reflections.
act one.

chapter  seven: workaholic/romcom fanatic!

"But for you, I would."
-unknown

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THE SUN PEAKING THROUGH THE CURTAINS WAS THE FIRST THING TO WAKE VIENNA ON HER SATURDAY MORNING.

She reached her arms over her head, stretching before rolling over to look at the clock beside her bed. It was 10:34 in the morning, meaning she had very much slept in. She smiles, satisfied with herself as she sat up.

She pulls on her favorite sweater and jeans, a pair of socks and her slippers before emerging from her bedroom and entering into the bathroom across the hall, the hinges squealing as she shut the door after herself.

She brushed her teeth, her mind wandering to the artist case just as it had before she fell asleep last night.

It really was a weird case; the UNSUB was talented, there wasn't any doubt in that. He was a great painter, and a good killer at that. The ability to kill someone and paint a whole mural in that amount of time was astonishing in itself.

Vienna had taken into account the possibility that the killer was killing his victims at a secondary location, and then bringing them into the streets as if it was a warning for the rest of the citizens. She knew it was her weekend, and that it technically is her break time, but she could not stop her mind from running through all of the possibilities of the case.

She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later and began dragging her tired self down the long hallway stretch, when she heard the quiet mumbling of Sloane Tavish.

She turned her head to the right to see Sloane sitting with her legs crossed over one another, playing solitaire....by herself.

Cassie was sitting on her own bed reading through a case file, and Lia was rummaging through their closet.

"Look who's finally awake, Lia!" Sloane announces as Lia emerged from the closet, a smile gracing her thin lips.

"Good morning, darling." Lia says jokingly. "Did the princess get her beauty rest?"

Vienna rolls her eyes at Lia's jab at her. She did sleep later than anyone else in the house on the weekends. "Is there a particular reason why you're rummaging through Sloane and Cassie's closet, or is this your idea of a fun Saturday morning?"

"Just seeing what Cassie's style is like. It's cute, come look." Lia pulls the still tired girl into the bedroom and the threshold of the doorway. Cassie's clothes were hanging neatly on the left side of the closet, she wore mostly pastels, along with light beiges and browns.

"That is cute, Cassie. I love this dress." Vienna brushed her finger along the fabric of a sage green sundress with little white flowers.

"Thank you, that one is one of my favorites too."

Sloane was mumbling to herself as she continued to turn cards over. Vienna was still perplexed as to how she was playing a card game entirely on her own. She takes the very tall mug of coffee from her nightstand and takes a swig.

"How much coffee has she had this morning?" Vienna looks to Cassie.

"Like three cups." Cassie answers, almost hesitantly so.

"Sloane! That's way too much!" Vienna scolds.

"Vi, you've had more than." Sloane reasons.

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"I'm taking this from you." Vienna announces, stealing Sloane's mug from her hands and taking a sip.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sloane attempted to snatch the mug back, but Vienna had already stepped out of her reach. "Sloane, i'm not going to watch you die by caffeine." Vienna's words wrre somewhat sarcastic, she knew that Sloane wasn't drinking near enough coffee to accidentally kill herself.

"Where are you going, Vi?" Lia asks as Vienna walks in the direction of the door.

"To the library. I've got to work on that artist case. I've got lots of ideas."

"It's a weekend." Cassie protests. "Our day off, Vienna."

"I know. I'll hang out with you guys tonight, alright? This is just very important."

Sloane sighs, frowning slightly at vienna's words, but nods anyway.

"You're insane, Vienna." Lia scoffs, smiling as the brown haired girl walks out of the bedroom.

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VIENNA, OF COURSE, was in the library for the following two hours completely undisturbed.

She had theorized that the symbols in each mural did not signify anything to do with the victims, but rather clues as to who the killer himself was, almost like a puzzle.

And when she understood this metaphorical puzzle, it would all come together. This is probably what the UNSUB wanted, maybe he enjoyed the chase, or attention from others.

Vienna thoufht that maybe this trait could have stemmed from a neglectful or even abusive household, maybe an absent parent as well. That can often lead to attention seeking in childhood.

Though, this UNSUB was too talented to be a child, even the greatest of children couldn't produce this quality work. not even Picasso  or Van Gogh could've made this in childhood.

These art pieces, though they were very eclectic, were a marvel of artwork in itself. And even though the artist was a serial killer who had brutally murdered three people, Vienna couldn't help but sit in pure shock at the photos in front of her.

They were breathtaking. Though, the longer she sat and stared in awe, the more time she was wasting.

She continued to work the case, paying attention to the important details. Her blue eyes scanned the case file, which was practically overflowing with information, she was surprised that they had yet to solve the case.

Maybe the symbols related to the actually symbolism of each one.

Clocks, she knew, were symbols of time passing, that was an obvious one. They were also a symbol of morality and death, which was shown in Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death, clock-ticking was used as a symbol to show everyone inevitably approaches death no matter how they live their lives.

Maybe this UNSUB was afraid of death?
she thought that maybe he thought by painting, he would maybe evade death? This was a tricky situation, especially when Vienna took into account the fact that maybe this killer also had a mental illness, amongst other things. It really was hard to tell what may be going on in his mind.

She scribbled down the clock symbolism, though her eidetic memory wouldn't let her forget literally anything, she liked to have it in writing for Briggs or the other naturals to see.

She continued thinking of symbolism for the other two victims' murals.

Eyes were often seen as a gateway into one's soul, which could make them seem like a symbol of honesty or truth. In mythology and some other beliefs, it is widely thought that eyes represent divine oversight and knowledge over others.

Maybe this unsub thought that he had knowledge over others, or that he was highly intelligent, and maybe that is how he had managed to get away with these murders for so long, seeing as this case was from the 90s.

The final symbol to identify was a bird, which Vienna had identified more specifically to be a dove.

Doves are recognized in all different forms: art, literature, and they are very common in many different settings as well.

It is most commonly known as a symbol of peace, freedom, vulnerability, and renewal. This was a strange concept to add into a mural, and as it was the unsub's final kill and painting, he wanted to show the doves as almost an apology for what he had done.

It was an interesting concept, though it made perfect sense in the sense that it was almost as if the killer was asking for forgiveness for what he had done. 

Vienna had just enough information to begin writing up her profile of the Unsub. She turned her small notebook to a fresh page and began writing down a detailed profile:

"UNSUB is a white male in his late 50's as he was predicted to be in his early to mid twenties while he was committing the  crimes. This man is very good at what he does, as he shows many traits of an organized killer, though he also exemplifies few traits of unorganized killers as well, the most noticeable being the fact that his victimology is not at all similar, and no information has been found linking any of  the victims to one another in any way. So, it is assumed that this unsub picked whoever was in closest proximity or who looked easy to kill.

I theorize that this unsub has a vast knowledge of biblical symbols amongst other things in relations to that, this is due to how he meticulously selected the symbols next to his victims which represent different popular symbols in both literature and art, including the dove (peace), the eye (souls and knowledge), and clocks, which symbolize the fact that death is inevitable for everyone.

I believe that this man was killing in opportunistic ways to help himself complete his agenda that he had set up for himself. I think that this unsub eventually wanted to achieve peace within himself and thought that killing was the only way to do so. This unsub most likely had a rough upbringing, maybe religious trauma or absent parents.

Though, the explanation as to why he vanished randomly after his third kill is quite puzzling. Perhaps he felt that he had achieved forgiveness from whomever he was seeking it from, which is evident in the fact that his final mural had a dove on it, which is symbols of peace and even remorse in some cultures."

Vienna sets her pen down,shaking her right hand. The details were still falling into place, and she was still putting together the missing pieces, though some possibly crucial details were falling into place in her mind.

Suddenly, footsteps thundered down the hallway and in walked Michael, a jolly look upon his face. Vienna's tired face lifts from the notebook to look at his face as he sat opposite her at the table. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Same thing as when you came down here twenty minutes ago."

"Well I am going to get you to leave now." Michael smiles.

"Michael, I told you! I have lots of things to do."

"Like what?" He raises an eyebrow.

"This profile is super important."

"And what did dear Briggs tell you when he gave you the case file?"

"....not to overwork myself." Vienna mumbles. "But wait, how did you know that?"

"Because he tells you all the time! And then you always end up overworking yourself, then you get stressed, and then all of that falls onto my shoulders somehow. Like clockwork, Vi. So why don't you take a break?"

"But-"

"What if I told you that we ave plams or this afternoon?"

Vienna furrows her brow. "Like everyone? Is Judd taking us on another one of his 'field trips' again?"

Michael laughs. "No, no. Just you and me." He motions his pointer finger between the two of them.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mhm."

"I won't believe it until I see it." Vienna says.

"Well, come on then." Michael grabs her arm, and she reluctantly follows him to the kitchen. The smell of pancakes filled the air.

"Michael, did you make me pancakes?" A grin spreads across Vienna's face as she looks at the boy standing next to her.

"Maybe I, in fact, did." He grins sheepishly.

"When I had pancakes past 1pm last, you made fun of me! What changed?"

Michael contemplated this for a moment, his eyes fixated on the positively gleeful look on Vienna's face. As much as he teased her, he did love to make her happy as well. "I just needed to get you out of your cave."

Vienna's eyes wander to the open bag of chocolate chips on the kitchen island. "And chocolate chips?" She squeals.

Michael laughs. "You have pancakes all the time, why is it so special now?"

Vienna turns to look at him. "I don't know, it's just nice." A brief silence fell over them as Michael stared at Vienna, trying to collect his words.

"Well. that's my goal I suppose."

"You said there was other plans for this afternoon, what is the rest of it?"

"Oh, and are the pancakes not enough? Because I remember just a second ago you were squealing about them." He teases.

"No, no, I love the pancakes, I just-" Vienna's face flushes red.

"No, no, I was joking, Prescott. We're watching your favorite movie."

"Shut up!" Vienna hits his arm.

"Ouch!" Michael grabs his arm where he had been slapped. "Yes, your 10 things i hate about you DVD is in the tv room."

"Really? I thought you hate rom-coms?"

"I do, they're cheesy...but you love them, so we'll watch your movie."

"10 things i hate about you isn't cheesy, Michael, you will enjoy it. I'll make you enjoy it." Vienna grabs her plate of pancakes quickly.

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Michael nods slowly as he follows behind Vienna as she rushes towards the tv room.

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THEY WERE ABOUT HALFWAY through the movie, and Michael had not shut his mouth once. He loved to analyze the character's facial expressions whenever watching a movie, and Vienna and completely forgotten that.

"This Cameron guy is really head over heels for Bianca." He muses.

"She is, aren't they so cute?"

"I don't know. I feel like Bianca's kind of bratty."

"She can be. She grows on you though."

"Is Kat ever going to find out that Patrick's getting paid to do this?"

"I don't know Michael, just watch the damn movie."

"I wouldn't agree to that. This Patrick guy is a complete dick."

"Just keep watching." Was all Vienna said in response.

"I do like Kat though."

"She seems to be the only person in this movie that you do like."

"No, I like Cameron too."

"You'll grow to like the others, just trust the process."

"I really don't understand the hype-"

"Michael, you're the one that decided to watch this movie with me-"

"I just wanted to get you out of the library, you do need to take a break once in a while." Michael looks at her.

"I know, but it's just hard sometimes-"

"I know it's hard for you. That's why we're doing this, because it's important to you. So even if I don't love romcoms, we'll watch one anyway if it takes your mind off of the case."

"That is probably the sweetest thing that you have ever said to me, Michael."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it."

Vienna scoffs, looking back to the screen, though she noticed Michael's eyes were still on her face. "What?" She turns back to look at him, smiling slightly.

"Nothing." He says quietly, avoiding eye contact. "Absolutely nothing."

Vienna was clueless as to what Michael was thinking. Despite her wonderful mind, she had never been able to see how Michael clearly felt about her.

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cam's notes!

CUTIES!

this chapter is probably one of my favorites so far because it shows a bit of michael's feelings for vienna.

sorry if the details on the case are a bit confusing, i tried to make it make sense, but it'll  make complete sense soon!

qotd: what's your favorite movie? mine  is ten things i hate about you (🤭) and maybe to all the boys i've loved before.

please comment and vote, i love reading all of your comments!

see you in the next chapter! <3