AN: This is my first story and I will try my best to stay in character. Please review and let me know what you think.

15 years earlier…

Rina peered over the top of the newspaper to regard her 2 year old niece, Alynne, playing in their backyard. She turned back to the page as it appeared her niece was in no danger, she was calmly playing with her red ball. It seemed there was still no good news in the newspaper. The vigilante serial killer the police had been chasing for the past five weeks was still at large. The police had already discovered 16 bodies in the river. They had even called in the BAU, Behavioral Analysis Unit, from the FBI, the best serial killer catchers. The bodies were found floating in the river with no connection except for the fact that they were all basically guilty of crimes, only for an unknown reason their juries had acquitted them. Rina quickly read the page, no new leads but at least the week had gone by without anymore bodies being discovered.

Rina's sister was resting in the upstairs bedroom. She sighed heavily; she had no other choice but to leave her daughter in the care of her sister. Work called her away and she wanted her daughter to live a good life with strong family support. She examined the letter she had written to Alynne along with the diary to be given to her on her sixteenth birthday. She had already told Rina that she was leaving and how she wanted her daughter to be raised. Rina had agreed to make sure that Alynne knew how to protect herself in this dangerous world, and that she would be okay without her mother.

Rina's husband, a local police detective, shook his head. Around him stood the BAU, the Los Angles FBI, and a couple of NIS officers loudly arguing. The Naval Investigative Service was called in after some the bodies were identified as military officers. It was a jurisdiction nightmare, all the agencies wanted in, but so far the FBI had gained control of the investigation. They had no leads and the press was all over the story. He tiredly flipped through the case file one more time. All the victims had been stabbed, that was well known, but the fact that the FBI had no idea what the murder weapon was was something they did not publicize. The crime labs had tried everything to no avail. Frustrated, he slammed the folder shut. What really upset everyone was that there was no physical evidence or eyewitnesses. The water had washed everything away. At least no more bodies were showing up, a good sign to be sure; he seemed to have stopped killing. On the other hand, without anymore bodies how would they ever find the killer?

Edited 1/4/09