Dr. Mathias Smith

Raven Hill, OH

September 8th, 1952

The new birth of a town that was built on the ground of a supernatural breeding ground. A place in which ghosts and spirits were known to rest. A city where the sun is blocked by clouds most of the year. Where the snowfall closes the town entirely. A place that isn't quite in the middle of nowhere, but isn't on any map the world has ever seen. In the middle of this town is a theater. It plays movies and is the home of many of the town's annual plays. In the empty theater seated in the center of the stage in front of a piano is seated, Dr. Mathias Smith. A white man who is in his mid to late '30s. A man whom the world has not been kind to. He sits next to the brand new piano in a pair of jeans with torn holes and a dress shirt that is too wrinkled to be worn outside in public. His shoes were shined and were the only thing on him that looked like he put effort into after waking up. His hair is a matted mess and he still had a stubble of his beard left from a lousy shave while a beer bottle rested in the hand that wasn't playing his beautiful tune.

"Matt!" Someone yelled from the shadows before running over to him. It was a woman. She was dressed in full business attire and had the confidence to go with the outfit. She was a black woman who was the young boss of the most popular beauty salon in the county. But when she wasn't being Matt's boss she was his best friend.

"Matt, you're late for work, and one of these days I may have to fire you." She told the somber man. The look on his face showed his disapproval of the conversation soon to follow.

"One, it's doctor, two, it's Saturday, and three, It is five in the goddamn morning. What are you doing dressed for a business deal, Alex." Matt replied. He rubbed the stubble of his beard before standing up and walking to the entrance to the theater room while Alex followed.

"There's been another murder, Matt" Alex revealed. Quickly overtaking Matt. She put a hand out stopping him in front of a trash can. She simply gave him a look and he threw the bottle in the trash where it clanked with whatever else was in it. She stood there silently staring him in the eyes waiting for a response but it didn't come.

"Matt, you have a doctorate in criminology. You should be helping them with this case," Alex advised. The look on her face was filled with nothing but worry for her friend. A friend she knew wouldn't listen unless he saw what had happened at the scene.

"Alex, you don't get it, they don't like that I want to tell the government about the weird things in this town and they have the mayor in their pocket," He replied before walking around her and down the sidewalk. The street was silent and one of the street light bulbs went out across the street. There was a red ford victoria sitting in front of the theater. Seated on the opposite side of the street was a black car with a slim design. It was his car. The tires had a white ring on the inside and under the hood was a v8 engine that just made it all the more enjoyable to drive.

"I'll go, if you buy me something from the bakery," He shouted before climbing into his car. Alex smiled before climbing in her car and following him to the bakery. When they arrived at the bakery someone was already inside baking everything from scratch for their employees to sell later. Matt was never someone who could wait patiently so he walked into the building and up to the counter. While Alex pulled her wallet out of her purse.

"Hello Francis, He started before being stopped with a finger.

"Mathias Smith, you know well when the Bakery opens," She scolded. Before turning from the oven and setting a fresh batch of donuts on the counter behind the glass.

"But Franny, If I get here at 6 people will have already cleared you out of my favorite breakfast items," He pleaded. Francis made the best donuts on this side of the state and had won many awards for them. She held the record for most consecutive bake-offs won in the 70 years since the town's birth. She was probably the oldest person in the town but you couldn't tell. She had a fire that burned in her that she would tell you kept her alive and well. She looked like she was in her mid-'50s and she was tough as nails. Nobody was brave enough to tell her not to do anything. Not even the mayor.

"It'll cost you, Matt," She responded. Matt looked behind him at the endless tables and found Alex sitting at the table closest to the bathroom holding her wallet as she walked over to the counter.

"Franny, Can I please get a half dozen donuts?" She asked. Alex had a way with Franny that made her almost scarier than her. Franny looked Alex up and down and sighed before pulling some donuts out from under the counter and sliding them over to Alex.

"Don't tell anyone, or you won't get anymore," She reminded them. Before directing her attention over to matt. "Matt you are capable of a lot of things, don't waste away in the theater," She continued before forcing them out of the bakery.

Matt and Alex looked at each other with a smirk before sitting on a bench not too far from the entrance to the bakery.

"Before I open this box, you swear on your sight that you'll go with me to the crime scene?" She asked. She stared him up and down and Matt knew if he went back in the bakery before it opened he'd get a smack in the back of the head with a bag of sugar.

"Fine," He answered before snatching the box from under her hands. Alex smiled as she grabbed a donut out of the box. She savored the donut but made sure to keep an eye on the box. Making sure Matt didn't take more than 3. The two of them sat eating. Matt was a mess while Alex ate in a calm and refined manner. When they were finished they both got in their cars and drove to the crime scene. With Alex leading the way. Alex drove as fast as she could, she was not at all afraid of the officers. After all, they knew better than to try and pull her over. She had on occasion been the most stubborn person on the planet and her stubbornness made the mayor change how they treated many of the businesses in the town.

When they arrived at the scene of the crime. They had gone to the center of the spiritual district. The part of the town that not even the government knew about. A part of town filled with people who could see and interact with spirits and supernatural creatures alike. In one of the poorly built buildings was a broken door and the address read 183 Gillian Drive. Matt recognized the address immediately as he ran to the building and jumped over the door to see his sister's room destroyed and in the center of it. Was a puddle of blood.

"Alex," He started but he couldn't get the words out. His knees began to give out from under him as his eyes began to fill with tears. With the tears came anger and resolve to either find his sister or to find out whoever or whatever had killed her.

***********

Alex now stood outside of the police station waiting near her car for Matt to stop yelling at the police inside the building. Matt on the other hand was going to toss someone out a window if he didn't get what he wanted. Alex and the officers already knew that no one was going to stop him. Matt had made his way to the police commissioner's office and kicked open the door.

"I need the evidence for the murder cases!" Matt shouted as he slammed his hands on the desk. The faint sound of groaning officers was easy to hear behind him. The commissioner looked at Matt and knew all too well how he would respond. He stood up and set his taser on the desk before looking Matt in the face. The commissioner took off a pair of sunglasses and under them was a scar that went across his left eye. It was a scar on his stern, tanned face. He was tall. He was a lot taller than every one of his officers and had a build that made him look like he could stop a car with his bare hands. But that wasn't what made him the commissioner. What made him the commissioner was the fact that he could see the supernatural. The eye with a scar had a white pupil a white that reflected almost all the light and at the center of his eye was an orange iris. The commissioner could see the rifts in the world. The folds that made up reality and, he was able to grab hold of them and make holes to the other side as he called it. It was how he got his scar and why he won't allow any normal person to take on any supernatural case.

"Matt you can't see the spirits, so how are you gonna find 'em? He asked. The tone of his voice was a calm that would chill a normal person's bones. Matt could do nothing but stand there and wait. The thought of punching the commissioner in the face flowed through his head.

"I don't need to see 'em, I got a friend that can." He snapped. The rage slowly bubbled up inside him. He had to get out of the office or he would do something he'd regret. So he turned around and walked away towards the evidence room. It would be better if he saw every crime scene. Then he'd be able to start his process. The one that had solved so many cases before his termination. Before he wanted to get the government's help.

The commissioner was behind him when he entered the room. Matt began to go through the files but he couldn't find them. He looked around the large room but couldn't seem to find out where it was. He stopped when he noticed that one of the filing cabinets was where the cleaning stuff should have been. There were mop handles that stuck out of the corners but when he went to pull on them. They wouldn't budge. It was around this time that Alex had begun to make her way into the building to see the lobby of the station empty. Before she heard scratching against the roof of the building and under her she heard the screams of some sort of creature. When it broke out of the ground, a worm with a drill mouth began to tear up the floor.

Alex ran to the stairs as fast as she could while vaulting over any obstacles that would slow her down. The ground was always just one step away from crumbling away and dropping her into the pit the worm had made. Into a tear and erasing her existence from Raven Hill. When the worm finally went down the pit it had left a pit so big it filled the entire lobby. Alex had never been so grateful for the witches that had built the building. Since their magic was the only thing keeping the second floor from crumbling into the pit and dropping everything into it.