ABLOCATE ▇▇▇▇ VOLUME ONE
━━ ❛ 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 ❜

chapter no. 004!

❝ A HELL OF HEAV'N. ❞
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     ONE TIME, WHEN I WAS QUITE YOUNG, MY FATHER SPONTANEOUSLY DECIDED TO DRIVE US TO THE BEACH FOR THE DAY. Despite the closest beach being hours away from where we lived—it didn't matter. I'd never been before. My whole world had been solely confined to the mahogany brick, two-story oblong house that we called home. So, going to the beach was something new. The journey and experience were exhilarating, nerve-wracking, and enigmatic all at once.

     We were nearly two hours away from the oceanfront when it had begun to pour. The rain hit and kicked at the windows of the car so violently that it was nearly impractical to hear my own thoughts. The world had turned into a black-and-white film with a never-ending soundtrack, filled with the sound of water cursing at the world. Then, as if it were magic, it stopped. The rain stopped and everything was silent. The world was silent.

     It was at that moment that I learned that silence can be comforting, but terrifying. It can be a friendly smile or a cold glare. Silence is sometimes similar to yourself. It can be your best friend and worst enemy all in one. It can warm your heart or cut you cold. It can mend you or break you.

     And that silence was what I was engulfed in right now. It took up every available space in the room. The only thing that I could hear was the clock and the sound of my steady breathing.

     I usually didn't mind the silence all that much; it was what I'd known for the bulk of my life, but right now, it was eating at me. Two hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-eight seconds had passed since the two agents walked out of the room with no explanation, and I desperately wanted to stand up and stretch my legs. To do anything but sit here any longer than I already had. I was growing restless; anxious.

     The door to the interrogation room opened with a soft creak and I looked over from where I had been staring at the chair in front of me. A tall man with slightly curly brown hair stood at the threshold, staring at me curiously yet apprehensively.

     Derek Morgan and David Rossi weren't able to get anything out of me so now they were sending in the cute one.

     "Hi, I'm Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm with the Behavioral Analysis Unit," the man spoke, closing the wooden door behind him. I watched him closely as he made his way over to the steel table and laid a crisp manila folder in front of the chair. He shuffled hesitantly before pulling out a set of keys from the pocket of his purple sweater. Reaching over, his hands were slightly shaking and continued to do so as he unlocked the handcuffs that wrapped around my wrists. "Before you ask, I unlocked the handcuffs because I don't believe you will hurt me or try to escape." Dr. Reid said, sitting down.

     My eyes narrowed the tiniest bit and I eyed him carefully. He appeared to be anxious and his hands were intertwined, a sign that something was either bothering him physically or emotionally. His eyes were locked on mine and he appeared to be analyzing me just like I was with him.

     "The cameras are still shut down by the way," he noted, clearing his throat, and I just stared back at him with a blank expression. Something about him was different than the other two agents... He was different.

     "A mind not to be changed by Place or Time. The mind is its own place, and in itself can―" Dr. Reid began after a moment of silence, but I cut him off.

     "Make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n." I knew the poem inside and out. I knew those inked words better than I knew myself. Those words were the same ones that I obsessed over as a child and the ones I would immerse myself in once my time here was served.

     The corners of his rose-tinted lips curled up slightly and I peered at him vigilantly, taking in his presence. His eyes were the most spellbinding pair that I had ever seen. If one weren't paying much attention to them, they would assume that they were a normal shade of brown. However, if one studied them, one would see that the color "brown" simply did not do justice. His eyes were honey against copper and sage; the same shade of nature after it rains. The way the light shining above us hit his eyes made them look as if they were melting into golden rays, circling an eclipse. The golden rays were similar in color to the gold that people so desperately try to pull from the ground. The gold that I never realized I needed to see.

     "Cara, I have a few questions that I would like to ask you," he said kindly, breaking me out of the fixation I had on his eyes. The sound of his voice startled me; there was no trace of anger, desperation, or frustration in it. He was being kind to me; a criminal.

     "I did, indeed, recognize the photos," I answered stonily, wanting to chuckle as Dr. Reid blinked, taken aback by my immediate response. It was more than obvious by his body language that he wasn't expecting me to answer. However, I needed to. If I talked, the more time I would provide for the group. Taunting them would only do so much. "The photos your colleague presented earlier. I recognize them." The cameras were off so, I knew they weren't watching right this very moment. Answering a few questions wouldn't jeopardize the plan.

     Something about the good doctor was compelling me to talk to him, and I didn't like it.

     "Were you there the day of the Abbotsford Auto-Mall attack?" he asked, and I debated in my head how much damage the truth would do if I answered him honestly.

     "No," I replied honestly, keeping my voice even, and I could tell Dr. Reid believed me as the height in his shoulders went down a centimeter.

     "Then how do you recognize the photos? You couldn't have seen them online because these weren't released to the press." He followed up, his brows furrowing and I kept my lips shut tightly, holding onto my emotionless and confident composure. The doctor frowned at my silence, and I wracked my brain, thinking of ways to spin the question out of reach.

     "How do you know my name?" I inquired. Dr. Reid blinked. "There is no paperwork, digital trail, or record of me existing. Cara Valentine doesn't exist. So, how do you know who I am?"

     It was the look on his face that gave it all away, and I felt my breath almost get caught in my throat. The BAU and Vancouver PD were both aware that there was no physical or digital proof of my existence. Which meant that someone had to have informed them. The only people who knew who I was were either in prison or a part of the Red Scorpions. Someone had sold me out.

     We planned on having me arrested for being an accomplice to murder and drug trafficking, but we never counted on them knowing my name. That was the one detail we hadn't planned for.

     "What'd they get in exchange for selling you my name?" I asked simply, yet sharply; a sense of authority was laced in my tone and Dr. Reid flinched, eyes widening.

     "I don't―"

     "What did they get in exchange?" I could tell by the panicked expression on his face that my change in tone and demeanor had thrown him off. The FBI and local PD being cognizant of my identity could potentially backfire on my father. If people were to find out who my father was, they'd have an easy way to get what they wanted from him. I would become a pawn of pain.

     "Ten years off their sentence," Dr. Reid answered, and I bit back an exasperated groan; holding myself back. Lashing out in anger wasn't going to do anything beneficial, all it was going to do was get me in trouble. "After the Abbotsford attack, there were rumors circulating that a kid was a part of the Red Scorpions and involved in their activities. The FBI went to the prison where the original founding members of the Red Scorpions were locked up for the Surrey Six killings. It took a lot of time, but the FBI finally made a deal with one of the prisoners. In exchange for the kid's name, they would have ten years taken off of their sentence."

     Narrowing my eyes, I held my breath, momentarily. "Who was it that gave you my name?" I questioned with a hushed, but dark voice that caused goosebumps to dance across his arms.

     "I can't tell you that." Dr. Reid shook his head, and a small smirk grew on my face.

     "You just did."

     I watched as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and I nearly chuckled at the irony of the situation. Person Y sold me out. It had to be. Hennessy Lu always hated my father and my father hated him. It was a mutual relationship. There was no doubt in my mind that Lu eagerly jumped at the chance to get back at my father for helping land him in prison. "So, instead of twenty-five years to life, he now has thirteen to life since he's already served two. That doesn't sound like much of a deal to me." I commented, shrugging while keeping an emotionless expression. If I showed him, or the other agents, how angry I truly felt, at this moment, I would be letting my guard down and we weren't allowed to do that. We were trained to know better.

     "Even in the face of God himself, we stay strong. Do you hear me? Never once show your fear or true emotions to anyone. If you do, you're as good as dead." Marcus Karbovanec, Dennis Karbovanec's son, had told me that once I was initiated, and his words had stuck with me until this very day.

     From across the table, Dr. Reid was studying me; trying to figure me out as I stared back at him with the same cold blue eyes that I had given everyone else. The longer he, or anyone else, spent trying to figure me out, the more confused they would only get. However, if they were willing to lose an uphill battle, they were free to study as much as they wanted.

     After a minute and two seconds of silence, the brown-haired man finally broke it. "Who's your father? Earlier you said "Just because you caught his daughter doesn't mean you will catch the truth," you were talking about yourself, weren't you?"

     It was then that the silence I answered him with was filled with tension and fear. I couldn't answer. They were watching now. They were watching me and they knew that I had slipped up. The amount of trouble I knew awaited me struck a paralyzing fear down my spine and weaved its way between my veins. The hair on my arms rose and Dr. Reid noticed. He glanced at me and for a split second, I was aware that he saw right through me. He saw the fear. Which meant if he saw it, so did they. There was no doubt in my mind that they could sense the fear through the screens on which they were watching.

     I hesitantly glanced up at the clock as the smaller red hand landed on the five and the longer red hand landed on the twelve. It was five o'clock—which meant that they were now successfully across the border and on their way to Arizona. So, no matter how much trouble I was in, they couldn't reach me, physically, right now. Everyone had left today. That was the plan. They were gone and now my job was done. The plan was a success. I just had to say the last thing they ordered me to do and I was done.

     "Cara?"

     Cara, just breathe. You've pulled this side of you out more times than anyone, including you, can count. This is the last job you have to do. Do it. I repeated "Do it" in my head three times before a sweet and elated, sickly grin spread across my face, and I looked back down at the agent. "Tell Penelope Garcia that she may be quick at her job, but the Red Scorpions are quicker." His eyes widened extensively and his head snapped around as he looked into the mirror, even though the only person to stare back at him was himself.

     "Reid. Out now." A tall, slender man with dark-brown hair, that could possibly be considered black, had entered the room. The door was wide open and I wasn't handcuffed, but I remained where I was. Despite the temptation of running away was quite present in the forefront of my mind.

     The sweet, sickly grin remained on my face while my eyes remained on Dr. Reid, who was grabbing his manila file and rushing out of the door, closing it behind him. A smirk replaced the grin and I looked over at where the man was standing. There were anger and a hint of danger in his eyes, but I knew it was for show. He was trying to scare me. I'd seen that look many times before.

     "Where is your team right now?" A bundle of files was thrown onto the table as he glared down at me. They were still watching. I could feel it. I finished my job and now all I had to do was stay silent.