As promised, the story is hereby continued….
Nb: All 'occult' references are fictitious. This is to prevent any arguments!
Gil Grissom was not happy. Not only had Brass gone behind his back and requested an occultist, he now realised that he might actually need her because science it seemed could only explain some of what lay before him.
Thirteen dead bodies lay before him, in a circle. Their blood had secreted from the exact same spot, the heart, and had bled into the circle. Given that the average human had eight pints of blood, that was a lot of blood on the floor. Most of it still wet, fresh, suggesting what had gone on here had only happened a few hours previous, as the blood had not yet solidified, and the bodies had not yet given in to rigor mortis.
"Hey" a now familiar voice called. She stepped in the room and stopped.
"So, I guess this is your area of, expertise" Grissom replied, the idea of someone so young being an expert in anything slightly paining him.
"Something like that" she replied casually.
Another set of footsteps could be heard. The door opened, Greg entered the room, camera in hand. He smiled at Melanie, before turning to Grissom.
"Cath sent me to take photos"
"Ok" Grissom replied, standing up. "Im going to have a look around the rest of the house."
As he walked past Greg, he said lighlty "Keep an eye on her"
"I heard that" replied Melanie, turning around.
"This is a crime scene, it needs to be just as it happened" He replied defensively.
"I know that. Look I know im young but that doesn't make me stupid and I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat me as such" She replied slightly annoyed.
Greg began taking photos. Grissom left the room.
"Whats with the blood from the heart?" Greg questioned.
"The heart is a very powerful thing, both physically and spiritually. Its long been considered a sacred part of the human physique, and occult ritual. Longer than the pair of us put together I might even say" she smiled.
Greg liked her humour. Humour was the one thing that stopped criminalists from becoming overwhelmed by the death they saw everyday.
"So, how exactly does one become an occultist, and why?" He questioned, still snapping away.
"Lots of studying and hard work." She replied, moving towards the centre of the circle. "As for the why, its different for everyone. For me, I guess its just the chance to work with something much older than any of us can really comprehend. Something that isnt fact based. Fact is what man has declared true, the occult is deeper, richer than that"
Greg was taken in by her response, it was clear she was passionate about what she did, and that she had strong views. All admirable traits in his eyes.
"That was quite a speech you made outside" He smirked, thinking back.
She turned, and smiled- then laughed, "I know, im sorry. Its just I get tired of people thinking im too young to do my job, you get it right?"
"Yeah, I do. Im surrounded by CSI level 3 and 4 all day. Its difficult to make your opinion count when your level one"
"Yes, but dont ever stop thinking it matters. They were all level one once y'know"
He smiled, before clearing his throat. "What does this mean?" He said, pointing to a symbol that seemed to be on one of the victims forearms. It wasn't a tatoo, it had been almost carved, with some sort of sharp instrument.
Mel stepped over to have a closer look. She stared at it for a few minutes. It cant be she thought. Impossible. She was looking at a symbol that was thousands of years old, nothing new there. She was also staring at a symbol which represented something long forgotten.
"It cant be" She finally spoke. "Makes no sense"
"What doesn't"
"This…… this symbol. It represents the order of Issasi, a religious order that ended over two thousand years ago."
"Well, they've clearly made a comeback" He replied, out-stretching his hand.
"Its not possible. They were all burnt as suspected witches. They werent witches, they were much more than that. When they died, everything about the order died with them except for the small amount of knowledge obtained by the council but that's not enough for someone to revise the order"
Greg was trying to follow, but even for him, this was a bit 'out there'.
"What does it all mean?"
"It means Greg, that thirteen people just died for nothing"