spencer: did you just knock on my door?

i read his text, confused.

stella: no, why? i'm still at quantico.

spencer: that's weird. it sounded just like your knock.

stella: who is it?

i don't get a response. maybe he fell asleep. i head up to hotch's office and show him the note.

"i think he's after me." i mumble.

hotch looks up at me and says that he will look into it.

"i'll put a patrol car outside your apartment tonight, just to be safe." hotch says.

i nod, and head back for the elevator. i check my phone, and i still don't have a text from spencer. i decide to call him.

i click on the call button and it rings. no answer. i can him again. no answer.

this isn't like spencer. at all. he would wake up to his phone. i'm gonna head over there and check on him.

-

as i pull up to the front of his apartment, i see his car, so he couldn't have left.

i get to the front door and it's cracked. my palms get sweaty as i push open his door, and see books on the ground, a glass broken, and a gun on the ground.

"spencer?" i yell, hoping he's sleeping. i run into his room and i don't see him. this isn't good.

i decide to call hotch.

"hotchner."

"you have to get to reid's apartment right now. he texted me asking if i knocked on his door because he told me i could always come over if i was scared because of the note and i said i didn't and he never replied, so i called him and he didn't answer so i came here and... he's not here." i manage to say, through soft sobs.

"keller, slow down. i'm on my way. do not leave. call the rest of the team." hotch says. i can hear shuffling in the background, probably him trying to hurry.

"okay i will." i hang up and call the rest of the team and they're here within minutes.

prentiss gets here first and i walk up to her and hug her tight, crying over her shoulder. spencer and i may have had our problems, but him and emily are my closest friends.

once the rest of the team gets here and hugs are shared, we immediately get to work.

"there is a broken lamp on the floor, and books scattered, so there was definitely signs of a struggle." morgan observes. i continue to look around his apartment. while i'm in the kitchen, i see a note, in the same handwriting as the notes i've gotten.

spencer,

i know what you two are.

looks like i drew the short stick for you.

-s

i cover my mouth with my free hand, dropping my cell phone, making everyone turn their heads in my direction. "guys, look at this."

everyone walks over and i continue talking. "it's the same handwriting as the notes i've been getting. and he seems like he's been stalking me for a while now, because he thinks that spencer and i have something going on, which we don't. the snowman took him."

"it's starting to look that way. the only problem is, we don't know the snowman's identity." prentiss states from behind me.

i set the note on his counter and a tear runs down my cheek, and my hands moved up immediately to wipe it away. morgan rests a hand on my back and whispers, "we will find him alive. do not worry."

i turn around and hug derek, wrapping my arms around his torso. he plants a kiss on the top of my head and then pulls away to go look around more.

"these treads of mud from a boot maybe are highly unusual. i've never seen a make of a shoe with that tread." rossi states.

"it looks like a hunting boot." i say.

"i think it's a size 11 in men. so our guy is probably tall, maybe 6'0-6'3." morgan adds.

i try to think back to what my note says. the snowman said that he's coming for me. so he might be going back to my apartment, in hopes that i'm there. just then, hotch interrupts my train of thought.

"there isn't much more that we can do until the morning. go home and try to get some sleep. be here first thing at 7 am. it's 2:30 right now, so you'll get a few hours. we need all of your fresh eyes tomorrow. remember, this is one of us, and a threat to the BAU. if you think of anything that will help us find spencer, call all of us." hotch finishes, and then walks out of spencer's apartment.

"you need a ride home, stella?" morgan asks. i shake my head in response.

"no, i drove here, so i have a way to get home." i answer. "but thank you for the offer."

"my pleasure. stay safe." morgan adds, and i smile and nod in response.

-

i sit down in my car and lock the doors. i dragged spencer into my problem and now his life is at risk.

"stella you're so fucking stupid!" i yell, punching my wheel over and over again through sobs. i don't know what to do anymore. this is all my fault.

i start the car as i wipe my tears and turn on the radio. it isn't a long drive from here to my apartment, i just need some comfort music.

i pull into my parking spot and grab my things and head upstairs. i just want to lie down.

i unlock my door and shut it behind me, locking all the bolts, and then throw my keys in a ceramic bowl. i set my purse down and immediately head towards the couch and lie down, turning on the tv.

about halfway through an episode of grey's anatomy, my phone receives a call from an unknown number. my brow furrows as i hesitate to answer.

"hello?" i ask.

"stella, what a pleasure to see you again." the man begins.

"who is this?" i state. he can probably hear the fear in my voice.

"look outside your window." he hangs up. i look out the big arched window in my living room, and there was a man wearing a mask. he uses something to break the glass and get in.

i immediately run towards my bag for my gun, but he reaches me before i can completely pull it out.

he rips the gun out of my hand and tosses it somewhere, and i try to fend him off. i get a few good punches across the face and kicks to the groin, before he hits me over the head with my ceramic bowl. i fall to the ground, going in and out of consciousness. i know i'm being taken. but i can't scream. i can't run. i don't know what to do.

i wake up to the sound of a door opening. i feel around myself, my hands and legs tied together with zip ties, and a big zip tie around my torso, attached to the chair.

i can't see, i'm wearing a blindfold. i can hear the sound of someone tying someone else up.

"who's there?" i ask, knowing he won't tell me.

"wait a few more minutes, then you'll see." the man says. he sounds older, maybe 50-55. he has to be fit, considering he took me and whoever is in front of me, in the same night.

minutes pass by and i hear someone else fighting against their restraints. "alright, i'm going to take off both of your blindfolds now."

he scoots our chairs closer so that we are both in his arm length. he grabs the front of them and rips them off.

i am face to face with stella.

"stella.." a tear falls down her cheek at the sight of me.

"this is all my fault. i dragged you into this mess." she tries to say something else, but i cut her off. "you had no way of knowing that this sick bastard was going to take me, or even come out of hiding at all. don't blame yourself."

the man then cuts me off. "one of you will die in the next 24 hours. whoever that is, well, that's up for you two to decide."

i look back at stella as the man leaves the room, not sure if what to do. i feel tears forming in my eyes, knowing that they're going to fall soon.

"spencer, this is my killer. you shouldn't have to die because of my problem." stella croaks.

"stella, do not think like that. did you forget what an amazing team we have? they'll find us." i answer.

"i hope so." stella replies, reaching out and putting her tied hands on my knee.

i rest mine on top of hers. "just have a little faith." i whisper, and she nods, tears spilling down her cheeks.