Chapter One

Crime-scene tape surrounded the old, seemingly abandoned warehouse. Horatio, Eric, and Calleigh were working on their game plan. It definitely appeared to be a very bloody murder. Eric was on the evidence surrounding and covering the body. It had been covered in broken down boxes and various packing materials. Only its pale arm was exposed and covered in blood. A passerby had called it in after seeing a trail of blood outside. Calleigh had the rest of the vast building and Horatio was taking the exterior. Alexx was on her way. She was finishing an autopsy when the call came in. Eric's job would be much easier when she got there.

The first thing that hit was the smell. Death. Then they saw the bloody hand. The bulk of the blood surrounded the body. They swiftly went to work. Evidence bags were being filled and samples were taken. Eric began processing the debris covering the body. After exposing enough of the body, he could tell that it was a female. An hour passed. Their concentration was so deep, too deep to notice. After all, it was so minute and concealed that no one could see it. She wasn't dead, yet.

But she was indeed dying. She could feel it deep within her body. Her throat hurt, breathing was difficult, and her tongue was swollen from being so dry. She was covered in a sticky substance. She fought to open her eyes even a crack, only to find that she was covered with something. The light the made its way through was tinted red. She was covered in blood. She could hear people moving around. They weren't threatening; they were slow, methodical movements. She had to get their attention. Life was draining out of her body, although maybe it would be for the best. No! Life had to mean more than this. She'd made it through so much for it to end at the hand of some stranger.

Eric had the pile down to a few mere sheets of packing paper. It moved. He was sure he hadn't touched it. It could have been the wind. Still, he just sat there and stared, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. They weren't. This time, the exposed hand balled into a fist, and released.

Eric leapt into action, pulling the remaining debris from her body. "Calleigh! H! Call rescue! She's still alive!"

Calleigh dropped everything and added to yelling for Horatio, who came running at the distress. Eric was holding her hand and trying to wake her up a little more. Calleigh was examining her body for anything that could still be bleeding.

"This is Lt. Horatio Caine, I need rescue at my crime-scene by the time I hang up this phone!"

"Everything is all right." Eric soothed. "I need you to stay with me. Stay awake. You're doing great!"

"I can't see anything that would still be bleeding! And nothing is bad enough to have produced all this blood! It can't be hers." Calleigh said in disbelief.

"Then whose blood is it?" Horatio contemplated.

He looked around at the tracks on the ground. Blood and mud were mixed together and smudged all over the floor. There were shoe prints, bare foot prints and… paw prints?

"D…Do…" The girl tried to speak, but only an agonizing whisper escaped her throat followed by a violent gag due to the dryness of her throat.

"Shhh…Shhh… Don't try to speak. My name's Calleigh, I'm with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. We're going to help you." Calleigh was holding her head with her thumb resting on her cheek, close to her ear, and looked into her eyes, looking for a silent response. Empty eyes looked back at her. Calleigh Shuddered deeply. The girl's eye had probably once held a vibrant blue shade, but now they were gray. Actually, they were closer to white.

Soon, her eyes broke form Calleigh's and she tried to move her head. She met searing pain. A small cry escaped, her eyes squeezed shut and a lone tear ran down her temple. When the pain subsided, her eyes began to dart around the building. The CSI's were preparing for her to fight them in a fit of confusion. But her eyes rested on a large lump on the far side of the room, opposite where Calleigh had been working. Tears now streamed down her face through her clamped shut eyes.

"Calleigh…" Horatio began.

"Way ahead of you." Calleigh stripped her hands of the bloody gloves and reached into Eric's kit and grabbed a new pair. She put them on while she walked to the heap on the ground. "Oh my god! It's a dog, and he's really torn up. He could be a source of all our blood."

She blinked her eyes a few times then closed them again in a futile attempt to stop her tears. In the distance, they could hear the sirens of the rapidly approaching ambulance. All she had to do was hold on with them for a bit longer.