I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I approached the front steps of the Woodlands. I had expected the victim to be Beauty, given Beast's earnest attempts to push through the swarm of cops surrounding the entrance, but not Snow. Never Snow. But there her severed head lay, staring lifelessly up at me. It took everything in me not to howl, not to react to this. But Snow—gorgeous, smart, competent, naive Snow—wasdead.
This couldn't be happening. This wasn't possible. Snow was a strong, capable woman—how could someone have done this to her? She was a popular Fable—it would have taken a lot to behead her, she would've struggled against her attacker. Unless she had been caught completely unaware, which wouldn't have surprised me. Snow's far from stupid, but she's not the most observant.
I was tempted to reach out and examine the blood pooling around her severed neck, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It would've felt too final, made her death too real. This wasn't like other murders I'd investigated—this felt personal. It shouldn't have struck so deep, I should keep a clear head while investigating, but I always liked Snow. Colin was right, I was sweet on her. Not that I'd ever tell her. Maybe I should have, everything might've turned out differently if I had.
I desperately needed a smoke, if only to deaden my sense of smell. If I had to spend another second breathing in the tangy metallic scent of Snow's blood, I'd lose it. I needed to keep my cool to continue the investigation. Turning hastily away from the severed head, I pulled out a cig and lit it, glaring defiantly at any police officer who tried to stop me.
Maybe if I hadn't let Snow out of my sight, maybe if I'd stuck to her like glue, this wouldn't have happened. She wouldn't have been very happy with me, but an angry Snow would be preferable to the alternative staring blankly at the night sky. I could have saved her, but then again, hindsight's twenty-twenty. I could run through the hypotheticals in my head as much as I wanted to, but it wouldn't bring Snow back. There was nothing anyone could do for her now, not without the rest of her body. I should be investigating, tracking down the sick bastard who did this before they strike again. It wouldn't be easy, less so now that Snow was out of commission, but I'd find this killer before the Mundies caught on to this murder spree. Then I'll tear him limb from fucking limb.