Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
Feed.
The single thought echoed inside his mind over and over again, almost like a mantra. Feed. It wasn't so much a thought as a raw need building inside of him. He had denied it for too long. He had to give in.
He smelled something in the air. Human. It would be so simple. He could sneak up on it, catch it by surprise, and pounce. It would never see him coming. He just had to be patient and wait for the exact right moment to strike.
Feed. Feed now, his instincts demanded. The hunger was so severe. He was free and he intended to enjoy every moment of his time.
The human was close. It stood beside one of the many weeping willow trees scattered throughout the park. It had stopped to rest. It was time.
The leopard sprang into action. He ran toward the human and before it could react, he had pinned it to the ground. His teeth ripped into the flesh on its shoulder. Blood spilled into his mouth. He savored the taste before tearing into his prey's flesh again. Its screams were cut off abruptly as his teeth punctured its throat.
The prey looked up at him with fear in its eyes. Silently, it begged him to stop. Finish it, he thought. Feed now and end its life.
Some part of him wasn't ready to be done with things. He moved to the human's stomach, tearing it open and pulling its insides out. It was quite a feast. The beast was satisfied.
Finally, with a lethal tug of intestine, he ended the human's life. He stopped to lick the blood off his face and paws before leaving the park in search of shelter for the night.
~*~
Ruby Vasco had a daily routine of traveling to the Salem Willows and working on her art. She always found something beautiful and interesting to sketch there, and it helped her relax before heading to class at the local university. She took comfort in her routine, especially because Salem Willows Park was both beautiful and extraordinarily peaceful. In addition to having many trees, the park sat on the water, and the view was breathtaking. There was even a nearby lighthouse. Ruby enjoyed sketching the water as the waves crashed against the shore. It was a bit chilly now, but her coat kept her warm, and a little bit of freezing New England weather wasn't enough to keep her away from such beautiful scenery. She could easily clear her mind and go into class feeling refreshed and alert.
Ruby had grown up in Salem. She was a member of the local Episcopalian church. Her mother's side of the family could trace their lineage back to before the infamous witch trials of 1692. She was used to somewhat unusual rumors flying around about witches and the battle between good and evil, but she wasn't foolish enough to believe any of them. That nonsense didn't exist. Salem was a peaceful town with very little violence and a lot of tourism. She loved living there, and she enjoyed having such a strong familial connection to the historical town.
Naturally, when Ruby arrived at the Salem Willows that December morning, she was stunned to discover what was clearly a vicious and brutal crime scene. At first, she wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at. Lying next to one of the weeping willow trees that the park was named for was a large mass. There was blood everywhere, and things that definitely didn't belong on the outside of a human body were clearly visible. Upon closer inspection, Ruby realized that the mass was a young girl with long red hair and blue eyes that stared back at her in horror.
Ruby did the only sensible thing to do in such a situation. She immediately called the police, explained that she had stumbled across a dead body, gave them her location, hung up, and promptly began screaming.
~*~
Shooter Berkely, Tammy Meadows, and Skip and Susie Burke arrived at the Salem Willows shortly after the "normal" police did. The traditional Salem Police knew a supernatural crime when they saw one and hadn't hesitated to call in the members of Salem's Supernatural Phenomenon Investigational Unit upon seeing the remains of the young girl in the park.
Ruby Vasco was still screaming when they arrived. "Holy crap," Shooter said. "Is that who I think it is?"
"There's no way her luck is that bad," Tammy replied.
"Isn't that the mortal girl you had to, um, sedate after the E.V.S. got their hands on her?" Susie asked. "Diamond or Emerald or something?"
"Ruby," Shooter corrected her automatically. "Unbelievable..."
"Let's go talk to her," Skip said.
They approached Ruby cautiously. She looked at them and continued to scream. "Ruby? Ruby, sweetheart, calm down," Tammy said gently. She tried to reach out to touch her.
Ruby pulled away and began screaming louder. "We are so not doing this," Shooter decided. He rubbed his hands together.
Tammy slapped his hands and said, "Don't even think about it, Shooter! You are not zapping that poor girl again."
"Oh, come on... It's the only thing that works on her," Shooter protested.
"Damnit, Shooter, you are not allowed to zap the mortals," Skip said. "They can't handle it."
"You won't be saying that when she makes your eardrums rupture," Shooter replied.
"Find another way."
"Alright, fine... What about slapping her?"
"Shooter!" Skip said sharply.
"You're no fun, Boss... Just in case you were wondering."
Susie smiled at them mischievously. "I have an idea," she said. "I can jump into her body until she's not in shock anymore and then you guys can talk to her."
"Susie, I really don't think that's a good idea," Skip protested.
Ruby's screams increased in pitch. Tammy began twitching slightly. "It's either that, or Shooter zaps her," she said. "I don't usually encourage either, but given the circumstances..."
Skip sighed. "Fine, Susie, but be careful. Don't traumatize the poor girl anymore than she's already been," he said.
Susie beamed at him. "Yay!" She cried in delight. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before jumping out of her body and into Ruby's. The screaming abruptly stopped.
"Susie, I could kiss you right now," Shooter said.
Susie's body shook its head. "You aren't my type," a voice that was much lower than Susie's replied.
"I always forget that Susie's spirit guide is a dude," Shooter mumbled.
"Susie, work on calming Ruby's body down," Skip said. "Tammy, Shooter, come with me to look at the victim."
Tammy and Shooter followed behind him. They froze when they reached the body. The girl's flesh had been shredded. She'd clearly been mauled. "Do you know the energy?" Skip asked Shooter.
"It's no one I've met," Shooter replied.
"Was it a rogue?" Tammy asked in horror.
"It seems like it... We'd need a local lycanthrope to know for sure, though."
Skip cursed. "Someone call Jesse and tell him that this is his chance to get off of the clean-up crew for a while."
~*~
Jesse Rodriguez was lounging on his bed when his guardian, Alex Paxton, knocked on his bedroom door. "Come in," Jesse said.
"Skip needs you to go to the Willows," Alex informed him as he entered the room.
"Clean-up crew again? Man, can't you just tell him I'm sick or something?" Jesse protested.
"It's not clean-up crew duty this time, Jesse. He wants you on a case."
Jesse sat up and blinked at him in confusion. "You're kidding," he said.
"A girl was mauled to death," Alex explained. "They think it might have been a rogue lycanthrope. Shooter didn't recognize the energy, but they want a lycanthrope to confirm it."
"Crap... Alright, tell him I'll get there as fast as I can. What about school?" Jesse asked.
"I'll tell your teachers that you had an appointment, but if you can get away before the end of the day, try and make it to some of your classes. I know Skip wouldn't ask you to miss school if it wasn't important."
"Hey, you don't have to ask me twice. I'd much rather work a case than sit in class," Jesse replied with a laugh.
"Don't make a habit out of this, Jess," Alex cautioned him.
"Don't worry. I'm not Arnie."
"No, sadly, you're not," Melissa Morgan said as she joined them. "So, am I walking to school or what?" Her long hair was blue and her eyes were black. She wore a short black skirt and a tight red sweater. Her feet were in black heels.
"Did you have plans other than going to class today?" Alex asked her.
"Is it too much?" Melissa asked. She shifted her eyes back to their usual shade of green and turned her hair a dark shade of purple. "Less is probably more, right?"
"Nice," Jesse said approvingly.
"Seriously, why are you so dressy today?" Alex asked. "Not that it doesn't look nice or anything, but it's a bit much for school."
"I have to do a speech in history class today and I wanted to dress up," Melissa explained.
"Arnie will be drooling if he actually shows up to class today," Jesse said.
"He won't," Melissa replied. "And that will be his loss." She grinned wickedly.
"He's not driving you to school?" Alex asked.
"He said he was dealing with something and couldn't make it."
"Did he say what it was?"
"No, but he sounded upset... I don't know what happened, but I didn't want to push him too much. He'll talk when he's ready to."
"Well, I'll drive you to school so you're not late, and if you can get dressed in the next two minutes, I'll drive you to the Willows, Jesse."
"Sure thing," Jesse replied.
Alex and Melissa left his bedroom and Jesse pulled on the first clean shirt and pair of jeans he could find. Skip wanted him on an actual case... That never happened. He was usually brought in after the fact to clean up whatever supernatural mess had occurred so the mortals would never find out about it. He was kind of excited, although the idea of a rogue lycanthrope made him nervous.
Rogues were usually mutts of some sort, lycanthropes who had never had a pack or pard or pride or whatever their species should have. They lived by their own rules and were often nomads, traveling from place to place and surviving more as a beast than a human. They usually left behind a trail of dead people or, if the people were insanely lucky, a bunch of newly infected lycanthropes with no one to guide them. Local groups either took in these strays or killed them. It depended on the territory.
Jesse had no pack. He was technically a mutt, but he wasn't a rogue. His soul was lycanthrope royalty, and he played by society's rules. He didn't hurt people, and he knew how to control his shifts. He'd been born as a lycanthrope, shifting for the first time right before he started going through puberty. His most dominant beast was his wolf, although being a general royal, he could call on his others if he chose to. He was also a vampire. That was a secret and had to remain one or he would almost definitely end up dead. Lycanthropes didn't trust vampires, vampires didn't trust lycanthropes, and almost no one trusted someone who was both. If the local lycanthropes didn't kill him, the vampires would.
He'd been born with fur, but the fangs had come later. It had been just over a year since he'd been turned by a pretty corrupt slayer who had tricked Jesse into meeting her with the promise of things that had sent his hormones into overdrive. If Aideen Phillips hadn't shown up, he would have died.
"Jesse, are you ready?" Alex called, interrupting his thoughts.
That's a really good question, Jesse thought. Can I really handle an actual case?
"Yeah," Jesse replied. "I'm ready."
