Consume Me Like a Fire

”The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.” ~Alexander Hamilton

Shiloh slowly came to and saw that she was in a dark room with only one small window. She forced herself onto her hands and knees and crawled over to it. The window was dusty and had a crack in the bottom left corner. The first thing she noticed was that she was high up…

But she was still on campus. She could see her dorm building from here, and she was guessing that she was in one of the attics of the lecture building. Suddenly remembering how she got there, Shiloh spun around and looked for Mr. Fritz, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Shiloh searched her pockets for her cell phone, but it was gone along with her shoulder bag. She leaned back against the dirty window and felt like crying. The FBI left, but Mr. Fritz was obviously part of the killings… Now she would be the next victim.

“Shiloh.” She tensed up at the sound of her teacher’s voice. She looked over and saw him closing what looked like a trap door that led down from the attic. He smiled at her and walked closer.

“What are you doing by the window?” he asked like she was acting silly. Shiloh was confused and racked her brain for why he was acting this way. A light bulb went off in her head when she remembered one of his lectures. Some people have fantasies where they truly believe the person they’re obsessed with loves them back. He must be delusional like those people.

“I uh… where am I?” she tried asking sweetly. If he was playing out his fantasy with her, then he thinks that they are in love. She decided to try to play along, maybe that will keep her alive longer.

“Where’re at home,” he chuckled and tapped her nose. Home? Shiloh looked around and saw only dusty boxes and a few extra desks and chairs littered everywhere.

“Oh yeah, right,” she laughed dryly.

“Work was tiring today. Help me relax like you usually do,” he said kneeling in front of her and moving forward. Shiloh panicked and turned her head away from him. Mr. Fritz's lips grazed her cheek.

“Shouldn’t we have dinner first?” she squeaked. Mr. Fritz pulled back and beamed at her.

“You're right. We’ll eat and then get on to other things,” he said suggestively. Shiloh held back her disgusted face and nodded. She used to ogle this man when he stood in front of her class teaching, but now all she saw was a killer that wanted her.

“What do you want to eat? We don’t have any food here, but I’ll go pick us up something,” he said.

“Uh, Thai would be great,” she mumbled the first thing that came to mind.

“I’ll be back soon,” he kissed her forehead and went back down through the trap door. The nearest Thai food place was 10 minutes away so that gave her time to try to get out. Adrenaline starting to flow through her, she ran to the trap door and tried to pull it open, but failed. He must have locked it from the outside.

Shiloh looked around and ran over to the boxes. Maybe there was something in there that would help. She tore through the boxes, but the only things in them were old documents about employees and syllabi. Frustrated and depressed, Shiloh returned to her spot against the window. Maybe someone will come looking for her…

~*~

“Rossi, Prentiss, you two are checking out Matthew’s apartment. Morgan and I will go through the dorms. JJ, take Reid and you two search the lecture halls. We don’t have time to waste,” Hotch finished and left with Derek.

“Let’s go,” Spencer said and JJ followed close behind him. Even she could see out tense he was. They needed to find Shiloh now!

“The lecture halls are huge… JJ go left and I’ll go right,” Spencer said once they reached a fork in the hall.

“But last time we split up—“ JJ never forgave herself for leaving Spencer alone to be taken by Tobias and she didn’t want a repeat of that event. But Spencer cut her off.

“I know what happened last time, but Shiloh’s life is in danger. We need to find her before Matthew’s fantasy gets disrupted and she gets killed. Keep in contact through our earpieces,” he ordered and took off down his side of the hall. JJ glanced hesitantly at him before going in the opposite direction like he told her to.

Spencer scanned the hall with his gun raised. Most of the classrooms were empty and he was nearing a turn in the hall. Slowly he peeked around the corner, but didn’t see anyone. The only thing that was there was a string hanging from the ceiling. An attic?

Spencer reached up and with his height he was able to grab the string and pulled it down. A small set of stairs slid down and he put his gun in its holster before climbing them. He reached a flat piece of wood and turned the metal handle, pushing it up. The makeshift door gave way and he climbed up into the attic.

“Shiloh? Shiloh, are you up here?” Reid called into the low lit room. He heard a sniffle and walked towards it.

“Shiloh?” he called again.

“W-Who’s there?” Spencer couldn’t even describe the amount of relief he felt when he heard her beautiful voice. Shiloh was alive.

“It’s me, Spencer. Where are you?” he asked. There was rushed shuffling and then Shiloh threw herself at him sobbing.

“Mr. Fritz…chloroform…door was locked…Thai food,” she mumbled gibberish. Spencer held onto her and rubbed soothing circles into her back.

“Don’t worry. My team is here now and we’re getting you out of here,” he said softly looking into her eyes. Shiloh nodded and kept a hold on his arm like she was scared he would disappear. The pair walked to the trap door, but stopped when another person appeared coming through it.

“Shiloh, why is the door open?” Mr. Fritz asked looking up. The bag of Thai food dropped from his hand when he saw Shiloh’s arms around Spencer and his likewise.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he growled closing the trap door behind him. Spencer reached for his gun when he saw Matthew pull out a large hunting knife.

“Matthew, calm down. Shiloh is scared and wants to leave,” Spencer tried to reason.

“Scared?! Why would she be scared? You're the one who invaded our home and tried to seduce my woman,” Matthew snapped. Shiloh made a whimpering sound and hid her face in Spencer’s sleeve.

“Shiloh gets scared when people yell,” he replied slowly. Matthew looked at the blonde girl and then glared at Spencer.

“Don’t tell me what she likes and doesn’t like. I know Shiloh a lot more than you do. Did you know her favorite color is yellow? That her parents got divorced a few years ago and that she visits her mom more than her dad? That when she was 10, her family dog died of old age? That her scum of an ex-boyfriend cheated on her with her ex-best friend?” Matthew asked trying to sound more important than Spencer. All it did was freak Shiloh out even more that he knew all those things about her.

“Is that why you killed Brandon and cut of certain extremities of his?” Spencer asked trying to get off the subject of Shiloh.

“No, I killed Brandon because he was the one who took away Shiloh’s innocence. He was her first man and then he goes and cheats on her… He didn’t deserve to keep his balls,” Matthew growled and took a step closer to them, but Spencer fired another question at him.

“Then why did you kill Melissa and have Katie kill the others?” he asked quickly.

“Melissa broke Shiloh’s heart so I broke hers. Her friends were just as bad so Katie took care of them. And did you hear the way Damien talked to Shiloh? Asking she bluntly if she would sleep with him… He won’t be asking such vulgar things anymore; can't talk without a tongue.”

“Or if you're dead,” Spencer added.

“That too. Now step away from Shiloh and let her come to me. We need to get going,” he demanded. Spencer tightened his grip on the girl and moved her so that she was standing behind him, her face in his back.

“I can't do that,” Spencer replied calmly. Slowly, he brought his hand up to his ear and pushed the button to talk to his team.

“I have Shiloh and we are in the attic on the right side of the lecture hall. Matthew is here and we can't get out,” he whispered.

“What are you saying?! Give me Shiloh!” Matthew yelled. Spencer listened to Hotch’s voice in his ear saying that they were on their way.

“Shiloh doesn’t love you, Matthew,” he stated. Matthew clenched his fist and held his knife up higher.

“Of course she does. We’re in love,” he growled and took another step closer.

“No, Shiloh loves me now. We’re in love, can’t you see that?” Spencer asked trying to get Matthew’s fantasy to break.

“That’s a lie! You’re just trying to keep us apart!” Matthew yelled.

“No, we kissed last night. She loves me now, Matthew,” Spencer explained thinking about the quick kiss she gave him to say goodbye. Shiloh blushed and hid her face even more in Spencer’s shirt.

“What? Shiloh, that’s a lie, right? Tell me that he’s lying!” Matthew hissed looking at what he could see of Shiloh behind Spencer. She shook her head no, that it wasn’t a lie. Matthew lost it…

“No!” he screamed and lunged at Spencer. The FBI agent quickly pushed Shiloh away and fired his gun at Matthew. Matthew stumbled back and fell down on his butt. He looked to his shoulder and saw that it was bleeding where he had been shot.

“Spencer! Are you okay?” Shiloh crawled over to him and gently held his arm up. He looked down and saw blood coating his white sleeve where Matthew’s knife must have cut him.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled before moving her further back in case Matthew tried to attack them again. Suddenly, the trap door burst open and Spencer’s team filled the dark attic. Derek was on Matthew and cuffing him in seconds. He read him his rights and took him down the stairs to get his shoulder patched up.

Everyone else slowly went down the stairs and Shiloh saw a mass of people waiting for them. There were paramedics who were currently seeing to Matthew, and a lot of police officers over watching them. Thankfully, Shiloh didn’t see any news cameras or reporters among them.

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked bringing Shiloh back to the present. She looked at him and saw an EMT bandaging his forearm up. The cut was pretty deep and would probably scar his arm.

“Yeah, it’s over now, right? For sure this time?” she asked softly, fear evident in her voice. The EMT finished quickly and left the two to talk. Spencer forced a small smile and opened his arms for her. Shiloh walked into them and held onto Spencer tightly. The FBI agent held her close and felt her tiny body shaking against his.

“It’s over now, I promise.”

“Get your hands off me. Shiloh’s upset and I need to comfort her! Let me go!” Matthew yelled as the police dragged him away. Spencer pulled Shiloh closer and whispered words of reassurance to calm her down. Hotch looked over at them and sighed before hiding the very small smile on his lips. He went over to talk to Officer McDaniel about what was going to happen next.

“The paramedics want to see you, just to make sure you’re alright,” Spencer whispered pulling back a little. Shiloh nodded and followed him over to the men in red and black. They checked her vitals and made sure she wasn’t going into shock before they let her reunite with Spencer.

“What happens next?” she questioned as Spencer led her out of the building. Now that they were alone, Spencer felt his nerves getting the better of him. He was completely different and much more confident when adrenaline was coursing through him. Now he felt like the nerd trying to impress the lead cheerleader…

“Uh the police will ask more questions. Matthew will go to jail for life, and you get to start over,” he said. Shiloh linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What about going to court? Will I have to testify to send Mr. Fritz to jail?” she asked softly not looking at him.

“You're the best witness. All of this was centered around you so I think they’ll ask you to testify—“

“Will you be there?” she asked looking up at him. Spencer’s heart clenched at how broken she looked. He didn’t want to see her that way…

“If you want me to.”

Read the author note please(: