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this is not a love story, but love is in it. that is, love is just outside it, looking for a way to break in.
NATALIE BLAIR didn't talk about her mother's death. Her father made sure of that years ago.
It wasn't that she hadn't tried, because she had. She'd screamed it from the rooftops, jaw dropped open and vocal chords straining, only to choke on the fluid building in her lungs, saltwater pooling in her mouth while she drowned from the inside out.
Natalie hadn't been able to talk since that night. Not really, at least, not about the things that mattered. Not since she watched the lake shrivel up and die, forcing her mother along with it. It had been dark, and the man had worn a mask; she hadn't seen much, but she had seen that.
In a way, a part of her died in that lake, too.
Becoming a profiler, working for the FBI, these were things she couldn't control. At a young age, the man had sealed her fate, just as Aaron Hotchner had saved it. Natalie was supposed to die back then, still an innocent and naive child, but she hadn't. Growing up to become the opposite of the cruelty which took her mother's life was her only option, in the end.
Her father coped differently with the loss.
The first time Natalie saw the blood on his hands, the blonde corpse which eerily resembled herself lying limply at his feet, she'd offered him a glass of water. To calm down, she'd told him.
Perhaps, she and the cruel man weren't opposites after all. The lake behind her grandparents old property, the lake filled with rotting flesh and traces of blonde hair, begged to differ. Natalie had tried to scream, really, she had, but every time was more futile than the last. She couldn't scream, not when her father was still alive. Not when he had the lake at his disposal. Not when he had her clutched so tightly in his fist.
Natalie never told a soul.
But when it's her turn to be brought to the lake, she'll regret holding her breath for so long before she went under.
( DISCLAIMERS... ) — the rights to criminal minds, as well as its plots and characters, go to the original creators of the show. — i own all of my original characters, plot lines, and dialogue. — i refuse to tolerate any homophobic, racist, transphobic, or misogynistic views. if you comment anything of the sort, you'll be blocked. please just be nice, it isn't hard!
( TRIGGER WARNINGS... ) — this story may include mentions and descriptions of triggering content such as: blood and gore, like seriously so much blood and gore, it won't be pretty, aquaphobia, child abuse, homophobia, violence, torture, murder, death, and lots of disturbing shit in general. — story is rated mature due to violence, no smut. — if you're easily affected by such content, please proceed with caution. your happiness and safety will always come first!
( AUTHOR'S NOTE... ) — i know the whole 'spencer reid fic and the oc has a dad who's a serial killer' trope is overused, but if you've read anything i've written before, taking a cliche and brutally fucking it up with a chainsaw is kinda my specialty. just trust me.
