A Devilish Mind

The thing I find really scary about ghosts and demons is that you don't really know what they are or where they are. They're not very well understood. You don't know what they want from you. So it's the kind of thing you don't even know how to defend yourself against. Anything that's unknown and mysterious is very scary.

-Oren Peli

In the conference room of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, a case file was tossed on the table with a thump.

"We have a new case," Agent Aaron Hotchner told his team. " Six families were found murdered in their homes. Each family had a child, a daughter, whose bodies have not been found. It is believed by local law enforcement that the girls are still alive and are being held by our Unsub."

Dr. Spencer Reid picked up the case file "All of the attacks were conducted in a very violent manner," he stated, showing the crime scene photos to his team. Many of the bodies had been torn apart, and some showed injuries similar to claw and teeth marks. "Some of the victims appear to have been mauled by some sort of animal. From the size of the wounds, perhaps a bear or a large dog or cat, but the report says that there was no evidence of animals at the scene."

David Rossi took the file next. "The murders seem to have some sort of occult connection. Look at the symbols the Unsub painted on the walls."

"They were done in the victim's blood," Agent Jennifer Jareau observed.

"It's not just occult symbols," Reid said, peering closer at the photos. "There seems to be a name repeated at all of the crime scenes." He tilted his head. "Looks like it says 'Dante.'"

"Like 'Dante Alighieri,' author of the Divine Comedy?" Emily Prentiss mused.

"Possibly," said Reid.

"Where did this take place?" Derek Morgan asked.

"Capulet City," Hotchner answered. "Wheels up in an hour."

"Capulet City… Where have I heard that name before?" Prentiss wondered.

"It's been in the news a few times," Reid said. "A giant tower rose out of the ground and then disappeared overnight, destroying several city blocks and leaving hundreds dead. More recently, a terrorist attack destroyed much of the city," he finished as the team headed out.

Hours later, the BAU were pulling up to the Capulet City Police Department, where they were met by one of the CCPD deputies.

"You the guys from the FBI?" the young man asked.

"We are," Hotchner answered. "And you are?"

"Sergeant Anthony Molina. The Chief asked me to take you to him." Sergeant Molina waved another officer closer. "There's been another attack. The Chief's there now. Officer Devine and I will clear your way." He nodded at the approaching officer. "If you'll give us a minute, just follow the squad car."

Molina and Devine jogged over to a nearby car and a minute later peeled off, lights flashing. The FBI'S two black SUVs followed it through the winding and dirty streets of Capulet.

In the front SUV, a conversation was taking place between three of the BAU.

"Every other attack occurred at night, when the families and neighbors were asleep." Prentiss remarked to Hotch, who was driving. " Why would the Unsub risk discovery by changing MO and operating during the day?"

"Opportunity, perhaps?" Hotchner replied. "Or perhaps the local police department's lack of progress has caused the Unsub to grow more bold in his actions."

"It's far more likely that the Unsub's behavior is devolving at an accelerating pace," Reid interjected from the middle row of seats. He rifled through the papers in the case files in his hands. "The first family, the O'Brians, were killed just over a month ago, with the youngest daughter, Melissa, found missing and assumed to have been kidnapped. The second murder/kidnapping, the Johnsons, occurred the week after, and the third, the Rothschilds, followed the same pattern. But, the forth attack, against the Smith family, was just three days later. The fifth and sixth killings, the Patricks and the Stuarts, we're also three days apart from each other. This attack happened less then two days after the last. Our Unsub seems to move up their time frame for the killing and kidnappings on a regular basis."

"If you're right, then the next attack could easily as early as tomorrow," Hotchner concluded. "Prentiss, call Morgan and let him know about the possibility of another early attack."

In the second SUV, Morgan answered his phone and listened to Prentiss' explanation of Reid's theory and Hotchner's conclusion.

"Tomorrow?" Morgan asked in disbelief. "Is he sure?"

"The pattern so far makes it seem likely," Prentiss answered, her voice sounding tinny through the phones speaker. "Will you tell the others?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Was that Hotchner?" Rossi asked from the driver's seat when Morgan finished his call.

"Prentiss. She said that Reid noticed a pattern in the killings and Hotch thinks that there might be another one tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" JJ asked. "Isn't that a bit…early?"

"Reid thinks that the current pattern shows that the Unsub's behavior is devolving at a steady rate. If they stick to the pattern, they'll strike tomorrow," Morgan explained.

Just then, Morgan's phone rang again. He glanced briefly at its screen before answering it with a smile. "Hey, Baby Girl! You got something for me?"

"You know I do, Hot Stuff." The caller was the BAU's Technical Analyst, Penelope Garcia. Back in Quantico, she sat in her personal office, surrounded by the many monitors of her computer network. The plump analyst, her color streaked blonde curls, thick-framed glasses, and her eccentric, brightly-colored wardrobe that so perfectly reflected her bubbly personality, were all lit by the light of her computer monitors in the otherwise dark room.

Deft fingers swiftly tapped out a steady beat on the keys of a keyboard, bringing up multiple images on the monitor currently in front of Garcia. One of the images was a crime scene photo of bloody symbols on a white wall, another was a close-up of similar symbols written on a yellowed parchment. A third window was open on a website page, titled The Language of Demons, claiming to be the foremost authority in the field of demonic linguistics.

"You know those symbols drawn on the walls in the victim's blood?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah?"

"We~ell, I got to thinking that there might be some sort of meaning behind them, so I went looking for anything that might match, and guess what I found?" Garcia's voice held just a touch of smug triumph.

"And what was that, Baby Doll?" Morgan dutifully asked.

"More than a dozen matches, dating back as far as 3,000 B.C., and a handful of websites detailing their meaning and origins. You're not going to believe this, but those symbols are supposed to be from a dialect of language that all of the sites call Demonic. More specifically, the language is Third-Level Demonic," Garcia explained.

"Demonic?" Morgan scoffed, disbelieving.

"I said you weren't going to believe it," Garcia retorted. "But somebody seems to. Whoever did this didn't just write down random letters and words. Every single line turned out to be a full, complete sentence after I ran them through one of the sites translating programs."

"And what do they say?"

"They're mostly threats, taunts, and warnings. 'Humanity shall fall,' 'The Master shall rise, and all of humanity will kneel before Him,' and a lot of similar stuff. There is one thing, though. Some of the messages seems to be aimed at a specific person."

"You got a name, Momma?"

"Sorry, Hun, but none of the messages mention by name," Garcia admitted. "It's always either 'son of the Dark Knight' or 'scion of Sparda.'"

"'The Dark Knight?' 'Sparda?' Like the old legends?" Morgan asked. "I don't remember them ever mentioning that he had a son."

"Neither do I," Garcia agreed. "I'm going to see what I can find out, though. There might be something in some of the more obscure legends. Maybe there's some connection to this mysterious 'Dante' that the guy keeps writing about."

"Is that really necessary? You don't really believe in that whole demon thing, do you?" Morgan joked, chuckling a bit.

"This is not a laughing matter!" Garcia protested. "Those sites all that the existence of demons seriously, and if our guy does, too, then wouldn't it be a good idea to know what, exactly, he believes?"

"Easy, Garcia," Morgan soothed. "You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. Why don't I let you do your thing, and you can tell us what you find later?"

"You got it, my chocolate Adonis. Talk to you later." With that, the call ended.

With a sigh, Morgan put his phone away.

"Demons, the Dark Knight Sparda?" Rossi glanced over at Morgan. "What was that about?"

"Garcia found something on the messages written on the walls of the victim's homes, and managed to translate them," Morgan explained. "Some of the messages made references to the old Sparda legends. You know of them?"

Rossi smirked, but kept his eyes on the road. "You're talking to the man who researched and debunked the existence of killer satanic cults. I know the legends of the Dark Knight Sparda very well."

"I don't," JJ chimed in. "Willing to fill me in?"

"I know some of the more popular legends," Morgan said, "but Rossi here probably knows them better."

"Probably," Rossi agreed. "What you first have to understand is that the various legends and stories all occur over a long span of time. The oldest dates back to about just over two thousand years ago, and the most recent come from the last half of the 20th century."

"That recent?" JJ said, surprised.

"The newest story is about three decades old now. As for the oldest… Well, most sources agree that, whatever the reasons why he originally Fell, Sparda eventually opposed the Demon Emperor Mundus' policies on humanity. Sparda gathered an army of loyal supporters and led them into battle against Mundus' forces. Mundus and his army were eventually pushed back into the demon world. With the help of a human priestess, Sparda sealed the majority of his powers into his sword, Force Edge, and used the sword as one of the keys to the sealing of the tunnel to the Demon World, the legendary tower of Temen-Ni-Gru."

"What was that supposed to do, exactly," JJ asked.

"If you believe the legends, the sealing of Temen-Ni-Gru prevents all but the weakest of demons from entering the Human World without help. Supposedly, not even Mundus himself can cross over into this world on his own," Rossi explained.

"Do any of those legends mention him having a son?" asked Morgan.

"There's a few. One of the theories given as to why Sparda fought for humanity was that he had fallen in love with a human and had a child with her. Some even claim that it was the priestess that he loved. That most recent legend I mentioned? Sparda is supposed to have disappeared after marrying a human and fathering a child with her," Rossi said. "Sparda is said to have lived as a human for two thousand years. If he did exist, he could have had multiple children throughout his lifetime."

"Then those messages could reference any number of children," Morgan remarked.

"Not necessarily," Rossi replied. "Until relatively recently, those believed to have demonic blood were unlikely to survive for long due to primitive superstitions."

"Does it matter?" JJ asked. "Sparda is just a legend. Whoever the Unsub thinks they're communicating with is likely a delusion, or someone he relates with the Sparda legend. There is no son of Sparda."

"It's looks like we're about to find out either way. We're here," Morgan noted as Rossi parked the SUV behind the vehicle of the rest of the team.

The simple, single story track house was located in the winding hills of Capulet suburbs. It's cookie-cutter looks and manicured lawn blended in well with every other house on the street, and it was hard to imagine the horrors contained within its walls just by looking at its beige stucco façade.

The illusion of suburban normalcy was broken by the yellow crime scene tape and the swarm of police officers moving in and out of the house. All of this controlled chaos was being directed by a single man, and the BAU all exited their vehicles to approach the Chief.