Chapter Text
Psychopathy is defined as a neuropsychiatric disorder discernible by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls. There are several warning signs of psychopathic behavior in children, for instance, harming or killing animals for sport or excitement. Additionally, older children and teenagers who exhibit psychopathic behavior may engage in harming or killing animals for sexual gratification.
Theo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the words he was reading. It was like they were burned into the inside of his eyelids, taunting him, reminding him: This is what they thought of you, this is what they wanted you to be. A wave of nausea washed over Theo, he tried to shut his eyes tighter, but the darkness of his mind did nothing to prevent the bile from rising in his throat.
In that moment it was like every awful thing Theo had ever done came crashing over him. He could feel the blood dripping off his hands, he could hear the lies he told, and see the people he hurt. Theo knew he had done horrible things, but they were never for pleasure, they were a necessity. A way for him to survive, Right?
Theo tried to regain control; filtering through the noise around him until he zeroed in on Liam’s heartbeat a few classrooms down. Liam was in biology right now, his least favorite class, but his heartbeat was slow and calm. A sure sign of his boredom. Liam’s heartbeat typically had a slight uptick in his classes, history especially, which gave away his fondness for the subject.
The steady thump of Liam’s heart was enough to prevent Theo from being sick in the middle of Econ, a small victory, but those words were still gnawing away at his insides. Killer. Monster. Psychopath.
“Theo Raeken!” Coach Finstock’s ear-shattering voice caught Theo’s attention. He would have welcomed whatever declaration the Coach was about to make, as it would certainly make quite the distraction from Theo’s thoughts. But with the Coach looming over Theo’s desk there was no hiding the book he had been reading: An Analysis of Psychopaths and Their Behaviour.
The Coach sighed, a labored exhale leaden with either disappointment or distress. “If I was given a dollar every time a student of mine did something so profoundly disturbing,” Coach said picking up Theo’s book and skimming the paragraph Theo just read, “I would be able to quit teaching.”
The coach dropped the book unceremoniously back onto Theo’s desk, “It’s for an assignment,” he lied.
“For this class?” Coach asked.
Being a chimera made Theo adept at reading people; his heightened senses and ability to identify chemo-signals made it easy. However, Coach Finstock was always somewhat of an enigma; even to Theo. The man often said absolutely ridiculous things with complete seriousness and not even a flutter in his heartbeat. Try as he might, Theo couldn’t tell if Coach was genuinely asking him if a psychology assignment, was for his economics class.
“No,” Theo answered.
“Well then I don’t care,” Coach retorted quickly. “You were called to Principal Martin's office, so, you’re excused from class.”
Theo looked at the Coach with momentary confusion, but he began gathering his things all the same. Whatever reason Principal Martin had for excusing Theo from class, the boy decided it could not be good.
.......
Sam Winchester entered the scarcely decorated office of Principal Martin with calm and ease; replicating the confidence he would expect of a true FBI agent.
“Good morning, Mrs. Martin,” Sam said. He removed the fake badge from his pocket and held it up for the principal to inspect. “I’m Agent Gray, I’d like to speak to one of your students.”
Principal Martin adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and leaned forward to get a better look at Sam’s credentials. The woman eventually sat back in her chair, her mouth pulled into a tight frown. “Who is it you’d like to speak to?”
“Theo Raeken,” Sam noted the woman flinch, ever so slightly, at Theo’s name. But the barely there reaction was quickly covered by practiced composure as Principal Martin had Theo excused from class.
“He’ll be here shortly,” She said, voice devoid of emotion.
“Thank you,” Sam said, “Is there somewhere I could speak to him in private.”
“The guidance counselor’s office, down the hall,” Mrs. Martin said. She held strong, keeping emotion out of her face and voice, but Sam observed the almost nervous way Mrs. Martin toyed with her auburn hair.
Sam left Principal Martin in her office and set off to the guidance counselor's office. The office in question looked like it had been vacant for months. There was a thick layer of dust lining the shelves, papers were left scattered across the desk, and the white boards still bore dozens of notes and drawings.
One note in particular, jumped out at Sam from its spot on the whiteboard. “Know thy enemy,” Sam read aloud.
"Sun Tzu," a voice said, "It's from Art of War; know thy enemy as thyself."
Sam turned on his heel and was met with a boy who must be Theo. This boy's brown hair and green eyes matched the description of the boys who had been murdered, all the more reason to believe he was connected.
“Theo, I’m Agent Gray, I’d like to ask you a few questions,” Sam said.
Theo said nothing, he simply looked Sam up and down as if he were trying to read him; like he was scanning him for information. When the boy apprehensively took a seat at the desk, Sam decided to continue.
"Theo, I’m here investigating the recent murders,” Sam explained. "Did you know any of the victims?"
Theo brushed past the agent's statement of the obvious and focused on his answer to the man’s question. "I didn’t know them personally, but they went to school here," Theo began. "One kid, Evan, he was on the lacrosse team, with a friend of mine."
"Ok, I was also informed that your sister, Tara, died in the preserve," Sam said gently. “Do you visit the preserve often?”
Theo's eyes became misty as he shook his head. “No not really, only on her anniversary.”
Sam took a seat across from Theo at the desk, the boy in front of him looked distraught at the mention of his sister, but also slightly confused.
"How old were you when your sister died?" Sam asked.
Theo took a shaking breath, "nine." He sounded choked up, like his voice was getting caught in his throat.
Interviewing kids was always a difficult task for the Winchester boys. Sam hated seeing innocent lives corrupted in the same way his and Deans were. But these questions were a necessary poison if Sam and Dean hoped to save lives.
"And when you go to the preserve, have you ever noticed anything, unusual?” Sam pressed. “Cold spots or strange sounds?”
“It’s always cold when I visit the preserve,” Theo said despondently, eyes welling up with tears.
Sam studied Theo dejectedly and steadied himself to ask the most difficult question, "Did you know that your sister was found with her heart ripped out?"
Theo's mouth hung open in shock, like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. "What?" he finally said, though his voice sounded much higher than before.
Sam grit his teeth but continued, "When Tara's body was found, her heart was missing. She didn't die from exposure."
"She... you're saying she was murdered?" Theo asked, tears rolling down his cheeks. His wide green eyes shone with tears as he looked up at Sam, pure despair on his face, silently begging for it not to be true. Theo brought one hand up to wipe the tears away, before asking "Do you think it's the same person now?"
"It could be," Sam replied smoothly. "I don't want to scare you, but you do match the description of all three victims, and I wanted to be sure you aren’t connected.”
“C-connected?” Theo asked, his voice shaking nearly as much as his hands.
Sam sighed, he really did hate his job sometimes, “I want to make sure the killer isn’t targeting you.”
"I just, I thought it was an accident, I didn't think," Theo's voice caught in his throat once more and Sam decided he was done torturing the poor boy. Theo was no doubt overwhelmed by both the possibility of being targeted by a serial killer, and the horrible revelation about his sister’s death.
"Theo, I'm gonna leave you my card. If you think of anything that may be relevant to the case, anything at all, let me know," Sam said sliding a business card across the desk.
Theo nodded mutely, wiping at his tears again. "Can I go now?" he asked meekly.
"Of course," Sam said. He watched the young boy leave the guidance counselor's office, and wished, not for the first time, that monsters were not real.
.......
When Theo left Monroe’s old office, he was not at all shocked to see Liam waiting for him in the hall. Liam looked worried, he had obviously been listening to Theo’s conversation with Agent Gray, but had most likely neglected to read his chemo-signals. Like flipping a switch, Theo's tears stopped and he schooled his frightened expression into his usual unbothered disinterest.
"How do people keep falling for that act?" Liam asked, both impressed and disturbed by Theo's acting abilities.
'You did," Theo replied with a smug grin. He began walking down the hall towards his locker, Liam falling into step beside him. “You have to start sensing people’s emotions Little Wolf,” Theo said.
Liam rolled his eyes in annoyance at both the nickname and the fact that he had once again fallen for Theo’s crocodile tears. “Whatever, what did the FBI want?”
Theo just gave Liam a look, the 'don't pretend you weren't listening' was implied.
With another dramatic roll of his eyes, Liam said, "They think the murders have something to do with Tara."
Theo nodded, “We need to go to the preserve. Tonight.”