Part 5
Maybe coming to the house hadn't been such a good idea after all. Brooke looked around the messy basement, left just the way it was when the creature had escaped.
The former guardians were no longer around. Brooke would have liked to question them, but the Council had already taken care of them.
Her nose wrinkled at the sickeningly sweet stench of rotting flesh. The body had been left for her to examine. Brooke was dreading the thought of looking at it. She was a witch, not an M.E. And she was only nineteen at that. She had thought her job was to find the creature, not pick apart its' victims for cause of death.
Shouldn't the Council have someone more qualified to do this sort of thing?
Brooke sighed, tying back her long blonde hair as she descended the basement steps.
The face had been torn off, an eyeball was hanging out of its socket. Bloody bone showed through the ripped flesh. Bending closer, she thought she saw something that looked like claw marks across the chest.
"It looks something like a shifter kill, doesn't it?"
Brooke had to force herself not to jump at the unexpected voice behind her. "Didn't you ever learn it's not polite to sneak up on people?" she snapped, turning to glare at the speaker.
Dylan Redfern just smirking, enjoying her annoyance. Tall, muscular, penetrating emerald eyes and model perfect smile, with his expensive taste in designer clothes he thought he was God's Gift to vampirism. This case was going to be tough enough to work on without him driving her up the wall.
"Jumpy, much?"
Brooke glared again. It was extremely tempting to give him a blast of orange witch fire and wipe that smirk of his face. "Drop dead," she snapped.
He just chuckled. extremely amused. "Might want to watch that temper of yours. I'm sure you'd like a good report at the end of this."
Brooke forced herself not to react. Unfortunately, because of his family name and Council connections, Dylan could determine her fate. Hell, he could probably have her killed off he really wanted.
"Whatever. Look at that - " she gestured at the body -"and tell me what you see."
Dylan brushed a strand of wheat coloured hair out his eyes and studied the corpse. "Someone who's dead."
"Seriously." Brooke gritted her teeth.
"Seriously, someone who's dead. And who looks like they've been torn up by a large animal," he added before Brooke could say anything.
Brooke nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." He'd mentioned that before. At least they were on the same wavelength about something. What she didn't understand, however, was if the creature was just some sort of shapeshifter, why all the fuss?
"So now what? Where do we start looking for this thing?" Dylan checked his watch. "Whatever. Call me when you've got a lead."
"Where the hell are you going?" Brooke demanded as he started jogging off up the steps.
"I have a date." And he was gone.
Brooke's eyes rolled. Before the end of this mission, she was going to wind up setting this creature on *him*.
She left the basement herself heading up for the attic.
"Is he gone?" one of the two girls waiting by the ritual asked.
Brooke smirked. "He couldn't get out of here fast enough." She waved her hand and a circle of candles on the floor burst into flame.
"Is this going to work?" the other said doubtfully.
Brooke shrugged. "I hope so."
* * *
Maybe coming to the house hadn't been such a good idea after all. Brooke looked around the messy basement, left just the way it was when the creature had escaped.
The former guardians were no longer around. Brooke would have liked to question them, but the Council had already taken care of them.
Her nose wrinkled at the sickeningly sweet stench of rotting flesh. The body had been left for her to examine. Brooke was dreading the thought of looking at it. She was a witch, not an M.E. And she was only nineteen at that. She had thought her job was to find the creature, not pick apart its' victims for cause of death.
Shouldn't the Council have someone more qualified to do this sort of thing?
Brooke sighed, tying back her long blonde hair as she descended the basement steps.
The face had been torn off, an eyeball was hanging out of its socket. Bloody bone showed through the ripped flesh. Bending closer, she thought she saw something that looked like claw marks across the chest.
"It looks something like a shifter kill, doesn't it?"
Brooke had to force herself not to jump at the unexpected voice behind her. "Didn't you ever learn it's not polite to sneak up on people?" she snapped, turning to glare at the speaker.
Dylan Redfern just smirking, enjoying her annoyance. Tall, muscular, penetrating emerald eyes and model perfect smile, with his expensive taste in designer clothes he thought he was God's Gift to vampirism. This case was going to be tough enough to work on without him driving her up the wall.
"Jumpy, much?"
Brooke glared again. It was extremely tempting to give him a blast of orange witch fire and wipe that smirk of his face. "Drop dead," she snapped.
He just chuckled. extremely amused. "Might want to watch that temper of yours. I'm sure you'd like a good report at the end of this."
Brooke forced herself not to react. Unfortunately, because of his family name and Council connections, Dylan could determine her fate. Hell, he could probably have her killed off he really wanted.
"Whatever. Look at that - " she gestured at the body -"and tell me what you see."
Dylan brushed a strand of wheat coloured hair out his eyes and studied the corpse. "Someone who's dead."
"Seriously." Brooke gritted her teeth.
"Seriously, someone who's dead. And who looks like they've been torn up by a large animal," he added before Brooke could say anything.
Brooke nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." He'd mentioned that before. At least they were on the same wavelength about something. What she didn't understand, however, was if the creature was just some sort of shapeshifter, why all the fuss?
"So now what? Where do we start looking for this thing?" Dylan checked his watch. "Whatever. Call me when you've got a lead."
"Where the hell are you going?" Brooke demanded as he started jogging off up the steps.
"I have a date." And he was gone.
Brooke's eyes rolled. Before the end of this mission, she was going to wind up setting this creature on *him*.
She left the basement herself heading up for the attic.
"Is he gone?" one of the two girls waiting by the ritual asked.
Brooke smirked. "He couldn't get out of here fast enough." She waved her hand and a circle of candles on the floor burst into flame.
"Is this going to work?" the other said doubtfully.
Brooke shrugged. "I hope so."
* * *