"They can smell our magic."

Horror flooded my system, but not at the words- not quite. I mean, sure, they were super ominous, right up there with "Drums in the deep. They are coming.". I mean, it triggered this secondary fear, one that was always hovering at my periphery- the simple question:

Am I a monster?

But more terrifying than that was another question. It began with the fear in Cass' voice.

Does my only friend in the world think so too?

I knew what she was thinking. I was thinking it too. It was what any hunter would think, given this situation. A bloodbath, and a note about 'smelling magic'? Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

So what does all this mean? Well, it could mean a lot of things. But what I would suspect is that it would mean I was lying about not knowing what I was. It would mean I was dangerous.

A wise man once said "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.". Here was the darkness, where it had always been. Waiting patiently. Of course I couldn't make friends with hunters, because in the end, they'd always end up suspecting me of being a monster. Still, I tried to bridge the suddenly yawning chasm that I felt developing between us.

"Okay, Cass, I need you to get out of there ASAP… come home and we'll figure this out!"

"Sure, Raz." Her voice was shaky, and my heart sank. She wasn't coming. "I'll be over as soon as I can."

I didn't bother calling her out on the lie. Instead, I wordlessly acknowledged it.

"Stay safe, Cassandra." I sighed. There was no response, simply a click.

And then I sat. ? For a long time I sat, pondering on what I was going to do next. I didn't have a job, I was afraid of witches.

I couldn't blend into normal society- that much was clear by my failed attempts at college. So what?

The only thing I ever got really excited about was magic, and hunting. Subconsciously I had already made my decision, and in the end, it was an easy one to accept.

Everything I needed was in the house, silver, holy water- lore books. These were things Cass wouldn't come back for- not for a long time. A monster lived in her house, now- for all she knew, I was waiting for her to come home with murder on my mind, now that she'd 'discovered' my secret.

With a deep sigh, I stood up, stretching my sore muscles.

It was time to hunt.

My first hunt was not a witch- witches scared me, now. So I followed a fainter trail to a little seaside town in Louisiana. Men had been showing up in fishing nets. (No, not fishnets, though that would be sexy)A few drowned people wasn't that odd in Louisiana- you get drunk, you fall in, you don't come back up. A typical seaside/swamp hazard.

But these were sailors, and very strong swimmers.

This made things more complicated though. Sailors were itinerant workers; they had no connections in town. They had simply been on shore leave. I had like zero hacking skills- who the fuck was capable of hacking into a police database? That stuff had encryptions on encryptions.

Instead, I Googled how the police tracked drownings- it was complicated stuff.

I started with drawing up a map of where the bodies had been found- a cloud of dots, all representing corpses, gathered around where locals liked to fish. Then, I visited the library.

"Hey."

I murmured, startling one of the ladies on duty- she'd been balls deep in what looked like some kind of erotic fantasy novel. I smirked knowingly at her- what lady didn't enjoy a little erotic fiction every once and awhile? While she stuttered and blushed, the clerk next to her spoke up. I was startled to meet a pair of familiar eyes.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Uhm." I gulped- seeing only those molten gold eyes for a moment, before taking in the person talking. It was a strangely dressed woman- wearing the kind of clothes you'd see in a porn about a sexy librarian, and sporting the tits to match. Basically, the way a dude thought librarians looked if he had never stepped foot in a library. I tried to shake off the niggling feeling that magic was in the air- I couldn't see anything, or smell it.

Come on, Raz, the Trickster is dead- and it's not like other people don't have hazel eyes.

I gathered my wits about me and rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Haha, yeah, I was wondering if you guys had maps of the local water currents."

Sexy Librarian raised both of her eyebrows at that, and exchanged a glance with Porno Reader.

"Are you with the police, ma'am?"

I scowled.

"Do I have to be to see that map?"

Mrs. Librarian gave me a patronizing smile, as if I were a rebellious teenager trying to snark. My scowl deepened- how dare she challenge my snark!

Everyone knows my snark is the best snark.

"No. I was simply asking because the police were asking for the same thing."

She shoved on a pair of glasses and stood- her eyes never left mine.

"My name is Raven, please, come with me."

The library was rather small- we were in a rather rural part of Louisiana, so that wasn't very surprising. It didn't take long for us to get to the public records section, but as I walked, I started to think.

How patient was a Trickster, anyway?

An image flashed through my mind of the dead demigod who had started this whole journey. He had been leaning against a hallway wall, eating candy and watching the crowd. His eyes were watchful… calculating. Nothing like the persona he gave off.

How long could a Trickster sit in a theatre, playing dead?

A colourful bit of paper was thrust under my nose.

"Here."

I smiled up at Raven, suddenly all charm.

"Thanks, babe." I purred, taking a step towards her. Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline.

"Excuse me?"

"Excused." I replied, grinning from ear to ear- right before punching her in the face.

I immediately knew I'd made a mistake when she fell back, looking stunned.

Idiot!

"What the hell…" Her voice was shaky, as she scrambled backwards a little. "Please, lady, don't hurt me. I'm sorry!" She said it quietly- natural librarian instincts kicking in. Only whispering allowed in the library! I backed up, hands out in front of me.

"Ohmygod… I am so sorry! I thought…" I realized I didn't have an explanation, and was probably about to have the cops called on me. "Uhhh… thanks for the map!" I blurted, already turning around to run.

As I passed the front desk in a panic, I failed to notice Porno Girl smirking, eyes glinting gold in the sunlight.

I threw myself into the hunt, trying to distract myself from the morning's embarrassment.

Of course Loki was dead- I had felt his magic fade from the room. As far as I knew, nothing was good at hiding their magical trail like that. I felt like an idiot; worse- I'd felt hopeful for a moment. It's not that I liked the guy; we really didn't mesh as far as worldviews went. But he had been engaging like nobody else was, and I missed that. I missed battling with words, and trying to outsmart a better opponent. The only way to improve was against a smarter enemy- life was boring otherwise. Imagine not being able to die- it sort of takes the mickey out of adrenaline-inducing situations. I tried to shake off my disappointment and attend the matter at hand.

Mapping the currents in curving arrows over my pinned map, A pattern began to form. All the currents that had deposited the bodies in the fishing grounds led past a certain beach. Since it was the only likely place people would be hanging by the seaside unattended, it seemed like a good place to start. From earlier questioning, I knew it was the kind of private little beach that probably has seen a lot more naked bodies than any inanimate landmark should. Poor beach. Still, it made sense- one nights stands were the trade of all sailors. Hell, sailors were probably the most prolific spreaders of STDs in centuries past!

After a lot more research (this time online, since I'd likely be arrested if I ever showed up at that library again), I gave up. There had been no historical violent deaths at that particular beach, so that left out necks, nicors, nixies and nokken. They liked to stake out territories, and rarely left them.

Which meant I had to fly in blind. I wasn't particularly worried, of course- as long as magic wasn't involved my chances of staying perma-dead were slim. Still, it seemed like it'd probably take longer than I'd like.

The drive itself took long enough! Eventually the road stopped, and it took me ten minutes of climbing over the oceanside rocks to reach the tiny secluded beach.

It wasn't somewhere you'd expect multiple drownings to occur- white sands shimmered in the moonlight, and a gentle tide lapped the edge of the beach. There weren't any stones to catch your feet. It was the type of place I could imagine spending days at, and I suddenly understood why so many couples went here together. It was definitely worth the climb.

I did everything I could to avoid getting in the water- everything.

Remember Pirates of the Caribbean? Yeah, being immortal and stuck at the bottom of the ocean sounds awful, doesn't it?

But the beach was empty- no footprints, not even a skittering crab. What's more, there was no magic.

"Okay."

I paced for a moment, running my fingers through my hair. I stopped, dropped my hands, and squared my shoulders.

"Alright."

I started stripping. If I was going to drown tonight, I at least wanted to change into some dry clothes afterward. Once I was down to my underwear, I approached the water cautiously.

Pretty much nobody can agree on what is the best way to approach going for a skinny dip in ball-shrinkingly cold water. Do you go in slow, or fast? For me, I tried going in slow for a few steps, until something skittered over my foot.

My cry of "GYAH!" echoed around the little bay, followed by a loud splash. So much for going in slow.

And that was when the music started blasting.