SOME NIGHTS

PROLOGUE: OVER THERE

I yawned and opened my eyes sleepily. I could see warm rays of sunshine cascading through the blinds, creating little bars of light on the hardwood floor. Dust particles danced in the light as I carefully pushed off the covers and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I looked to the opposite side of the bed.

iHmm. He must've gotten up already to make breakfast/i I mused as I grabbed my clothes and headed into the shower. I sighed in contentment as the hot water rolled over my body. I washed my hair and thought about the night before. A smile came to my face as I recollected the romantic evening we'd spent together. He'd been so attentive to me and the sex had been amazing as always. Of course, our relationship was just between us. It wouldn't be a good thing to let the others know. Why? We're actually partners in the Santa Barbara Police Department.

But, there's a little difference. The division we are in caters to the more…unnatural side of Santa Barbara. Yes. I'm talking about the paranormal/supernatural end. And I myself, fit into that category. I'm a skinwalker. I take the form of a coyote. It comes in handy for some cases. My partner knows and so does our division which is called Isolitus, which means 'the strange'.

I had a tattoo of a coyote paw print on my navel, just above my belly button. When I finished showering, I pulled on a pair of gray cargo pants, a white shirt, and a matching gray Berlin Jacket. I pulled my shoulder length dirty blond hair with platinum blond streaks in it out from underneath the collar. It hung around my shoulders in soft barrel curls. My hazel brown eyes stared back at me from beneath straight bangs that went across my forehead. My cheeks were rosy and pink and I raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at my reflection. Dark eye lashes framed my eyes. My mom said I had a heart shaped face and that I got my looks from her.

Shaking my head at the thoughts of my mother now, I entered the bedroom again and grabbed my thigh holster. I lifted my leg up, balancing my foot on the edge of a plush seat and I wrapped the holster around my thigh, securing the Velcro. My gun was safely tucked against my thigh and it was easy access. Around my ankle, concealed by the cuff of my pants, was an ankle sheath for my dagger. It was made of silver, which was good for werewolves and others. There were actually a lot of otherworldly creatures that didn't tolerate silver too well. Not just your average werewolf. I grabbed a black belt and fastened it around my waist. It looked like a policeman's holster belt, but there were little compartments for holy water, crosses, and other goodies. My gun wasn't your standard every Smith and Wesson. It was a specialized gun that shot out energy blasts. That would disable any paranormal creature for at least an hour.

Grinning, I pulled on my black ankle boots and then headed into the kitchen where he was standing in front of the stove. His back was to me and I snuck up behind him and snaked my arms around him, pressing my cheek against his shoulder blades.

"Morning," I said affectionately squeezing him.

"Morning Lexi," he responded turning around so his ice blue eyes focused on me. He was already dressed in similar attire to what I was wearing. His salt and pepper hair made him look so distinguished and handsome. "So I take it you enjoyed yourself last night?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure did Carlton…you have to admit you did too," I said coyly smiling as I released him and took a seat at the bar stool in front of the kitchen island as he served breakfast. "Did Vick call about any cases?"

He placed a plate full of pancakes down in front of me and I smothered them in syrup. I hungrily dove into them.

"Actually yes," he responded folding his arms over his chest. "There was another murder. Another body was badly mutilated. Worse than the last victim."

I whistled.

"Damn. And still no lead as to what's causing it?" I asked shoving another forkful of pancakes into my mouth.

"Nope," he said shaking his head. "But we got to meet Spencer and Guster at the precinct now. We're supposed to take them to the scene. Perhaps Guster can pick up on something."

Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster often worked as a consultant to us. Gus is psychic and Shawn, well Shawn's the practical one. They're actually best friends. I finished my pancakes off in record time and we drove to the precinct in Carlton's sleek black Chevrolet Malibu.

When we arrived there, and walked up the bullpen floor, I noticed Officer McNabb and his partner Juliet O'Hara standing by Chief Vick. They looked up when we arrived.

"Ah Lassiter and Hill…Officer McNabb and O'Hara. Glad you could join us," her lip twitched as we stood around the suspect board where images of the latest murder victims were taped up. I flinched at the most recent image. A young woman had been dragged by her throat by some kind of animal. Her throat had been ripped out, but what's more whatever killed her decided to rip her body to shreds. Long gauge marks ran from her throat, down to her sternum and all the way down to her pelvis. Some of her internal organs, such as her intestines, had poked through those deep gauge marks like red clay tubes. The blood…there was just so much of it. I tore my eyes away from the photo as Vick continued.

"The latest victim as you see here," she said motioning to the photo. "Was a 25 year old woman jogging along the path in Buck Ridge Park. As you all know, that's only 3 miles from here."

"I know that place," I said popping some gum into my mouth. "Wasn't that the scene of the Granger murders last year? Remember that?" I said nudging Carlton's ribs with my elbow.

"Yes," he said nodding. "If I remember right, that turned out to be a trained canine that attacked that man. Whoever had trained it knew highly of canines and was an expert trainer."

"That's right," Officer O'Hara said nodding. "McNabb and I got the scene before you guys were contacted. We were thinking possibly it was done by a shifter or something."

I chewed on my gum and nodded.

"Yeah though usually shifter's leave behind evidence," I said but then turned to Chief Vick. "So you need me to go to the scene and see if I can sniff out anything unusual?"

Chief Vick nodded. Today she was wearing a navy blue women's pants suit. Her chin length blond hair was neatly tucked behind her ear.

"Also, take Spencer and Guster along with you too. Perhaps Mr. Guster could pick up on something too."

I nodded and frowned. Don't get me wrong I liked them immensely, but I didn't believe that Guster was really psychic. I think he was mainly just hyper-observant. Still, I had to admit he'd helped out a lot on some cases picking out the culprits that I couldn't detect. While my sense of hearing, smell and sight were ten times sharper than regular humans, I wasn't perfect. I missed certain things. Guster seemed to pick up the loose ends.

We drove to the crime scene.

It was still fresh when we pulled up. The coroner's van was there loading the remains of the girls' body into the back. Carlton and I ducked under the yellow and black crime scene tape, flashing our department badges. We walked over to the spot of death and I crouched down near a large pool of blood. There was some tissue there too. The scent of death was strong and as I snapped on a pair of latex exam gloves, I pressed the top of my wrist to my nostrils. It was to potent. Carlton crouched down beside me.

"Pick up anything?" he asked glancing at me.

"No," I said. "The scent of death is overpowering here. I mean I can detect isomething/i but I can't decipher what exactly it is."

I looked around. There were shredded articles of clothing too and I spied a paw print nearby. Getting up I walked over to it. Gus followed me and squatted in front of me. He was an African-American man dressed in a pair of jeans and a plaid short sleeved shirt. He had nut brown eyes and was bald. Shawn however was the complete opposite of him. He wore slacks and a impeccable burgundy colored shirt. He had wheat brown hair and he'd shaved the early stages of a beard giving him a lean, clean-cut look. Gus raised a finger to his temple and narrowed his eyes at the print.

"This definitely looks like it was done by some huge canine…a malamute possibly? Or even a werewolf," he said.

I cocked my head to the side and ran a finger inside the pad impression. I picked up the scent of canine, but what canine I didn't know.

"I don't think a werewolf did this, Gus," I said looking up at him. "Werewolves only kill for food. This was done for pleasure and that print…too big to be a werewolf. Werewolves reach about 200-300 pounds. This thing had to be at least double that. There's nothing that matches that."

"Unless," he swallowed, looking sallow and pale.

"No," I said wide-eyed. "You aren't thinking…"

He nodded gravely. At that moment, Carlton came over and we stood up. I pulled off the gloves and tossed them aide. Carlton saw our expressions.

"What are you guys thinking did this?" he prompted glancing from me to Gus.

"A Leviathan," I responded swallowing.

Carlton arched an eyebrow at me.

"Aren't those supposed to be extinct?"

"Yes according to the records," I said pulling my bottom lip in and chewing on it thoughtfully. "But this is clear evidence that one of them managed to survive the eradication 4 years ago. The killing, the print, the whole scene gives off the vibes of one."

Seeing my expression, Carlton placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. My parents were killed when I was young by a Leviathan-a hybrid creature of wolf, coyote and hyena all rolled into one. They are ihuge/i ruthless killing machines. They are humans by day but by night they change. While they follow cycle patters of the werewolves during full moons, they can change with just the slightest change in mood. Anger causes the change to come faster. There had been a slight abundance of them until our division was set out to destroy them and wipe them out. We'd thought we'd gotten them all, but apparently we'd missed one.

At that moment, something in the bushes growled and the branches rattled. Immediately, I reached for my gun on my thigh and pulled it from its holster. Shawn and Gus backed away as Carlton and I drew our guns and stood in an isosceles firing position. I clicked the hammer and a soft whine increased which meant the gun was powering up. I felt a low growl forming in my own throat as a warning to whatever was in the bushes.

Then, the monster leapt from the bushes at us. I fired at it but missed. It was the size of a dire wolf, which by the way existed over here only they were kept in zoos. There were a few wild ones but they stayed away from humans. It's coat was a rust and black color with the hyena markings. The muzzle was boxy and long like a coyotes, but the ears were more along the lines of a gray wolf's…triangular and erect.

The tail was bushy like a wolfs with the same hyena markings. Their paws were about the size of a human hand or slightly bigger. My energy blast bounced off the nearby tree, splintering it in half. The Leviathan bowled me over, its nails narrowly missing my arm. Carlton sprang into action and fired his gun. I rolled over and sprang to my feet in a crouch, placing one arm down to brace myself as I pulled my knife from its sheath around my ankle and flung it at the Leviathan's hindquarters. The blade sunk home in his haunches up to its hilt. I saw the fur sizzling a little as it howled and swung its head around, baring its canines and incisors. The ears pinned back against its skull and its bright jaundice colored eyes locking on me.

Most supernatural creatures could tell right away what I was which made me easy prey for predators. I took a step back. I wasn't any match for one of these. Coyotes could hold up their own against werewolves, shape shifters and whatnot but not these. Everyone had fled the scene by now leaving Carlton and I to fend for ourselves. The Leviathan kept me in its predatory gaze and crept closer.

"Hey!" Carlton shouted waving his arms. "Here! Here I am! Leave her alone you bastard!"

The Leviathan snarled and whipped his head around to look at Carlton, but then its attention turned back to me. Whatever this thing had going through its mind, clearly I was the main target. It slowly began taking steps toward me, its head low, ears splayed out and thick clear saliva dripped from his bottom jaw. I raised my gun again and aimed it at it. I clicked the hammer again and the same sharp whine rose up. I fired.

My gun stalled and sputtered.

"Shit," I bleated under my breath weakly.

The Leviathan's haunches bunched as it prepared to leap. At that moment, Carlton's shoulder slammed into mine, knocking me out of the way. I landed hard on my elbow and cried out as pain shot up my arm. It was hot and throbbing. The Leviathan leapt.

The front paws slammed into his chest, knocking him over onto his back. It was pinning him down with two front paws on his shoulders, and the hind ones over his legs. I saw him push his arm against the Leviathan's throat, fending off its snapping jaws. It was growling and it managed to crane its head around and clamp its jaws on Carlton's forearm. He grunted and yelled in pain. I saw warm blood flowing and staining his gray jacket.

"Lexi!" he cried in pain. "Get my gun!"

I sat stunned for a moment as he struggled with it, too shocked and paralyzed with fear.

"Lexi!" he shouted again shoving its jaws away from his throat.

I finally blinked and sprang into action. I grabbed Carlton's gun from the ground, which was lying a few feet from him. I raised the gun and pulled the trigger. A blue blob of sizzling energy slammed into the Leviathan. It froze and keeled over stunned.

Carlton sat up, clutching his arm. The material of his Berlin jacket was shredded and bloody. He winced as I carefully helped him up.

"Oh God," I said swallowing a hard lump in my throat. "Come on let's get you back to the precinct. I can use a Rune on that to heal it."

I was shaken. Carlton was close to dying because of my negligence. If he had died, it would've been my fault.

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. I let my chin rest on his shoulder as my arms snaked around the back of his shoulders.

"Lexi," he said grunted as I felt his good arm snake around my waist pulling me against him tightly. "Stop. I know what you're thinking. Don't go blaming yourself. I did that to protect you."

"I know," I whispered feeling hot tears pricking at my eyes. "But if you'd died, it would've been my fault."

"Your gun froze. That happens with these," he commented, burying his face into the grove of my shoulder.

"Still…" my voice was cut off by a choke.

"Still nothing. I did it to protect you. I'd do it again," he murmured.

I released him and he inclined his head and leaned in, kissing me softly on the corner of my mouth.

"Come on. Let's call in Containment and you can use that Rune to mend the gashes that overgrown puppy left on my arm,"

I sat in front of Carlton and reached into my desk and pulled out the Rune. It was a small wand like object that omitted a soft blue heat light that heals tissue. Carlton rolled up the sleeve of his gray turtleneck and I slowly scanned the Rune over the wounds. Immediately, the wounds started closing up and healing. I looked up at him.

"Do you think we'll get information out of the Leviathan in the morning?" I inquired as I finished with the Rune and tucked it into one of the pockets of my cargo pants. Our desks faced one another.

"Who knows," Carlton shrugged. "We don't even have an idea as to who it is…or anything. We'll probably just have to wait and see."

I nodded and propped my chin up with my hand. At that moment, my best friend Jade Williams came over to us.

"Hey," she said softly. "How's it going Lex? Whoa what happened to Carlton?" she asked, noting the blood on his skin and the ruined jacket sleeve.

Jade was a shifter. She changed into a white wolf and was a rank below us. We were Senior Investigators and she was a Junior one. Her weapon was a Bo staff, which was nestled in a thin quiver strapped to her back. The strap went diagonally across her chest. She was excellent with it. It was wood, which would fend off the vampires, who hated wood period. Her long brown hair was pulled into an elegant knot at the base of her neck and held together with pixie sticks. Her blue-green eyes were framed by dark lashes and she was dressed all in black. The Senior Investigators wore the same silver/gray 'uniforms'. Juniors wore black. Regular officers had the normal PD uniform.

"Leviathan," I said exhaling. "There's one in containment now."

"What? I thought those were extinct!" she exclaimed wide-eyed.

"So did we," Carlton said deadpan. "But I think this one lost the memo."

"Are we on for tonight, Lex? I have to talk to you about something," she said looking a little uncomfortable and immediately, concern filled my chest. I nodded.

"Absolutely. I'll meet you at the Underground about 8," I said softly and she nodded, flashing me a wink and wave before heading off.

I felt Carlton's eyes watching me and I turned to look at him.

"What?" I asked.

"You're still blaming yourself. Knock it off," he muttered.

I playfully growled at him. He reached over to tuck a few strands of my hair behind my ear, letting his thumb trace my jaw line before he cleared his throat and quickly dropped it, aware that a few more officers were walking around the bullpen floor. He straightened up and turned to me with a business look on his face.

"Okay so we need to fill out that paper work for the Leviathan. This is going to be fun explaining this," he muttered as he got up and walked around to his desk. I stared over the top of my computer screen at him.

"Yes," I agreed. "Just think of the pooper scooper needed."

I saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a brief smile as he began typing on the computer. I sighed and began my own paper work for my gun sputtering and stalling. Whenever equipment failed we had to make a log for it and send it to our mechanic to get it fixed. The guns were expensive but they stopped every creature in their tracks. There wasn't one that it didn't.

Carlton and I stayed late often at the precinct, finishing up some lose details. The Containment section below was large. It ran about a block long underground and was just as wide. Glass cages housed rogue werewolves, vampires, crazed goblins, and faeries who were sweet and pretty to look at but they'd just as much eat you then anything else. These were all the 'underground' supernatural creatures who chose a life of violence and destruction.

There of course were good ones who made a living and who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. I had a few contacts with these good ones for any rogues who broke the law. Our law states that no supernatural creature shall harm a human. Or use humans for slavery. They must work together with the non-paranormal in harmony. It was a mutual existence that some didn't take too kindly to. Our job was to keep the peace and of course, wrangle up any unwanted visitors like our Leviathan friend downstairs.

I finished up typing the report and stretched my arms above my head. The hem of my shirt rode up slightly, exposing the coyote paw print tattoo. Carlton looked up and studied it for a moment.

"Do all of your kind have that?" he asked curiously.

I glanced down at my tattoo.

"Yes but some have it on the inside of their wrist," I said softly.

Carlton was strictly human. At first he wasn't so sure about getting a supernatural partner, but after working together for about 4 years, he started opening up and little by little our partnership turned into something more serious. Sadly we had to keep it a secret. It wasn't exactly taboo, but there were a few people who didn't think it was such a good idea and basically we couldn't help our feelings. Shawn and Gus had gone home. Gus had claimed he and Shawn had a taco date and couldn't miss it.

Carlton and I had just bonded over the time period. I learned to rely on him with my life and vice versa. There wasn't anyone else I wanted by my side.

I checked my watch. It was about a quarter to eight and I had to meet Jade shortly at the Underground, a club that was for paranormals only.

"I gotta get going to meet Jade," I said apologetically. "You gonna be okay here for a bit longer?"

"Of course," he said flashing me a grin. "Go. Go and have fun. I'll call you later."

I grinned, and got up. I went around to his desk and leaned in putting my face close to his.

"Okay," I said softly. "Make sure you take a booster shot. Even though the wounds healed, you never know what kind of diseases Leviathan's carry." I said and making sure no one was looking, I planted a quick kiss on his lips before heading out of the bullpen.

I walked along the sidewalk, enjoying the evening air. I inhaled. Cool, crisp Santa Barbara air filled my lungs. It was a full moon out tonight but it was clear sky. Stars twinkled merrily in the sky. A few homeless people pushed their carts nosily down the sidewalk, which caused cans to rattle. The Underground wasn't that far from the precinct. There were a few investigators that were Junior's that were also paranormals. Some were werewolves, and others were descendants from a feline skinwalker species.

As I rounded the corner, I saw someone standing in the shadows, hunched over. My instincts took over.

"Whose there? Show yourself. Insolitus Division," I commanded showing my badge. I could tell right away that this man wasn't normal. He raised his eyes for a moment and I saw that he had a hoodie pulled up, but his eyes glowed a jaundice color. He was holding some kind of box in his palm which opened up on its own. It looked like a rubix cube sliced open four ways. I froze and before I could draw my weapon, a bright ball of light rose out of the box and seemed to explode before my eyes, as the light totally engulfed me. I cried out and raised an arm, placing it over my eyes to shield them from the light. I heard a loud roaring noise which escalated until it was almost painful. Then, complete silence. When I slowly lowered my arm, I blinked, trying to clear the blotches from my eyes.

I realized something. The street I was on, was the opposite of what it had been earlier. I looked around.

In fact, the whole block seemed different. Confused, I walked a little bit until I came across a candy store. Newspapers were stacked neatly in front but the corner's flapped a little in the breeze. I snatched one and gasped as I read the headline:

SANTA BARBARA MAYOR JOHN ACKLES HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE.

What was going on? John Ackles wasn't a mayor…he was the Santa Barbara's worse criminal! He was even wanted by the FBI! Now he's the mayor?

The date stopped me in my tracks. It was 2013. No that can't be right. It is 2023! How did I go backwards?

Then the most horrible thought came to mind. That ball of light…it sent me to the other side. I wasn't in my Santa Barbara anymore. I was in another world which reflected my own.