HEXED WOLF: Murder AUTHOR: IrishTomboy@attbi.com RATING: R PAIRING: Thorn/OC, Daphne/Freddy (of course) DISCLAMIER: I own none of them except Jaguar and CĂș and anyone else that aren't part of the original Scooby-verse, though I wish I did. FEEDBACK: Welcome WARNING: If love between two women bothers you then get out NOW!

Freddy, Thorn and the others stepped up to the door. The night air was crisp and ruffled whatever wasn't tied down.

"So. My dad should still be up." Thorn glanced at Freddy's watch. "I hope." She knocked on the door and they waited for a few minutes before the door opened to show the elder father of Thorn.

"Well hello Sally. And.everyone? What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to get something to eat Mr. McKnight." Dusk said.

"Come right in then. I'm sure we'll have enough space for all of you."

Everyone stepped inside to be greeted with the warmth of a fire. Everyone sighed happily as they sat down in the front room. "Give me a bit and I'll wipe something right up." He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He kissed his daughter on the forehead then turned and walked into the kitchen. Scooby and Shaggy's mouths were all ready watering in anticipation.

"Mm mm mm. Can't wait to have a real home cooked meal. It's been, like, awhile since we had one, ain't that right ol' buddy." Scooby nodded so vigorously he threatened to look like a bobble head.

"Well. I'm just glad to be home." Thorn replied. She stood up from her seat on the couch and stretched. "I'll be right back. I have to go check something." She walked up the stairs and down the hall to her room. As she grabbed the doorknob she realized something was different. Looking up and across from her, the door leading to the guest bedroom was ajar. "Wonder who's here?" The singer walked across the narrow hall and nudge the wooden door opened. At first all she saw was complete darkness but when she turned on the light what she was made her gasp. Everywhere were the strangest things from jars full of weird concoctions to books that looked older then anything in the museums. "What the?"

"What are you doing here?" A deep voice made the girl gasp and whirl around to stare at a large man. His skin was black, blending well with the jet-black hair on his head.

"Whoa man. Where'd you come from?"

"I asked first. What are you doing here?"

"I, like, just saw the door opened and decided to see what was inside."

"That's called snooping. Stay outta," But he was cut off as a small boy stepped behind him and laid a tiny hand on his large one.

"What's going on Celeb?"

"You shouldn't be here Nathaniel."

"But I got scared." The boy whimpered. Celeb snorted but nodded.

"All right. Sorry I left ya alone." He turned to look at Thorn. "Keep that nose of yours outta other people's business." And with that he turned and walked with the small boy down the stairs and out the door. Thorn stood there, shell-shocked.

That was until she heard Luna's voice call out to her.

"I'm comin'!" She called back. She shut the door tight before slowly walking back down the stairs. There was no sign of Nathaniel or Celeb, which suited Thorn just fine. That man creeped her out. She just wondered how they got into the house anyway.

Jaguar walked quickly up the street towards Mayor Cory's house. She grimaced as she remembered the angered look on her friend's face when she had dropped her off at the doctors. Ro had woken up and began to thrash, no doubt ripping her stitches open even more but with a quick dart to the side the younger woman was out again.

"I wish you'd learn Ro. If someone's hurt I'll do anything to help them. Even if it pisses them off." She whispered. She crossed the street and came to a stop at a large Victorian mansion. She pulled her hand from the warmth of her jacket and rang the doorbell. Inside she heard the ringing of the bell then silence then shuffling footsteps. The door opened to show a tiered Mayor. Dark circles marred the skin under his eyes that once were lively now looked like they belonged to an old man. Though when he saw who was ringing a smile broke his lips.

"Ahh, Jaguar. Come in, come in."

"Hello Mayor Cory. Rose said you needed to talk to me?" The smile disappeared.

"Yes. There was another attack. Come into the front room and we'll talk."

"All right." Jaguar followed the man into the next room where there was all ready a man standing by the fireplace, looking deep into the flames as though in a trance. "Hello Sheriff Wood."

The man jerked slightly, startled by the voice. When he turned and looked at the woman he gave a small smile. "Hello Jaguar." The three sat down. Jaguar sat down on the large red and green chair while the Mayor and Wood sat on the sofa across from her. She set her ankle on her knee and stared at the two men.

"All right. So what happened?"

The Sheriff cleared his throat and pulled out a manila folder, which he slid over to Jaguar. For a moment there was silence as she thumbed through it. Her voice was stiff and business like when she finally did speak.

"Okay. Like last time I want to know the basics. Who was the body? Where was it found? Who found it and when was the last time the person was saw alive?"

Sheriff cracked a smile. "Are you a detective or a Hunter?"

The corners on the woman's lips raised a fraction. "Sometimes you gotta be both. Now back to the body."

"Right. The corpse was one Megan Griffith. She left behind a Husband, Max, and a small boy, Kenneth."

Jaguar felt her eyes furrow. "How old is the boy?"

"Umm...almost five if I remember right."

"Was he the one to find her?" Without looking up the blonde felt the men's wide eyes.

"How did you know?"

"The mother and child have...a bond, if you wanna call it that. When somethin' ever happens, somethin' bad usually, the child wants to find the mother and help her. Kenneth probably sensed that somethin' was wrong with his mother and wanted to find out what."

"But...he's only a little boy." Cory stammered.

Jaguar laughed and shook her head. "So. The love of a mother and child knows no bounds...or some philosophical crap like that." She tucked the folder into her jacket and stared at the men. "Now. We have the whos, I just need the where and when."

"Well from what Max has told me he last saw her when she went outside to take their retriever for a walk. She was found two hours later in a small clearing near the edges of the woods."

"No one heard her?"

"No." Wood shook his head sadly.

Jaguar sighed and nodded. "All right. I'll go check it out. Where's the spot?"

"Just south of the old Puritan Village."

"Okay. Good night Mayor Cory. Wood." She nodded her head, turned and left, disappearing into the night. Both Mayor and Sheriff watched her go then turned to look at each other.

"So. Do you think that she can stop these killings?"

"She was highly recommended."

"By who?"

"I don't know. It was an anonymous tip." Cory stood up. "I guess we should call it a night Doug. It's in her hands now."

Wood stood up. "Okay. See you later Mayor."

"Good bye."

Jaguar stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked quickly to the old village. The wind was biting cold now and the Hunter felt it rub against her cheeks like sandpaper.

"Goddamn. Hate the cold. Hate winter." She grumbled. Now that it was nearly midnight everyone was inside. Save for a few teenagers that wanted to show that they could do whatever they wanted. Jaguar laughed at their amateur bravery. "If they knew the truth of what lays in the shadows they wouldn't even think about comin' out here on their own, during the night." She shook her head and kept going.

"Jaguar." The voice stopped the older woman in her tracks. That wasn't a regular human voice. It was more of a voice on the winds. She quickened her paces, knowing that now would not be a good time to get into a fight with anything supernatural. So the quicker she got to the town the better. "Jaguar." Now the woman broke out into a full run.

Something was wrong here. Only one thing frightened her but he was supposed to be dead. How could he be...talking to her? "No time for questions just haul your ass there." She growled to herself. The ground under her was not felt because she almost flew. Her speed was what some would call super-human but in her world it was simply quick. Sometimes though Jaguar felt it wasn't fast enough. At least, not when it came to him. The one...creature that sent shivers of cold fear down her spine, froze her blood and made her feel hapless and weak. "Damn it girl. He's gone. Stop thinking that and slow down. You're almost there." The Hunter willed her legs to stop and when she finally did sure enough she was at the old Puritan Village. The acrid smell of smoke and burning wood hit her first but she ignored those and paid attention to the single smell underneath. A smell she knew all to well after years in this business. The smell of blood.

"All right. Enough of the melodramatics girl," Jaguar snapped at herself. She made it quickly to the spot that the Mayor and Wood had described. But what she saw there made even her stone heart skip a beat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* A bit of a cliff hanger I know. **shrugs** But anticipation is half the fun. Feedback is, as always, welcome. C-ya later!