Hey everyone!

I don't really have anything to say other than the next few chapters are kind of filler chapters, but need to be read. So, hope you all enjoy!

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As the RV pulled up to the cabin hotel, a beautifully carved sign in the front. I squinted at the black, calligraphic lettering as we got out of the vehicle.

"The BlackWater Hotel?" I asked with a raised brow. "What kind of name is that?"

"Allie, don't you know better than to judge a book by its cover?" My aunt scolded playfully. I shrugged while following her into the hotel and I gotta admit, it was beautifully made. The floor was made from polished oak as well as some of the support beams. There were chairs in the lobby area that surrounded a nice looking fireplace. A breakfast bar stood a little ways down the hall and to our right held the check in counter.

"Hn." I mused. "Not bad." My aunt chuckled at my comment and walked up to the check in counter. A gentleman walked up and greeted us with a kind smile.

"Hello there and welcome to the BlackWater Hotel!" He said cheerfully with a southern drawl. Guy must've been from one of the southern states.

"Hello Mr. Martian." Aunt Valerie greeted. "Glad to be here."

"Ah! Please, call me Lionel, Ms. Michalis!" The southern man chuckled. "And it is my pleasure to have you here. As you've been informed, we've been having quite the trouble with one of our hiking trails here at BlackWater." Ooh, hiking trails. This'll be fun.

And by fun I mean we're gonna get ourselves fricking murdered.

"Yes, I remember you saying that. And please, call me Valerie." My aunt agreed. "Could you give me anymore information that you haven't already? Has there been any witnesses?" The man motioned for my aunt to follow as we complied. He led us to an office in the back where he sat at the large, mahogany desk sat towards the back of the room, centered with the door.

"You see, there's been many sightings of this… creature." Lionel said carefully. "And it seems like this isn't the first time this thing has been seen."

"I see…" My aunt murmured. "What are the witnesses saying?"

"They say that the creature resembles a goat, but stands on two legs." Lionel replied and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "It's also said it has bat-like wings and a forked tail."

"Called it." I stated, causing the two adults to look at me. "What? I told you, New Jersey? Jersey Devil? C'mon auntie, it's too easy."

"Allie, you can't be sure-" My aunt tried.

"There's been rumors of that thing since 1902." I pointed out. "I highly doubt it's Bigfoot. Last I checked he doesn't have bat wings and I don't think he'd stay at Hotel Backwater." I turned to Mr. Martian. "No offence."

"Allie, be nice." My aunt scolded. "Besides, it could be many things aside from that legend."

"Guess we better go check it out." I said, turning to my aunt. She smiled and nodded and Lionel seemed ecstatic that we were going to investigate. Guess the guy had been waiting for someone to come help him out for a while now. Hopefully we'd find something to explain what was happening and I sure as hell hope it wasn't the Devil himself.

0o0o0o0o0o

It's humid.

It's sticky.

And I am not loving it.

I wiped my brow as my aunt and I hiked the trail where apparently The Jersey Devil had been seen. So far there's been nothing but a small breeze and bugs trying to devour my flesh. I slapped my arm as another one tried to land on me. Again. For Christ sake this was the third day in a row.

"Christ almighty, you got any bug spray?" I asked as I swatted another one away. My aunt chuckled and pulled out a small spray bottle, handing it to me as I gratefully took it. I quickly began applying the spray. Maybe now the stupid insects would leave me alone.

"You find anything yet?" I asked, looking at my aunt and handing the spray back. She shook her head with a frown.

"Nothing yet." She replied with a sigh. "There's no evidence it was here and all we have to go one is eyewitness accounts." I huffed a sigh as well, crossing my arms. Great. We're not finding anything with this thing and there probably was no Jersey Devil in the first place.

"Come on, Allie," My aunt beckoned. "Let's finish this trail and get back to the Hotel."

"The BackWater Hotel?" I snickered and my aunt gave me a playful glare. I laughed and shrugged as I followed her down the path and back towards the hotel.

0o0o0o0o0o

Night had fallen and my aunt and I were in our hotel room, doing research and relaxing. The room was actually two conjoined room separated by a door, so I got my own space while my aunt worked in the other room. I decided to use the fancy desktop that came with the room to pull up skype and try to see if my little sister was on. Lucky for me, her icon showed she was online. I quickly pressed the call button and waited to see if she'd answer.

"Allie!" A little chirp came through from the other end and I grinned.

"Rosy, how's it going?" I asked as I situated myself in front of the computer, turning on the webcam so we could see each other.

"Don't call me Rosy!" She pouted. "You know I don't like that…" I laughed and shook my head.

"I know," I smiled. "But I can't help but tease." Rosemary giggled and her expression quickly changed.

"Aunt Val told me you were in the hospital!" She said. "You promised you'd be okay!"

"Hey, I am okay." I replied. "Just a few scrapes and bruises." Rosemary pouted on the screen and crossed her arms. I sighed in defeat and held up my arms.

"Okay, okay," I said. "I'm sorry for worrying you." Rosemary's face brightened and she giggled again.

"It's okay, sis." She stated. "How's the cases been? Meet anything cool yet?" I nodded and grinned at my little sister.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it." I told her. "Last case was crazy, like, seriously-" We were interrupted by a bloodcurdling screech from somewhere in the forest.

"What was that?" Rosemary asked, her brows furrowing in concern.

"I don't know," I muttered. "I'll talk to you later, sis, I gotta go."

"No! Don't leave me, Allie!" My sibling begged and I felt a pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry, but I gotta." I said softly. "I promise I'll call you after this case, okay?" She nodded and we disconnected the call, my aunt showing up at the door separating our rooms.

"You hear that?" She asked and I nodded.

"Yeah," I replied. "We going to investigate?"

"You know it." She told me as we gathered some necessities and headed out into the forest.

0o0o0o0o0o

It was pitch black in the forest and I was really beginning to wonder why in the seven hells we decided to throw ourselves into danger. Sure, we had flashlights, but for fucks sake. We were probably gonna get ourselves killed.

"Aunt Val, are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked as we began walking the trail again.

"It's now or never, Allie." She replied. "We need to find out what that was." I sighed deeply and shook my head. This was going to be either a complete bust or a fricking disaster. We trekked further down the trail when another, closer scream erupted from the forest again. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the spine chilling sound when my aunt turned and handed me something. It was a paper with some symbols on it.

"Don't let go of that, Allie." She told me. "It's a protection seal and as long as it's on you, no evil can harm you." I blinked and looked at the paper before stuffing it in my pocket.

"Alright," I confirmed. "Let's do this, I guess…" My aunt nodded and turned towards the noise. It seemed to veer off the path, which would be dangerous for us to go wandering in the forest with no map or knowledge of the terrain. I watched as my aunt began to follow the noise and I had no choice but to follow her. I just hoped we didn't get lost.

As we began getting deeper in the forest, the screeches got louder. I shivered at the noise, wondering what animal was dying… if it was an animal at all. A branch snapped somewhere behind us and we both turned to see what was there, hoping it was just maybe something that wouldn't kill the both of us.

A loud growling made me pail and step back as a large shadow moved from behind the trees. I could see the outline of wings and horns as the creature started to approach us.

"Uh, Auntie Val?" I squeaked, only to yelp as she grabbed my arm and started running.

"Less talking, more running!" She yelled at me as the Jersey Devil showed itself and charged at us. My aunt pushed me away and dodged the charge, the Devil using it's hooves to skid to a halt. It turned towards us and let out an angered roar before its eyes settled on me. My eyes widened and I scrambled to my feet as the monstrosity charged at me once again. I quickly dove out of its path and watched as it sped by and slammed into a tree, grunting in pain and in frustration as it swiveled around again, snarling at me.

The hell is this thing's problem!?

The Devil let out another screech and I covered my ears at the piercing sound. It thundered towards me once again and I got up to dodge, but this time the creature wasn't falling for it as it jumped. I screamed as it landed full force into me and knocked me to the ground harshly, feeling the sting of the rocks and sticks digging into my flesh. Groaning, I sat up and rubbed my arm.

"Allie!" My aunt shouted. "Look out!" I snapped my head over to the Devil and ducked just in time as a hoof nearly put a hole in my face. I scrambled backwards and got up, rushing over to my aunt.

"What the fuck!?" I yelled at the thing as it began approaching us again. My aunt pulled something out of her bag and pointed it at the creature.

It was a fucking revolver.

When the fuck did my aunt get a revolver?!

The Jersey Devil roared again and my aunt pulled the trigger, a loud crack resonating through the air. It screeched in pain and stumbled back, a hole now in its shoulder area that leaked black blood. I stared in shock at the wound as the creature turned to run, but my aunt was having none of it as she shot again, hitting it in the back right in between the wings. It screeched again and I covered my ears to block out the horrid sound as the beast collapsed. All was silent for a moment until my aunt started making her way over to the body, gun still ready to fire.

"…is it dead?" I asked quietly as Aunt Valerie shrugged.

"Dunno." She replied, a bit out of breath. "It might be unconscious, but I don't think it's dead. Not by a long shot." She carefully put her gun away and pulled out a camera, snapping pictures of the creature. I raised a brow as the camera flashed every time a picture was taken. Once she put the camera away, she went to get a hair sample from the creature. But moved away as it began to crumble into itself and turn to dust right before our eyes. Then it was gone, like it never existed. I looked at my aunt for an explanation, but she merely sighed and shook her head as if to say 'I'm not too sure, just drop it'. I sighed in return and looked at the now fading pile of dust. At least she got some pictures.

0o0o0o0o0o

Lionel was ecstatic when we gave him the pictures the next morning. He asked us if we were able to get anything else, but my aunt shook her head. She told him the body turned to dust a few minutes after death and nothing was of use after that. He nodded and thanked her before bidding us a farewell as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"Uh…" I coughed. "So… where to next?" My aunt looked over at a folder and pulled it onto her steering wheel, flipping through a few pages while keeping an eye on the road.

"Hm, looks like a skin walker." She muttered with a heavy sigh. "This one might take a bit to finish."

"What? Why?" I asked. My aunt tossed a glance my way.

"The only way to kill a skin walker is to find its true name and speak it to the skin walker." She replied and I nodded in understanding.

"Oh," I muttered. "Cool… like finding a piece of hay in a needle stack. Great." My aunt chuckled and focused on the road, leaving us in a peaceful silence. I looked out the window and watched the trees speed by.

I couldn't help but have the feeling that something was looking back at me, watching me. As if waiting for something.

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I hope you enjoyed! The next few chapters will be snippets of cases like this one! Then we'll start back up into the meat of the storyline again. :) Thank you for reading and I hope you all like it!