Behind those eyes lies the truth and grief
Behind those beautiful smiles I've seen tragedy
The flawless skin hides the secrets within
Silent forces that secretly ignite your sins

The Rasmus – Lucifer's Angel

Prologue

There were days when Deputy Liz Forbes really hated her job and this certainly was one of those days. Mystic Falls was usually a peaceful little town; there weren't many crimes there, at least not this kind of crimes. Of course Liz was aware of the history of the town and she was the member of the council, just like her parents had been, but there had been no sight of any supernatural creatures in decades, not during her lifetime. She truly hoped that wouldn't change today, she hoped to be home in time to tuck her little girl in.

Caroline was 5-years-old, the most vivacious child Liz had ever seen. She was a daddy's girl and Bill was a great father, but Liz often felt guilty for not being home more. She had promised this morning to be home before Caroline would go to sleep and read her a bedtime story. Hopefully she wouldn't have to once again break that promise.

The crime scene was in the woods, two hikers had found the bodies. A homicide or possibly an animal attack. The small road was bumpy; Liz bit her lip when she saw the sheriff's car and an ambulance ahead. Sheriff Wilson was talking with a young man who was holding a sobbing young woman; they must be the hikers who had found the bodies. Liz didn't recognize them, so they probably weren't locals. She parked her car next to the sheriff's and got out.

"I can't…" the woman sobbed. "I can't go back there, I can't, I can't…"

"Shh, shh," the man muttered, stroking the woman's hair, obviously she was in shock. The man and one of the paramedics helped her into the ambulance; they were probably planning to give her some sedatives. Liz moved next to the sheriff who looked as calm as always. He had been the sheriff for over 20 years; Liz had always admired him and she could only hope one day to be as proficient as he.

"What's the situation?" she asked.

"I haven't seen the crime scene yet," the sheriff replied. "If I understood correctly, there's more than one body."

Liz swallowed, that didn't sound good at all. They waited patiently until the man stepped back outside, he looked very pale and Liz noticed how much his hands were shaking.

"Mr. Kensington," the sheriff said, his tone was firm, but also sympathetic, he knew how to handle witnesses. "I understand how difficult this must be for you, but I need you to show us the crime scene."

The man looked even paler, but he nodded.

"Yes, of course."

Silently Liz and the sheriff followed the young man to the woods; they couldn't get any further with cars.

"How far is it?" Liz asked, trying her best to mimic the sheriff's tone.

"Not very far," the man muttered absent-mindedly. "I… I threw up. I just thought I should mention that since you…you'll be gathering the evidence and stuff."

"Yes, thank you for telling that," the sheriff said and tapped the young man's shoulder.

He let out some kind of mixture of sob and a hysterical laughter.

"What kind of monster… I don't understand."

"It's alright, son," the sheriff said sympathetically.

Liz was starting to be really nervous, how bad could this be? She hadn't been a deputy for a very long, so far she had only dealt with dead bodies two times, the first one had been a car accident and the second a suicide.

"There," the young man muttered and pointed the meadow ahead. "I don't… Can I stay here?"

"Sure," the sheriff replied.

Liz noticed a tent and traces of a campfire; apparently the victims had camped here. But where were the bodies… She didn't have time to properly formulate her thought when she saw the bloodstains all over the tent and on the ground around it. The tent flap was open; the sheriff was putting disposable gloves on before looking inside. Quickly Liz followed his example, but she didn't move, she couldn't. The sheriff bent down and lifted the tent flap. His body tensed and he took a step back, clearly trying to control himself. It took a moment before he managed to speak.

"Alright… Can you stay here and watch this place, deputy? I have to go back to the car; we're going to need some backup."

"Of course," Liz replied, hoping to sound confident.

"Good, I'll be right back." He paused and pressed his lips together. "You might not want to look in there before the backup arrives. Not a pretty sight."

Liz tried her best to stay calm after the sheriff had left, she was very nervous. She couldn't help but to stare at the bloody tent, her imagination was running wild. This was ridiculous; she was a law enforcement officer… Something was moving in the tent. Had she imagined it? No, there was someone or something alive there… Liz acted immediately; she pulled out her gun and approached the tent.

"Police!" she shouted. "You in the tent, come out with your hands up!"

There was no reply; Liz repeated her words few times before she realized that maybe this person, if it was a person, was injured. She couldn't wait for the sheriff to come back, she had to look inside. Determinedly she lifted the tent flap and regretted it immediately; she had never seen anything so terrible. There were two bodies lying in the tent, they both had been skinned. There was blood and body parts everywhere, Liz had to fight the urge to vomit. Then she heard a weak sound, something was moving under a sleeping bag.

"Police!" she shouted and pointed her gun towards the sleeping bag. She didn't get any reply and this creature looked small, maybe it was an animal. After a short hesitation Liz stepped inside, trying to avoid looking at the bodies. She grabbed the sleeping back and yanked it off the creature. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw what it was, a child. She couldn't be older than 2 or 3; she was naked and covered with blood.

"Dear God…" Liz muttered.

This was so wrong, so horrible. Liz was frozen in shock when the child looked at her with her big eyes and tilted her head.

"Mama?"