A/N/Disclaimer: I haven't written fanfiction for a long time, so... here goes. I own the characters, except for Ritze, who belongs to a friend of mine, and I own the plot, but the concept of Law and Order and any characters I bring in from the original series' belong to Dick Wolf. Thanks and dedicated to Mala and Nill, my betas, and also to Nev, who let me use Ritze, and Kylie, who read it first.

Chapter 1: The Corpse on the Bed

In the criminal justice system, supernatural crimes are considered especially dangerous. In New York City, these treacherous criminals are handled by an elite squad known as the Paranormal Unit.

These are their stories.

"Angel! Hey, Angel, I'm home," Jack Rosario called out as he shut the apartment door behind him. "Ange?"

The apartment was quiet. Too quiet, thought Jack as he made his way through the hall to the bedroom. "Honey? Are you here?"

Angel was always at home before him. Always. Something wasn't right.

He opened the bedroom door. "Angel?" He flicked on the light.

"Oh my God!"

"I had just come home from work," Jack found himself explaining to the police later. "Angel always comes -came -home before me, so I expected she'd be here. And when she wasn't -well, didn't seem to be, I went into the bedroom looking for her. And -I found... this."

Detective Jahari Killikoi nodded and folded up the notebook he had been writing in. "So you didn't see anyone?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," said Jack. "The whole place was totally quiet. That was the weirdest thing about it."

Jahari nodded again. "I see," he said slowly. "Thanks, and I'm sorry for your loss." Jack didn't say anything. He sank down in a chair as everything that had just happened slowly sank in to him.

No matter how many times I go through this, thought Jahari, I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I mean, the guy just lost his wife, and I question him about it. Poor guy -I feel so sorry for him.

He went into the bedroom; his partner and the CSI team were already there. Ritze saw him and came over. "Did you talk to the husband?" she asked. She used sign language, as she always did -Ritze was deaf. Jahari nodded, but didn't say anything. He watched her with one eye; the other was scanning the room. Ritze saw him looking and sighed, gesturing to the body on the bed. "Death by vampire - what a way to go. No offense," she added quickly with a sheepish smile.

"None taken," he signed back distractedly. The scene in the room was a mess. The place reeked, at least to Jahari's sensitive nose, of blood, venom, and semen. There were CSI agents everywhere, taking notes, testing samples, and photographing the bed. There had clearly been a struggle; various pieces of furniture had been overturned, drawers had been pulled out, and even the curtains were torn, shredded as if by claws.

And they probably were, thought Jahari with a feeling of horror creeping into his stomach.

The body hadn't yet been removed from the bed, and this was the most horrific sight of them all. A woman lay spreadeagled on the blood-soaked sheets, naked from the waist down. Her entire body was covered in blood. On closer inspection, it was fairly obvious why -hundreds of small, deep claw marks all over her, and two pairs of small holes, one pair on either side of her neck. Bite marks.

"It looks almost as if she was mauled," said one of the CSI guys thoughtfully.

"Except animals don't rape you," pointed out Jahari. He glanced at the empty bureau drawers. "Or ransack."

The CSI guy shrugged. Jahari leaned over the body, examining it in morbid curiosity. The woman's eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open. He watched her face interestedly, wondering. What happened to you?

Without thinking, he touched the corpse.

And heard a scream.

A woman's scream, high, shrill, and absolutely terrified. All he knew was the sound; it was in his ears, his head, his heart... His vision went foggy -he could barely see. He realised he was the one screaming, and twisted around in fear of the reason why.

His arms hurt; he felt invisible claws tearing into them, and all over him. Fangs sank into his neck, and for a moment, he felt entirely numb. But the feeling didn't last - in another moment, his veins were on fire. He screeched in utter agony, and then -

Everything went black.