"Be a shining star in the darkest of nights"
-T.F. Fox-

"Ahh" Natalie groans softly as her eyes start to flutter open. She's lying on her back, her back sinking into the cold, hard, dark pavement underneath her. She wakes up and looks at the ceiling, seeing very little light around her. She felt like the walls were closing in and she was being interrogated or judged while lying on the floor, feeling so exposed, yet so hidden.

Her hands lie flat on the ground, and she forces herself to sit up. Her head is pounding, and she has an excruciating headache. Her eyes scan the room and there are multiple different paths to go through, which start to confuse Natalie on where she was and why she was there in the first place.

"Hello!" Natalie calls out, her voice echoing through the room as she stood to her feet. She was still in her own clothes. They were a bit dirty, but they don't look like they've been messed with extremely. "Hello! Is anybody here?" Natalie calls out again as he eyes scan to the multiple different paths.

About 5 ways to escape, but she didn't know which one to go through. It was like the room was playing tricks on her mind.

"Where am I?" Natalie asks as her breathing picks up, frantically spinning around as she starts to panic, not knowing where to go and if she'll be able to get out.

"I'm smart. Whoever did this wouldn't let me get away that easily" Natalie whispers to herself as she places a hand on her chest that rises up repeatedly as her breathing becomes uneven while she gets used to the things around her. They won't let her get away that easily...

"And that's where the video ends" Garcia says sadly as the video of Natalie trapped in a maze comes to a stop. "We have to find her" Reid says over and over in his mind as his eyes frantically scan the room, not knowing how to process what he has just witnessed on the screen in front of him and the team.

"When- Wh- Why- Where th- Who would do this?!" Maya stammers over her words as she pushes her hair out of her face, accepting Derek's comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Where's Kate?" JJ asks, knowing they could use her knowledge for this case. "She's pregnant and this case is too much, and I think we'll be doing a lot of moving around so I told her to stay back" Hotch answers before the team becomes focused on the severe topic at hand.

"We'll find her. We'll work hard, I promise" Hotch states as the rest of the team nods their heads, willing to workday and night to find Natalie because no one deserves this.

"Have you tracked her car? Phone?" Reid asks, looking to Garcia, who nods her head, scooting her chair over to her computer which is connected to the tv screen.

"Yes. Her phone and car were both left at a gas station like 7 minutes from here" Garcia voices as Maya memorizes the address on the screen and rushes out of the room. Derek goes to follow her, but Reid quickly, and roughly, pushes past him, being the first to follow Maya.

"I've never seen her this worried before" JJ realizes as she, Hotch, Derek and Rossi finally exit the conference room, wanting to catch up with Maya and Reid. "Me neither, but we all know why" Hotch voices before he quickens his pace, JJ, Derek and Rossi looking to each other, and understanding what Hotch means when explaining Reid's urgency to find Natalie.

_____

Maya and Reid, who drive in one SUV together, arrive at the gas station and Maya, who is in the driver's seat, parks the car neatly and notices Natalie's car still by one of the gas pumps and undoes her seat belt and exits the car, along with Reid and rushes to the car before the rest of the team arrives in separate SUV.

"We called the local police, apparently they didn't even see the footage yet, which is why they didn't know" Rossi explains after he gets off the phone with Garcia who relayed the information.

"Bullshit, over 100 thousand people seen it already. No way the local police didn't" Maya states before she looks around the parking lot, not seeing any clues on where Natalie's trails went cold. From the looks of it, the place and car look normal.

Reid turns towards the gas station and sees that they have now opened, since one of the store clerks has just flipped the closed sign to open. "They're open" Reid mumbles to himself before he taps Maya's shoulder and the both of them start marching towards the store.

JJ is eager to follow, but Derek swiftly grabs her arm, "Let them handle that. Let's stop anybody from trying to get in until the police get here" Derek states and JJ sighs, nodding her head slowly as she agrees and helps Derek with managing potential customers from pulling into the area.

"Geez, I flipped the sign like 4 seconds ago" The store clerk says as he jerks at the sound of bell at the top of the door ringing already. "What do you want? Smokes? Candy?" The clerk asks before he turns on the tv above his head, which shows security footage from the cameras that surround the place.

Maya and Reid's head immediately whip in the direction of the multiple point of views the cameras have and notice Natalie's car is in one of them. Maya pulls out her FBI badge and shows it to the clerk, who swallows harshly. "I need you to show me that footage from last night" Maya orders as she motions to the security cameras before Reid slams his FBI badge down on the counter, wanting the store clerk to speed up the process.

Moments later, the police have arrived at the gas station and start to investigate the possible abduction site while the team gathers in the store, waiting for the footage to start.

"Right there" Reid blurts out, noticing Natalie has just pulled in on the footage.

They watch the footage and Maya looks at another point of view, noticing the black van has been there for hours upon hours and hasn't left. She looks back towards the camera facing Natalie, who just walked out the store and watched the madness unfold.

She seen the man exit the black van and make his way towards Natalie, who had no idea was about to happen to her. She watched as the man placed a white cloth around her nose and mouth which eventually knocked her out.

"What the-" JJ starts off until she realizes there is more to the video. They watch as the kidnapper looks right into the camera and it's not a look of realization, the team could tell by his eyes he knew the camera was there and looked straight at it intentionally. They then watched as he walked off without a care in the world and no idea who he just kidnapped...

"How they hell didn't you see this?! You stand here for hours, and you didn't see a women get kidnapped?" Maya asks as she looks to the store clerk, who stammers over his words. "How didn't you see that?! It was right there!" Maya shouts, demanding an answer as the store clerk practically shakes out of fear when Maya continues to raise her voice.

"After she had left, I took the time to go to the bathroom. You can even see me on the cameras in here, lock the door and head to the back" The store clerk says, and Maya tightens her fist together as she knows she can't blame him since she saw it on the footage as well.

"I- I'm sorry" The store clerk says and Maya locks eyes with him before she grabs the back of his neck and slams his face into the counter, causing him to let out a cry of pain before she grabs his arm and began to twist his wrist.

"Maya, calm down! Maya!" Derek shouts, pulling Maya out of the malicious trance. She looks down at the store clerk and tosses him on the floor before pushing past the team and exiting the store.

Meanwhile, Reid puts his head down as tears form in his eyes. They have no leads or any clues on where Natalie could've been taken to. They are slowly leading to a dead end and Reid can't handle it. None of them can...

_____

Natalie runs through the maze, looking for any way out but the farther she goes, the more tired she gets and the darker her surroundings get. "Ugh!" Natalie screams aloud as she bangs on the wall next to her, tears streaming down her face. She feels useless and stupid as of now. When you solve cases about women kidnappings, you come with a bunch of scenarios of what you would do if you were in that situation.

But until you are, you have no idea what to expect and that's the worse feeling...

Suddenly, Natalie notices something on the wall as she begins to bang on it. There's a circle on the wall and a door handle on the side of it, like a door. She placed her hand on the handle and tried to desperately open the secret door, but it felt impossible no matter how much strength Natalie was putting in.

The door wouldn't budge until the door opened on its own, like it was being controlled by something... or someone.

"What?" Natalie questions, peaking her head into the dark room until she feels a pair of hands on her back, which push her into the dark room. Only, it's not a room, she falls onto a metal slide which Natalie falls onto and begins to slide her down, unwillingly, into a dark dark room.

Her body slams onto the ground, only it didn't feel solid or soft. It felt like sand. She the lets out a groan of pain before the lights flickered on. Natalie rose her head up and looked around the room in disbelief. The room was decorated to look a carnival. Above her was a tightrope and there was bench for the audience in the distance. Natalie's eyebrows furrowed feeling confused as she looked at the red and white walls around her. It was whole different scenery.

"Hello?!" Natalie screams as she starts rise up from the sand which sticks to her clothes and hair. Natalie looks around frantically until she sees a flashing red light in the corner of the room which draws her attention as she slowly walks towards it.

"Whoever you are! Whoever is watching! You are coward!" Natalie shouts as she stares into camera, fear flooding her eyes, but it was clear she was trying not to show it.

Suddenly, doors on the other side of the room open and a man walks through. He wears a mask which is made up of separate parts that piece together such as spikes horns, and an eerie toothy grin. He looks like a clown.

Natalie widens her eyes as she backs herself into the wall, not knowing where to go as the man slowly strides towards her in no rush because he knows she has nowhere to go. He knows she's trapped, and deep-down Natalie knows it too.

The man pulls out a machete from a holster on the side of his hip and quickly throws it in Natalie's direction. Natalie lets out a loud scream and ducks, not letting the machete hit her once. "Who are you?!" Natalie screams before she looks to the machete and quickly snatches it out of the wall, swinging it in the scary man's direction. He swiftly dodges it and is able to get behind Natalie and grab both of her wrist while the machete is held tightly in her hands.

"Ah! No!" Natalie shrieks as she runs backwards, letting the man run into the wall roughly. Natalie forces the machete back and tries to slam it into the man's head, having the urge to kill him, but instead she slams it into the wall.

The man gets from behind her and knees her in the stomach, causing her to lose her grip on the machete which is now stuck into the wall again.

"If you were to kill me, you would have no way of getting out" The deep voice says, shocking Maya as she hears the man talk for the first time. "Who the hell are you?!" Natalie screams, looking up at the man, who grabs the machete from the wall, placing it back in his holster before locking eyes with Natalie and slowly stepping closer towards her.

"Your worst nightmare..."

The man throws a punch directly to Natalie's face right before pushing her into a barrel that's in the room for the circus decorations. "Ugh" Natalie groans as she gets up, not wanting to give up just yet.

"You aren't like the other women I've taken. You have... strength" The man states, making Natalie knit her eyebrows in confusion and tilt her head with curiosity until she juices the door, he entered from is still open.

She makes a run for it but before she makes it, she is tackled to the ground, landing flat on her stomach. "No! No!" Natalie calls out as she is grabbed by her ankle and dragged away from the door. "But you are stupid like the rest of them" The man says before he grabs Natalie by the back of her neck, raising her to her feet before slamming her face onto one of the tables in the room.

"I want to hear you beg for mercy!" The man shouts before he throws Natalie into the table, making everything on table clash to the floor, along with Natalie. Natalie lies on the ground after being thrown and feels blood tricking down her nose before she turns to the man who has kidnapped her.

"Why are you doing this? For your own amusement?" Natalie asks, slowly standing to her feet.

"To prove a point" The man answers with no hesitation. "Prove what? That you're a psychopath?" Natalie asks, her breathing picking up. "No. To show that men are superior, and women are not" The man in the clown like mask states, tauntingly titling his head to the side before he starts walking towards the door he entered from.

Natalie lets out multiple breaths, not knowing what to think. She tries to follow the man as he leaves but before she exits the room, he turns and roughly lands a kick to her stomach which knocks her back a few feet and gives him time to shut the door before she comes back towards it and bangs on it, begging to be let out.

Natalie slides down the door and holds her stomach as tears stain her cheeks. If he wants to prove a point, Natalie should play along... only to prove his point is wrong...

_____

"What the hell does this guy want?" Maya asks as the team is gathered in the conference room after witnessing the live broadcasting of Natalie being attacked. "He said he wants to prove a point. That men are superior, and women are not" Reid recites the whole video in his head.

"It's obvious this guy wants attention. He left the audio on and he's broadcasting the whole thing. He has no shame in what he's doing" Derek notices as JJ remembers when the unsub said he's taken more women before. "If he's taken more women, why hasn't he recorded them either. This is the first time we've seen a case like this" JJ explains as Reid stares at the paused broadcasting on the screen.

"After all these years... he wants to be found."

"More kidnapping video footage of a fellow FBI Agent and Detective, Natalie Regan, has just leaked several hours after the first one-"

"Natalie Regan, an FBI agent and Detective hasn't been found yet and no leads from the police or BAU-"

"There hasn't been any leads or clues that follow the recent kidnapping of Natalie Regan-"

_____

"Ahhhh!" The man screams as he rises from his chair and shuts off his TV. "Why can't they do one simple thing! FIND HER!" The man screams as he snatches off his mask and slams it on the table in front of him as he looks at Natalie on the security footage he has set up.

"They won't find her- fine, I'll make them find her" He mumbles before he starts to exit his office. He looks over at his mask that lies on the table and shakes his head before he continues to exit his office... without it.

Natalie sniffles in her tears as she lies on the ground of the circus decorated room. Suddenly, she hears music starting to play. She looked around nervously as the music gradually got louder and sounded like music you would hear at a circus.

The typical theme song that plays on a loop over and over again. It wasn't the happy version either, it had an edge to it. The kind of beat that kept you on your feet.

The doors opened again, and Natalie saw the man walk in, without his mask, and walk straight towards her. Not knowing what to do, she went to throw a punch, but he caught it and swiftly jammed a punch straight to her gut and grabs a handful of her hair before dragging her over to the camera, which was now broadcasting to the whole world, yet again.

He lifts up Natalie's face, proving that she's alive, not caring that his face is coming into view. "You have 6 hours to find her, or... I kill her" The man voices as he stares into the camera. The man was an older guy, he had clearly been doing this for a long time. His hair wasn't short, but it wasn't long, and it almost went to his shoulders, stopping right below his earlobe and it was slicked back neatly, despite his fight with Natalie earlier so he was obviously a well-kept person.

His strong arms wrapped around Natalie's body and brought over to the middle of the room where there was a tall wooden box. Natalie knitted her eyebrows in confusion as the door to the box opened and she was quickly shoved inside of it. She turned around, facing her abuser and kidnapper.

"I'm going to break you, Natalie Regan. Men are superior and that point has been proven too many times" The man says before he slams the door shut, wrapping a chain around it before securing it shut with a combination lock.

He locks eyes with the camera and leaves the view for a second to drag a table that has swords lying on top of it.

Natalie roughly bangs on the wooden box, hearing the chains rattle form outside. She started to unbutton her buttoned up dress shirt since the heat started rise in the tall, cramped up box she was now in.

Back to the man, who showcases his table of swords, looks back towards the camera. "I know the FBI is working on this case so... since they're so smart, I'll give you a hint" The man says straight into the camera, a sigh escaping his lips as he knows he's leaving everyone who is watching on edge.

"Water park." The man informs before he roughly slides one of his swords into the box, which Natalie is in. "You have 6 hours."

"You didn't go through all that for nothing"
-Unknown-

Ethan Hawke (who played the grabber) as THE UNSUB

this is the unsubs faceclaim, he's no one special, but I thought I'd let you guys know this who I got the inspiration from! His mask is unique and unlike anything I've seen in horror films so I thought I'd use it and showcase it in a case that I made up myself!