White Rabbit - A Criminal Minds Fic

Twelve

"So what happened then. What made you ask to go?" Rossi leant forward, leaning on his hands.

Alice shrugged. "I liked Charlie and Becca liked Eric. They kept coming back to talk to us and the way they talked about their home made us curious. It was approaching the end of the summer and neither of us wanted to go home." She hesitated, knowing Ellen was listening and then continued. "I didn't want to go back to somewhere I felt unwanted and Becca didn't want to go back to her Moms. Her stepdad was a bit.... shall we say touchy feely with her, but she didn't want to stay with Ben and Rachel because Rachel was pregnant. If I look back now, it's clear that we both were craving a family and the way Charlie talked about Wonderland was that it was one big happy family. They all looked out for each other, they all pitched in and there were always so many jobs to do that it was never boring. So we asked if we could go."

"And you had no clue it was a cult?" Rossi asked her.

"Sir, does anyone that joins a cult, ever think that they're actually joining a cult? No. They don't. To us, we were running away to join a family, one where we'd be welcomed and appreciated. They had to check with the elders first, but they came back to us three days after we told them we wanted in and they told us if we wanted to go, it had to be that night and that they'd pick us up at midnight. So we packed up our things, emptied our savings and snuck out when Beccas parents had gone to bed."

"How did you get there?" Spencer asked her.

"They gave us a meeting point and they picked us up. We couldn't see where we were going, we were blindfold until we got to the compound. They said that newcomers weren't allowed to know the way in and out for the first few months. Until they were sure."

"Until who was sure, exactly. And of what?"

Alice looked down at the table for a moment before looking Spencer directly in the eyes. "At first I thought they meant it was until we were sure we wanted to stay. Now I realise it was until they were sure that they wanted to keep us. Once they decided you were useful or that you had some sort of purpose to them, to the cause. No one ever left of their own accord, at least not alive. I didn't understand that until later on in my stay there."

"I still don't... I don't understand. You said that the compound had a curfew, so you could leave freely as long as you came back by a certain time." Spencer recalled the conversation from the previous evening.

"You could leave, but not freely. You had to be accompanied by at least two other people, and you had to have a reason for leaving, like going on a stores run, or to the lakes to fish. Only certain people had a key to the gates and to the few cars they had."

"Im sorry.. Gates. In the middle of the Bluedove National Park?" Rossi was now looking even more confused.

"I know right... Bear in mind this place has been there since the mid eighties and they'd been paying off the rangers. The compound was walled in. But the walls were well hidden by trees and bushes that they'd replanted around them. Even the roof tops of the buildings were camouflaged with gardens planted on top of them. Lewis was a mastermind, he'd literally thought of everything. If you didn't know where it was, you wouldn't find it."

"And if people DID stumble upon it accidentally? Surely they'd be confused as there's no record of any dwellings in that area that we can find." Rossi commented.

"Then I guess that would account for some of the bodies found without marks on their necks." Alice replied.

"Alright, so tell us what happened when you first got there." Spencer asked softly, watching Alice close her eyes and start talking.

...

Their first few days had been strange. When Ally and Becca has arrived in the middle of the night, having spent over an hour with musty burlap sacks over their heads, they'd been greeted by relative quietness. The camp, if you could call it that, was asleep, aside from a few people on some sort of security watch. Ally had looked around in awe, unable to believe that this place with in the middle of a National Park. It seemed more like a tiny village that it did a camp in the woods. Low brick and wooden buildings were scattered everywhere, all placed near to groupings of trees. There were quite a few larger buildings set around, perhaps meeting places, a school maybe given the amount of children Charlie had said there would be. She could hear horses winnying nearby in a barn, hear grass hoppers and crickets chirping their midnight song. It all seemed very surreal. Like she stepped into another world.

Charlie and Eric led the two girls into a house, showing them to a room with three sets on bunk beds in. Charlie lit a few candles that were sat on a night stand, leaving the box of matches next to them.

"You'll sleep in here for a few days, until the elders figure out where to put you both. This is the main house, our Mom and Dad sleep in the rooms either side of you. You'll meet them in the morning." Eric hauled their things into the room with them and then the boys left the two girls alone.

"What do you think?" Ally turned to Becca, seeing her older friend looking nervous.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure what I was expecting."

"Me neither."

The girls shed their day clothes and changed into their pajama, both climbing into the bottom bunks that were made up already, soft white sheets and army regulation blankets for covers.

The first night Alice barely slept. She could hear creaking in the house, the noise of talking in the room next door. She'd found it odd that Eric had seemed to imply that his parents slept separately. Maybe that was just the way they did things here. She was excited and nervous, hoping they'd be accepted into the fold and hardly giving any thought to the life and family she'd left behind. Ellen wouldn't care, she'd be too caught up in her job and new boyfriend. She'd be pleased that she didn't have to deal with her whiny younger sister.

When the girls woke up the next morning, it was to a soft knocking on the bedroom door. They looked at each other, bleary eyed until Becca cleared her throat, coughing and then timidly saying "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a woman who appeared to be in her mid forties, with long blonde hair that was loose. She wore shorts and a t-shirt, the same leather bracelets that Charlie and Eric wore on her wrist, except she wore them on both arms. Her shorts revealed strong legs, stuffed into sturdy boots and her arms looked well toned. She smiled at the two newcomers kindly.

"I hope you both slept well. I know how scary it can be coming to a new place. I'm Marnie. Would you like to come through and have some breakfast. The boys and Lewis are out on morning activity, they'll be back later. We're so looking forward to welcoming you to our home and teaching you our ways. We're all one big family here, we look after each other."

Alice and Becca looked at each other and then back to Marnie. One big family was what they both wanted. That was why they'd come here. One by one, they slid out of their beds and followed Marnie out into the hall, wondering what today would bring.