suffering from Thanatophobia---a phobia of dying and death. With a slight phobia of Anemophobia---afraid if air, Aerophobia---air swallowing, Automysophobia---being dirty or filthy, and Verminophobia---afraid of germs.” Reid diagnosed.

“You can tell of all them phobias by her freaking out…?” Morgan asked.

“No, she had this problem when she was little. But it sent her to the hospital.” Reid said softly.

“Give me the bag!” Morgan screamed. Reid handed him the bag that he took off Kara’s head. Morgan placed it on Kara’s head and she began returning to normal. Her breathing returned and she began to calm down.

“This doesn’t change anything between her and I.” Reid said. He returned to the passenger seat while Morgan returned to the driver’s seat.

When Kara began to sit up, Morgan started talking to her. “You, girl, have a lot of problems…”

“Phobias.” Reid corrected.

“I know.” Kara whispered. She began whispering something to herself and ended having a full conversation with herself.

“Is there any phobias that we need to know about?” Morgan said. Kara nodded.

“I have Anemophobia, Aerophobia, Automysophobia, Verminophobia, Mysophobia, Kainophobia, and Counterphobia, oh and one more Contrelophobia.” Kara whispered.

“You are one sad, strange little girl…” Morgan said laughing. “How many phobias is that? Like 9?”

“No eight.” Kara whispered.

“Morgan, do you have any fear?” Reid asked.

“Nope.” Morgan answered laughing. “Only you two, in your weird sad little family.” Morgan smiled and chuckled.

“I only have two! She has eight!” Reid screamed.

“Spencer…you have phobias?” Kara asked in a soft whisper.

“Cliethrophobia and Achluophobia.” Reid answered nonchalantly.

“Okay, well, since not all of us here know what these phobias mean, I think it would be appropriate to tell us what they mean.”

“Those ones Spencer didn’t tell you are: Mysophobia---fear of being full of germs, Kainophobia---fear of new things, and Counterphobia---fear of my phobias, and Contrelophobia---fear of being sexually abused.” Kara whispered.

“My two are, Cliethrophobia, afraid of being locked in an enclosed space.”

“Ah, the elevator incident…” Morgan said chuckling.

“And, Achluophobia, being afraid of the dark. Satisfied?” Reid asked. Morgan nodded contently. They were just pulling up to the second victim’s house.

“Name?” Kara asked.

“Kaitlynn Call.” Morgan answered. Reid had already knocked on the door. Kara was still back at the vehicle trying to get the plastic bags off her hands. Morgan and Reid had stepped inside. It was Kara’s job to talk to the little brother. Sean Call.

It was quiet outside the house, there must be a storm coming. Kara turned around to look at the neighborhood. It was nice and awfully quiet. She turned back around to put her plastic bags in the car. When she turned around someone was looking at her. He had this evil grin on his face and what looked like a gun in his pocket. Before Kara could react, he snapped the gun away from her and duct taped her mouth. Kara began kicking and screaming. The man began dragging her to his vehicle less than a hundred feet away. Once the man had Kara at the car, he duct tapped her hands and feet and threw Kara in the trunk. He got in the car and began to drive away before Morgan and Reid came outside.

***
“Did you notice anything unusual about Kaitlynn in the recent months.” Reid asked Kaitlynn’s mother.

“Well, she had just gotten a boyfriend.” The mother answered.

“Did the boyfriend visit you or try to avenge the killer?” Morgan asked.

“Yes. He stayed with us while she was missing and helped us when we found out she was gone…”

“Did he leave at all?” Morgan asked. The mother shook her head ’no’. Reid nodded once and wrote something on a notebook.

“Mommy!” A little boy said running into the front door. Morgan and Reid expected to Kara come through the door but they didn’t see her.

“What’s wrong, Sean?” Kaitlynn’s mother asked the little boy. Sean, Kaitlynn’s little brother.

“Someone came and got this nice lady with hair and he through her in the trunk of his car and drove off, he had tape all over her.” Sean said. He thought it was a game.

“Oh my God…” Morgan said.

“Kara.” Reid said. “Excuse me miss, but we have to cut this short. One of our agents were kidnapped.” Morgan and Reid ran out of the house.

Kaitlynn’s mother came out of the house. “I know what car he was in!” She called. Reid told her to tell them. “It was a blue Toyota Corolla, it’s been sitting there for a few hours. Now it’s not here.”

“Thank you!” Reid called.

“Call Garcia, tell her to check for blue Toyota Corollas heading out of Huntwyck subdivision.” Morgan demanded.

Reid got out his phone and speed dialed Garcia. “Yeah, Kara’s been kidnapped. Okay, we need you to check the satellite for blue Toyota Corollas headed out of the subdivision of Huntwyck.” Reid said swiftly. He waited for a few minutes then told Morgan to turn to the right and keep going straight. Morgan turned on the sirens to get moving faster. “You’re sure there’s only one Corolla?” Reid asked. “Okay good, can you heat scan the car for bodies…?” Reid said tapping his foot. “One in the drivers and one in the trunk! Okay, thanks Garcia. Do you mind calling Hotch and them to tell to track the car…? Okay good. Send me the GPS satellite to show us where we’re going.” Reid said. “Thank you, Garcia.”

“Is this car the one with Kara?!” Morgan screamed. Reid nodded.

“I just got the GPS coordinates…” Reid said quietly.

“WELL?!”

“Make a U-turn now!” Reid shouted. Morgan pulled to the right, almost pulling the car on two wheels.

“Gotta tell me faster, Reid!” Morgan shouted.

Reid was quiet for a minute. “The car stopped. They got out of the car.” Reid said looking at the GPS coordinates.

“Follow the heat signatures.” Morgan said.

“There are none! Don’t you think I would have said something!!” Reid shouted. He put his hands on his head and closed his eyes. “I just want Kara back.”

“Now, you want your sister.” Morgan said snootily.

“Did you not here her?! This the un-sub! She has a phobia of being sexually beaten!! If she is scared enough, she will go into a panic attack and die.” Reid explained. “And yes, she’s my sister. No matter what happens.” Morgan pulled the car over and got out.

“We’re finding your damn sister, Reid. Get out of the car.” Morgan said with a determined tone in his voice. Reid got out of the car. “There’s the Corolla. You go in this door, I’ll check this door.” Morgan said pointing to two different doors.

“Their both unlocked. Someone’s been in this warehouse.” Reid said softly.

“This is where the un-sub commits his crime.” Morgan answered while both of them were creeping in the separate doors. “Reid---”

“Shush! I her screaming.” Reid busted through the door and ran toward the screams. Morgan followed behind him. They ran up a flight of stairs until they were submerged in total darkness. Reid’s fears didn’t get the best of him here.

Reid continued running till her didn’t hear screams anymore. He ran up a flight of stairs and saw the un-sub holding a gun toward him. Reid pulled the trigger on his first. The guy went down dropping the gun. Reid then saw Kara and ran next to her.

Morgan put his gun away and kneeled beside Reid. “She’s gone…” He whispered. Morgan pulled Reid away from Kara. Reid began crying. “She’s dead…”

“Morgan?!” Hotch called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Up here, Hotch!” Morgan yelled. Reid had crawled back over to Kara and tried giving her CPR.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.” Reid yelled at Kara. Kara’s body was still limp.

Hotchner, Prentiss, Rossi, and J.J. ran up the stairs. They stood beside Morgan and watched this moment until Kara began coughing. “I always whispered because you said, ‘Mommy and Daddy are talking, you must whisper.’ So, I still hear them talking…so I still whisper…I love you, Spencer…” Kara coughed one more time and closed her eyes.

Reid then began to give her CPR again until Rossi walked up beside him. “Reid, she’s gone.”

“No she’s not!” Reid protested.

“The medics will be here in a couple of minutes.” J.J. reported.

The paramedics soon came and said that Kara’s time of death was 13:11. Commonly known as 1:11 p.m. The paramedics tried to perform CPR, but Kara was dead. They said that Kara had died from a panic attack, like Reid said

***
“Reid, time to go home.” Emily said at the St. Tammany Parish Police station. Reid hasn’t said a single word since Kara died. He nodded and picked up his duffle bag.

“Reid, wait up.” Morgan called. Reid put down his duffle bag. “Did you ever read the letter Kara handed to you?” Reid shook his head and took the letter out.

“Dear Spencer,
I lied. This isn’t from Dad, it’s from me. And I lied about one more thing, I took this job knowing you worked here, because I wanted to have my brother back. Dad had taken most of the childhood pictures with him when he left Mom. So, it is my duty, I believe, that you should get some of the pictures too. So, I took some out of the photo albums we never look in and put the in your shoulder bag. I hope things could go back to the way they were before…well, you know. I’ve missed you Spencer. Oh yeah, do you remember when you told me to whisper because Mom and Dad were talking? Well, I still hear them talking so I still whisper.

Love You,
Kara <3”