Chapter 1
Strong winds plagued Beacon Hills on a Thursday afternoon. The sheriff's department was busy with reports of two car accidents, property damage, a broken traffic light, and a downed power line.
Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to a thunderous sound outside. Rushing to the doors and windows, they saw that a tree had fallen, covering the way out of the parking lot.
Sheriff Stilinski got on his phone quickly and after nearly twenty minutes, gave up in frustration.
"Parrish, it's going to be at least three hours before anyone can get here," said Noah. "Can you do anything about the tree?"
"Yes, sir, I believe I can," replied Jordan. He walked towards the door and remembered the conversation that he had with Noah the night the Anuk-Ite and the hunters were defeated.
"I just called every single person who works at the station and told them to be there at 8:00 tomorrow for a meeting," Noah told Jordan.
"Do you know what you're going to say yet?" Jordan asked.
"I'm still working on it. You don't have to be at the meeting, so I'd like you to be on patrol."
"Yes, sir."
"Changes are coming, and you're going to be a big one."
Jordan nodded.
"If I get a call about someone dangerous . . . it doesn't even need to be someone supernatural, just someone threatening to use maybe a gun, I shouldn't send Roose or Farrell, I should send someone who isn't going to get hurt."
"I agree," said Jordan.
"How is that going, these days? You've been testing yourself and practicing your abilities, right?"
"Yes, I have."
"Have you found anything that can still permanently hurt you, yet?"
"Lydia said that the other hellhound, Halwyn, died from silver poisoning, but he had just woken up after a one-hundred year nap, so he might not have been at 100%. I don't know. So far, the silver is the only thing I'm aware of."
"You think you would have survived at Eichen House tonight?" Noah asked.
"Maybe. A hellhound can go into hibernation, but I don't know if it's an automatic process or something that needs to be deliberately activated. If it's deliberate, I'm not sure if I'd know how to do it."
"Halwyn isn't a good point of reference, huh?"
"No. I don't have any point of reference, really," Jordan admitted.
"Well, that just means you get to be whatever kind of hellhound you want to be."
"Yes, sir."
"I'm glad to have you around, Parrish. I always have been. You've been a tremendous asset here, even before we had the slightest clue that you weren't entirely human. I want you to remember that, because this hellhound thing is going to define you for a while at the station."
"I understand, sir, and thank you."
"Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow after your patrol. Now, if I can pry my son away from Lydia, I'm going to spend some time with him."
"Do you need a change of clothes, deputy?" Noah asked in the present.
"No, sir. I've learned how to control the fire better."
Jordan only heard from Noah what was said at the staff meeting at the department.
"Look, I wanted to say something so eloquent that it stirs up your pride in civil service, but the words aren't coming to me, so let's just lay it all out there. Tamora Monroe and Gerard Argent proved themselves to be worse monsters than anything they hunted. The rest of Beacon Hills appeared to be under the influence of someone called the Anuk-Ite, which induced fear and hate. You all experienced that fear and hate and the consequences of those emotions. For the sake of this department and this town moving on, I'm just going to assume that everyone else was acting with diminished mental capacity. I think we should all just give each other a second chance and move on. I know I probably should have done things differently after I found out about the supernatural world. I should've trusted you all with more of the information I had, and that's what I'm going to start doing, so that all of us can go back to protecting all of Beacon Hills, and I do mean all of it. If anyone has a problem with that, feel free to resign. I won't ask any questions. There are definitely some bad supernatural people out there, but there are also a lot of good supernatural people who have saved our lives without ever wanting to take credit. It turns out that in that respect, we're not so different after all."
"Sir, who is Deputy Parrish?"
"He's a hellhound," Noah answered. "I'm not sure where he fits into the supernatural world, but he's one of the good guys. We're lucky to have him. Those of you at Eichen House yesterday, you're lucky that he's a lot more forgiving than he needs to be, and you're lucky he chose not to fight back, because he might be the powerful supernatural resident we have here, and he's getting more powerful every day."
A fiery aura ignited around Jordan in the present, but left his clothes unscathed. Jordan picked up part of the fallen tree, slowly burning it. He moved it onto some grass, smothered the fire where he touched, and returned to the station.