The deputies cordoned off the area when they arrived, wrapping yellow tape around the trees. Coroners crouched down to examine the body while others took pictures of the crime scene. Scott, Stiles, and Lydia stood outside the yellow tape, and had already given their statements. Seeing as one was the sheriff's son and another was a girl who had a habit of finding bodies, the deputies had quickly interviewed them without giving them too much trouble. After overseeing the crime scene for a while, Sheriff Stilinski ducked under the tape and went to talk with Scott and his friends. They walked further from the crime scene to prevent from being overheard before speaking.
"Preliminary judgement is an animal attack." Sheriff Stilinski informed them. He then looked at each one of them before finally focusing on Scott. "But, seeing as you all are here, I'm guessing it's not."
Scott shared a look with Stiles before answering. "We're not sure what it is, but one thing for certain is that it's not done killing yet."
Sheriff Stilinski gave a long exhale at that. The past three months of peace seemed to be over. "You guys got anything about the case?"
"Lydia saw a guy by the body. A guy called Percy Jackson." Stiles spoke up. Lydia nodded when Sheriff Stilinski looked towards her. The name didn't ring any bells for him.
"He's a new kid at our school." Scott added. "Some sort of supernatural."
"What is he?" Sherriff Stilinski asked as he looked back towards the body, trying to imagine what sort of creature had done it.
Scott shook his head. "We don't know yet. We think he has something to do with the ocean."
"Yeah, all we know for certain is that he smells weird." Stiles continued.
"He smells weird." Sheriff Stilinski repeated, staring at the three of them doubtfully. "So, you think this guy had something to do with the body?"
"Not exactly." Stiles said slowly. He looked at Lydia for a moment before explaining. "He wasn't exactly here physically."
Sheriff Stilinski furrowed his brows while looking at his son. "So how was he here then, Stiles? Spiritually?" He asked almost in exasperation, but that changed when he saw that the three of them seemed serious. He looked up at the sky for a moment, missing the times when he had dealt with normal cases. "Really? He was here spiritually." He said in disbelief.
"Yeah." Stiles said, waving his hand in front of his father's face to get his attention. "So we need you to ask him what he was doing here floating around outside his body."
Sheriff Stilinski shook his head. "I can't just question the guy when he wasn't actually here."
"Yes you can." Stiles said, then motioned towards Lydia. "You can say a witness saw a guy matching his description at the crime scene."
Sheriff Stilinski looked at them for a while before he sighed. "I'll go check him out." He said while starting to walk towards his car. "Parrish!" He called, waving his hand as Parrish looked up, motioning him to come over.
"So the guy smells weird?" Parrish asked as he closed the car door and followed Sheriff Stilinski towards the apartment complex.
"That's what they said." Sheriff Stilinski responded as he showed his badge to the landlady who opened the door and let them into the building. She gave them Percy's apartment number, pointed the way, and stepped aside once Sheriff Stilinski motioned that they were fine without her.
"That's odd." Parrish said, nodding to the landlady as he passed her.
They both headed towards Percy's apartment. Sheriff Stilinski took a few steps towards the door before stopping once he realized Parrish was no longer following him. He turned back around and noticed that Parrish's eyes had changed into a fiery red and his mouth had grown fangs. A low growl started coming from Parrish's throat.
"Parrish." Sherriff Stilinski called cautiously, raising a hand towards him placatingly. Once Parrish stopped staring at the door to focus on him, he asked, "You okay?"
Parrish stared at him for a moment before he blinked. His eyes slowly returned to normal, and his fangs also disappeared. He then shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm fine." He said before looking back towards the door. "I just felt the smell they were talking about."
Sherriff Stilinski lowered his hand when he realized Parrish was back in control. "What just happened there?" He asked.
"The guy's strong." Parrish answered. He hadn't meant to change, but the hellhound within him had taken control once it had noticed the scent basically radiating from the room. It had felt threatened, its instincts sensed danger. Parrish looked towards Sheriff Stilinski. "Strong enough to take on a hellhound."
Sheriff Stilinski frowned. He wasn't happy about that fact, but he still had a job to do though he was more cautious about it. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. About a minute later, Percy opened the door, fully dressed. Speaking of his own experience with his teen aged son, the fact that Percy was fully dressed and awake this early on a Saturday morning made Sheriff Stilinski all the more suspicious. It didn't help when he noticed that Percy had instantly tensed for a moment when he saw them. "We have a few questions we need to ask. May we come in?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.
Percy opened the door wider and stepped back, letting them in. There wasn't much in the apartment for them to see, just some unwashed dishes in the kitchen, some clothes strewn on the floor they saw through the bedroom door, a backpack tossed on the ground, and some flower that hadn't opened yet on the windowsill. It seemed like an ordinary apartment.
"Can I know why there are cops at my apartment?" Percy asked once they had stepped into the living room. He was focusing more on Parrish, Sheriff Stilinski noticed, as Percy was keeping a safe distance from them. He also had a hand hovering over one of his pockets. Sheriff Stilinski placed his own hand on his belt, close to his gun.
"Where's your parents." Sheriff Stilinski asked, not answering Percy's question. He motioned Parrish to step back a bit with his head.
"New York." Percy said as he crossed his arms. He seemed to have relaxed slightly as he talked to Sheriff Stilinski, but he still kept an eye on Parrish. "I live here alone."
Sheriff Stilinski frowned at that. "Do your parents know you're here?"
"I'm pretty sure they know since they rented the place." Percy said a bit sarcastically. "Can you guys tell me why you're here now?"
"We found a body." Sheriff Stilinski began. He saw that Percy's expression didn't change, and he didn't seem too surprised either. "A witness saw a man matching your description near the body."
"I hadn't left my apartment all night." Percy responded. "You can check. I think the building has security cameras."
"We will, but we still have to ask some questions. It's just procedure." Sheriff Stilinski explained.
Percy didn't look too convinced. "Why do you think I was there? Who's the girl who recognized me?" He asked.
Sheriff Stilinski noticed that Percy mentioned "girl" when he hadn't specified the gender of the witness. It confirmed what Stiles and the others had said. Somehow, Percy had been there. He had seen Lydia too. It wasn't just a vision as he had half believed. "I can't tell you that." He said.
"We're not saying you did it." Parrish broke in. "We just want to get all the facts."
Sheriff Stilinski continued. "Were you in the forest at all last night or this morning? Did you see anything suspicious?"
Percy shook his head. "Like I said, I haven't left my apartment. I don't know anything."
Sheriff Stilinski stared at Percy for a while, and he saw that they probably weren't going to get anything out of him. "Okay. That'll be all then." He said and turned around. He nodded towards Parrish, and both of them headed out. Percy followed them to the door.
"Wait!" Percy called right as they were about to leave the hallway. They both stopped and looked back. "Do you know what killed him?" Percy asked Sheriff Stilinski, eyes flickering towards Parrish for a brief moment.
"It seemed like some sort of an animal." Sheriff Stilinski replied, wondering why Percy wanted to know that. He should have seen the body too.
Percy studied Sheriff Stilinski as if considering something. He was hesitant for a moment before his face changed, becoming firm as if he had made a decision. He looked into Sheriff Stilinski's eyes and asked solemnly, "Are you sure it was only one?"
